Travelling by train at Christmas: This is the best time to leave the university town
Christmas is just around the corner and for many students in Germany this means travelling home to family and friends: Travelling home from the university city to family and friends. But when is the best time to travel as cheaply as possible with Deutsche Bahn? We investigated this question at BSBI in a study of 343 long-distance Deutsche Bahn connections and determined the price differences in the top 20 German student cities. The destination cities were the ten largest cities in Germany as well as the largest cities from the federal states that are not represented in the ten largest cities in Germany. The results show: Train prices can fluctuate by up to 145 per cent depending on the day of departure and starting point – it’s worth checking the timetable early, especially before public holidays.
Train prices fluctuate the most in Karlsruhe
Anyone planning to travel out of Karlsruhe by Deutsche Bahn around Christmas should take a close look at the prices beforehand: With a price difference of up to 145.20 per cent (23.06 euros), the city on the Rhine is clearly in first place in the ranking. It is closely followed by the science city of Darmstadt with a price fluctuation of around 143.44 per cent. Third place is taken by Heidelberg, where prices can vary by around 126.32 per cent depending on the day of departure in December. The state capital of Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart, follows in fourth place (125.49 per cent). Munich, the second largest university city with the most students, is in fifth place (124.54 per cent price difference).
Smallest price difference in Dresden
Students and young people generally between the ages of 15 and 26 who live in Dresden and want to travel home for the Christmas period can relax when booking a train: The train price here only varies by 94.95 per cent (15.63 euros). This means that the price difference in Dresden is the smallest of all the cities surveyed as a starting point for travelling in the run-up to Christmas. Second place was taken by Dortmund (97.66 per cent price difference), with Münster in third place at 99.03 per cent. In Aachen (101.49 per cent) and the capital of Lower Saxony, Hanover (103.69 per cent), there are greater price fluctuations when booking trains in December.
If you want to travel cheaply, book before 20 December
“Most people know that the booking period has a decisive influence on the price of air travel. However, train prices also fluctuate considerably in some cases. Especially for students, who are often travelling on a limited budget, it is essential to plan early and keep an eye on price fluctuations. Students should use their flexibility to make the most of their travel budget. For all 20 student cities analysed, the average most expensive day to travel is 20 December. If you want to travel home as cheaply as possible, you should leave on 17 December. With the exception of Aachen, every other starting city has the cheapest train connection on this day, comments Dr Kamilia Kentra, lecturer at BSBI and tourism expert.
About the study
343 long-distance Deutsche Bahn connections were analysed for the 15-26 age category. If the long-distance connection was slower or minimally faster (15 minutes), it was excluded. The train prices of the cheapest connections in each of the top 20 student cities (most students in absolute terms) from which students start were compared with each other. For this purpose, the average price of the respective day to get from the starting city to the destination city analysed was determined. The minimum and maximum price as well as the price difference in euros and per cent were also recorded. In addition, only connections departing between 7:00 am and 6:59 pm were included. The destination cities were the ten largest cities in Germany as well as the largest cities from the federal states that are not represented in the ten largest cities in Germany. The study period was 11 and 12 November.