If you decide at the weekend to take an ICE somewhere next week, the cheap fares will now last until December 2027. Deutsche Bahn has extended its Last-Minute tickets by a year; the state-owned company says spontaneous travellers can use them “until the timetable change in December 2027”. The offer was originally due to end in December 2026.
The “Super Sparpreis Last Minute” fares have been on sale since 9 May 2026. They start at €6.99 one way in second class, subject to availability, and can be booked only on Saturdays and Sundays for travel from Monday to Sunday of the following week. So today is still your chance to book trips up to 8 November. Booking is on bahn.de or in the DB Navigator app; qualifying offers are marked with a crown and the word “Aktion”.
What to check before you buy
The ticket is valid only on the ICE, IC or EC named on it. It cannot be exchanged or refunded, with one exception: if you book online or in the app, you can cancel free of charge within 180 minutes, provided the first day of validity has not begun. Regional trains and S-Bahn to the long-distance station can be added if you select them when booking. BahnCard 25 and 50 holders get a further 25% off, except on the City-Ticket.
For families: children under six travel free, and so do children aged 6 to 14 if accompanied by someone aged 15 or over and listed on the booking, up to four per ticket. A Munich–Nuremberg or Munich–Stuttgart trip can then cost a whole family one adult fare. The lowest prices go fast, though, and if your date is fixed, for instance an appointment at an authority or the start of school, a flexible fare is safer.
Free Jugend BahnCard until 12 December
The Jugend BahnCard 25 promotion was extended too. According to DB, from 7 October to 12 December 2026 it costs €0 instead of €7.90 a year. It is for children and teenagers aged 6 to 18, lasts 12 months, expires automatically and does not turn into a subscription. It gives 25% off Spar, Super Spar and Flex fares.
The catch is ordering. You need a separate DB customer account in the child’s name, with an email address not already used at DB. Ordering via a parent’s account is not possible, DB says. A payment method (a parent’s is fine) must be added, and the card appears digitally in DB Navigator. With several children, that means several accounts and several addresses.
Our assessment: for families who visit relatives or friends in other cities a few times a year, the free card pays off at once, but only alongside Spar or Flex fares, not the Deutschlandticket. According to dpa, DB is also extending the free Jugend BahnCard again; until when has not yet been announced, and bahn.de still shows 12 December for now. Note that some outlets give different sales periods for the Last-Minute fares; we follow bahn.de.
Sources: Deutsche Bahn (Last Minute), Deutsche Bahn (Jugend BahnCard), Tagesspiegel/dpa, mydealz
