Changes are coming to the discount card for train travel: in future, you will have to load it onto your mobile phone. Why consumer advocates are protesting, what alternatives there are for people without smartphones and what happens when the battery is empty.
Around five million people in Germany use a Bahncard. The discount model can be worthwhile even if you only make a few trips a year, and it is offered in various variants usually as an annual subscription. The most popular is the Bahncard 25, with which travelers get a 25 percent discount on their ticket, both on the saver and super saver fares and on the more expensive flex fare. With a Bahncard 50, the flex tickets cost half as much, and you get a 25 percent discount on saver fares. The Bahncard 100 is a flat rate for any number of trips on local and long-distance services operated by Deutsche Bahn (DB).