Amsterdam to Berlin - no Sparpreis tickets in June/July?

[M28361M]

Looking at a little trip from Amsterdam to Berlin on the direct IC train which takes about 6 hours.

Searching for trains on 18th June, although the trains are present in the journey planner and are open for reservation, there seem to be no advance purchase Sparpreis tickets available, only the full flexible fares for 120 Euro or thereabouts. The only cheap tickets available are for journeys involving 2 or 3 changes.

A brief search through DB's website gives the same result every day from 13th June until 6th July, but looking at dates just before or after that period there seem to be plenty of Sparpreis tickets available.

Is there an event during that period which could affect availability? I know Euro 2020 is happening around then. Or perhaps engineering work plans not finalised? (I am not too sure how this sort of thing works with DB!)

 

[30907]

As you say, it seems only to affect tickets from/to NL and using the ICs across the border at Oldenzaal, maybe one of our NL-based readers knows more?
Sparpreis are available as normal from Bad Bentheim, and via Arnhem-Emmerich or Venlo.

 

[M28361M]

Sparpreis are available as normal from Bad Bentheim, and via Arnhem-Emmerich or Venlo.

Thanks, didn't think to look from Bad Bentheim - strange that they are available from there, but not from Amsterdam on the same train. I have looked at the engineering works page on the NS website but as far as I can tell there is nothing scheduled on that line for the dates I am looking at.

 

[30907]

As the NS Internationaal site produces the same result, the simplest answer may be that international fares haven't been loaded beyond the timetable change.

 

[M28361M]

As the NS Internationaal site produces the same result, the simplest answer may be that international fares haven't been loaded beyond the timetable change.

Not sure it's due to the timetable change, as fares are available from 6/7/2020 onwards.

Is split-ticketing allowed on DB? If I book separate tickets Amsterdam-Bad Bentheim and Bad Bentheim-Berlin, that would get the cost down a bit.

 

[AlexNL]

I've had a look on the websites of NS and DB, but I haven't found any information regarding upcoming engineering works over that period. After playing around a bit with the DB website I've found that there are more periods for which no saver fares are available yet, I've even seen this for an individual train. This leads me to believe that not all timetables have been confirmed yet, and train times on those dates are still subject to change (probably on the Dutch domestic portion of the journey, since you have been able to find tickets from Bad Bentheim).

You may want to check a little bit closer to your intended day of travel. There's plenty of space on an IC Berlin service, so if you book a few weeks in advance you should still be able to nab a good deal.