sciconf

I am redeeming award tickets from SJC/SFO to Germany.
I could take a local train from FRA to CGN.
But am I correct AA will redemption from SFO to FRA will cost the same amount if I try to redeem for SFO to CGN?

Any other tips?

Incidentally, planning to stay there for 4 weeks. Are there some local train tickets I should buy so that I can se Europe?

guv1976

Neither AA nor any of its AAdvantage partners serves CGN.

prathetkrungthep

If you're looking to mostly stay in Germany, check out the German rail passes (for tourists, long distance express trains included) and if you're not traveling until April when the Deutschlandticket (finally) comes into effect, then this is a more affordable option for a whole month of rail travel in Germany for only 49 euros, but intercity trains are excluded.

Like the previous reply said, no OW partners serve CGN, but if you want to fly direct into secondary European cities, check to see if you can conjure up an itinerary with BA/AY/IB (unfortunately with transits all out of the way for travel to Central Europe, unlike ST and *A options.)

sciconf

My base is Germany. But I also wish to go to other parts of Europe, France, Swiss etc.

njvandy

There are entire Flyertalk forums devoted to European Rail Travel and Germany. You will likely find more relevant advice to your second question there.

Sheikh Yerbooty

Fly to FRA and take the ICE to Cologne HBF.

“Local” train tickets are just that; local to a specific country. Europe is a continent of 44 independent nations, and you can’t possibly see all of them - or even a fraction of them all - in 4 weeks. If you’re 27 or younger, Interrail is a relatively cheap way to get around most of the continent, but with Ryanair, Easyjet, Wizzair and other LCCs banging about in great numbers and to almost every nook and cranny, they’re hard to beat on both price and time.

What you should buy depends very much on what you want to see and what your priorities are. You could take a flight to Mallorca (the unofficial 17th bundesland of Germany during the summer) and stay on the beach for a month, or you could take the French riviera in style if you’ve got the money for it. If you’re more into cities, 3 of the greatest in the world are on the continent, two of which are absolute musts (Rome and Paris). If it’s solitude and nature you’re after, and don’t mind a bit of drizzle, you can’t go much wrong exploring the fjords of Norway. If it’s food you’re after, well, there’s southern France and the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Or, if you’re feeling very modern, the Copenhagen area of Denmark. Fancy a spot of mountaineering and carrying a black Amex? Off to Switzerland you go. Want to know what it feels like driving 250 km/h legally? Stay in Germany and book an autobahn missile with Sixt or Enterprise.

But back to the original question: The best way to “see Europe” is flying from place to place on the dirt cheap LCCs. Trains are actually pretty expensive.

AirborneLocksmith

You can.

-------
The most countries visited in 24 hours by scheduled transport is 13, and was achieved by Umit Sabanci and Stephen James Finch (both UK) from 23 to 24 May 2017.
Umit and Stephen visited Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and France within 24 hours.
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com...uled-transport

returnoftheyeti

Just an aside, if you are looking to fly SFO, United and Lufthansa are the best options. Awards are easy to come by as well.

carlosdca

The Deutschland ticket is of no use to travel between cities. It includes regional trains but a regional train only goes from the city to it's surrounding suburbs (the train from CDG to Paris is a regional train for example).

​​​​​​Nowadays you can buy in advance point to point train tickets at a significant discount.

The rail pass is hundreds of dollars and it is not a real pass as you just don't hop a train with the pass and go .it requires reservations and good luck getting on the train you specifically want. It's kind of a scam if you ask me.

sciconf

I booked SFO to FRA via LHR. Return from FRA via North Carolina to SFO for this summer.
Now I am thinking of breaking at LHR and spending a few nights in London. At LHR, there is only 2hrs between AA and BA flights - unsure if terminal change needed. More importantly we wanted to see London too.

We will only have one carry one each, at this time. And have priority boarding on AA. It is an award booking.

Wondering how it might play out? What should I say if I had to call AA?

Antarius

There is no free stopover on AA awards like BA. It will need 2 awards FRA-LHR and LHR-SFO.

SF1K

May be better to just drop the FRA-LHR and buy a ticket.

guv1976

The OP is not flying FRA-LHR. He is flying SFO-XXX-LHR-FRA on the outbound, and -- apparently -- FRA-CLT-SFO on the return.

He might or might not be allowed to drop the LHR-FRA segment on his outbound award; could depend on married-segment/divorced-segment issues. He could cancel the outbound award, and rebook SFO-XXX-LHR, but that might now cost more miles than his original booking.

It's not clear whether the outbound and return are both on a single ticket, or if they were booked as separate tickets.

GaryZ

This.
Case closed...LOL

Antarius

This. Also, if it is a web special, then no changes are allowed at all. Cancel and book again (if available).

If doable, definitely the way to go. OP can also fly into LCY, LGW or LTN, depending on where they plan on spending time in London. (STN and SEN are options too, but further)