Going to Bundesliga matches

[bflefc]

I've mentioned on here before that I try to get to 3 or 4 Bundesliga weekenders every season, as the experience is difficult to better.

Anyway, I've just had a superb display of customer (hate using that word in football parlance - we're fans moer than customers) service from FC Augsburg. I e-mailed them, asking about a ticket for their game against Wolfsburg on Friday 14 September. I knew that tickets went on general sale on 1 August, and this is never likely to be a sell-out. However, I daren't ever trust the Ukrainian postal system to have tickets delivered safely, so I always contact the club I'm visiting and ask if I can collect on match day.

Augsburg e-mailed me back within about 5 minutes, attaching a .pdf which is my reservation. I pay on the day, and they also attached the usual stadium map etc and indicated which box office I need to head for. Also, they gave me the name of the matchday operations manageress and her direct dial number in case I run into difficulties or my train is delayed etc.

Terrace ticket for €13. No dramas - just a kind of "bring cash on the day and square us away then, your ticket is guaranteed etc" kind of spirit, and I can't have asked for more.

Yet another example of how good German football can be. Superb.

 

[Cena]

They have free travel to games in Germany as well.

They are by far and away the best footballing country overall on Earth at the minute.

Sky Sports and the like will do their very best to make out the Premier League is the greatest, its not. I hope for the day we follow the German model, but we will never.

 

[bflefc]

Yep, free city transport with your match ticket. Usually from late morning til late night.

Cheap tickets, terracing, ale in the grounds, bratties and cracking atmospheres from the Ultras (although the authorities over there are clamping down this coming season - loads of matches already with reduced capacity limites or behind closed doors altogether).

 

[Cena]

Yep, free city transport with your match ticket. Usually from late morning til late night.

Cheap tickets, terracing, ale in the grounds, bratties and cracking atmospheres from the Ultras (although the authorities over there are clamping down this coming season - loads of matches already with reduced capacity limites or behind closed doors altogether).

Its a fantastic system, but as long as the Premier League make billions from their 'brand', us fans will continue to be sh1t on

 

[Goat]

But its in Germany.

 

[LTblue]

Germany operate things in a boss way and their fan/customer service in many sectors is 2nd only to the USA, but as Moutsgoat said it's in Germany ffs! and why the actual f*** would I want to go to an Augsburg v Wolfsburg game?!? FUME!

 

[alpha1]

I've mentioned on here before that I try to get to 3 or 4 Bundesliga weekenders every season, as the experience is difficult to better.

Anyway, I've just had a superb display of customer (hate using that word in football parlance - we're fans moer than customers) service from FC Augsburg. I e-mailed them, asking about a ticket for their game against Wolfsburg on Friday 14 September. I knew that tickets went on general sale on 1 August, and this is never likely to be a sell-out. However, I daren't ever trust the Ukrainian postal system to have tickets delivered safely, so I always contact the club I'm visiting and ask if I can collect on match day.

Augsburg e-mailed me back within about 5 minutes, attaching a .pdf which is my reservation. I pay on the day, and they also attached the usual stadium map etc and indicated which box office I need to head for. Also, they gave me the name of the matchday operations manageress and her direct dial number in case I run into difficulties or my train is delayed etc.

Terrace ticket for €13. No dramas - just a kind of "bring cash on the day and square us away then, your ticket is guaranteed etc" kind of spirit, and I can't have asked for more.

Yet another example of how good German football can be. Superb.

i am going to watch bayern munich this season versus dusseldorf and wondered if tickets for the top teams are as cheap as the ones you got? i have had a look on ticket sites and they have them at around 100 euros for some reason! i am tempted to email the club now to see if i can get a better deal cos that price seems a touch high. i had always thought tickets for bundesliga games were cheap

 

[Brennan]

We should have let them win the wars lads.

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

They have free travel to games in Germany as well.

They are by far and away the best footballing country overall on Earth at the minute.

