From October 1st, Deutsche Bahn will only sell its saver tickets for long-distance travel in travel centers and agencies if you provide a mobile phone number or email address. “We are continuing to switch to online tickets because we want to better inform customers about their travel plans,” said a DB spokesman on Wednesday when asked by the German Press Agency.
The tickets can still be printed out and just look a little different than the tickets that are currently still being issued. Customers can also provide other people’s contact details when purchasing the ticket for others.
The change initially only affects the savings fares on the railway. The new regulation does not apply when purchasing from a machine – however, only a very small proportion of saver tickets on long-distance transport are sold this way. Nothing will change for passengers who already book tickets via the smartphone app or on the DB website – the contact details are already stored in the customer account.
According to the federally owned company, four out of five tickets are purchased online. For some time now, the railway has been increasingly relying on informing customers about their journey via SMS or email – passengers should not be surprised at the last second if something goes wrong on their journey. To do this, the group needs people’s contact details in conjunction with their current travel plans. Due to the railway’s punctuality problems, the service is often very important for passengers.
The “more advice than sales” approach should also become more visible in travel centers in the future. Next week, a completely new travel center will be opening in Düsseldorf, which will also represent this concept spatially. 24 more are to follow nationwide.