Want to get your hands on a Deutsche Bahn railcard for a discounted price? You’d better get your skates on! To celebrate 30 years since the BahnCard was first introduced, the rail operator is offering it at a discount until the end of April. 

BahnCard 25 discounted until end of April

If you’ve always thought about getting a BahnCard but have been put off by the price tag, now’s your chance to bag one at a discount. Between April 1 and 30, Deutsche Bahn is offering its BahnCard 25 for second-class travel for 30 euros instead of 56,90 euros. If you prefer the finer things, the first-class BahnCard 25 will be available for 60 euros instead of 115 euros. 

The BahnCard 25 - as the name suggests - offers its holders 25 percent off regular ticket prices across Germany, including Sparpreis and Flexpreis tickets, for a whole year. The ticket pays for itself if you spend 120 euros or more on trains in Germany within one year, or 240 euros if you’re travelling first class. 

If you’ve already purchased a BahnCard, you can still take advantage of the discount, by setting the start date of your new railcard to the day after the expiry of your current one. For convenience, you can also load your BahnCard onto the DB App on your mobile phone. 

30 years of Deutsche Bahn railcards in Germany

The BahnCard was first introduced 30 years ago in 1992, and within 100 days around 700.000 passengers had bought one. Nowadays, around 4,5 million people have a BahnCard - around 5 percent of the whole population. 

And it’s not just locals who like to get their transport in Germany at a discounted price. Deutsche Bahn announced this week that 200 people from Canada, 22 from Argentina, 14 from New Zealand and even one person from the Christmas Islands are the proud owners of BahnCards. 

In Germany, they are most popular among residents of Merzhausen, a small town in Baden-Württemberg, where almost one in four locals have a BahnCard! 

“The BahnCard has been making rail travel cheaper for 30 years,” Michael Paterson, chairperson of Deutsche Bahn's management board, said. “This means that the second generation of BahnCard holders is already growing up, and we can see that the BahnCard is particularly popular with these customers. Every third BahnCard holder is 30 years old or younger.”