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Below is an image of my seven day unlimited travel ticket for Berlin B Section:

enter image description here

I have painted black on its printed serial number, and have circled the validation stamp impression in red.

I bought it on 11th Nov about 11am, from a ticket vending machine in Wedding S Station, for 30 Euros, and immediately validation stamped it to start using it. Now, I can calculate 7 days from 11th, inclusive, are till 17th, inclusive.

My question is where in validation stamp its mentioned that it was stamped on 11th Nov? What can I say to Ticket Inspector on 16th or 17th if he says its expired. (At Gesundbrunnen Metro Station the lady at info desk said its expired today, when I asked her same question, although we both struggled in German and English language. When I said I bought today, she said ok.)

So, could you please interpret the validation stamp, part by part, and/or ticket (or any other part), to prove that it is valid for 7 days.

Edit: One more sample of validation stamp I got, on different ticket, one time use, Eur 2.70, Date 10th Nov, Time somewhere 11:30ish AM, Berlin Airport TXL

enter image description here

Edit2: Ok,

  1. Do means Donnerstag, Thursday. Fr means Freitag, Friday.
  2. 11:40 is time in first ticket, 11:00 in second.
  3. Looks like 45 is the week number of year 2016, from Nov 7 to 13.
  4. What does 6 mean (rotated 90°, after 45)?
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2 Answers 2

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After the time-of-day on the stamp is a day-of-week in letters and a week number in numbers.

The 7-day ticket is stamped on Friday of week 45 in 2016.

The single ticket from Tegel is stamped on Thursday (in German: Donnerstag) of week 45 in 2016.

The stamp shows the date and time you validated the ticket, which is when the validity begins. The machines are not smart enough to know which kind of ticket you validate, but will put the same stamp on any piece of paper you stick into them.

If you hold on to your ticket for 10 years and they don't change the design in the meantime, you could ride on it once again ....

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    The bottommost line of the serial number area has 161111, which in my view is the date sold. So I doubt they would accept it in 10 years time, even if the design does not change.
    – Willeke ♦
    Nov 12, 2016 at 11:39
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    @Willeke: It's a bit academic, since (a) ticket inspectors probably won't routinely check that small print of every ticket they're presented with, (b) the number of people who would even try that is too small to worry about anyway, and (c) even if the ticket technology doesn't change in the next 10 years, the effort and care needed to preserve the paper ticket in a reasonably pristine and readable state would not be worth saving the price of a ticket ...
    – hmakholm left over Monica
    Nov 12, 2016 at 11:45
  • Thanks, accepting this answer, as it answered all questions :) 6 means 2016.. Now I can point it to if somebody asks me, as the lady at info counter on Gesundbrehann said, oh this is expiry date and I was like what?
    – DavChana
    Nov 12, 2016 at 11:46
  • Since the ticket is most likely some thermopaper, it will have completely faded within ten years. But yeah, nice academic exercise ;)
    – Jan
    Nov 12, 2016 at 12:18
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    There will certainly be changes in price to the ticket by then.
    – Paŭlo Ebermann
    Nov 12, 2016 at 13:43
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Note: I am adding my own observations as an answer, but would love to get a definitive explanation to the validation stamp contents.

As mentioned in my own edits,

  1. Do and Fr means days of the week,
  2. 45 is the week number (7th to 13th Nov)
  3. 11:40 is time
  4. Duration is printed just below stamp, 7-tag in first image, Ein....something in second, so 7 days and One (Journey?)

As detailed un below screenshot taken from BVG's website, week long ticket with end on 7th day Midnight.

enter image description here

Text of above Screenshot:

7-Day-Ticket

Travel as often as you want for seven consecutive calendar days.

The 7-Day-Ticket is valid for seven consecutive calendar days. Validity begins on the first day of the validity period printed on the ticket or from the time of validation and ends on the seventh calendar day, at midnight. For example, from validation at 9.30 a.m. on a Tuesday until midnight on the following Monday.

The Ticket is transferable and can also be used from other persons.

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  • @Willeke Done, although was in mobile :)
    – DavChana
    Nov 12, 2016 at 11:52

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