DB Family Ticket: When the flat fare pays off for Swiss families

For a Swiss family travelling to Germany, the DB Family Ticket starts with a simple sum: 99.99 euros for a return trip on long-distance services, including seat reservations for up to five people. According to Deutsche Bahn, the offer is to be available permanently from 1 November. What matters, however, is not the advertised price alone, but which route it actually covers.

What the ticket covers

According to DB, one or two travellers aged 15 and over can travel within Germany together with up to four children aged between 6 and 14. A maximum of two adults and three children, or one adult with four children, is permitted. Connections with a leg on regional services cost more. Children under six travel free in any case; on long-distance services, children aged six to 14 generally travel free when accompanied by an adult, but they must be named at the time of booking.

For a family with two adults and two children, the flat fare therefore mainly pays for the reserved seats and the return-trip structure. On a long, high-demand route within Germany, that can be attractive. On a short route, or where individual tickets are cheap, a regular saver fare may work out cheaper even with a reservation.

For Swiss families, the cross-border leg comes on top