DB ICE3 FIRST CLASS | Is it Really Worth the Upgrade? | Amsterdam - Utrecht

Hallo and Welkom to the absolutely gorgeous Amsterdam Centraal Station!
Today we are going to be riding in First Class on Deutsche Bahn’s Intercity Express from here to Utrecht Centraal.
Check out the previous video where we rode on Amtrak's BRAND NEW Siemens Venture Coaches: • Amtrak's BRAND NEW Ven...
- Train Information -
Train Number: DB ICE #105
Train Consist: DB ICE 3 Class 406 "Mannheim"
Departure Time7:37amam
Arrival Time: 8:02am
Journey Time: 0hr 25min
Seat: Car 39, Seat 35
Top Speed: 160kph (99 mph)
Ticket Price: €16.50 ($16.83)
I also recommend checking out the main channel, where I post more rail and aviation videos.
I apologize if I botched any pronunciations in this video! I did my best to get everything correct, but I know that it's not perfect.
Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoyed!
Subscribe: / lonestartripreports
Second Channel: / lonestaryt
- Chapters -
0:00 Intro and Route Overview
0:36 Amsterdam Centraal and Tickets
1:58 Incredible Platforms
3:33 Our ICE Train Arrives
4:14 Boarding
4:41 First Class Seating
6:36 Departure
6:50 Missed Amenities of First Class
7:31 First Class Interiors
8:01 WIFIonICE
8:32 Beginning our Train Walkthrough
8:49 First Class Bathrooms
9:45 Private Cabins in First Class
11:11 Subscribe!
11:25 Continuing on to the Cafe
11:52 The Bordrestaurant (Dining Car)
12:36 Standard Class Seating
13:45 Other Interior Features
14:23 Cause what's better than trains and a cold Coke?
14:38 Is First Class Really Worth it?
15:38 Arrival into Utrecht
15:55 The Gorgeous ICE 3
16:12 A True Symphony of Excellence!
17:01 Ascend into Utrecht Centraal
17:14 Outro
Equipment:
Camera: iPhone 12 Pro Max
Gimbal: DJI OM5
Camera: GoPro Hero 9 Black
Camera: Sony AX-43
Mic: Rode Videomic Pro+
Tripod: Coman DF06 + Manfrotto 502 Head

[@thephantomeagle2]

Amsterdam Centraal is an amazing station. I've been to main stations in London and Paris. and this station is right up there with them

[@TohaBgood2]

California High Speed Rail seems to be leaning towards choosing a US variant of these Siemens Velaro trains for their fleet. I really hope that they choose these beauties for their rolling stock! Gotta say, that is a gorgeous looking train! Really like the light wood interior and the chrome trim doors!

[@LonestarTrips]

If they stick to what’s seen in the renders, then we should be getting something similar! Plus with Siemens now firmly grounded here in the US market, I’d bet that they are a top contender for CaHSR’s rolling stock.

[@RatorLP]

hm, i'm using these trains many times per year, and from my experience the air conditioning on them is very bad when it comes to hot weather. It works up until about 32°C (~90°F), and then just outright fails & stops working. This has been a major issue with these train sets for years now, we have people collapsing onboard because of the intense heat almost every summer. Granted, they're pretty great in every other aspect, but at least in their current state they're just absolutely not suitable for california's heat.

[@Neville60001]

That's sad to hear.

[@GovernmentOfLocany]

great vid! interested to see your other journeys with NS and/or DB.

[@LonestarTrips]

I'm glad you enjoyed! I've got quite a few more journeys with NS and regional carriers from around the Netherlands coming soon.

[@user-sm3xq5ob5d]

Also to notice: If you turned left towards the cab in the end car then you could have a seat with a view over the engineer's shoulder. Given that he had made the glass separation wlall transparent. He can opt to make it opak.

[@ep3163]

Awesome trip report man! Too bad the seats and some of the areas around the train were filthy except for the restroom, that was nice 🙂

[@Kerbesk]

Awesome video as always. Great footage and narration

[@LonestarTrips]

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed!

[@stephenkeever6029]

Nicely done as always! I was surprised by the amount of crumbs on the table in the private room. It's almost like they are trying to match the cleaning standards of Amtrak.

[@mstrmren]

It is worth noting that DB sells it's First Class Seats for prices as low as 30€, even for journeys that are 6h or longer, which is one of the few reasons there is no complimentary food. These cheap tickets are classified as "SuperSaverFare First Class" or "SaverFare First Class" and both kinds of tickets do not allow lounge access! You need to pay full price to get it. At the biggest stations there are also two lounges, the DB Lounge and the DB Premium Lounge. I don't know the difference, but I think you can only get into the Premium Lounge if you have a Flexible First Class ticket, BahnCard 100 1st Class, or if you are a BahnBonus Platinum Card Holder. All other eligible customers need to use the normal Lounge. Also, regarding the WiFi, if you are connected with the WiFi you can view a live map of the train, the speed of the train, informations about sights along the route as well as some free movies, magazines, games and also live news coverage by Tagesschau. Soo DB will also introduce a mobile ordering system via this system for 1st class passengers.

