The Deutschlandticket

The Deutschlandticket costs 63 euros a month in 2026 and 66.80 euros from 1 January 2027. It is personal, monthly, and valid on local and regional transport nationwide, not on IC, EC, ICE, FlixTrain, or FlixBus.

In short

• The Deutschlandticket costs 63 euros a month in 2026 and 66.80 euros from 1 January 2027. It is a personal monthly subscription for local and regional transport nationwide, in second class.
• It does not cover IC, EC, ICE, FlixTrain, FlixBus, or first class. A few exceptions exist.
• It cannot be given to someone else. Carry identification. Under DB’s standard rule, children under six travel free and children aged six or older need an appropriate ticket unless another entitlement applies. The Deutschlandticket itself does not include a free companion; separate disability or local entitlements can apply.
• It can be cancelled by the month. The standard Deutschlandticket tariff condition is cancellation by the 10th of a calendar month, ending at the end of that month. A seller’s billing arrangement or contract-year product can differ. Buy it from a transport company or association that issues it.
• 63 euros is the public price for 2026, not the job-ticket price or the student price. For 2027 the transport ministers set the job-ticket fare at 63.46 euros and the semester ticket at 40.08 euros. 63.46 euros is already the 66.80 euro regular price minus the 5 percent transport discount. Do not subtract 5 percent again. The employee’s out-of-pocket price is lower because the employer contributes at least 25 percent of the regular fare. The semester version is 60 percent of the regular price only where the university has agreed it. An eight-month tariff lead time means some universities and operators apply the 40.08 euro semester price from the winter semester 2027/28 rather than from 1 January 2027.

What you need to know

The Federal Government describes the Deutschlandticket as one digital ticket for local public transport in the whole country, valid across Länder, transport associations, and tariff areas, and cancellable by the month. From January 2026 the price is 63 euros a month. The transport ministers of the Länder agreed that price on 18 September 2025.

Local public transport is the Länder’s responsibility, and their transport ministers’ conference sets the price through an annual index. On 30 September 2026 the conference confirmed the first use of the index it adopted in March 2026.

The public price is 66.80 euros a month from 1 January 2027, and the index recalculates it each year. The same notice sets the 2027 job-ticket fare at 63.46 euros and the semester-ticket price at 40.08 euros. 63.46 euros is already the 66.80 euro regular price minus the 5 percent discount in the Deutschlandticket tariff. It is not a figure from which to subtract another 5 percent.

That discount is available only if the employer contributes at least 25 percent of the regular fare, and the employee’s out-of-pocket price is lower by that contribution. S-Bahn Berlin, writing about the tickets it sells, calls 63.46 euros the maximum monthly amount before the employer’s subsidy.

The semester ticket is 60 percent of the regular price. The tariff sets the price for a semester as the Deutschlandticket price prescribed for the months of that semester eight months before the semester begins.

That lead time is why some universities and operators apply 40.08 euros from the winter semester 2027/28 rather than from 1 January 2027. S-Bahn Berlin says its semester price starts with that winter semester. Ask your own seller when the semester price applies to you. Deutsche Bahn’s ticket page announces the same public price of 66.80 euros from 1 January 2027.

The ticket covers buses and trains of local and regional public transport, nationwide, in second class. It does not cover long-distance trains such as IC, EC, and ICE, and it does not cover FlixTrain or FlixBus, or first class. The Federal Government says there are a few exceptions and points to Deutsche Bahn for the detailed map of where it is valid. Do not treat a long-distance train as included because it happens to stop in your city.

The ticket is personal. It cannot be given to someone else. At a check you have to prove your identity.

DB says children under six travel free; under its standard rule, children aged six or older need an appropriate ticket unless another entitlement applies. The Deutschlandticket itself does not include a free companion.

Separate rights can apply: section 228(6) of Social Code Book IX provides free carriage for an accompanying person of an eligible severely disabled passenger when the entitlement to accompaniment is recorded on the passenger’s disability ID. That accompaniment right does not require the passenger’s value token (Wertmarke). Local fares or add-ons may also give other rights; check the applicable conditions with the operator.

An employer may offer the ticket as a job ticket. The job-ticket fare is the regular fare minus 5 percent, and that discount requires the employer to contribute at least 25 percent of the regular fare. For 2027 the job-ticket fare is 63.46 euros before that contribution is taken off. Do not subtract 5 percent from 63.46 euros again. That is a workplace arrangement, not a cheaper public price you can demand at a station.

A semester version was agreed at 60 percent of the regular Deutschlandticket price, with the same personal, second-class, nationwide local scope. Whether a given university actually offers it depends on negotiations with the transport companies. Ask the university. Do not assume the 60 percent price is on sale at every campus, or that 40.08 euros in 2027 starts on 1 January rather than with the semester the eight-month lead time points to.

