It’s really something nice: before the train journey, get out of the hustle and bustle on the platforms and enter the quiet train hall (available in the most important metropolitan railway stations). Finally clean toilets, free soft drinks and specialty coffees. All just for extreme frequent drivers?
No, Deutsche Bahn is reforming its BahnBonus bonus program (from 13 June). BILD explains how you can also become a Normalo Premium customer with access to the lounges. And there are free drinks on the train.
Rail travel should become more attractive for regular customers
Bonus points are required to access lounges. In order to redeem them, passengers still need a BahnCard. Around five million people are currently registered with BahnBonus, of which around 250,000 currently have BahnComfort status.
Have you ever been to a Deutsche Bahn lounge? There are two types.
▶︎ The area for Comfort customers
Until now, 2,000 status points had to be collected in the BahnBonus program in order to obtain Comfort customer status. It’s not that easy, because for every euro spent on the purchase of tickets, one bonus point is credited. Means: If the points are collected only through the sale of tickets, to collect 2000 points it is necessary to spend 2000 euros. However, there are also collection opportunities with partners such as online shops or service providers. Wherever the points come from, they expire after three years.
▶︎ The area for 1st class travellers
If you want access to the first class lounge, you must have a first class Flex ticket. Then there are also sandwiches, cakes and alcohol.
There are DB lounges here (some with First Class): Berlin Central Station, Bremen Central Station, Dresden Central Station, Düsseldorf, Essen Central Station, Frankfurt/M. Central station and airport long-distance trains, Hamburg central station, Hanover, Cologne central station, Leipzig central station, Mannheim central station, Munich central station, Nuremberg central station, Stuttgart central station.
This is new to the BahnBonus programme
Now the railroad is changing its bonus program. There will now be three tiers: Silver, Gold and Platinum. The bottom one is also easy to reach for normal users. The previous status of BahnComfort will be abolished. There’s probably 1500 silver, 2500 gold, and 6000 stat point platinum a year.
For normal users, this means: It’s worth taking the train regularly – more than three times a year – because now 1500 instead of 2000 points are required for the first level.
Basically:
Customers receive status points for the purchase of tickets over five euros and for the purchase of BahnCards, business tickets and personal annual passes. The same number of points is also credited as bonus points.
You only get bonus points for sales with partners like hotels, car rentals, etc.
How to earn points
How do I collect reward and status points? An example of calculation:
▶︎ 4 journeys with ICE in 2nd class, Berlin – Munich route, flexible price. 4 x 153 euros = 572 status and bonus points
▶︎ 2 journeys with ICE in 2nd class, Hamburg-Frankfurt route, saver fare. 3 x 75 euros = 225 status and bonus points
▶︎ Enrollment in the BahnBonus program: 250 status points and bonus points each.
When registering for BahnBonus email communication, a 1st class upgrade is currently issued, but no points.
Total: 1037 bonus points! There are still 467 points to go for silver status.
What benefits are there for bronze, silver and gold status
A BahnCard is no longer necessary, but still worth it thanks to the discounts. BahnBonus points continue to expire after three years, status points after twelve months.
Here are the benefits from June 13th
▶︎ Silver level:
8 free drinks on board catering
8 DB Lounge day passes
30 Freiminuten Call a bike
▶︎ Gold Level:
12 free drinks on board catering
Exclusive seating area
Flat-rate entry to the DB Lounge
▶︎ Platinum level:
All the benefits of the Gold level
30% discount on onboard catering (can be used four times)
Flat-rate entry to the DB Lounge Premium area
2 free rides outward and return
Status guarantee (from now on you will always keep a status, at most you will be downgraded to silver)
How is the transition going?
The railroad now welcomes all status customers to the new levels of silver, gold and platinum. A BILD spokeswoman: “BahnBonus participants who are on 13.6. If you have more than 1500 status points, you automatically get silver status.
Sparfochs Verdict: Deutsche Bahn is now making the program attractive to more frequent travellers. Free drinks are a good move.
