Steve007NY

i'm usually pretty good at finding infor online...but wonder

1-How long to allow to catch train at the airport long distance station for after a 9:30 AM Saturday AM arrival from US? Is 1230 safe?

2- On the DB site, there are regular and "savings" fares (these are about 1/ as /much). it DOES say available... but I for the life of me CAN'T find what qualifies for these. These aren't the 25% and 50% ones that require RT, right?

HELP!!!! fare i'm getting is E81 full, Euro 29 "Savings" per person.

Anyone with firm info?

Specifics are Frankfurt(M) Flughafen Fernbf to München Hbf 12:36 pm train on Aug 18. Thanks!

quokka

2. Normal tickets are valid for any train of the same or a lower category on the date/during the period stated on the ticket (one way: 2 days, return, 4 weeks).
"Savings" fares (Sparpreis) are valid on one particular train only. If you miss the 12.36 train, the ticket is worthless, in that case you'll have to buy a new (full fare) ticket. Decide if you want to take that risk.

Larryincolorado

SparPreis 50 and 25 fares are for round trips. If you are seeing €29 "savings fares", they are undoubtedly "Dauer-Spezial" fares, which is a promotion currently being run by DB until early December 2007.
Dauer-Spezial fares are from anywhere in Germany to anywhere else in Germany. They are train specific, non-refundable, and require a 3 day advance purchase. The fares start at €29, then €39, €59, etc, as the lower fares sell out. This promotion has been running for over a month, and in many cases the lower fares are already sold. Click on "Availability" to see what is still available. I just checked your train and it said €29 was no longer available, but €39 is.

If you can read German, the complete information on "Dauer-Spezial" is on the home page of Bahn.de.

I have used the Fernbahnhof before, and I am sure it took me no longer than an hour to get out there and buy my ticket. That was with carryon bags. Be aware, however, that there are two terminals at FRA. Terminal 1, which is used by Lufthansa and friends, is very accessible to the train stations. From terminal 2, which is used by many foreign airlines (NWA, I know), the stations are much less accessible.

Booking the 12;36 train would give you a couple of hours buffer if your flight is late, but who can predict that. Just be prepared to loose your €29 AND have to pay full fare if your flight is too late.

bob_brown

The imponderables here are two:

1. Will the flight be late?
2. How long will it take you to clear passport control and customs?

Usually the process of baggage claim, customs and passport control takes about 45 minutes, but that varies because international arrivals cannot always be predicted accurately. If several flights arrive at once, the various officials cannot cover all flights at once.

The late flight issue is also unpredictable. I have been subjected to whole day delays!

You pays your money and you takes your choice.

If you buy 3 or more days in advance you should get the low price.
You pay by credit card and print your own ticket on standard typewriter paper. You then present the same credit card as your ID when the conductor checks your ticket.

Given the number of departures on that route, you could give yourself a wide window if you can stand a time delay to save the money.

Obviously you cannot hedge against catastrophic delays, like I had once when the airplane was forced to land on Shannon rather than Dublin, but you could guard against a two or 3 hour delay easily enough.

Larryincolorado

If your primary concern is saving money, consider this. You can travel from FRA regionalbahnhof to Munich for €25,60. The trip takes about 6 hours, but you can leave as soon as you arrive, and the regionalbahnhof is closer in than the fernbahnhof. If you arrive on time, you can easily be on the 11:02 S-bahn to Frankfurt Hbf where you catch a series of Regional Express trains to Munich with changes in Würzburg and Nürnberg. You would get to Munich at 16:52, 48 minutes later than the 12:36 ICE, but with no worries about missing your train due to a late arrival.

I am not necessarily recommending this, but it is an option. It avoids the awkward concern about late flights with promo tickets. There is a connection leaving FRA regionalbahnhof every hour.

You get the €25,60 fare by combining a Bayern-Ticket-Single at €19 with a local (RMV) ticket from FRA to Kahl for €6,60.

scatcat

We arrive in Frankfurt at 7:40 and we are booked on the 8:36 to Munich. We've done this several times with no problems, but our flight has never been delayed. The ICE leaves direct from the airport. Just follow the signs. It is a cinch to find. A little walk, but not long. You can buy your ticket in the office right above the tracks if you don't buy them in advance.

Steve007NY

Thanks to all! Because Dad (this trip is for my partners pop, who is late 70s) is a slow walker, and my partner will be drugged to the ears to get him on the flight, and we will have lots of bags, opted for the 12:56 nonstop with advance tix/reservations and printed them. I guess we grabbed the last of the E 29 fares which is what we paid! COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT- or at least made sense of all of it) without YOU ALL!!!

thanks, and check my NEXT question (getting us from Munich to Florence)

Steve

altamiro

>12:56 nonstop

Itīs not a nonstop service (there are none such between Frankfurt and Munich), just direct. So donīt jump up as soon as you are in the next station (Mannheim)

Steve007NY

Thanks! Meant direct, not non-stop. Now, will try to dredge up that Yiddish from my childhood and see if I can tackle the Munchen-Firenze part!

Larryincolorado

Steve,

your handle indicates you are from NY state, but not where you are leaving from. I assumed it was NYC and found two flights from there arriving around 9:30 - a Continental flight at 9:25 and a Delta flight at 9:35. Both arrive at terminal 2, which somewhat complicates your getting to the train stations.

From terminal 2, if you go out to the street, there is a shuttle bus which will take you around to the front of terminal 1. I don't know how often it runs. Once you get to the front of terminal 1, go inside, up the escalator to the mezzanine, the across the pedestrian bridge and down the corridor to the Fernbahnhof.

Alternatively, you can take the people mover shuttle, called the Sky Line from the roof of terminal 2 to the roof of terminal 1. Go down the stairs into the hall of terminal 1, up the escalator, etc. It takes more time to get to/from the Sky Line, but they are small cars and they run regularly. You don't have to wait, like you do for the bus.

If you take the Sky Line, there are escalators all the way up and down, and there are free luggage carts distributed around the terminals. Pile you luggage on one and head for the roof. You can't take it on the Line, but there will probably be one on the other side, left by someone going the other way.

Steve007NY

Thanks! Good guess on the flites...we are on Delta arr 935. This is just the sort of info I needed! We allowed 3 hours...I think Dad may want to recuperate in the DL member lounge before the transfer!

We'll be with 76 year old dad, so sounds like the Skyline option with its escalators and our luggage (3 week trip with many stops, so I imagine each of us will have large wheelie bag and a carryon) is the best bet for us.

again, THANKS!