The Länder may add further reductions at their own cost, for example for apprentices, pupils or social tickets. Check the published prices with your transport company or local association.

What to do

1. Buy it as a subscription from a transport company or association that sells it. The Federal Government says every participating company and association can sell it, and that the official Deutschlandticket site lists providers near you. A photo of someone else’s ticket is not a ticket.
2. Carry identification. The ticket is tied to you. If an inspector asks, you need to show who you are, not only a barcode.
3. Plan the journey on local and regional services. If a connection is an ICE, IC, or EC, or a Flix train or bus, you need that operator’s own ticket. A few exceptions exist. Check them with Deutsche Bahn or the operator before you board, rather than arguing them on the train.
4. If you only need it for a short stay, remember it is a monthly subscription you can cancel by the month. The standard tariff condition is cancellation by the 10th of a calendar month, to the end of that month. A seller’s billing arrangement or contract-year product can differ, including a fixed twelve-month term the tariff allows for some combined products. The Federal Government says it is cancellable monthly. Check the seller’s checkout terms for the button and any different cut-off.
5. If an employer or a university offers a reduced version, compare that offer with the public price, 63 euros in 2026 and 66.80 euros from 1 January 2027, and with the conditions. A job ticket still follows the employer’s subsidy rule above. A semester ticket exists only where the university has agreed it.

DB subscriptions continuing into 2027

For a Deutschlandticket sold by DB and purchased before 15 October 2026, the current DB guidance asks the contract holder to accept the new price and supplementary fare information by 30 November 2026. Without that consent, DB schedules the subscription to end on 31 December 2026. A ticket bought by someone else needs the contract holder’s consent, not just the traveller’s. If the deadline was missed, DB says the subscription can still be continued by selecting “Reactivate subscription” in DB Navigator or Aboportal until the scheduled cancellation on 31 December 2026. Reactivation continues the subscription under the new price and supplementary fare information.

If you purchased the DB ticket on or after 15 October 2026, you were already informed of the new price and terms at purchase, so no separate consent is required. Your subscription continues under the revised terms unless you cancel. Open DB Navigator or the official DB Aboportal yourself to check your subscription and respond; do not enter payment details through an unexpected message link. These consent dates and the purchase-date exception are DB’s rules. If another provider sold your ticket, check that provider’s notice and terms.

Check the total subscription cost before a short stay

Check the first validity month, full monthly price, cancellation deadline and earliest end date before paying. This is a calendar-month subscription, not a rolling thirty-day visitor pass. Cancellation by the 10th of a calendar month, to the end of that month, is the standard Deutschlandticket tariff condition, not only a DB rule. A purchase for the current month after that cutoff can therefore leave you paying for both that month and the next. Specific billing arrangements and contract-year products can vary by seller. The tariff also allows a fixed term of twelve months for some products combined with other passenger-transport offers. Check the seller’s checkout terms.

Set a reminder and cancel through the seller’s stated channel. Deleting an app or leaving Germany does not cancel the subscription. Keep the receipt and confirmed end date, and check the subscription account if confirmation does not arrive. See Contracts and subscriptions for more on cancellation. For unexpected payment or account-verification messages, open the seller’s official account independently rather than entering payment details through a message link.

Ticket checks, extra fares and passenger rights

At a ticket check, show your personal ticket and an official photo identity document. The monthly price does not include separate local fares for extras. For a passenger-rights claim, check the rules that apply to your trip.

The ticket is not transferable. Until a passenger’s 16th birthday, a pupil identity card is enough, and if none is issued that identity duty does not apply. The monthly price is for second class. Where the local tariff charges for first class, a bicycle, a dog, or an on-demand ride, that fare is extra.

A claim follows the transport contract for the trip you took. For rail, the Deutschlandticket conditions point to the Deutschlandtarif passenger rights and exclude the additional delay right in section 11(1) number 1 of the Railway Transport Ordinance, because they treat this fare as heavily reduced. That rail rule is not a rule for every local bus or tram. Do not use a Deutsche Bahn long-distance practice as the deadline for a local trip.

Common mistakes

• Lending the phone that holds the ticket. It is not transferable. The person who travels has to be the person named on it.
• Expecting the Deutschlandticket itself to include a dog, a bicycle, or a free companion because a local day ticket used to allow them. Check separately for a disability-related accompaniment right and for local offers or charges before you travel.
• Treating 63 euros as the job-ticket price or the student price, or subtracting 5 percent from 63.46 euros. The public price is 63 euros in 2026 and 66.80 euros from 1 January 2027. For 2027, 63.46 euros is already the regular price minus 5 percent, and the employee pays less because the employer contributes at least 25 percent of the regular fare. The semester price is 40.08 euros, and the eight-month lead time can move its start to the winter semester 2027/28. The semester ticket is still not automatic.
• Buying from a reseller that will not name the transport company. Use a company or association that actually issues the Deutschlandticket.