Sky Sports and the like will do their very best to make out the Premier League is the greatest, its not. I hope for the day we follow the German model, but we will never.

They do cheap train tickets nationwide as well (or used to), a little bit like our day out at Chelsea where yoiuy can only use local trains. Me and the Mrs once went the whole length of Germany on a Saturday for about £10, the ticket was a Wockenender or something and 6 could travel on it for the whole weekend, the Guten Aben one was for cheap evening travel.

 

[bflefc]

alpha1, Bayern always sell out their matches (I think they broke some record last season for the most consecutive matches that were officially sold out) and tickets are therefore at a premium. Also, for that game, Dusseldorf have a decent away following (quite boisterous, too) so they'll undoubtedly sell their allocation to members in no time.

Selling tickets on eBay is OK over there, so keep your eyes on German eBay.

But yes, try e-mailing them direct and throwing yourself at their mercy. I often do it when heading to a neutral game - I just play the dumb, innocent little football geek who is desperate to get in. Send a really polite e-mail, and it often works. I just reckon with Bayern being such a global brand (yes, they are - and they bring in day-tripper fans just like Utd do) you'll be one of many trying to do the same.

If all else fails, you'll get one outside.

As for normal ticket prices, they often do price categories depending on the opposition. I always try and get onto the terraces as a reminder of how it used to be everywhere, so obviously these are cheaper than seats. But it's quite normal to get in for around the €20 average mark.

 

[p-fcn]

ICE trains booked in advance are cheaper (the earlier, the better), but you have to use exactly the booked train.
Regional offers you can find here:
http://www.bahn.de/i/view/GBR/en/prices/germany/regional-offers-overview.shtml?dbkanal_007=L04_S02_D002_KIN0001_at7-regioangebote_LZ001
(If you need a time table for your regional offers, you have to click the "local transport" button on the site of search.)
Many Clubs got public transport included in their tickets for their regional area.
Depends where you go to, they have special deals with their "linked transport systems"(?).
The Clubs pay maybe 80 Cents per ticket to them
and get free public transport on the different offers (train, bus, tramway...) on matchdays.
In Nuremberg it works from 4 hours before the match till late night, for the way to the match and back.
Could be 100 km on train one way, within the VGN (Verkehrsverbund Großraum Nürnberg).
As I said, depends witch City you visit.

 

[bflefc]

P-fcn, thanks for that.

Do you know if Greuther Furth offer free transport from Nuremburg and back again for their home games? I'm going there the day after Augsburg-Wolfburg, for their home game against Schalke.

 

[p-fcn]

First: I hate Fürth
Don't know whether they got it included, but I think so.
Have you got a ticket for this match ? Could be difficult.
They are low level in support but it's their first year in the Bundesliga ever and a little Stadium.
Had their great time in the beginning of the last century with 3 championships, I think.
Do you go by train or car and do you stay in Augsburg for the night?
If you leave Augsburg by train on the Saturday, you could use a "Bayern ticket single", for one person, works all day all over Bavaria (and Franconia) also for the Nuremberg area public transport.
It's 22 Euros for local trains, ICE train makes no real sense for Augsburg-Nuremberg.
Schalke 04 Supporters are friends with Nuremberg, and there will be many.
Have a look in the "flat-s" bar in Nuremberg train station, before the match, it's in the upper level.
Don't know whether I am in town, we play Mönchengladbach away that day

 

[bflefc]

I've already booked my train ticket online via the D-bahn site. Did it ages ago when the fixtures were released and can't remember the times nor how much I paid etc.
I've e-mailed Furth about a match ticket and they said they'd put my name down for one and will e-mail me back around the end of August. Fingers crossed, as I know this will be a tricky one and a guaranteed sell-out.
If all else fails, I'll buy one outside for mucho mooler.

 

[Summerskin]

Bloody Germans know how to get things done don't they?

If you try to ring up to buy multiple tickets for a game at Goodison they get a lip on if you can't remember your customer number ffs...