Step by Step: How to Buy the Deutschland Ticket (With a Credit Card or no IBAN!)

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Whhhhhhyyyyyyyy?????? Why can’t life just be simple, easy and straight forward sometimes!? Ok, fine. That is a bit melodramatic, especially when talking about something like buying the 49 Euro Ticket (Deutschland Ticket) for regional train journeys in Germany, but seriously, why can’t it just be easier? For example, why in the world can’t I buy the Deutschland Ticket with a credit card!?!? Well, here’s (maybe) why (not saying it’s a GOOD reason):

The Deutschland Ticket is a government-subsidized ticket. This is important to know logistically because all the individual companies like Deutsche Bahn and then every single regional or local city public transportation is simply IMPLEMENTING the ticket.
This means that each individual company sort of has its own “rules” in purchasing it and there is no 1, across the board, standard (besides the final cost and cancellation dates)

Where to buy the 49 Euro Ticket

To be completely honest, I have NO idea why the actual German Train Company, Deutsche Bahn, isn’t accepting credit cards for the 49 Euro Ticket. Why in the world can the smaller, local transportation companies accept them but not Deutsche Bahn?? Alas, when it comes to things like this in Germany, I’ve learned to just accept it for what it is and move on with what IS available instead of doing my head in with Deutsche Bahn right now. And I’d actually be pretty shocked if Deutsche Bahn didn’t eventually get it to where you CAN buy the 49 Euro Ticket with a credit card. But that’s not today. So what does an average tourist who doesn’t have an IBAN do?? As of right now, you have two major options

Use something like WISE Banking to get a free IBAN account
Use one of the local companies that ARE accepting credit cards to purchase straight through them.

In this article, I’m going to do a quick overview of the €49 train ticket to remind us all what that entails and what things we need to remember about that ticket, and then I’ll also go into EXACTLY how to get an IBAN to purchase with Deutschbahn or how to use the other Apps and transport companies to use your credit card.

49 Euro Deutschland Train Ticket Review

How to buy the Deutschland Ticket

While there’s WAY too much detail, information, and things to know about the new Deutschland Ticket to list here, and you can read ALL of it and more at that article so that you fully understand what all the ticket entails. The quick cliff notes version is that:

You may only use the Deutschland Ticket on REGIONAL TRAINS ONLY (No ICE/IC/EC trains which are the high speed trains in Germany)
Seat reservations are not possible on any regional train, so no, you can not book one
The 49 Euro Ticket is good for one month, from the 1st of the month to the end. It is not any 1 month period. For example, it is good for all of Septermber, all of October, etc but NOT Sep 12- October 12.
You must purchase by the 10th of the prior month * (read below for possible exceptions)
You must cancel your ticket by the 10th of the prior month (Example: If you are using the ticket for all of December for the German Christmas Markets and do not need it for January, you will need to have it canceled by December 10th)

Read the Full Complete Guide to the Germany Deutschland Train Ticket Here

How To Buy the 49 Euro Deutschland Ticket

Right now, you can pretty much purchase the ticket anywhere you could buy other Germany Train Tickets online. The catch is that on the main, Deutsche Bahn site you currently can’t use a credit card. On Deutsche Bahn, they are still requiring that you must use an IBAN. If you aren’t sure what that is, IBAN stands for “International Bank Account Number.” Here in Germany, everyone who has a German (Or European for that matter) bank account will have an IBAN (number). This number is used for quick “wire transfers” and direct deposits as well as direct debits (not to be confused with a “Debit Card.”)

I’ll cover how you can actually get an IBAN for free and still purchase directly from Deutsche Bahn. But if you don’t want to do that, I think the easiest hack to buying the 49 Euro Ticket without a German bank account is to head straight to the individual transport apps.

Use a Credit Card to Buy the Deutschland Ticket

can you buy the 49 Euro ticket with a credit card

So, while Deutsche Bahn is the national railway company in Germany, most bigger cities also have their own public transportation systems (and Apps) that operate individually. And ironically, more and more of them are starting to offer the option to use a (foreign) credit card if you buy the ticket directly from their App.

Do NOT ask me why the individual entities can offer this and the largest rail company in Germany can’t. Believe me, I’ve stopped asking questions about the efficiency of German Bureaucracy ages ago! I have a feeling that eventually DB will let you buy the Deutschland Ticket directly through them via credit cards, but alas, we aren’t quite there yet!

I’m sure there are more but the ones that I know do offer the option to purchase the Deutschland Ticket with Credit Cards are:

Deutschland Ticket Credit Card — Bremen Fahrplanner App Seems to Be One Of the Easiest Ways to Buy the 49 Euro Ticket with a Credit Card

The Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund. I personally called them up and they verified that you can purchase with a credit card in both the App and the website
The Bremen VBN Fahrplanner App (hat tip to Seat 61)
The HVV Hamburg App: Thanks to a member of my Travel in Bavaria FB Group who personally did this
Rheinbahn App