DB London Spezial tickets

[CroydonPlanner]

I'm going to be travelling from London to Berlin in July using one of the DB London Spezial fares in 1st class. Does anyone know whether this gives you a seat in Standard Premier or Business Premier for the leg between London and Brussels?

Thanks

 

[gordonthemoron]

Standard Premier IIRC

 

[CroydonPlanner]

Standard Premier IIRC

Thanks - that's what I thought was most likely. Looks like I'll have to make the most of the more limited breakfast offering.

 

[pne]

Standard Premier IIRC

That was my experience when I travelled (Hamburg-)Brussels-London via 1st class London-Spezial last April as well.

 

[Goldfish62]

Thanks - that's what I thought was most likely. Looks like I'll have to make the most of the more limited breakfast offering.

Yes, definitely Standard Premier. But at least you get more than in DB 1st Class, although the far superior ambience of the ICEs makes up for the lack of freebies IMO.

 

[CroydonPlanner]

All booked now - just one further query...

Went to book these tickets for travel on Monday 6th July, and was on the DB website at 23:00 (UK time) on the 5th April as this was when they went on sale. Was surprised to see they were 159€ (1st class) each rather than the 109€ we were expecting. Is this because it's a Monday in summer and therefore busier than usual, or were we just unlucky?

Thanks in advance

 

[eastwestdivide]

For comparison, I managed €129 for 1st class London-Garmisch (beyond Munich) starting from London on a summer Friday, and that was booking the first day they were available.

 

[Groningen]

I believe that only flying is cheaper for that price.

 

[30907]

All booked now - just one further query...

Went to book these tickets for travel on Monday 6th July, and was on the DB website at 23:00 (UK time) on the 5th April as this was when they went on sale. Was surprised to see they were 159€ (1st class) each rather than the 109€ we were expecting. Is this because it's a Monday in summer and therefore busier than usual, or were we just unlucky?

Afraid it's high summer in most of Europe, but I am surprised as there are at least 3 seats at the headline price on sale today for both morning trains.

 

[DEE-DE]

Don't think I've ever seen them start at anything but the minimum price since they increased it to 59/109 € min. And in 2013 was the only time I didn't book immediately at midnight and got a first class on the 4 pm arrival into London from South-Western Germany for 109 € about two weeks after booking opened. That was on the last Friday in August.
And I've done it return this Christmas, out on the 23rd Drec and back on the 13th Jan. This Easter I did it on Wednesday and back two weeks later. And all these were for 54€. The Christmas ones bought about an hour after Christmas, the Easter out booked at midnight and the Easter return booked about an hour after midnight on the phone (problems booking the Estar online). And usually standard class rises faster than first as those who are willing to pay more are more likely to fly.

 

[Hophead]

My (recent) experience of booking via DB is that, if you really do want first class, you're best off splitting your travel into Eurostar (standard) and DB (whatever). The Eurostar portion does seem to command a high premium, whereas 1st class for the German leg is often priced at €10 or so above 2nd class. At present, Eurostar has plenty of £36 singles (at least for the dates that I was looking at) in standard and you can find some reasonable deals within Germany.

As it happens, I shall be leaving Berlin on the day the OP is planning to set out.

 

[Oscar]

There is generally high availability for the lowest tiers on connections including the 1943 Köln - Brussels and 0625 Brussels - Köln - you can often get these fares with less than a month to go. For connections with do not require an overnight stop in Brussels, there is often availability, but it's very limited. When the fare from London to Köln is over 59 € (2nd class/Standard Class), then availability within Germany affects the onward price, so the fare offered could be 69 € to Köln but 109 € to somewhere much further away, but when it's 59 € to Köln, it's always 59 €. I presume this is the same with 109 € First Class tickets.

 

[pne]

Went to book these tickets for travel on Monday 6th July, and was on the DB website at 23:00 (UK time) on the 5th April as this was when they went on sale. Was surprised to see they were 159€ (1st class) each rather than the 109€ we were expecting. Is this because it's a Monday in summer and therefore busier than usual, or were we just unlucky?

Happened to me last year as well: refreshed the website a minute or so after midnight but 1st class tickets cost €159 rather than €109 for the day I was interested in (a Thursday in April).