DB "Excess fare" type ticket? Regional Express tickets online?

[itfcfan]

Hi all,

I have London-Spezial tickets for two people between London-Cologne going out 20th December and returning 24th December (hopefully not interrupted by strikes in Germany or Belgium...).

I've changed my plans to stay the first night (the 20th) in Konigswinter (~40mins south of Cologne by Regional Express). Looking on bahn.de now I see that if I'd booked this originally, there'd have been no extra charge to my ticket going to Konigswinter vs Cologne. I take it there's no way to get something similar to a (UK) "Excess fare" type ticket of zero value?

A single to Konigswinter costs EUR7.70 according to the regional travel website (http://www.vrsinfo.de/) but I can't find anywhere to buy it online. I know I could buy this at Cologne station when I arrive, but I'll have some luggage so if I can buy beforehand and simply go to platform 4 for the RE it'd be preferable. Does anyone know of somewhere I can purchase this online?

Thanks in advance for any help,

John

 

[Oscar]

You can amend a London-Spezial or have it refunded for a 15 € admin fee, but in this case buying a 7.70 € single is clearly cheaper. You can buy the single as an m-ticket (HandyTicket) but not online.

 

[30907]

You could always try asking on the ICE before you get to Köln, but I wouldn't be optimistic.

I've had a quick look on the German part of the VRS site, which is much more extensive than the English - you can only buy day tickets online, but you can get singles as a mobile ticket (click on Handy Ticket). I haven't looked further to see whether you can pay with a UK credit card, and this might be a problem.

Oscar was quicker!

I can't remember if Köln Hbf has machines on the platforms, but it's possible. Cash only.

 

[itfcfan]

Oscar, 30907 - thanks for your advice. I managed to register for HandyTicket at https://mobil.handyticket.de/. My UK phone number and UK Visa card were accepted.

It appears that only one persons ticket may be purchased once signed up (it also notes tickets are not transferrable) so I think if I want to purchase tickets for two people, both of us will need to sign up for HandyTicket.

Given tickets for both people were purchased together (and are shown printed together on one booking) I'm wondering if the 15EUR fee may apply once for both of us together? I'll be phoning DB to check...

 

[reb0118]

You can amend a London-Spezial ..... for a 15 € admin fee,...

True, but do you not also have to pay the difference in price between the fare you purchased at and the fare currently in force, which may be the full fare, at the time of the alteration?

 

[Oscar]

Yes, you have to pay the difference in fares. Looking at the DB site, the admin fee appears to have gone up to 17.50 € and appears to be per booking.

 

[dutchflyer]

yes thats right-1 of yesterday fare adjustments
One simply canNOT in general buy Local Verbundtickets online and if its possible, never via DB-then use the VRS site. THis is as these tickets also include the local bus/tram in all zones its valid for. Hold a 10 eur note and buy in K when there. Machines a plenty but they also will not in general accept bankcards for small sales. Verbundtickets for single/day etc. are only sold via machines (or busdrivers) and not via sales windows.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

1.You could always try asking on the ICE before you get to Köln, but I wouldn't be optimistic.
2.I can't remember if Köln Hbf has machines on the platforms, but it's possible. Cash only.

@1. NO Conductors in general cannot sell Verbundtickets, as they MUST be prepurchased-and often also timestamped before use.
@2.NOT on platforms-they are way too narrow at K anyway, but many in the 2 undertunnels.
But then again I really wonder what all the fuss is about-if the connection is short-take next train in 20 or 30 mins. Also I still do not grasp why people spend more time asking about how to get onlinetickets-even assuming they would exist, whereas the actual purchase takes less time

 

[Martin]

@1. NO Conductors in general cannot sell Verbundtickets, as they MUST be prepurchased-and often also timestamped before use.

They should be able to sell a DB tariff ticket. As it's an extension to an existing ticket this would be allowed. The DB tariff can be lower or higher than the Verbundtarif. Also they will probably add an extra fee of about 2 € ("Bordpreis") for selling tickets on the train. But it won't hurt to ask.

Verbundtickets for single/day etc. are only sold via machines (or busdrivers) and not via sales windows.

That's wrong. They are sold at the KVB ticket windows (Cathedral side, downstairs to the underground) and I think also at the DB counters -but with usually long queues.

Machines a plenty but they also will not in general accept bankcards for small sales.

Credit cards are not accepted for VRS tickets. But Maestro and VPay generally should work (depending on your UK bank).

 

[radamfi]

Credit cards are not accepted for VRS tickets. But Maestro and VPay generally should work (depending on your UK bank).

Very few people in the UK have Maestro cards now as most banks which previously used Maestro have switched to Visa Debit. And AFAIK no UK banks have started to issue VPay cards yet, and AFAIK there are no plans to. This issue was a problem for visitors to the Netherlands until recently (see various threads about Dutch ticket buying) but now Visa and Mastercard are accepted at all ticket machines there.