Apr 28, 2019, 12:01 pm
Last edit by: threeoh
Booking to QYG allows you connect from any airport in Germany to any of the 5,600 DeutscheBahn train stations in Germany. For example, if you book a ticket ORD-FRA-QYG, you will fly ORD-FRA and then connect on DB with an open, unrestricted ticket good on any train to any destination in Germany. The ticket is valid the day you land and the following day.
In reverse, bookings from QYG allow you to originate at any DB station the day before or the day of your flight.
On most trains, including ICE, you can either pay a small fee for a seat reservation on a specific train or board any train and find an unassigned seat. Some trains such as Sprinter and night trains require a reservation and special supplement. F or J flights book into 1st class on the train and Y flights book into 2nd class.
Info from DB in English: https://www.bahn.de/p/view/service/buchung/flug/rail-and-fly-english.shtml
More info in PDF form: https://www.bahn.de/p/view/mdb/bahnintern/services/mobilitaet_service/rail_fly_airrail/2018/mdb_277126_20180809_reisendeninfo_railandfly_engli sch.pdf
Info on what rail services / bus transfers serve each airport, in German and English: https://www.bahn.de/p/view/mdb/bahnintern/services/mobilitaet_service/rail_fly_airrail/mdb_252625_20170719_flughafentransfer_railfly.pdf
You must collect a DB ticket before the train portion of your journey, either print at home or mobile ticket via http://www.rail-checkin.com/ or collect from any DB long-distance vending machine.
When booking on UA's site, enter QYG as your destination or origin. When booking on LH's site, start your booking to/from the gateway airport (FRA, MUC, etc.) and then click to add rail ticket on the final screen for EUR 34 each direction.
Separate but related program: Lufthansa Express Rail, direct connections from ~15 cities to FRA flights with protected connections, checked baggage service, and mileage earnings: https://www.lufthansa.com/us/en/lufthansa-express-rail
In reverse, bookings from QYG allow you to originate at any DB station the day before or the day of your flight.
On most trains, including ICE, you can either pay a small fee for a seat reservation on a specific train or board any train and find an unassigned seat. Some trains such as Sprinter and night trains require a reservation and special supplement. F or J flights book into 1st class on the train and Y flights book into 2nd class.
Info from DB in English: https://www.bahn.de/p/view/service/buchung/flug/rail-and-fly-english.shtml
More info in PDF form: https://www.bahn.de/p/view/mdb/bahnintern/services/mobilitaet_service/rail_fly_airrail/2018/mdb_277126_20180809_reisendeninfo_railandfly_engli sch.pdf
Info on what rail services / bus transfers serve each airport, in German and English: https://www.bahn.de/p/view/mdb/bahnintern/services/mobilitaet_service/rail_fly_airrail/mdb_252625_20170719_flughafentransfer_railfly.pdf
You must collect a DB ticket before the train portion of your journey, either print at home or mobile ticket via http://www.rail-checkin.com/ or collect from any DB long-distance vending machine.
When booking on UA's site, enter QYG as your destination or origin. When booking on LH's site, start your booking to/from the gateway airport (FRA, MUC, etc.) and then click to add rail ticket on the final screen for EUR 34 each direction.
Separate but related program: Lufthansa Express Rail, direct connections from ~15 cities to FRA flights with protected connections, checked baggage service, and mileage earnings: https://www.lufthansa.com/us/en/lufthansa-express-rail
Rail&fly with United in Germany
Apr 28, 2019, 4:25 pm
#61
Join Date: May 2016
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1k
Posts: 312
This was super helpful! I managed to ticket my mileage award to one of the ExpressRail destinations pretty easily. Didn't get me all the way to where I wanted but very close!
I think the trains to Stuttgart are through Lufthansa Express Rail, which is different than the QYG Rail&Fly program. With Express Rail, you can check your bags through, sit in a Lufthansa-only section of the train, your connection is protected in case of IRROPS, and you earn miles.
https://www.lufthansa.com/us/en/lufthansa-express-rail
With QYG Rail&Fly you have an open-ended ticket to any DB station in Germany, but no reservations, no baggage service, etc.
