I wasn’t sure where to post, so I apologize for posting in both the Frankfurt and Cochem forums.
My husband and I (age 36 and 38) are planning to purchase rail tickets using the Deutche Bahn.de website, and we have a lot of questions:
Discounts: The website lists discounts Savings Price 25 and 50. I’m unclear about how the various discounts work. Are these only for citizens of Europe? Is there a pass that needs to be purchased to receive these special rates? We will book our tickets 80-90 days in advance.
Our complete travel will be:
Frankfurt %26gt; Cochem on a Friday
While in the Mosel Valley, we will travel to other towns by train /boat
Cochem to Amsterdam on a Monday
Amsterdam to Brugge/Brussels on a Friday
Brussels to Paris on a Sunday
While in Paris, we will do some regional train travel as well
There is another discount BahnCard – that appears to cost 15 Euro, but allows discounts in other countries. Given our other travel, does it make sense to buy this card? (We don’t want to purchase a Eurail ticket, because it seems that it is much more costly than individual tickets).
About the trip from Frankfurt airport to Cochem, Mosel Valley:
We arrive at the Frankfurt airport (international) at 11:00, and want to go directly to Cochem. Do we need to take a train from the airport to Frankfurt’s main station? How much time should we allow for that train ride? Is 3 hours enough for getting luggage and getting to Frankfurt Main?
Which option for Cochem should I choose? The ones that seem to make the most sense are:
Cochem (Mosel)
Cochem (Mosel) KD
Cochem Bahnhof
Am Markt (Cochem)
1st and 2nd Class: What’s the difference? I assume it will vary by the type of train, but is there any circumstance where we would not want to use a 2nd class ticket?
OnLine Tickets: Is there any concern we should have about purchasing online tickets in advance from America?
Thanks so much for any guidance you can give!
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I think I can help with some of your questions:
Booking online tickets and printing them out should be no problem anywhere, but you do need to produce the credit card used to buy them when asked on the train.
I think you change at Koblenz to get to Cochem andthe Koblenz IC trains from Frankfurt stop at the airport station (Fernbahnhof), so you won%26#39;t need to go in to Frankfurt. You need a journey from Frankfurt airport to Cochem(Mosel). I would allow 2 hours assuming the plane is on time so the 12.59 train from the airport would be reasonably safe.
I think the 25 %26amp; 50 savings prices are for anyone, but the tickets are fixed to a particular train, so it could be a problem if your flight is late and you miss the one you are booked on. Full price tickets are flexible and valid on any train.
2nd class is normally fine - first gives more space for 50% extra fare.
Bahncards cost much more than €15 - I think this is an extra supplement to give discounts in the rest of Europe.
Cochem to Amsterdam can be bought from DB as it starts in Germany. The other single journeys might be better bought from the originating country%26#39;s website. Brussels to Paris is on thalys.com - collect the tickets in Belgium.
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