Airplane + train, all airline proposals (including miles)
The latest is Fco Connect: the service that allows single check-in and baggage delivery for travelers [...]
Lufthansa
KLM
ITA Airways
Iberia
Delta
Air France
Star Alliance
ZRH
The latest is Fco Connect: The service that allows single check-in and baggage delivery for travelers using the intermodal service train plus plane to and from the airport in Rome Fiumicino.
In this article:
But in Europe the Air+Rail model, which provides smoother travel and greater customer benefits, including mileage accrual, is a reality that has settled in over time and is unparalleled in the rest of the world.
It may be Europe's greater concern for the environment than the rest of the world-which has triggered a search for integration between the airplane and a more sustainable model such as the train; it may be the great european rail network which reaches airport hubs more easily and has developed an extensive high-speed network.
Instead, it will be that on some short-haul routes the train remains very competitive with flights and can be a long range capacity feeder of large groups such as Lufthansa and Air France-Klm.
The Historic Db-Star Alliance Agreement
So much so that the German railways Db Bahn were the first (and so far the only9 to become intermodal partners Of an airline alliance such as Star Alliance.
"From Freiburg to Singapore: all you need is one ticket. Through attractive intra-German connections while connecting to international travel chains, Deutsche Bahn and Star Alliance make a significant contribution to reducing CO2 emissions in the transportation sector," he had said last July Michael Peterson, board member of Db Passenger Transport announcing the historic agreement with the alliance that has 29 partner airlines (from Lufthansa to United via Air Canada, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways).
The alliance is based on the program Lufthansa Express Rail, namely the program that facilitates travel between the airline's hub at Frankfurt Airport and the various German cities served by high-speed trains.
Here, for example, are some benefits of the agreement between Db Bahn and Star Alliance: travelers will be able with one booking Combine round trips with respective trains including, Receiving all boarding passes with calculated schedules and connections; plus choice of timetables and prices for Ice trains in Germany; management quick and personalized of luggage and check-in at the Frankfurt airport; joining the various programs frequent fyer and consequently accumulation of miles o points for all 29 Star Alliance compafgnies.
Airline First and Business travelers can then receive additional benefits, such as access to the Lounge Of Deutsche Bahn.
The future of Fco Connect
The Lufthansa airline also has a system known as "Rail&Fly" where passengers can travel "from any of Deutsche Bahn's more than 5,600 stations" to the airport at flat fares. The difference, compared to Lufthansa Express Rail, is that in this case there is no accumulation of imgig for train viagigs, no single air-train ticket, and no access to Db lounges for Lufthansa status customers.
It should also be noted that the Fco Connect between Ita Airways and Trenitalia is the result of a memorandum of understanding signed in February that also included the Lufthansa Group. Simply put, then, if the German giant's takeover of Ita is successful, it will be almost automatic that the Fco Connect service will also be extended to all members of the German holding company (including the carriers Swiss Air, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, and Austrian).
The Swiss and Austrian examples
But individual Lufthansa Group airlines have also launched their own air+rail programs. Swiss offers its Air Rail service, which provides a network of first-class transportation in collaboration with the Swiss Railwaysand and allows you to depart and arrive from certain train stations that are located in Switzerland and areas near the borders.
The partnership grew a few months ago with the addition of Interlaken and Lucerne to destinations served to and from Zurich Airport (Basel, Geneva, Lugano; Bern, Fribourg, Lausanne, Bergen, and Munich).
Again, among other benefits, travelers can also earn points in the Swiss loyalty program for the rail portion of their trips.
Austrian is no different and has its own AIRail Rail and Fly which connects the Vienna hub with train stations in Linz, Salzburg and Graz. Benefits include free wi-fi on board Öbb Railjet trains; Öbb lounge access for Hon Circle, Senator or Star Alliance Gold members; first class travel; and lounge access for Austria's Business Class passengers.
The Air France-Klm model
The Group Air France-Klm is a true specialist, finally, in strategic combinations and intermodal connections in Europe and beyond. Air Frnace, for example, provides travel combined train+airplane to/from Brussels, Amsterdam, and over Paris and the French territory by Tgv or Thalys trains. For the latter, travel between a station in metropolitan France and an international destination (including direct flights to overseas France) is proposed when the wait for the scheduled connection is less than 24 hours.
For Brussels, however, travelers n 1a class on the Tgv - when choosing a combined trip between Brussels and Paris - can take advantage of the baggage claim team with personalized assistance at Air&Rail agencies in Brussels-South and Paris-Charles de Gaulle.
In Brussels-Midi, there is also a 'waiting area reserved for Air France and KLM customers at the Air&Rail terminal. If you are traveling in La Première or Business cabins or are Flying Blue Platinum, Gold members or SkyTeam Elite Plus, is possible at the Thalys Lounge before the train departs.
The same service-including the Brussels-Amsterdam - is obviously shared and also operated by Klm. Across the ocean, however, a Klm-branded bus connects the Canadian cities of Montreal and Ottawa.
Iberia and Delta without miles
Finally, there is also Iberia, which has its own single-ticket program called Train & Fly, for connections in Spain with flights from or to the United States or Latin America, Iberia offers rail connections via Madrid to Spain's most famous cities, including Pamplona, Salamanca and Valencia.
Unlike other airlines on this list, however, Iberia does not allow the accumulation of points Avios or miles to frequent flyers. Rail services are offered by Renfe Cercanías.
Delta Air Lines, the last and only non-European one at the moment, just last October expanded its European Air+Rail program including connections from the airport in Rome Fiumicino to four Italian cities-Bologna, Padua, Florence and Naples-in collaboration with Trenitalia and Aeroporti di Roma.
Passengers who book the package Delta's Air+Rail for Italy can check in for their flight as usual; while for the train segment: passengers can check in at accesrail.com to receive their boarding pass, using Delta's ticket confirmation, or they can get their train ticket at the train station counter.
The U.S. carrier's Air+Rail program provides rail connections to 20 more destinations, including 12 new cities for Delta customers in the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
First launched in August 2021, for travel between Amsterdam and the Belgian cities of Brussels and Antwerp, this expansion allows connectivity from airports in Brussels, Manchester, Rome Fiumicino, and Zurich and Geneva, among others. But even for Delta's SkyMiles customer e. members, there are no additional miles for the rail travel segment.
