1flyer

You can just walk away and skip those FRA-QKL segments. On the inbound, don't check in at FRA prior to the arrival of the train you were supposed to take.

adventureadam

Thanks, I thought this was likely. To be clear, my flights are:

outbound: US-FRA-QKL
inbound: CGN-US

So I can walk away from the FRAQKL segment and my inbound flight won't be impacted right? They don't scan tickets on the train?

1flyer

They may scan your ticket to validate it but that info isn't passed on to LH. Ticket inspectors on German trains aren't as thorough as you might expect based on preconceptions about German orderliness. Basically, it cannot be guaranteed the inspectors get to see every ticket. That's probably why they don't pass on any data to LH.

So, once again, you can safely skip those train segments. Just don't forget to do the OLCI for those segments. And don't show up at the counter or your gate at FRA prior to the arrival of the train you were supposed to take.

adventureadam

I think I understand. But I only have one train segment and that is on arrival to FRA from the US. My air departure is from CGN a week later, so not making the FRA-QKL shouldn't impact that flight validity, is what I think you're telling me. Thank you.

1flyer

Yes, even though I overread your inbound is actually from CGN, not QKL

ann1977

All,
I have a ticket that starts in Duesseldorf, has a train component from Duesseldorf HBHF to Frankfurt from where I will catch my international flight. Now I might have a change of plan with which I might have to be in a different city vs Duesseldorf on the day of my trip. Can I just skip the train from Duesseldorf to Frankfurt and go to the aiport there directly or does this put my international flight at risk?

newflyer530

You may skip the train, however DO MAKE SURE to do online check-in for your train segment from Dusseldorf HBF to Frankfurt Airport and have your boarding pass for the train segment issued. Then you are safe to skip the train segment.

traveler2019

I would like to fly to a German city from Helsinki. The Lufthansa website shows that if I fly to another city than my actual destination, it is cheaper. For example: If I choose Dusseldorf as my destination instead of Frankfurt, then it shows a cheaper price. The flight will go to Dusseldorf via Frankfurt. The return flight will come from Dusseldorf via Frankfurt. So, I can easily stay in Frankfurt instead of going to Dusseldorf and in return flight, I want to take the flight from Frankfurt instead of taking the flight from Dusseldorf .

My questions are:

1. If I take the return flight from Frankfurt instead of Dusseldorf, will it be a problem for me? Will I have any problem to print the check-in card in the machine at Frankfurt airport?

2. Will the airline cancel my flight from Frankfurt to Helsinki as they will know that I did not board myself in the flight from Dusseldorf?

3 Will I face any legal problem at the Frankfurt airport if I take flight from Frankfurt instead of Dusseldorf?

TheMadBrewer

I can't speak specifically about Lufthansa but most airlines I've dealt with will cancel your remaining reservations if you miss a segment. So the only segment that is safe to skip is the last one -- and even then if you do it too often the airline may notice and you could face some consequences (canceling Frequent Flyer account, etc.)

If you book far enough in advance you can often get a €29 (or less) one way train ticket between DUS and FRA. It's usually less than two hours. Nürnberg (NUE) is another options -- a bit over two hours but I see some €19 tickets.

trooper

IF you search for "Hidden city ticketing" you'll probably get more information than you want!! Yes, often flights from AAA-BBB-CCC are cheaper than AAA-BBB....BUT there are several problems in trying to use that to get to BBB.

1. Most (all?) airlines will cancel all flights subsequent to the one you skip, as TheMadBrewer indicated. So its really only possible on a one way ticket, and only the last segment.
2. Even on a one way ticket you will (very likely) have to avoid checking in any bags. (Unless you can build in a layover at the intermediate point long enough to allow "short checking" of bags, typically overnight or very long layovers which may not be possible intra-Europe)
3. Even if you get all THAT organised, a schedule change/aircraft problem might have you rerouted straight to DUS or via somewhere other than FRA.....after all you have contracted with the airline to take you to DUS.

P.S. There has been information passed around indicating that in Europe you can't be forced to fly your ticket "in order".... that may well be true, but I believe the airline IS entitled to reprice the itinerary to what you actually FLEW …...

FLYGVA

This question is more related to Lufthansa and not so much to Germany. For this reason, I move this post to the Lufthansa Forum

FLYGVA
co-moderator Germany Forum

NewbieRunner

Welcome to FlyerTalk, traveler2019!

If you book FRA-XXX and XXX- FRA segments on the train (Lufthansa Express Rail) and make sure to check in online for the train journeys you should be able to get away without actually travelling to/from XXX assuming the fare is less than HEL-FRA and back.

There are several destinations you can travel (or not) on Lufthansa Express Rail. More information may be found at:
https://www.lufthansa.com/xx/en/lufthansa-express-rail

traveler2019

Thank you all for your information. What about the following situation?

1. Helsinki to Frankfurt and from Frankfurt to Dusseldorf by train (provided by Lufthansa) and during the return flight, Dusseldorf to Frankfurt by train and Frankfurt to Helsinki.

If I skip the TRAIN part in the outgoing flight (FRA-DUS by train), will it be a problem then? I mean will they cancel my return tickets (DUS-FRA by train and flight FRA-HEL)?

fransknorge

NewbieRunner

As I explained in my previous post you can skip the train segments. Check if there's any destination cheaper than DUS via FRA.