Fans of the Bayern-Ticket (a Deutsche Bahn group ticket: up to 5 people, all day, all Bavaria) might need to read up on the new rules before traveling on it. Ostensibly to discourage scalpers or free-/cheaploaders, as of June 10, 2012, DB has started requiring that you state how many people will be traveling on the ticket at the point of purchase to determine price. The base price is 22€ for a single rider and an additional 4€ per additional rider.
So people looking to tag along on a stranger’s Bayern-Ticket will need to find someone with an extra, pre-purchased slot. Conversely, purchasers of the Bayern-Ticket looking for Mitfahrer will need to purchase the extra slots at 4€ each; if this is your joint, go scrounge your train buddies before making the purchase. You are still not allowed to spontaneously add riders after you get checked on the train. Another bummer about this is the higher price for 3-, 4- and 5-person tickets (30, 34 and 38€, respectively), but it’s still a better deal than full-price tickets for all.
There is one improvement: you are now allowed to pre-purchase slots on a ticket and pick people up at other train stations. The lack of this permission on the Bayern-Ticket was something that always annoyed us, particularly when picking people up from airports.
If you read German and want all the ins and outs of the new rules, go to the DB New Bayern-Ticket Rules Overview. And if you live in Germany but outside of Bavaria, I don’t think any of the other Länder-Tickets have changed their terms, but be sure to check!