Last Updated: 11th January 2025

I'm going to keep this post really short because it's so much more niche than my usual writings about learning German and living in Germany, but this has to be done: If you had asked me a few weeks ago how to buy a bike ticket on the DB Navigator app (Play, Apple) I would have shown you (as I did to a train conductor a few months ago who also didn't know) and you would have maybe said "Oh, wow, that's a bit confusing."

I am writing this short post today because after DB's last update to its app, it is no longer confusing, it's downright sadistic. So I decided to show you how to do it. Follow these ridiculous steps if you want to get on a train with a bike in Germany and need to know how to buy a bike ticket on the DB Navigator app:

1) On the main screen, scroll all the way down

2) Left-swipe on "Tickets & offers" until you can click on "Transport Association Tickets"

3) Scroll to select your region (if you're in or around Berlin, select "VBB" Berlin & Brandenburg)

4) Click on "Go to ticket selection"

5) Now click on "Single Ticket Bicycle (or, if you want a day ticket, select "24-hour-ticket bicycle"

6) A final note if you've never done this before

A couple of other things to keep in mind for first-timers buying their bike tickets for German regional trains (or S-Bahn) with the DB Navigator app: After you follow the instructions above, it'll let you buy your ticket, but not before you write down your starting location. It's a bit hard to see where and what to write, but just write the name of the train station you'll be starting your journey from (this is to ensure you don't use the ticket for round-trips.)

Annoyingly, it won't automatically log you in to Paypal, even if you tell it to remember your payment methos. If this is your payment method, you'll have to log in again every time.

Once you buy the ticket, it will start a visible countdown of one minute before you can use it. That's to prevent people from buying tickets only when they see a conductor/ticket checker. This feature is standard on other public transportation apps as well.

Lastly, you can't take a screenshot of the QR code, they need to scan it in the app itself when they come around checking people.

Ok, that's it, I hope this was useful to at least one person and that I successfully demonstrated how to buy a bike ticket with the DB Navigator app! In spite of everything, I love using this app, because it means I don't have to stress out while standing in line at the ONE ticket machine in some suburban station while the train approaches and the people in front of me don't understand how the machine works (a whole other story). 

Enjoy the trip!