A BahnCard 25 gives you 25% off journeys, can be combined with saving offers and costs ~60€ per year. A BahnCard 50 gives you 50% off journeys but cannot be combined with savings. I think it costs ~200€ per year. A BahnCard 100 gives you 100% off journeys, i.e. the only extra cost a journay may occur are either seat reservation costs or the "Sprinter" extra for the fast train Frankfurt<->Berlin, which is not included (and technically a seat reservation anyway). This option costs ~3600€ per year or some such.
The point is, if you want to take the train, either book ahead (and maybe get a BahnCard 25), or get one of the other two. I used to do a mere 2h journey a bunch of times a year (as returns), and the BahnCard 50 easily paid for itself in just 2 or 3 trips, while also offering fantastic flexibility, since it's always 50% off the regular price, which is static.
That's how people afford trains. Also, with the BahnCards, you usually get a free ticket for central public transport zones at your destination, for example for Zone A in Berlin.
Just for your example, a single from Munich->Berlin costs 65€ with a BahnCard 50, i.e. 130€ return, booked right now. The booked ticket lets you ride at any time within the next two days, so you are also not tied to a specific train and it's no big deal if you arrive later at the station etc. (which is not the case for special offers, which tie you to a specific train). 130€ return from München Hbf to Berlin Hbf is really not that bad.
Great advice .. I used my DB50 card for many years to do weekend trips all over that part of Europe from the Ruhr area (okay, mostly to Amsterdam, I admit), and it was definitely a good investment.
The point is, if you want to take the train, either book ahead (and maybe get a BahnCard 25), or get one of the other two. I used to do a mere 2h journey a bunch of times a year (as returns), and the BahnCard 50 easily paid for itself in just 2 or 3 trips, while also offering fantastic flexibility, since it's always 50% off the regular price, which is static.
That's how people afford trains. Also, with the BahnCards, you usually get a free ticket for central public transport zones at your destination, for example for Zone A in Berlin.
Just for your example, a single from Munich->Berlin costs 65€ with a BahnCard 50, i.e. 130€ return, booked right now. The booked ticket lets you ride at any time within the next two days, so you are also not tied to a specific train and it's no big deal if you arrive later at the station etc. (which is not the case for special offers, which tie you to a specific train). 130€ return from München Hbf to Berlin Hbf is really not that bad.