Bon_Vivant

I have booked to fly from Hong Kong to Cologne via Frankfurt later this year. My flight to Frankfurt is on LH797 and my flight to Cologne is shown as LH 3600.

I understand that LH3600 is actually a train. Can someone tell me how the ticketing for the train journey works? Do I just present my flight e-ticket to the train conductor for scanning or do I have to get the train equivalent of a "boarding pass" (e.g. a train ticket or other such document) on arrival at Frankfurt?

The train is an ICE. Are specific seat reservations needed for these trains? If so, how do I do that when the online flight booking makes no allowance for this?

I'm just a bit confused by this flight/train combination and haven't been able to find answers so far.

Thanks for any help.

Bon.

Dukey1

You can get seat reservations on ICEs but they are not necessarily mandatory. The trip should take you about 57 minutes from start to finish.

Very few, if any, airlines fly that route anymore as I understand it since the rail time is so brief.

Dukey1

Here's a link you may find helpful

http://www.lufthansa.com/us/en/AIRai...flying#ancAbT1

adrienne

LH3600 is a Lufthansa flight code. There is a train from the Frankfurt airport leaving at the same time as the flight and the destination is a train station in Cologne so it does look like a train.

After collecting your luggage you go downstairs to the trains (there are signs to follow).

ICE trains do have reserved seats. If you go to the Lufthansa site there is an on line chat and you can ask questions there or call a local Lufthansa office.

You will probably be given a seat assignment when you check in rather than a boarding pass. Best to go to the source with your questions rather than posting on a travel board as there is not a great chance that someone who has had this experience will see this thread and can give first-hand information.

lufthansa.com

greg

Does your LH3600 have specific train number and time? If not, you have to convert it into a real DB train ticket at the station and validate the ticket before getting on.

There are several levels reservations. To get the classification, use www.bahn.com.

In the "Product" column, some ICE have gray "R" in the white background with message "high occupancy to be expected." It is a recommendation to reserve a seat at the station.

If you see white "R" in the gray background with "Subject to compulsory reservation" you MUST make a reservation.

Even if the ICE trains that do not have any "R" symbols, if your are traveling during the rush hour, for example trains that get sandwiched around 4pm-7pm time slot around "R" trains, you might still want to get a seat reservation. Germans seem to be keen on reserving seats. On some ICE trains, even what I thought were at off hours, I might find just two unreserved seats in a particular car. If you hopped on an ICE without seat reservations, look at the red LED display above each seat. Even if the display shows reserved for a segment, that seat is free to use until the train reaches that reserved segment.

Hans

I think the information is in the link Dukey provided.

As I understand it, the boarding pass serves as the train ticket and reserved seats for AirRail travellers are in carriage 21.

But you should make sure that you're in the reserved train (in case of delays, I suppose that Lufthansa will make sure that you can take the next one).

If in doubt, just ask when you're in Frankfurt.

Bon_Vivant

Thanks for your help.
It appears that, just like a boarding pass for onward flights, the train tickets should be issued to me at the time of checking in for the first flight. I can but wait and see!
Bon.

christoframdohr

I would never book again LH 3600 TO COLOGNE hbf, We borded the ICE train in Frankfurt and were informed 30 minutes into the travel that the train would not stop at hbf but stop at Cologne Deutz on the other side of the Rhein river and would have to take a local train from there to hBF. We had to carry heavy luggage up 30 steps to local train platform. No elevator or porter in sight. We arrived 30 minutes late and missed relatives to pick us up. No information was given to them either. Next time I fly to cologne I take an airline which flies to the airport and not the railwaystation.