49-euro ticket: consumer advice center criticizes the online ticket consumer trap

When the 49-euro ticket, now called the Deutschlandticket, is launched on May 1, 2023, the successor to the popular 9-euro ticket from summer 2022, many consumers could be left out. The Federal Consumer Association has warned of this.

The consumer advocates have ten transport companies and five transport associations scrutinized. They wanted to find out how well they provide online information about the ticket and the conditions for purchasing and changing existing local transport travelcards.

Result: Ten of the 15 providers already lacked an easily understandable overview of the service differences between current local transport subscriptions and the Deutschlandticket. Existing customers would also have to check for themselves whether their subscription will be changed automatically. Otherwise they have to take action themselves.

According to the Federal Consumer Association, both variants can be possible with one and the same provider. Eleven of the providers also lack information on how to deal with advance payments made for existing subscriptions when switching to the Deutschlandticket.

In addition, the consumer advocates criticize that five of the 15 providers do not have the option of buying the Deutschlandticket at counters or in customer centers. Four other providers do not provide any information.

If you don’t want to or can’t buy the Deutschlandticket online, you’re looking through your fingers. “The online ticket, which was favored from the start, threatens to become a problem for many consumers,” says Ramona Pop, head of the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations.

In addition, the “compulsory subscription could boomerang”. “No one should be left out,” Pop said. Unlike the 9-euro ticket, the Deutschlandticket cannot simply be bought at the ticket counter, but must be purchased in the form of a monthly subscription.

The ticket is issued as a mobile phone ticket or chip card. There is also a transitional period until the end of this year, during which you can also get the Deutschlandticket in paper form. A QR code is printed on it.

Just a few days ago, the Federation of German Consumer Organizations warned that users of the Germany ticket were at risk of having their passenger rights restricted. The problem concerns the so-called IC or ICE option.

Passengers with a ticket that is only valid for local transport can use a long-distance train if their train is at least 20 minutes late. You then have to buy the additional ticket, but you will be refunded the additional costs.

Users of the Deutschlandticket could be exempt from this rule, according to consumer advocates. Reason: The new ticket is considered a “significantly reduced fare”, as Spiegel Online writes.