I was playing a little bit with the flight reservation systems.

To my surprise I found that US-Airways, American Airlines and others offer free train ticket from their gateway airports in Germany to any railway station of Deutsche Bahn, the German flag railway company.

These rail and fly offers have always been there for flights of international airlines like American Airlines, Emirates Airways, Quantas and others orginating from Germany Since no paper tickets are sold any more, the railway company had to come up with a solution compatible with electronic flight tickets. This allows now airlines (if they want) to extent rail and fly offers to customers living in other countries and visiting Europe.

Example with US-Airways:
Charlotte-Frankfurt September 15 to September 25
EUR 496 including tax and travel agent’s fee.
If you book it before the ticket is issued,
you can get with this ticket a free train ride
from Frankfurt to any German
railway station and back.

Another example with American Arlines:
Los Angeles-Frankfurt via Fort Worth
from September 15 to September 22
EUR 529 including Tax and Travel Agents fee.
If you ask for it before the ticket is issued,
you American Airlines also adds a train ticket for free,
from Frankfurt to any German railway station and back.

Both offers are based on fares and availabilities valid on May 26, 2009. Similiar offers are on the market for flights orginating in Canada and Mexico. This can save you just a bundle, because tickets for the German high speed railway links are not cheap.

I did not find these offers in booking engines. But your travel agent should be able to book it for you. Or you may request an offer here.

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