From time to time particularly when I'm travelling to Germany (must start, trip planned this year), I do read and watch alot of German media. I have to say that a recurring theme is the decline in quality of education in Germany ; sound familiar ? I tended to take this with a pinch of salt but maybe we can no longer expect fluent English spoken in Germany as standard.
I remember travelling 30 years ago in the times of the Intercity supplement (Zuschlag), I thought it would be a jolly wheeze to try to avoid paying by pretending to not speak German. D'oh. The guard spoke perfect English (Don't know how many BR guards spoke German).
When booking accommodation for this summer, I also saw alot of properties advertised where the owner didn't list as speaking English. It should be remembered that immigration means that many people haven't necessarily been through the German education system however good (or bad) it is.
To try to remain (vaguely) on topic : Long and short, I recommend learn the lingo or take a phrasebook (I prefer the former).