Travel Guide

Rail&Fly & Lufthansa Express Rail Train as Your Flight Feeder (EN Guide)

Use the train as your flight feeder to Frankfurt or Munich: how Rail&Fly and Lufthansa Express Rail (AIRail) work, how to book them, what happens if the train is delayed, and who is liable. Internally linked to our DB and EC261 guides instead of duplicated.

TL;DR: This Trainvave Guide is a comprehensive tutorial on Rail&Fly & Lufthansa Express Rail: Train as Your Flight Feeder (EN Guide). Use the train as your flight feeder to Frankfurt or Munich: how Rail&Fly and Lufthansa Express Rail (AIRail) work, how to book them, what happens if the train is delayed, and who is liable. Internally linked to our DB and EC261 guides instead of duplicated.

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Verified 2026-07-12. This is factual travel-information (YMYL). The structural facts below — what each product is, integrated ticketing, the AIRail route network, the transfer guarantee, and luggage-through check-in — are sourced from German Wikipedia “Lufthansa Express Rail” and “Rail&Fly” (both current as of the 2026-02 edits) and dated 2026 airline/DB summaries. Fares, exact stations, and cut-off times change — re-confirm on lufthansa.com and bahn.de before you travel. Stand-date: 2026-07-12.

Taking the train to the airport instead of a short-haul flight is one of the smartest moves in German travel — and the two products that do it, Rail&Fly and Lufthansa Express Rail (AIRail), are easier to use than their names suggest. This guide explains both, how to book them, what to do if the train is delayed, and who picks up the bill. For the train-specific rules we link to our own DB guides rather than repeating them; for the flight-side rights we link to our EC261 compensation calculator.

TL;DR — the 15-second version

Rail&Fly = Deutsche Bahns airport-connecting train ticket, sold by many airlines (often flat-fare or free with a flight). Normal train, no flight number.
Lufthansa Express Rail / AIRail = selected ICE/Sprinter trains to Frankfurt (and Vienna via Austrian) that carry a real Lufthansa flight number, book like a flight, and come with a transfer guarantee.
Train delayed and you miss the plane? AIRail → Lufthansa rebooks you free (Umsteigegarantie). Rail&Fly → DBs train passenger-rights apply; the flight is a separate contract with the airline.
Always keep screenshots of the delay and head to the airline/airport service desk first.

What is Rail&Fly?

Rail&Fly is an offer from Deutsche Bahn in cooperation with various airlines. It lets air passengers travelling from or to an airport in Germany (and, depending on the airline, Amsterdam, Brussels, Zurich, Basel, Vienna, Salzburg, Graz and others) travel free or for a flat fare by train to or from any DB station on a direct route to/from that airport.

Key points that are stable across airlines:

Rail&Fly is valid on the flight days, plus the day before departure and the day after return — so you can safely travel the evening before an early flight.
With Rail&Fly Flex you must reserve a specific train in advance; the basic version is usually open (any train that day on the valid route).
Many, but not all, airlines offer it. On some airlines and metasearch sites you book it by entering QYG as the start or end “airport” — the real airport then becomes a change point and Rail&Fly shows up as a one-hour placeholder “flight” under a rail carrier code (Deutsche Bahn = 2A, or World Ticket W2).
If you did not receive the train ticket, you retrieve it online using the booking code the airline or travel agent gave you.

Rail&Fly is a normal Deutsche Bahn ticket with airport validity. It does not turn the train into a flight segment.

Coverage and booking window (Lufthansa Rail&Fly). On the Lufthansa Group version — the one most international flyers actually buy — Rail&Fly reaches more than 5,600 Deutsche Bahn stations across Germany, and you must start travel no later than six months after booking. (The exact station count and the booking window change with the timetable; re-confirm the current figures on lufthansa.com before you travel.)

2026 Rail&Fly fares (Lufthansa)

For the Lufthansa Group version the published 2026 fares are:

Class	One way	Return
2nd class	EUR 35	EUR 70
1st class	EUR 59	EUR 118
Children 6-11	50% off	50% off
Children up to 5	free	free

Lufthansa has also run limited promotions (for example a EUR 45 1st-class fare in June-July 2026 for travel on a later eligible date), so always check the live price shown during booking. Fares are set by Lufthansa and change — re-confirm the current prices on lufthansa.com before you travel.

What is Lufthansa Express Rail (AIRail)?

AIRail connects major stations with Frankfurt Airport as a feeder alternative to the plane. The verified current network (German Wikipedia, 2026-02) links the Hauptbahnhöfe of Aachen, Basel, Dortmund, Dresden, Erfurt, Hannover, Leipzig, Göttingen, Köln, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Nürnberg, Würzburg and Düsseldorf, plus Siegburg/Bonn and Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe, with around 240 daily trips to and from Frankfurt. Lufthansa markets Express Rail more broadly as reaching about 26 German cities (the exact city list changes with the timetable, so confirm yours during flight booking). (Austrian Airlines runs an AIRail offshoot in cooperation with ÖBB to Vienna.)

