Special offers with Deutsche Bahn in first class - Germany

This coming weekend, Whitsun weekend, I need to travel to Vienna and decided to look at using the train rather than driving.

I checked the DB website and couldn't quite believe what I found so I called into Ostbahnhof today to speak to them directly.
Yes, it was true and I bought my ticket.

2nd Class, Munich to Vienna: €148
1st Class, Munich to Vienna, on the same train ... €98

Probably the 2nd class ticket is fully refundable and flexible, whereas the 1st class ticket is nonrefundable and nonchangeable.

Not sure why you wasted time going to the train station; you're lucky the tickets didn't sell out in the meantime.

Highered is correct though; the second class ticket is their standard ticket and thus fully flexible and refundable, while the first class ticket is restricted to that service and non-refundable. There are also special offers in second class, namely €29, but these are sold out for this weekend. DB have been increasing the number of special offers in first class (I'm travelling halfway across Europe in first class later this month for just €69), so it's not impossible that some tickets are still left. I agree that it's unusual for first class to cost less than second class, but this can happen when the special-offer tickets in 2nd class have recently sold out.

Gute Reise... first class is lovely and quiet at weekends.

Loading on 1st Class is much lower at the weekends so in a dynamic pricing / availability pricing scheme, a non refundable ticket can often be very good value in 1st class.
Same as the UK, upgrade to 1st Class at the weekend for a fiver / tenner etc.

A Bayern Ticket (Single/21 Eur) can get you to Salzberg and from there you can get a ticket to Wein from the OBB Counter
Will Deff be less than 148 Eur.

If you're booking a cross-border trip, it's better to go down to the station and spend some time there instead of doing it on the net. A round-trip Paris - Osnabrück on the DB and SNCF sites quoted a much higher price on the net as at the counter - and like the OP, we got 1st-class tix for the leg home for 40% less than 2nd.

I paid less for a 1st class ticket 2 years ago Easter weekend to Würzburg than the 2nd class ticket, I was at the travel agent, that info is not always online. She was looking for the cheapest ticket and found the 1st class to be cheaper, and guess what, as I saw the wagons full in 2nd class, I was the only one in my wagon in 1st class, what a treat! Nice and quiet.

is this regular price or with a BahnCard of some sort. if so, what a neat idea to consider.

A couple of years ago we (The Munich Kangaroos Aussie rules team) travelled first class because it was cheaper.

I don't think that the other people who were in first class to get some peace and quiet were too impressed though...

Midland Mainline in the UK offer Weekend First for just £6 extra, regardless of the length of the journey and what type of 2nd class ticket you have. This compares very favourably with some of the other operators, who charge up to £20 and only allow you to upgrade if you have a standard 2nd-class ticket, thus excluding anyone with a cheaper advance ticket. Then they wonder why second class is full up and first class is empty.