[@MaxiAir]

You should really try and sit on those second class seats for several hours! They are seriously super comfortable (especially reclined!) and the best seats you'll find on any ICE or long distance train in Germany. Also, you missed the "lounge" at the end of the trains, that you'll only find on class 403/406/411/415 trains. It would have been left upon your boarding in Amsterdam and might permit you to view out the front onto the tracks (depending on the driver, as they can select the screen to not be see-through).

[@LonestarTrips]

I checked as I boarded, and the screen was frosted, so I chose to head back towards where I sat for the journey. From what I can see from the footage, it looks like it stayed that way for the entire journey. I would've loved that view out the front, but it just wasn't meant to be.

[@MaxiAir]

@@LonestarTrips Sadly over the years fewer and fewer drivers keep it open, I usually ask nicely when the driver boards, sometimes you get a grumpy no, sometimes they do it. Hope you get lucky if you visit Germany/Europe again.

[@LonestarTrips]

@@MaxiAir Next time I'm in the area, I'll be sure to ask!

[@MrPeerum]

😊Amsterdam Berlijn €36-. reistijd 5.30 uur met de NS Vectron 193.😊👍👍👍

[@EmperorStorky]

Zonder reservering vermoed ik, en slechts 2e klas.

[@user-sm3xq5ob5d]

13:00 Hint: You need to put your thumb on the arrow and push to the side in order to get it out of the way when folding down the tray tables.

[@broyofroyo1207]

nice😃

[@LonestarTrips]

Thanks!

[@broyofroyo1207]

Your Welcome

[@LonestarTrips]

@@broyofroyo1207 ☺

[@blabla-rg7ky]

ice, not nice

[@broyofroyo1207]

@@blabla-rg7ky what do you mean

[@MrPeerum]

😊mooie video,maar ik vind der ICE 105 niet schoon,ziet er vies uit.valt mij erg tegen.🤔

[@poepybrown2151]

You'd paid almost 100 euros for a day ticket, did you know you can get a weekend travelcard in first class with the ICE supplement included for 40 euros a month?

[@sisken12]

No coffee? 😮

[@truebrit3578]

You bought the say ticket but you also need to pay a supplement to travel on that train as I understand it. Did you?

[@LonestarTrips]

Yep! I actually bought my tickets for this specific leg ahead of time because I wasn’t sure exactly how the supplement thing worked, The two pieces of paper I’m holding when I scan through to the platforms are my DB ticket and the NS supplement.

[@truebrit3578]

Its actually difficult to make that 1st Class Day pass work. I am planning a week of traveling the rails in Holland and Belgium. I have a day planned Haarlem-Utrecht (the railway museum)-Den Haag and then back to Amsterdam which is a reasonable amount of travel. The cost, buying 1st Class tickets from point to point is around E45. So much as I love the freedom of the pass it is surprisingly expensive. Now with contactless option to just tap in and tap out around the network even buying normal tickets is losing purpose in particular as NS tickets (in Holland) are no cheaper if you buy them in advance. Perhaps there is a challenge here to make an itinerary that actually make the E99 day pass good value! Flexibility and ease of use yes, but I can’t make the math work for the pass to be good value.

[@TomHoffman-uw7pf]

Question: ICE stands for "Inter City Express" which is in English. However DB is a German organization. Why do they call it by an English name?

[@blabla-rg7ky]

pretty used up and dirty for what I expect from Germans / Dutch. But then again, it is so much cleaner and in-shape than most Romanian trains, so I don't know why I'm complaining (I guess because I expected better standards from the West). Oh well, perfection doesn't exist...

[@teotik8071]

I thought the same. But considering some redesigns are from 2002 or so if I'm right, it is no wonder they look outworn in some areas.

[@blabla-rg7ky]

@@teotik8071 true, but you know how preconceived opinions are :)

[@michaausleipzig]

This appears to be a train which has not been updated to the latest interiour design. So it's probably pretty old and scheduled to be refurbished some time soon.

[@blabla-rg7ky]

@@michaausleipzig you mean to tell me that there are cleaner ICEs in circulation?

[@michaausleipzig]

@@blabla-rg7ky well there are certainly newer and less used up ones... 🤷‍♂️ Cause I agree with your statement things did look kinda old and somewhat battered in that video...

[@samtrak1204]

No wake up coffee is completely unacceptable and I don't do Coke.

[@LonestarTrips]

Ha. I didn't want to do it either, but I think the bar attendant spotted me filming earlier and didn't take too kindly to it, so I didn't want to stay there longer than I had to.

[@nasirroper4011]

U forgot the stats for nerds

[@LonestarTrips]

Ha, I didn't forget them, they just didn't fit in the video. I probably could have included them, but it just didn't fit anywhere in the video, especially with so much to cover.

[@tjittekamminga5170]

very bad catering service...

[@mijos3]

Yeah, but most times on ICE trains the restaurant has almost everything. Never heard of ICE restaurants not having coffee, pretty stupid of DB, especially for a journey in the morning 😂