On a separate note, I just added a wiki to this thread and put a few links to info on QYG and Lufthansa Express Rail.
https://www.lufthansa.com/us/en/lufthansa-express-rail
With QYG Rail&Fly you have an open-ended ticket to any DB station in Germany, but no reservations, no baggage service, etc.
On a separate note, I just added a wiki to this thread and put a few links to info on QYG and Lufthansa Express Rail.
Apr 28, 2019, 4:46 pm
#62
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WOW, I have not seen that before and I have sure looked for it. It doesn't seem to sell ZDH-ZRH alone like it does for the German AirRail ... but apparently in conjunction with a connecting LX flight. Very interesting. I tried this last summer and it did not come up. Very interesting ... I often fly into ZRH and then take the train.
Jul 29, 2019, 12:34 am
#63
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: DCA
Posts: 814
I know this is the UA forum, but I am not getting an answer on the SQ forum and you all seem knowledgeable about LH express rail. Does anyone know if SQ allows an LH express rail leg the way UA does on redemptions? I would like the train from Erfurt, but Erfurt will not show as an airport option on the Krisflyer website. Thanks for any help.
Well, I can report back that SQ might cover the LH express rail leg. The agent could see the space when I called, but had to send it out to a manager because he could not figure how many miles to charge. The ticket is on hold and I really hope they will not charge more than the first class ticket!
Well, I can report back that SQ might cover the LH express rail leg. The agent could see the space when I called, but had to send it out to a manager because he could not figure how many miles to charge. The ticket is on hold and I really hope they will not charge more than the first class ticket!
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Jul 29, 2019 at 9:47 pm Reason: merged update / consecutive posts by same member
Feb 28, 2022, 6:09 pm
#64
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Does Rail & Fly still work with United? I tried searching for tickets with a segment to QYG and UA doesn't seem to recognize that as a destinati
n.
n.
Feb 28, 2022, 7:33 pm
#65
Join Date: Feb 2022
Location: LAX
Programs: UA
Posts: 1,532
United appears not to recognize QYG as a destination, but if you put in a specific train station like ZWS for Stuttgart, it does get recognized. However, a cursory search reveals no results for train segments; the search comes up empty when entering ZWS as a destination, but STR works fine.
Feb 28, 2022, 9:42 pm
#66
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United appears not to recognize QYG as a destination, but if you put in a specific train station like ZWS for Stuttgart, it does get recognized. However, a cursory search reveals no results for train segments; the search comes up empty when entering ZWS as a destination, but STR works fine.
recognize QYG ... United's site does not, though.
Mar 1, 2022, 11:44 am
#67
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: PIT
Programs: OZ Diamond, UA Gold
Posts: 9,922
Have you tried through Google Flights? I haven't purchased anything yet but I've been looking into Lugano CH (QDL) and although the UA website recognizes it, it won't show any flights PIT-ZRH-QDL, but I can use Google Flights and pull up an itinerary on the UA website. Maybe that would work for QYG too?
Mar 1, 2022, 11:59 am
#68
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Location: Between AUS, EWR, and YTO In a little twisty maze of airline seats, all alike.. but I wanna go home with the armadillo
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Have you tried through Google Flights? I haven't purchased anything yet but I've been looking into Lugano CH (QDL) and although the UA website recognizes it, it won't show any flights PIT-ZRH-QDL, but I can use Google Flights and pull up an itinerary on the UA website. Maybe that would work for QYG too?
ns.
Jun 5, 2022, 6:25 am
#69
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: MUC
Posts: 144
I tried to book tickets with the code QYG, and UA no longer recognizes it; this was not the case last year when UA.com showed the extra 33 EUR included in the ticket price.
Going to google, and using site:united.com "rail and fly" or QYG doesn't really yield any results, it's been scrubbed from UA's website.
As others mentioned though, UA still will issue tickets on AirRail to the train stations that have IATA codes (see here for a list of stations). Note: Not all stations on the list are part of the AirRail service. Too bad the service is gone.
