Today I finally managed to buy a BahnCard. It is issued by our national railway company and allows you to safe up to 100% of the price of a ticket. Of course I only bought BahnCard 50 for the 2nd class, which gives me a 50% discount on any 2nd class railway ticket for one year. The 100% card is too expensive. It doesn’t pay off for me.
At first, I intended to buy the card online, but it isn’t possible to get a student discount, if you buy online. So I stopped by the Reisezentrum (travel centre) on my way to the city for some Christmas shopping.
Unfortunately, I forgot to bring a photo. No problem, the officer said, but I need to take a photo of you now. This is part of our service, you don’t need to pay an extra fee for it, she added.
After she had taken a photo of me with a digital camera that seemed to be an old one from Medion, I told her that I really appreciated it and that I was surprised that they even offered such a service. Well, she said in a very official way, this is a special service of our Dienststelle (authority). We originally used Polaroid pictures. It isn’t offered all over Germany.
There are actually some branches of German railway that resist the overall tendency and seem to be commited to provide really great customer service. Still, the tone of the employee was very official. At all times, I didn’t have the impression that I bought a train ticket at a private company, but that I applied for some kind of formal document at a Bundesbehörde (federal authority). Also, I feel a bit like all those involuntary Jamba customers. I meant to buy a single BahnCard, but what I actually bought, was a subscription. I need to cancel 6 weeks in advance, if I don’t want to get (and pay for) a new one. It seems that Deutsche Bahn combines the worst of both worlds (private and public sector).
PS: I’m currently looking for partners at a new company. The company will be called Sunny Railway GbR. If you travel with German railway frequently, but a BahnCard 100 is still too expensive for you, contact me for more information.
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Hi Patrick,
you do not need a photo for a BahnCard. They try to convince you that a photo is mandatory, but that is not true. So you gave personal information to that company that you did not need to give them. You gave it away for free. Therefore they have the camera.
Best wishes.