I'm new to the FF game. My husband and I are looking to travel MSP-FRA or ORD-FRA in late July/early August with ~14 day stay. Looking for information on the easiest and cheapest way to fly business class. We have a few NWA points but not many.

Also- any advice about what to see would be good too. I definately want to visit the Czech Republic (Bohemia) and advice is welcome. We have family in Frankfurt so we will center our travel there. We will also have access to a vehicle, but I don't know if we can handle heavy traffic.

Thank you for any advice you can give!

[This message has been edited by iafrmr (edited Feb 28, 2004).]

How much time are you planning on traveling? 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks? Germany is a BIG country. It will be hard to give you advice without knowing what you are interested in and what your time frame is.

Just to name a few areas:
History/Museums - Berlin
Natural scenery- Bavarian Alps, Black Forest
Castles - Rhine valley, Ludwig's castles
Wine-tasting - Mosel valley

It will be easier for people to give you suggestions if you have some kind of idea of what you want to see in Germany.

Yes, Czech Rep. is nice. Very near to Nuremberg or Dresden. You could take a train. If you rent a car, make sure, you can drive to Czech (former East Block).

fares to/from Europe (-USA) tend to be high (high season) in July and until the second last week of August (school holidays).

Also, with US and many European carriers, these dates (Juli/August) are often blackout dates for upgrades with miles.

I agree with USAFAN, if you drive anywhere into eastern europe get ALL the insurance available at the car rental agency(theft, accident liability etc... Also let them know of your intended travel plans at the time of renting the car. If you are going to Czech. you may want to detour tyo see Vienna or Budapest.Both afre relatively close.

If you're only staying 2 weeks as you say, you'll have to make a decision about what you want to see. If you absolutely insist on Prague, then do a Bavaria/Prague tour, going through southern Germany, Munich, and Prague. That's plenty. You could take trains--that'd be easier than trying to drive.

What *I* would recommend is getting a German Railpass and sticking to Germany. They're good for varying amounts of travel within a month long period. I did a 2-week Germany tour some years back with a five-day railpass. Flew into Duesseldorf (back when CO flew there), then Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin. Then returned to Duesseldorf. Most of my time was spent in Munich and Berlin.

But you're gonna pay through the nose for your airfare 'cause it's high season.

That's correct, but hotels in the big cities have specials, are much cheaper...

What is the easiest way to get a rail pass? Are they cheaper to get ahead of time or should we wait until we are in country? How much more is a pass that allows you to go out of Germany too? How is public transportation once you get to the cities you want to visit?

You can find railpass information and purchase from Rail Europe You CANNOT purchase a German railpass once you get to Europe! So, if you're going to do the pass, then make sure you purchase it in the states before you go, and allow enough time for them to ship it to you. There are also discounted railpasses available if you are more than one person travelling together and/or if you are under 26 years old (or over 60). There are also different international pass options if you want say...travel within 3 countries, etc.

However, if you know which cities you're going to visit, then it might be worth checking what the prices would be for individual tickets if you purchase them in Germany once you arrive. Go to http://www.bahn.de, which is the Germain rail web site. You can choose to search cities in ENGLISH if you don't speak German, and the site will quote fares for you. Add them all up, and then decide what's best for you! You can either buy online and pickup at train stations in Germany, or just buy when you get to Germany.

If you do decide to buy individual tickets, then DO NOT buy them from Rail Europe. Wait until you get to Germany, as Rail Europe marks up the prices on individual tickets by ridiculous amounts. For example, for an upcoming trip, I could get a ticket from the German rail lines from Hamburg to Paris for EUR 74. Rail Europe wanted USD 168 for the same ticket!!

Another thing to keep in mind...if you do plan on travelling outside of Germany AND buying a railpass, then a German railpass will cover you to the border, and then you just have to buy the segment of your journey from the border onwards.

Edited to fix hyperlinks.

[This message has been edited by TravelScholar (edited Mar 04, 2004).]

According to the Deutsche Bahn page on rail passes, some German Rail passes can indeed be bought in Germany (note the fifth paragraph under the heading "Making Tracks for Germany") :

http://www.bahn.de/pv/view/int_guest...ans_2003.shtml

Outside Europe the GermanRail Pass offer is available through travel agents with rail sales. You also can buy the German Rail pass (5 or 10 days passes, prices are calculated in Euro) at selected train stations in Germany (Aid Offices), for example at the airport in Frankfurt.


However, it seems that only the 5-day and 10-day variants are sold in Germany, so if a different length is needed, it would have to be obtained ahead of the trip.

I,too, think there is much to see in Germany, and your time is well spent doing that with a German railpass. As to planning the trip, I can recommend "Gemuelichkeit"'s trip planning and booking service. This is a small specialty travel newsletter for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. They do hotel bookings, restaurant recommendations, backroad itineraries, and self guided rail tours. They can be reached at 800-521-6722. (I am not affiliated with nor have any involvement with this company) Most important is to recognize the wide variety of sights and experiences available in Germany, from the rural and scenic mountain country in Bavaria, to the museums, beer and laid-back urban life of Munich, to the sophisticated, ultra-new excitement of Berlin ( it may be the liveliest capital in Europe), to the North Sea or Baltic Sea coast, the Rhein and its vineyards and castles, the glorious wine country of the Moselle River..... well, you get the idea.

You can, if you wish, stay in a thousand year old castle, and sit on its terrace sipping a glass of Rhein wine while watching the river traffic below on the Rhein. Or you can stay out all night in Berlin and wonder at how quickly the night went. Stay long enough to truly experience Germany and you will not regret it.

Hi! I was in Germany last summer and it was very hot!!! You should visit Berlin during your vacation. From FRA station at the airport and from FRA central station there�re a couple trains taking there. Heidelberg is also a nice place to visit and is only about 100 km south of FRA.
In Germany car-drivers are not so bad like in Italy, so no panic on the Autobahn...!!!

Hi,

my 0,02$ :

The last summer was once in a lifetime hot although it should be good weather in August.

Autobahn is IMHO the overated thing in Germany, mostly 130 km/h -> 70 mls....

Have fun

Jan

You are correct regarding the European summer 2003.

I am not so sure regarding your comments on the Autobahn. Many Americans like to drive on the left side (Ueberhol-Spur) forever, even on the Interstate. And other pass on the right side ... That is "unhealthy" on German Autobahns.
Next, an American driver driving 80 mph might be shocked, when a BMW, Porsche ... approaches him from behind (with full halogen lights on/blinking) with 180+ mph.
I don't say that Autobahn is dangerous, just that it can be dangerous, if and when the drivers are not alert and don't follow the "rules of that motorway"..stay right, keep distance (Abstand), overtake carefully ...