On the plus side, you can still book Rail and Fly with LH, but you must be a LH flight and ticket (e.g. for the SFO-FRA flights, neither LH9127 operated by UA as UA926, nor UA8828 operated by LH as LH455 qualify, only a ticket on 220 stock sold as LH455).
Going to google, and using site:united.com "rail and fly" or QYG doesn't really yield any results, it's been scrubbed from UA's website.
As others mentioned though, UA still will issue tickets on AirRail to the train stations that have IATA codes (see here for a list of stations). Note: Not all stations on the list are part of the AirRail service. Too bad the service is gone.
On the plus side, you can still book Rail and Fly with LH, but you must be a LH flight and ticket (e.g. for the SFO-FRA flights, neither LH9127 operated by UA as UA926, nor UA8828 operated by LH as LH455 qualify, only a ticket on 220 stock sold as LH455).
Last edited by radioactive; Jun 5, 2022 at 6:43 am
Jun 5, 2022, 7:50 am
#70
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: DCA
Programs: UA 1K; *G and *A Top 1000; HHonors Diamond; *$ Gold; Global Entry
Posts: 2,272
It would appear that United is no longer a partner with Deutsche Bahn’s Rail&fly program.
https://assets.static-bahn.de/dam/jc...tner%20(1).pdf
https://assets.static-bahn.de/dam/jc...tner%20(1).pdf
Jun 4, 2023, 11:13 pm
#71
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: SEA, ATL
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Posts: 131
Reviving this thread as I still see SBB connections to/from ZDH (Basel), ZHT (Geneva), QDL (Lugano) among others, in conjunction with LX flights when using MileagePlus awards. I am similarly seeing DB connections between LH international flights and German rail stations e.g. QKL (Cologne), ZWS (Stuttgart), XIU (Erfurt) and QPP (Berlin).
Does anyone know if these are fixed train bookings or valid ±1 day like the QYG tickets? Would ticket inspection on one of these train segments mark the coupon as "flown"?
Does anyone know if these are fixed train bookings or valid ±1 day like the QYG tickets? Would ticket inspection on one of these train segments mark the coupon as "flown"?
Last edited by hypertext; Jun 5, 2023 at 4:44 am
Jun 5, 2023, 6:47 am
#73
Join Date: Dec 2014
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Posts: 131
So how does that work if someone were to take a different DB train than booked? For example if the flight is delayed, taking a later one than booked? Or deciding you want to go early to use the lounge? Would they really force you to buy a new ticket or pay a penalty? And would the booked train segment be considered "no show", jeopardizing the flight?
Jun 5, 2023, 7:07 am
#74
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Thanks for the information.
So how does that work if someone were to take a different DB train than booked? For example if the flight is delayed, taking a later one than booked? Or deciding you want to go early to use the lounge? Would they really force you to buy a new ticket or pay a penalty? And would the booked train segment be considered "no show", jeopardizing the flight?
So how does that work if someone were to take a different DB train than booked? For example if the flight is delayed, taking a later one than booked? Or deciding you want to go early to use the lounge? Would they really force you to buy a new ticket or pay a penalty? And would the booked train segment be considered "no show", jeopardizing the flight?
Rail&Fly is different, this is a 'train to/from airport' program. Airrail are trains with flight numbers ... they work like flights.
Now, it is not uncommon that tickets don't get checked on trains and you can likely argue that when there is a problem. If you take an earlier train, your ticket won't be valid (you'd have to buy an extra one) and then you'd be arriving at FRA prior to the time you were supposed to be there ... that can cause issues as well (if you want to check luggage).
There are quite a few reports of 'skipping' an airrail segment causing problems; I would not do that. If there is an irops or a delay, that can all be sorted out.
Dec 27, 2023, 7:52 pm
#75
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Posts: 2,272
United appears to be a Deutsche Bahn Rail&fly Partner again; however, the QYG code does not seem to work on United’s app or website. Any idea how to book these rail coupons?
https://assets.static-bahn.de/dam/jc...%20Partner.pdf
This is, of course, different from the new United partnership with Lufthansa Express Rail.
https://assets.static-bahn.de/dam/jc...%20Partner.pdf
This is, of course, different from the new United partnership with Lufthansa Express Rail.