Suggests full-fare ‘refundable’ for first leg

My wife, our granddaughter and I took a trip to Germany, June 16-July 2, 2009. I had made all of our travel arrangements on the Internet, including the Deutsche Bahn (DB) train tickets to the various places we were going: Frankfurt, Munich, Ampfing, Würzburg and back to Frankfurt. These all were highly restricted, advance-purchase, nonrefundable, nonchangeable “Internet saver tickets.”

We flew from San Francisco to Frankfurt on United, but our flight was three hours late departing SFO (no reason given by the airline) and did not make up any of the lost time.

Even though I had allowed three hours to make the plane-to-train connection, we missed our train by less than five minutes and I was forced to buy new tickets for the Frankfurt-Munich journey, the original ones now having “no value.”

The next train to Munich arrived just as we got to the platform, so there was no appreciable delay. For three adults, the “normal” train fare in first class was €288 (about $400).

Lesson learned — don’t book a DB “saver” ticket for the first leg of your Germany travel unless you’re absolutely sure you can make that very specific connection. It is best to book that first leg of train travel at the “normal” unrestricted fare, even though it costs quite a bit more than the “saver” tickets, which of course can only be booked online.

You can book any subsequent trips you will be taking at the saver rate, since inland travel is presumably more reliable, especially if your hotel is only a 5-minute walk from the train station.

That said, train travel in Germany is fast and convenient, though it can be, at peak times, pricey. On weekends, however, there are all sorts of family/group special fares available (we took advantage of some of those also), though they should be booked a day or two in advance in person rather than online. The ticket agents are very helpful recommending the best values.

Lastly, I have submitted to United Airlines my claim for reimbursement of the cost of the replacement rail tickets. I am not holding my breath.

PETER KLATT
Berkeley, CA