The defining feature is integrated ticketing:

AIRail trains carry a Lufthansa flight number and are booked in the reservation systems like flights.
On board there is a dedicated AIRail train attendant, and certain seats are reserved primarily for Lufthansa guests (Business/First get lounge-class seating on the AIRail portion; Economy gets a varying quota in the open area).
At selected stations you can check luggage through to your final destination and receive your boarding pass at the station — historically Köln, Stuttgart and Siegburg/Bonn, and at Frankfurt Flughafen itself (where a dedicated check-in counter sits at the bridge to the terminal). Check-in at the station was shortened over time to as little as 15 minutes before train departure once bags were carried on board to Frankfurt rather than dropped at the origin station.

Because the train carries a flight number, missed-connection protection rides on Lufthansas transfer guarantee (Umsteigegarantie) rather than on DBs ordinary train rules — see below.

Booking: how to actually do it

Rail&Fly

Added during flight booking, or afterwards through the airline or travel agent using your booking code.
In some systems you pick the airport as origin/destination using the rail station code QYG; the airport becomes a connection and Rail&Fly appears as a placeholder rail “flight”.
Retrieve a missing ticket online with the airline/travel-agent booking code.

Lufthansa Express Rail / AIRail

Appears automatically as a bookable feeder option to Frankfurt (or Vienna via Austrian) when you search a connecting flight, or you add it in the booking flow.
The AIRail leg then shows with its LH flight number next to your plane segments — treat it exactly like a flight segment for check-in and baggage.

Before you travel, get comfortable with how German train tickets work and keep the DB Navigator app installed — it is your best friend for live delay status on the feeder leg.

If the train is delayed: rebooking

This is where the two products diverge, and it is the single most important thing to understand.

AIRail / Lufthansa Express Rail (flight-number feeder)

Lufthansas transfer guarantee (Umsteigegarantie) applies: if the train is delayed and you miss the connection to your flight, Lufthansa rebooks you on the next possible flight at no extra cost.
Act immediately: keep screenshots of the delay and go to the Lufthansa / airport service desk (or call Lufthansa) before buying anything.

Rail&Fly (normal DB ticket)

There is no Lufthansa flight-number guarantee. The carriage is a Deutsche Bahn ticket, so DBs rail passenger rights (Fahrgastrechte) govern the train leg: free rebooking to the next train and 25% delay compensation at 60+ minutes / 50% at 120+ minutes late at your final destination.
The flight is a separate contract with the airline. Whether a late train gets you rebooked free depends on that airlines conditions — contact them at the airport service desk right away, and see our delays & refunds master guide for the train-side rights.

Practical rule of thumb: if your feeder train has an LH flight number, Lufthansa owns the connection. If it is a plain DB ticket (Rail&Fly), DB owns the train and the airline owns the flight — protect both with screenshots and talk to a human at the airport fast.

Liability: who pays?

The two legs are separate contracts, so liability splits by product:

AIRail (flight-number feeder): Lufthansa is responsible for getting you to your destination under its transfer guarantee when the train causes a missed connection.
Rail&Fly: the train leg is a DB contract → DBs Fahrgastrechte apply (rebooking + 25%/50% compensation at 60/120 min). The flight contract is with the airline, under the airlines conditions.

For the flight side — delay, cancellation and denied-boarding compensation on the plane leg — our EC261 compensation calculator explains what you can claim when you finally fly. Note that the train feeder itself is not an EC261 flight, so the regulation covers your aircraft segments, not the rail leg.

Luggage and check-in

AIRail: at selected stations you can check bags through to your final destination and get your boarding pass at the station (historically Köln, Stuttgart, Siegburg/Bonn; at Frankfurt Flughafen there is a dedicated counter at the terminal bridge). Cut-off times have shortened over the years — confirm current stations and deadlines with Lufthansa.
Rail&Fly: a normal DB train ticket, so you normally keep your bags with you and check in at the airport like any other passenger. Allow the usual minimum connection time plus buffer for the walk from the Fernbahnhof to the terminal.

