[detaro]

> I think a valid criticism is that it would still be good value at, say, 99 euros, or whatever

At 99€ it would have massively lower user numbers. It's already to a large degree a commuter ticket at 49€ - at 99€ alternative tickets would be the better choice for many.

[mytailorisrich]

My understanding is that this ticket allows national travel.

In any case, the point is that it is not clear to me what actual need this fulfills.

[chs20]

But only regional trains. To me the biggest advantage is not having to worry about what tickets to buy in foreign cities.

[weinzierl]

To give people an idea what regional trains means:

On regional trains you can travel Germany from north to south in less than 14 hours with 5 changes as opposed 8 hours with 2 changes for 125 EUR one-way on long-distance trains.

With the 49 EUR/month ticket you can hop off the train anytime you are tired of the journey. Can't do that with the 125 EUR one-time, one-way long-distance train ticket.

I totally see young and elderly people do this on regional trains.