What is first class like on a high speed train in Germany? I had a chance to try first class recently on a Deutsche Bahn (DB) Intercity Express (ICE) high-speed train from Basel to Frankfurt, though perhaps my experience was a bit unusual.
I’ve used DB ICE for years and never bothered to pay the supplement for first class. This time, however, it just made sense.
ICE First Class Booking
Deutsche Bahn has an excellent website, not only for booking for you train travel from checking train schedules across Continental Europe. The app for iPhone is also excellent and highly recommended.
As often happens when leaving Germany, I find it easier to take a train to Frankfurt to begin my journey then start from Basel (where prices are higher) or drive to Zurich. Train schedules to Zurich are less frequent and I prefer FRA over ZRH, since upgrades and award space is usually easier.
For this trip, I wanted to spend the entire Sunday with my family, then get up to Frankfurt in time for an early flight on Monday. That mean the dreaded overnight train. Germany offers many “Nachtzug” trains (trains specially intended or overnight service with sleepers). This was not one of those routes. Instead, this was a typical ICE train that has seats that are more akin to traveling economy class (i.e., not roomy like Amtrak in the USA).
But look at the price the day before:
I’ve never seen a ticket that cheap…and then I noticed the first class upgrade was only 10EUR.
It was an easy choice to book first class, if for nothing else than first class is generally not as crowded as second class.
First Class bookings come with a seat assignment included (you pay extra for one in second class) and I was able to pull up a seat map and choose my preferred seat. The cabin looked empty!
After confirming my seat, I was able to pay by credit card and issue the ticket immediately, then download a .pdf to my computer and a mobile ticket on the DB app.
ICE First Class Onboard Experience
My wife accompanied me to the Basel Bad Station and kissed me goodbye as I boarded the train. I smiled because I had the entire carriage to myself. That wouldn’t be the case the entire journey, as more passengers are picked up as the train travels north, but this was definitely already worth the extra 10EUR, just for the peace and quiet.
The seats are the same as in second class, but covered in faux leather instead of cloth and in a 1-2 configuration instead of a 2-2 configuration.
Complimentary newspapers and magazines were available.
I noticed that the six-seat compartments were empty and decided to spread out in one, creating a “poor man’s first class”. It was a cold night and I appreciated temperature and lighting controls to heat up the cabin and make it dark.
We departed on-time and soon a conductor entered my cabin and scanned my ticket. With that, I fell asleep and managed to get nearly four hours of sleep before arriving in Frankfurt (yes, I sent multiple alarms to ensure I would not sleep past my stop). The compartment stayed empty the entire journey.
While I don’t have experience traveling on a train in first class on regular basis, I’ve never been on a train so empty in second class. 10EUR for a short, albeit solid night’s rest? What a great deal!
If you are traveling with luggage, there are no checked bags, but plenty of space above seats and in between rows to store bags.
ICE First Class Dining
ICE trains feature a dining car onboard. While I slept through this journey, I wanted to share pictures from a meal I had on a previous journey.
First Class does not receive complimentary food (except on ICE trains to France in cooperation with TGV), but you can order food and drinks at your seat. If you are traveling in Second Class, you must visit the café or dining car to order food.
Here’s the current menu:
On a previous trip, my wife and I had lunch onboard, splitting maultaschen with salad. I’m a picky maultaschen (a Schwabish dish with an outer-layer of pasta dough and a filling of minced meat, spinach, bread crumbs and onions) eater and this was very tasty.
I look forward to dining on ICE again on a future journey.
CONCLUSION
This was literally the best 10EUR I’ve ever spent. If you see an upgrade for that cheap, grab it. Overall, I’ve run into several delays over the years on DB…the train certainly does not always run on time. But I’ve come to appreciate DB and suddenly am a big fan of the first class product, even if the hard product isn’t that much different.
Have you traveled on DB ICE in first class?
> Read More: TGV First Class from Stuttgart to Paris Train Review
On the trains in Germany do you have to be concerned about having luggage stolen from the overhead racks?
I’ve been told that in Europe it’s generally a bad idea to put your bags up there as their is a high probability of having them stolen. I even saw it happen once to a family on a train into Paris where when they went to get up and get off a bag they had placed on the overhead rack was gone. I didn’t see the bag being taken just the family frantically trying to figure out where it went.
It’s not Japan, but I’ve found it’s generally not an issue on ICE trains, especially in 1st. Still, common sense should prevail…don’t leave bags unattended, especially during stops.
So easy for cops to setup stings. Put GPS enabled bags. Then follow the thief and beat him up. Don’t bother with arrest and court cases. Just beat him up.
This extra judicial justice needs to off the records through mutual trust between a group of cops that will never snitch on each other. That’s very hard. All type A rambos always snitch.
I think one information is wrong. The DB does not offer overnight trains with sleepers. This service was shut down in 2016.
Now the only overnight trains are from the Austrian railway (öbb).
So clean. If this was the liberal california everything would be dirty and graffiti and people would defend the rights of the perpetrator.
Is someone else posting in debit’s name? Because this sounds like someone else…also, what trains in “liberal california” are these?
@Aaron, “credit/debit” isn’t an actual person. Someone has just been posting inflammatory and/or bizarre things under those handles for years in an attempt to sow chaos on this and a few other travel hacking blogs. Best just to ignore it.
I usually prefer to travel 1st on ICE if I’m booking the tickets myself and they are not too expensive (as is the case 60% of the time). I have however had several negative experiences with delays and have found the east-west routes to be really slow because the tracks are not rated for high speeds. I would also say that the service in first class is really inconsistent because the trains are understaffed. I have been on 5hr journeys where I was not once asked whether I wanted to order something from the menu. When there is someone to take your order, it may take them 20min to bring you a coffee and another 90min to finally get your cup after you drank it. Ryanair has better service than that.
The seats and the quieter cabin are a nice plus though for paying marginally more.
I found that service in 1st, during a trip last Christmas, to be nothing special. Some attendants were fine, others cold. Having a train car that was almost empty was a nice bonus, but I hated how I was nickel and dimed for everything. They even returned after I paid my bill to tried to charge me for mayo and mustard packets!
The German railways sold their overnight sleeper trains to OBB who still run over night trains between Switzerland and Germany. If you had booked via OBB you would have been on the same service as the DB overnight train as both operators coaches make up the same train. Bless
10 eur is a standard upgrade price to 1st on DB. I usually pay it since the seat assignment in 2nd is 5 eur already.
There are also first-class lounges, though they are super bare-bones even compared to a basic airline lounge.
That’s not standard based upon the Basel – Frankfurt routes I usually book. I’d always pay that. Usually it is 30-40EUR.
DB is Good But OBB is better!
I cannot imagine anything worse than arriving in Frankfurt ( or anywhere else..) at 0321, unless for a very early flight.
I find the online booking system a bit confusing, but the staff at the stations have always been very helpful and obliging.
One of the nice things about European trains is that the quality of the food in the stations is very good, not only eat-in but also the ‘fast’ options ‘to go’, and usually cheaper than the airports.
On my recent ICE first class mid-day trips in Germany from Hamburg to Berlin almost none of the menu food items were available– just candy and beverages. I would rate ICE first class a big step down from the French Thalys trains (which have a choice of tasty complimentary meals and snacks in first class, as well as a much more polished crew) and a huge step down from the Green cars (first class) on Japanese trains, which have LA-Z-BOY style seats.