FAQs Semester Ticket

Anyone who is matriculated at one of the participating universities as a full-time student and has a student ID with the MVV logo on it. Unfortunately, dual students as well as guest students are not entitled to use the semester ticket.

The solidarity fee cannot be paid separately to a participating university, independently from enrolment. Unfortunately, the IsarCard Semester cannot be used without paying the solidarity fee, because the IsarCard Semester is only valid combined with the Student Card/Student ID with the logo of the public transportation company MVV. This student ID is given only to those students having paid the solidarity fee to their university.

Even students at universities whose locations are not included to the solidarity fee statutes (like TUM: Straubing, Heilbronn, Singapur - HSWT: Triesdorf, Straubing - KSH: Benediktbeuern, etc.), who hence don't pay the solidarity fee, cannot use the ticket. Exceptions for individual persons are not possible.

No student is obliged to buy a 24-hour ticket for the entire MVV area for one semester for 209.30 euros (approx. 34.88 euros per month). For someone who always travels by bike, for example, it may seem too expensive or unnecessary. Only the solidarity fee of 72.00 euros per semester, that is 12.00 euros per month, is obligatory. The solidarity fee is an important part of the semester ticket’s overall concept.

Since the summer semester 2021, the mandatory solidarity fee for all students has been 72.00 euros per semester. Because of this contribution, the issued or validated student ID bearing the printed MVV logo can be used as a ticket during following hours:

• Monday to Friday between 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. of the following day
• At all hours on Saturdays, Sundays, bank holidays as well as on the 24th and 31st of December
• The ticket is valid within the entire MVV area.

You are allowed to travel second class with all modes of MVV transport (S-Bahn, U-Bahn, tram, bus and authorised regional trains). Should you have any questions about the exact implementation of the tariff model or details on the validity of the semester ticket, please refer to the MVV website or a sales outlet of the MVV.
https://www.mvv-muenchen.de/tickets/zeitkarten-abos/mvv-semesterticket/index.html

Your student ID is valid as a ticket from the first to the last day of that semester. The exact dates of the beginning and end of the semester are set by your individual university. In other words, your student ID qualifies as a ticket for the entire duration of the semester as defined by your university. The exact time period varies between universities. Please enquire at the university you are matriculated at, e.g. on its website. At the TUM, for example, the winter semester lasts from 1st October – 31st March and the summer semester from 1st April – 30th September.

A student ID for several semesters (“plastic card”) must be validated each semester.

The Munich Student Union did not simply introduce the ticket - it did so by request of the students. This means that a majority of students chose to vote for the semester ticket to be introduced. The idea to introduce the semester ticket also originated from student circles; and the Munich Student Union is, in accordance with Bavarian university regulations, obligated to introduce and implement such a ticket. The student ballot showed that most students support the concept of solidarity regarding the semester ticket. The result of the vote was rather one-sided:
www.semesterticket-muenchen.de/abstimmung-2012/ergebnisse/ (only German version)

The current concept of the ticket is the result of careful consideration and many negotiations: During this phase, it was assessed under which circumstances the semester ticket is worthwhile, as well as the travel times for which the basic fee could be relevant. This two-part model benefits students who rarely use public transport and therefore do not buy an IsarCard Semester.

Only severely disabled persons can apply for exemption from this fee if they are in possession of a pass entitling them to travel on public transport free of charge (including the corresponding certification by the Office for Families and Social Affairs/Amt für Familie und Soziales). The solidarity fee is collected by the universities and transferred to the Munich Student Union. However, the Munich Student Union does not keep the money, but passes it on to the public transport companies. The legal basis for the collection of the solidarity fee is the matriculation agreement, to which you as a student are bound. For further clarification, please contact your university.

Students who are in possession of a pass entitling them to travel on public transport free of charge (including the corresponding certification by the Office for Families and Social Affairs/Amt für Familie und Soziales) can apply for exemption from the solidarity fee. The application must be handed in to the university you will be matriculating or re-registering at before the fee is due (i.e. before the re-registration deadline). Detailed information on this subject can be found on your university’s website, or you can refer directly to the people in charge at your university.

If you lose your IsarCard Semester ticket, the customer service centres of the MVV will give you a one-time replacement in exchange for the receipt received when you purchased your ticket and an administration fee of 5 euros (7 euros at DB travel centres).
So, remember to always keep your receipt safe and separate from your IsarCard Semester ticket. Without the receipt, you will not be granted a new ticket.

If you are taken from your university’s register (backdated to the beginning of the semester), you will lose your student status. In order to receive a refund for the solidarity fee, you will have to return your student ID to the university.
An already purchased IsarCard Semester, however, cannot be returned or exchanged during the semester, and without your student ID it will no longer be valid.
So please be sure you will be matriculated for the entire semester before buying an IsarCard Semester.

If you have already purchased an IsarCard Semester, you have to get it re-printed, as it still bears the number of your previous student ID.

If you purchased your ticket at the MVG, you can have it re-printed in the Service Centre; you will have to bring along the following documents:
- de-registration previous university
- matriculation new university & (if possible) student ID
- valid semester ticket (IsarCard Semester)

Please note that your ticket can only be replaced at the MVG customer service centres at Hauptbahnhof or Marienplatz, and only if it was purchased at an MVG ticket machine. Please remember to ask for confirmation that your ticket was replaced, as the receipt for your previous ticket still has your old matriculation number on it. If you were to lose your new ticket, a replacement without confirmation would not be possible.