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Comment by elpocko | Hacker News Reader

It doesn't. The ticket is available as a monthly subscription only, you can't just go and buy one.

It's a subscription requiring a German bank account in most cases. In theory any SEPA account should work, but it's a well-known problem that sellers break the law and accept only domestic accounts.

However, reportedly a small number of apps allow paying by credit card. And some are more flexible regarding cancelling the subscription than others.

I just stayed with the app that I used for my old monthly ticket (mobil.nrw) and it allows paying with Paypal.

App stores are not global. I remember someone saying a certain D-Ticket app not being available in their country. I vaguely remember you can switch the country, but it's a hassle and can cause problems with other apps you have. Another barrier to keep in mind besides the payment method.

Which would help tourism if tourists could buy it, but the app asked for some Id and double-checking the web asks for an European address (UK is also listed)

Yeah, as in "you can just go and buy one." It looks like they made it intentionally hard to acquire the ticket: government issued identification required, no way to purchase it ad hoc, subscription only; it's German bureaucratic hell. It's as if they want it to fail.

The political reasoning was that it's for commuters only. Tourism is not a big thing on federal level, so they don't want to subsidize tickets for tourists. Tourist areas sometimes have special tourist tickets for their guests.

As a tourist though you want the least burden without getting ripped off. Just ask for my payment details and charge me whatever is fair for my trips.

I don't want to become an expert on buying the optimal set of tickets from multiple regions.

That's your perspective. The federal government is not interested. Tourist regions are interested, but of course they usually do not cooperate with others, so every one invents their own thing. So you end up what Germans call a ticket jungle.

They made me spend more money, which I wouldn't mind since I don't contribute to any of the subsidies public transport may have, but you can simply charge more, or consider it an investment since tourists bring new money in daily.

Having the ticket would help a lot navigating around without fear of having the wrong ticket or making dealing with delays or cancellation even more frustrating.

You only need some official document (ID card, passport, whatever) that matches the name and birthday. If you are a tourist, you must have a passport or ID card close by anyhow.

Right, that's a requirement at ticket inspections. At least in theory, in practice in 99% it's not going to be checked.

For buying it, ID might be required at some sellers, but typically it's not.

There is no "the app". There are 100s of sellers, and each of them has different processes. Some sell smart cards at the ticket windows, most have apps, and some have both. Only the price and the basic rules of validity are nationwide. Some offer extra regional perks.

You can just cancel the subscription at any moment. I had American friends doing that.

Americans can't buy the ticket. EU citizens only.

Source? I seriosly doubt that. Yes, it's difficult to find a suitable seller, but it's neither forbidden nor impossible.

I only have anecdata and I don't feel like googling until I find something that confirms the real life experience.

It's probably not impossible, but it's also not as simple a transaction as it could be. It is a difficult affair, at least bordering on impossible unless you're a EU citizen with a SEPA bank account.

Citizenship is definitely not relevant. Owning a SEPA account is a precondition at most sellers, even a German SEPA account at some, although the latter has been decided unlawful by courts before.

However, another comment somewhere mentions a seller that accepts Paypal. I'm sure I have heard about others accepting credit card. They are rare, but they exist. It doesn't matter where in Germany you buy the ticket, it's always valid everywhere. Buying the smart card version at some weird place might be practically infeasible and sometimes they are not issued on the spot but after a delivery time. But for buying the app version you "just" have to do your homework. Quick, easy, and convenient, no. Possible, yes.

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