Rail ticket valid on DUS skytrain?
 

Is a normal long distance railway ticket of DB to/from DUS airport valid on the skytrain? I have found some websites that say yes, but others say that only special DB-tickets like Schönes Wochenende, Schöner Tag or Railandfly-Tickets are valid...

No, they are not valid UNLESS you bought a ticket with the so-called "City Option" (destination = "Düsseldorf + CITY") or "City Mobil". However, buying a single ticket "K" from the vending machine is cheaper.

http://www.bahn.de/i/view/GBR/en/pri...itymobil.shtml
http://www.bahn.de/i/view/GBR/en/pri...y-ticket.shtml

The Skytrain is operated by the local traffic authority and is neither part of the airport transportation nor part of the long distance network. Depending whether or not your long distance train stops at the airport railway station it might be easier to change to the S11 at Düsseldorf Main for the Ariport Terminal Station. THIS train is included in your long distance ticket.

Flying Lawyer is correct, you definitely need a ticket on there.

Just out of curiosity: has anybody ever been checked for tickets on there??

I used this one for two years straight every work day, once in the morning, once at night and a couple of times since then (when I travelled ex DUS and didn't take S11 into the terminal) and never got bothered once.

Once, maybe two years ago .. but the people without ticket had not to pay a fine, they only were told that they had to buy a ticket.

Oops... I didn't realize I had to have a ticket for this when I used it back in June. Good to know.

Didn't know this either :rolleyes:

So this makes it even more complicated. So I am going to buy a Sparpreis-Ticket from Bremen to DUS with Bahncard 25 discount. As there is no Düsseldorf airport + city ticket, I assume, that if I want the ticket to be valid on the skytrain, I should not buy the ticket to Düsseldorf Aiport (fastest connection is to change from the intercity to the RE in Duisburg and take the skytrain), but to buy it to Düsseldorf main station in order to receive the free ride on the skytrain... complicated and kind of stupid.

A Bahncard discount usually included the city option automatically (in German language here: http://www.bahn.de/p/view/bahncard/u...tyticket.shtml)

The relevant authorities would shoot themselves in both feet if they'd start inspecting tickets. The railway station at DUS has fallen way behind expecttions from the beginning, AFAIK. They cannot afford to lose more passengers.

Some airline tickets include the SkyTrain fare, but I don't know which airlines. In addition to VRR/VRS tickets, DB City+, NRW, Schöne Reise, Schöne Fahrt, and Schöner Tag tickets are also valid for the SkyTrain, as are observation deck tickets and parking garage tickets.
http://www.duesseldorf-international..._en/b_skytrain

I've been checked twice on the SkyTrain, but it really seemed more like a survey than "enforcement" (e.g.,both times the checker was carrying a clipboard on which s/he wrote down numbers). No one was fined, and the checker was satisfied with airline tickets from seemingly any airline. Someone was told that they needed to get a ticket in the future, but there was no big to-do.

And back to square one: Regular DB long distance tickets are not valid on the sky train.

OK, so this was not even a check in the term I was thinking of. They just made a survey. I had one of these surveys as well and I stood behind the guy later, he even had a box to check that said "no ticket" ;)

Was there two times in August. Was "checked" both times, just showed my Hbf-Airport ticket, that seemed to satisfy the checker. I did see someone get hassled...eventually they showed an airline iten and that seemed to be fine for the checker. I just assumed it was free, didn't even anything about buying tickets...I thought the checker was just getting information.

Amazingly wrong assumption. However, you had your Hbf - Airport ticket which mandatorily is an local transport authority ticket valid on the Skytrain. Why - serious question - do you believe you find ticket machines on each Skytrain platform? Just for the sake of having fun? Several airline tickets (not these bought on LH.com) include local transport but the general cusstomer has to pay.

To buy train tickets.

I don't think I've ever seen an intra-airport train system that required purchase of a ticket, so I didn't even consider the possibility.

I'm not saying I was right, just that it didn't cross my mind. Don't know why it seemed to upset you.