Anyone "taken advantage of" (read: abused) the TUIfly railpass?
Apr 23, 2008, 7:47 am
#1
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Anyone "taken advantage of" (read: abused) the TUIfly railpass?
Title says it all. Will be in PRG and would like to go to Essen (what an excellent name for a city ^ ) or some other part of NRW.
I'd rather not fly (CSA flights cost over €200, and Easyjet is, well, Easyjet), and would prefer going by train, but the DB cross-country prices are just insane. Can I buy a flight from CGN or something and then go Dresden-Essen for €40 in first and bin the plane ticket? Or will I be sued, beaten and condemned to burn in hell for doing this?
And, if it is possible, what's the best route to take that doesn't include an ICE Sprinter (regular ICE is fine)?
I'd rather not fly (CSA flights cost over €200, and Easyjet is, well, Easyjet), and would prefer going by train, but the DB cross-country prices are just insane. Can I buy a flight from CGN or something and then go Dresden-Essen for €40 in first and bin the plane ticket? Or will I be sued, beaten and condemned to burn in hell for doing this?
And, if it is possible, what's the best route to take that doesn't include an ICE Sprinter (regular ICE is fine)?
Apr 23, 2008, 8:01 am
#2
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There are very few ICE Sprinter trains, so they're not hard to avoid:
http://www.bahn.de/p/view/mobilitaet...sprinter.shtml
I've never used the TUIFly tickets and I'm not quite sure what your plan looks like exactly (buy a ticket from CGN to where?), but have you considered flights to Dortmund, and Cologne in addition to Düsseldorf. (Service by GermanWings.)
http://www.bahn.de/p/view/mobilitaet...sprinter.shtml
I've never used the TUIFly tickets and I'm not quite sure what your plan looks like exactly (buy a ticket from CGN to where?), but have you considered flights to Dortmund, and Cologne in addition to Düsseldorf. (Service by GermanWings.)
Apr 23, 2008, 8:08 am
#3
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I know there are some Germanwings flights, but they were quite expensive for such a short flight on a lowcost (€160 or so) on the dates/routes I checked.
Apr 25, 2008, 1:51 pm
#5
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Did you consider to buy a ticket from Dresden to Essen without buying an airline ticket ???
Deutsche Bahn offers one-way tickets from 29,-EUR if you book early in advance. Tickets at this price just require you to stick to a fixed itinerary ...
If you get a ticket at 29,- Eur or 39,- EUR it´ll be cheaper than the 19,-EUR Rail&Fly ticket plus Airfare (+taxes) !!!
Those cheap tickets are availlable at http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml
Deutsche Bahn offers one-way tickets from 29,-EUR if you book early in advance. Tickets at this price just require you to stick to a fixed itinerary ...
If you get a ticket at 29,- Eur or 39,- EUR it´ll be cheaper than the 19,-EUR Rail&Fly ticket plus Airfare (+taxes) !!!
Those cheap tickets are availlable at http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml
Apr 25, 2008, 2:36 pm
#6
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Did you consider to buy a ticket from Dresden to Essen without buying an airline ticket ???
Deutsche Bahn offers one-way tickets from 29,-EUR if you book early in advance. Tickets at this price just require you to stick to a fixed itinerary ...
If you get a ticket at 29,- Eur or 39,- EUR it´ll be cheaper than the 19,-EUR Rail&Fly ticket plus Airfare (+taxes) !!!
Those cheap tickets are availlable at http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml
Deutsche Bahn offers one-way tickets from 29,-EUR if you book early in advance. Tickets at this price just require you to stick to a fixed itinerary ...
If you get a ticket at 29,- Eur or 39,- EUR it´ll be cheaper than the 19,-EUR Rail&Fly ticket plus Airfare (+taxes) !!!
Those cheap tickets are availlable at http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml
Apr 25, 2008, 2:39 pm
#7
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Apr 25, 2008, 2:45 pm
#8
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What should even work (I have not tested this) is even to get a C-Class ticket, ask for the seperate "railthing" and return the C-Class ticket in the end. The railthing is issued as a seperate ticket with its own ticket number and Amadeus code and it is valid from "German Rail" to a specific airport.
Apr 25, 2008, 4:17 pm
#9
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What should even work (I have not tested this) is even to get a C-Class ticket, ask for the seperate "railthing" and return the C-Class ticket in the end. The railthing is issued as a seperate ticket with its own ticket number and Amadeus code and it is valid from "German Rail" to a specific airport.
Apr 26, 2008, 5:21 am
#11
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Right. Just spoke with a very helpful chap at LH reservations. I didn't of course tell him I am going to cancel my LH ticket. 
He said:
1) There is no paper-pass. It's an electronic part of the rez, and you only need the e-tkt printout to travel.
2) The pass is kind-of "attached" to your flight bookings. If you make a date change, they will change the dates of the pass. Didn't ask what would happen if I wanted to make a date change after having travelled on the train.
3) You can't do a seat reservation with the pass. If there are no seats on your train, tough luck!
4) There are no restrictions to where you can use the tkt from. Zwickau-DUS is thus permitted.
Clear as mud...
He said:
1) There is no paper-pass. It's an electronic part of the rez, and you only need the e-tkt printout to travel.
2) The pass is kind-of "attached" to your flight bookings. If you make a date change, they will change the dates of the pass. Didn't ask what would happen if I wanted to make a date change after having travelled on the train.
3) You can't do a seat reservation with the pass. If there are no seats on your train, tough luck!
4) There are no restrictions to where you can use the tkt from. Zwickau-DUS is thus permitted.
Clear as mud...
Apr 26, 2008, 5:35 am
#12
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Apr 26, 2008, 10:40 am
#13
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Right. Just spoke with a very helpful chap at LH reservations. I didn't of course tell him I am going to cancel my LH ticket.
He said:
1) There is no paper-pass. It's an electronic part of the rez, and you only need the e-tkt printout to travel.
2) The pass is kind-of "attached" to your flight bookings. If you make a date change, they will change the dates of the pass. Didn't ask what would happen if I wanted to make a date change after having travelled on the train.
3) You can't do a seat reservation with the pass. If there are no seats on your train, tough luck!
4) There are no restrictions to where you can use the tkt from. Zwickau-DUS is thus permitted.
Clear as mud...
He said:
1) There is no paper-pass. It's an electronic part of the rez, and you only need the e-tkt printout to travel.
2) The pass is kind-of "attached" to your flight bookings. If you make a date change, they will change the dates of the pass. Didn't ask what would happen if I wanted to make a date change after having travelled on the train.
3) You can't do a seat reservation with the pass. If there are no seats on your train, tough luck!
4) There are no restrictions to where you can use the tkt from. Zwickau-DUS is thus permitted.
Clear as mud...
Surprising - last time I used this I had a seperate ticket issued for the rail portion and this was collected by the conductor. If it works with the e-ticket printout you could actually reprint and reprint and reprint (unless they collect the print)
Apr 26, 2008, 10:44 am
#14
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Unless LH managed to integrate their system with the DB 3-D barcode print-at-home-style tickets, then I would also find it surprising. Most airline DB ticket issues are done through paper flight coupons.