The advertised fare is rarely the fare you can book
Super Sparpreis is Deutsche Bahn's lowest-priced long-distance fare, and DB advertises a daily starting price for it. The German consumer association vzbv compared that figure with what travellers could actually book on the same days.
On 76 out of 100 survey days, the lowest bookable fare for a journey between 7:00 and 19:00 was above the advertised price—by 15% to 157%. It matched on 19% of days and was lower on 5%.
These figures cover daytime journeys on 20 connections between Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and Frankfurt. The advertised fare may have been available more often before 7:00 or after 19:00, which the study did not measure.
An advertised starting price is therefore not enough to plan a journey. What matters is the fare actually available for your specific connection.
Tuesday and Wednesday rather than Friday and Sunday
Across all journeys surveyed, the median Super Sparpreis was €27.99 on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Friday and Sunday it was €47.99—a difference of 71%.
Monday's median was €33.99, Thursday's €37.99 and Saturday's €35.99. That made Saturday the lowest-priced weekend day, well ahead of Friday and Sunday.
If your travel day is fixed, departure time and how early you book remain the main variables.
- Monday33,99 €
- Tuesday27,99 €
- Wednesday27,99 €
- Thursday37,99 €
- Friday47,99 €
- Saturday35,99 €
- Sunday47,99 €
Earlier or later rather than midday
DB controls its lowest-priced inventory according to expected demand. Your chance of finding the day's lowest fare therefore depends strongly on the departure time.
Departures between 16:00 and 19:00 had the day's lowest observed fare in 66% of cases. The share was 48% from 07:00 to 10:00, 23% from 13:00 to 16:00 and 19% from 10:00 to 13:00.
In the period studied, late-morning departures were least likely to have the day's lowest fare. Journeys before 07:00 and after 19:00 were not included.
- 07:00–10:0048 %
- 10:00–13:0019 %
- 13:00–16:0023 %
- 16:00–19:0066 %
Twelve weeks ahead
Booking ahead had the strongest effect among all five factors. The median Super Sparpreis was €19.99 twelve weeks in advance, €35.99 three weeks ahead and €55.99 during the final seven days.
Last-minute bookings therefore cost almost three times as much at the median, after much of the low-priced inventory had sold out.
Booking more than twelve weeks ahead is not always possible because only the current timetable period may be on sale. For later journeys, you need to wait for sales to open.
- 12 weeks19,99 €
- 3 weeks35,99 €
- 7 days55,99 €
The first Saturday of the school holidays
For Berlin–Frankfurt, vzbv compared Saturdays at the start of Berlin school holidays with the Saturday one week earlier. Super Sparpreis was higher in 9 out of 10 cases and Flexpreis in 8 out of 10.
The largest measured difference was 211%. Families often have little scope to move a journey at the start of the school holidays.
In that situation, booking early matters most. School holiday dates are known well in advance; you can book as soon as the connection goes on sale.
- Super Sparpreis9 von 10
- Flexpreis8 von 10
Flexpreis fares vary too
Flexpreis is a flexible ticket without a train-specific restriction, but it is not a fixed route price. During the 2025 timetable year, it varied considerably by travel day.
On 8 of the 20 connections studied, the highest observed Flexpreis was more than twice the lowest. Frankfurt–Cologne ranged from €42.30 to €114.20; Berlin–Cologne from €99.90 to €185.10.
Travellers with flexible dates should therefore compare several days even for Flexpreis. How far ahead they book has little effect on that fare.
- Frankfurt–Cologne42,30-114,20 €
- Berlin–Cologne99,90-185,10 €
Where the figures come from
Every figure on this page comes from fare monitoring by the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv), published on 29 July 2026. It covers 278,719 connection queries on 690 days from 1 June 2024 to 30 April 2026.
The study covered all 20 direct connections between Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and Frankfurt am Main, in second class with departures between 07:00 and 19:00, at three booking horizons: seven days, three weeks and twelve weeks.
Two limitations apply to every figure: they are medians across 20 inter-city connections, not a statement about one route; and they describe past observations, not a forecast for your travel day.
DB disputed the study. It notes that journeys before 07:00 and after 19:00 were excluded, that many low-priced tickets fall in those periods and that fare inventory is managed according to demand.
Source: vzbv, “Ticketpreise der Deutschen Bahn – Preismonitoring von Juni 2024 bis April 2026”. Chart report as PDF and vzbv press release.
Bahnsparer is independent and is affiliated with neither vzbv nor Deutsche Bahn AG. vzbv has neither reviewed nor endorsed the app.
How Bahnsparer uses these findings
Bahnsparer requests the fares currently available for your route and compares travel days and connections directly, so you do not have to rely on broad rules of thumb.
Travel day and time: The calendar shows up to 14 days, highlights the lowest fare and names the weekday with the lowest average. Open a day to compare every departure and narrow them by time.
Connection and booking horizon: Fare, journey time and historical reliability appear together. You can watch a fixed travel day for new lows and saver fares that disappear, or set a weekly watch up to twelve weeks ahead.
The app does not tell you when to book. Prices remain non-binding and the purchase is completed with the relevant provider.
After you choose a train, Bahnsparer also checks automatically whether a supported provider sells its seat reservation for less. How the reservation comparison works.