Sources and stand-date

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lufthansa_Express_Rail (German Wikipedia, current as of the 2026-02 edit) — AIRail route network (Aachen, Basel, Dortmund, Dresden, Erfurt, Hannover, Leipzig, Göttingen, Köln, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Nürnberg, Würzburg, Düsseldorf, Siegburg/Bonn, Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe), ~240 daily trips to Frankfurt, integrated ticketing with Lufthansa flight number, AIRail train attendant, luggage-through check-in, Umsteigegarantie (transfer guarantee), Austrian Airlines/ÖBB offshoot to Vienna.
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail&Fly (German Wikipedia) — Rail&Fly as a Deutsche Bahn / airline cooperation, free or flat-fare airport connecting ticket, validity on flight days + day before/after, Rail&Fly Flex reservation, QYG booking code, rail carrier codes (Deutsche Bahn 2A, World Ticket W2), 2.5 million passengers in 2013.
Lufthansa Rail&Fly (lufthansa.com / lufthansa.bahnanreise.de, verified 2026-07-12) — 2026 fares (2nd class EUR 35 one way / EUR 70 return; 1st class EUR 59 / EUR 118; children 6-11 at 50%, under 5 free), 5,600+ DB stations, six-month booking window. Fares and station count change — re-confirm on lufthansa.com.
trainvave internal EC261 compensation calculator — flight-side delay/cancellation rights (the train feeder itself is not an EC261 flight).
trainvave internal delays & refunds master guide — DB Fahrgastrechte on the train leg (25%/50% at 60/120 min).
trainvave internal DB Navigator app guide and train tickets explained — live delay status and ticket basics.
Stand / verification date: 2026-07-12.

Rules reflect the situation verified on 2026-07-12. Fares, exact stations, and check-in cut-off times change; re-confirm current details on lufthansa.com and bahn.de before travelling.

Trademark Notice: Trainvave is an independent information portal and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Deutsche Bahn AG, ÖBB, or any other railway company. All brand names, product names, and logos mentioned (including but not limited to ICE, IC, EC, DB, Deutsche Bahn) are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here solely for informational purposes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Rail&Fly and Lufthansa Express Rail (AIRail)?

Rail&Fly is Deutsche Bahns product, sold by many airlines (and via travel agencies / metasearch) as a connecting train ticket to/from the airport, usually at a flat fare or free with the flight. Lufthansa Express Rail (branded AIRail) is Lufthansas own premium product on selected ICE/Sprinter services to Frankfurt (and the Austrian Airlines AIRail offshoot to Vienna): those trains carry a real Lufthansa flight number, so they book like a flight segment, you can check bags through at the station, and there is a transfer guarantee. Rail&Fly does not carry a flight number; it is a normal train ticket with airport validity.

Do I get a flight number on the train with Rail&Fly?

No. With Rail&Fly the train keeps its normal DB train number and you get a normal train ticket. Only Lufthansa Express Rail / AIRail trains carry a Lufthansa flight number (e.g. LHxxxx) and appear as a flight in your booking. In some airline and metasearch systems Rail&Fly is even shown as a one-hour placeholder "flight" using a rail carrier code (Deutsche Bahn = 2A, or World Ticket W2) with the airport as a connection point — but operationally it is a Deutsche Bahn train.

What happens if my feeder train is delayed and I miss the flight?

If you booked an AIRail / Lufthansa Express Rail segment with a flight number, Lufthansa offers a transfer guarantee (Umsteigegarantie): if the train is delayed and you miss the connection, Lufthansa rebooks you on the next possible flight at no extra cost. For plain Rail&Fly there is no Lufthansa flight-number guarantee — it is a DB ticket, so DBs passenger-rights rules apply to the train (rebooking / compensation under Fahrgastrechte), and you must sort the flight out with the airline. Always keep screenshots of the delay and contact the airline/airport service desk immediately.

Who is liable if the train is late — Deutsche Bahn or Lufthansa?

It depends on the product. On AIRail (flight-number feeder) Lufthansa is responsible for getting you to your destination under its transfer guarantee if the train causes a missed connection. On Rail&Fly the carriage is a Deutsche Bahn ticket, so DBs rail passenger rights (Fahrgastrechte: free rebooking and 25%/50% delay compensation at 60/120 min) apply to the train leg, while the flight contract is with the airline. The two legs are separate contracts, so check the airlines conditions for the flight before relying on any protection.

Can I check my luggage through from the train to the plane?

On AIRail / Lufthansa Express Rail selected stations (historically Köln, Stuttgart, Siegburg/Bonn, and at Frankfurt Flughafen itself) you can check bags through to your final destination and get your boarding pass at the station. Rail&Fly is a normal DB train ticket, so you normally keep your bags with you and check in at the airport like any other passenger. Always confirm current stations and cut-off times with Lufthansa before travel — these details change.

How do I book Rail&Fly or Lufthansa Express Rail?

Rail&Fly is added during flight booking (or afterwards via the airline/travel agent using your booking code); in some systems you select the airport as the start/end point using the rail station code QYG. Lufthansa Express Rail / AIRail appears automatically as a bookable feeder option to Frankfurt (and Vienna via Austrian) when you search a connecting flight, or you add it in the booking flow. The AIRail leg then shows with its LH flight number next to your plane segments.

Price Disclaimer: All prices mentioned on this page are non-binding and subject to change. Prices are examples only and may vary depending on booking time, route, and availability. Current and binding prices are available exclusively on the official websites of the respective providers (bahn.com, omio.com).