Public transport from Munich Airport to the city

I really would like to know once and for all what the cheapest MVV ticket is from the airport to the city centre.

If one is going to use public transport that day anyway, I gather it would be the Gesamtnetztageskarte (entire netword day pass) for €10, as the card is then valid for the remainder of the day anywhere in Munich.

However, if one is only going to or from the airport, there are cheaper options. The "official" information is that a one-way 4 zone ticket for €9.20 is required, which seems expensive, as the full unlimited day pass (Gesamtnetztageskarte) only costs €10 (80 cents more).

Short of buying the Gesamtnetztageskarte and trying to sell it at the airport for say €5. (I do not really like to do such things, and I am not sure it is entirely legal to transfer a ticket.) Is it allowed to do the following?

1. Buy an Außenraum Tageskarte for €5
2. Buy a one-way 1 zone for the distance from the innenraum /außenraum border to the central station (Hauptbahnhof) for €2.30.

It would seem this would get you to or from the airport for €7.30, but I am not sure that this is legal. If it were, there would not no sense in ever buying a one-way 4 zone ticket for €9.20 to reach the airport.

Going TO the airport, I see no trouble. Since you can purchase an außenraum tageskarte ticket at the hauptbahnhof and validate it there, there is no problem. It is valid all day long. So I assume that it is ok. You then use the 1 zone ticket to reach the außenraum and then your day pass außenraum takes over. At no time are you without a valid ticket.

However, going FROM the airpot, I there is a problem. You must purchase the Außenraum day pass for 5€ to get you to the innenraum border. No problem. The problem is validating the 1 zone ticket to get your from the außenraum /innenraum border. It says that the 1 zone one way ticket is valid for a maximum of 3 hours after stamping it (so no problem, as the trip takes like max 45 minutes, but it never says ANYWHERE that you must validate it at the station where you are using it. However, if you stamp it at the airport, perhaps the pass is then valid for zone 4 only, which would make you illegal in zones 3 and 2. So you would be riding without a valid ticket for that portion of your journey. I am not sure that you can stamp at the airport with the intention of using it for zone 1 only.

The problem is validating the I am assuming that you COULD exit the train at Feldmoching or so and stamp you ticket, but that would involve a 20 minute wait for the next train.

So in any event, I wonder what others will say to this yet another illogical tariff system. I think the MVV is trying to really get the people going to the airport. It seems to the airport, it can cost 7.20, but returing involves either a 20 minute break to stamp.

Can anyone help?

Of course, those with monthly 4 ring passes would never have this issue. I only have a 2 ring monthly pass, so I do.

I did ask once, at the MVV counter.
It is pretty much as you say,buy a card for zone 1 to16 for 10 Euro is the easiest.

The cheapest way to get from the city to the airport legally by far is...
Take the S-8 out to Ismaning, that requires two strips on a Streifenkarte, €2.20. From Ismaning you continue on the S-8 to Besucherpark, which is only two more stops, that means it is a "Kurzstrecke" and only requires one more strip, €1.10. You are allowed two further stops on the bus on a Kurzstrecke so at Besucherpark you hop on Bus 635 which takes you to the terminal. The total cost of the trip is €3.30 and it is perfectly within the rules.

@LeChamois: have you checked the plan, in some cases where one stop covers more than one ring it is not considered to be a "Kurzstrecke".

Then you check the plan and tell me if I'm wrong.

I tried that just now, but the print is too small on the computer, I'll check later at the U-Bahn station.

From anywhere central in Munich, it is four strips to Ismaning, not two.
However, according to the MVV site, you are right about the rest. Ismaning to Besucherpark is listed as a Kurzstrecke (and the two stops on the bus wóuld then be included too, as per the rule two stops on S-Bahn, 2 further on bus)

Ok, so you would need an extra Kurzstrecke to get from Unterföhring to Ismaning, so the total cost is €4.40.

@LeChamois et al...

I think LeChemois's plan would cost 5 or 6 strips, but that option is not really good for those who are not living in Munich and/or have no further use for the Streifenkarte. Also, the plan could be inconvenient with baggage and take more time.

My question is more specific. I am okay with paying 7.30. That's fair. But, 9.20 is kind of crazy. It is just getting people going to the airport. The entire Zone 4 is just a gimmick to make airport users pay. If you look at the S-Bahn network on a real map, you will see that the airport is actually much closer than the end stations of other S-Bahn end stations, yet they are located in zone 3. However, anyone that lives in Germany knows that life here, especially concerning govt. and quasi-govt services and taxation are not made to be fair and equal. So let's not even go there.

I want to live within the rules, and get there for the least amount of money.

1. Going TO the airport from the city centre, I see no problem with the 1 zone ticket and außenraum tageskarte stamped at say hauptbahnhof. Does anyone see a problem here?

2. I just want to know if it is okay to return FROM the airport with a Tageskarte Außenraum and a 1 zone ticket stamped at the airport or not. That one seems to be problematic. See my OP for more info, but I think this could make me illegal, as stamping at the airport would validate the 1 zone ticket for zone 4, leaving me illegal for the innenraum area (zone 1) and having me being "double" paid for zone 4 and legal within zones 2 and 3. Does anyone see the problem here? Or is it ok?

It just seems crazy that TO the airport costs 7.30, but FROM (the return trip) does not.

after paying 24euro for the train from Arland airport to Stockholm city center, I cannot see getting my knickers in a twist about a few euros.

If you're so desperate to save €1,90 then take the S1 to Feldmoching using your Aussenraum ticket then get on the U2 to the Hauptbahnhof using a standard €2,30 ticket. Personally I couldn't be arsed.

A one day pass for the whole tarif area is only marginally more expensive than the dearest single ticket.
a one day pass for Munich is only marginally more expensive than 2 single journeys.

That's the ways such tarifs work, to encourage you not to pay for individual journey


The fourth outer ring also applies to the farthest flung bus journies and a few other railway stations.
Yep, the airport fare is based on distance, "too high".
Why not think of it as a way of you offsetting a little bit of your carbon footprint everytime you fly by subsidising Munichs public transport.

LeChamois: You are wrong. You are not supposed to combine a Kurzstrecke with a zone ride, although combining with your IsarCard is allowed; check out the notes under "Hinweis" in this link.

You are not allowed to combine Kurzstrecken so you can't do what LeChamois suggested:

Ok, I think this whole discussion has yielded what I already thought.

TO the airport, I pay 7.30 and buy 2 tickets.

FROM the airport, I pay 9.20 and buy 1.

I just fail to see the logic, but as someone already noted, I also cannot be arsed to change upon entering Zone 1 to stamp or transfer to U-Bahn.

However, for those transfering to the U2 anyway, changing to the U2 at Feldmoching could be a good option.

If you use a Geldkarte to pay for the tickets, you get the same discount as you would for a Streifenkarte for the Zone One bit, thus shaving another 10 cents off your price to the airport and 40 cents on the way back .