Since Monday, passengers have been able to travel nationwide in local and regional transport with the 49-euro subscription. The Germany ticket gives rise to new questions, causes a lot of confusion – and at the same time proves to be a box office hit: the queues in front of the customer centers of the Munich Transport Company (MVG) and the Deutsche Bahn (DB) are very long.
The waiting times lead to frustration at the issuing offices in Munich: On Tuesday evening, shortly before the DB customer center at the Ostbahnhof closed at 8 p.m., a customer freaked out because he was no longer able to get his turn. After a scuffle with a DB security guard, the police are now investigating both opponents for dangerous bodily harm.
Many customers still want to use the Deutschlandticket in May. Different regulations apply depending on the transport company. An overview.
This applies to Deutsche Bahn
If you buy the Germany ticket from DB and do not want to use it as a mobile phone ticket, you can get an immediately valid chip card in the customer center. However, if you order the chip card online, you have to wait more than ten days for delivery by post. DB strongly recommends that its customers buy the Deutschlandticket as a mobile ticket if they have a smartphone. If you already have a subscription to a chip card with DB, you can change this yourself at a ticket machine.
There is no deadline at DB. The Deutschlandticket is available via the DB Navigator app or via the website bahn.de, which was temporarily overloaded again on Wednesday. The more customer-friendly alternative: Via the homepage of the – not overloaded on Wednesday Munich S-Bahn the ticket is also available and there is a special feature here: if you buy it from the Munich S-Bahn, you no longer have to pay for the whole of May.
The start of validity can be freely selected. For example, anyone who ordered the ticket with a start date of this Thursday, May 4th, only had to pay a pro rata amount of 45.64 euros. However, the condition for this reduced price is that you take out the subscription for at least June. This option does not exist with DB’s other sales channels. Here 49 euros are always due. DB does not give regional figures, but nationwide it has sold 1.3 million Deutschlandticket subscriptions.
This applies to the Munich Transport Company (MVG)
It is no longer possible to get the Deutschlandticket for May online from the MVG – be it as a mobile phone ticket or as a print ticket to print out. Those who choose the digital route can only start in June. You can take out a subscription in the customer center and receive a paper printout with a QR code. Many customers who don’t want to send their old subscription paper tickets by post but want to return them in person don’t necessarily have to wait long in line. MVG employees speak to people in line, answer questions and take back old tickets. MVG also has a discount on the price for days that have already elapsed in May. In addition, MVG sets up return points in the subway stations Karlsplatz (Stachus), Goetheplatz and Ostbahnhof and is on the road with its information mobile in the city. The exact dates and locations are below mvg.de/deutschlandticket to find.
Within a month, MVG sold more than 200,000 Deutschlandticket subscriptions. All in all, this means around 90,000 new subscriptions, and MVG now has a total of around 345,000 subscribers.
Where is the ticket still available?
In principle, you can order it from any transport association, but different conditions apply to ordering and notice periods. At the Munich Transport Association (MVV) – not to be confused with the MVG – the ticket is still available throughout May, but only as a mobile phone ticket. There is no deduction for days that have already elapsed. For all DB, MVG and MVV subscriptions, a notice period of up to the 10th of a calendar month applies.