Travel from Vienna to Frankfurt - GAS tour

How much are you actually saving by going round trip to Frankfurt vs open jaw with a return from Vienna?
It can be done in 6 hours and 21 minutes on a direct train for as low as 75.80 EUR for 2 with Super Sparpreis tickets bought several months ahead. Discount airline tickets similar price if a bit shorter time. Keep in mind you will also have an extra day of hotel and living expenses over open jaw return.

Probably will behoove you to arrive a day early to get over jet lag before the tour.

When I took this tour, I flew in to Paris, spent a week there then took the train to Trier. At the end I flew from Vienna to London to continue my travels.

You probably checked open jaw routings on your airline? It's usually not any more expensive depending on the airline. It's booked under Multi-city or Multi-destination rather than 2 one way tickets which CAN be expensive!

It should be fairly straightforward to get from Vienna to Frankfurt if this is what you need to do.

Run the numbers. We flew open jaw: in to Frankfurt and out of Vienna (Austrian Air direct to Dulles, booked open jaw) through United. You have to consider not just the cost of the train, but the extra day a train would take. Even if you have to connect in Frankfurt or elsewhere, you can still book this as open jaw without you having to specify Frankfurt.

We did this tour a few years ago and flew on one multi-city itinerary. We flew into Frankfurt and took the train to Cochem, arriving mid-afternoon the day before the tour started. We spent the night in Cochem and took the afternoon train to Trier to arrive before the meet and greet. We found this very easy to do involving only one transfer to Cochem and none to Trier. At the suggestion of a Rick Steves assistant we bought the train tickets at the airport after our arrival. We flew out of Vienna to Frankfurt and then on to Boston. We had the free time to go early and had already spent some time in Trier so we wanted to spend the pre night in Cochem.

Have you priced an open-jaw itinerary? I’ve often found open-jaws to be not only cost-effective but a time-saver.

So I had never heard the expression "open jaw'- before - looked it up and realized it just means a multi-city booking. I have been looking into multi-city flights but part of the problem is that the flights home from Vienna are awful. I certainly understand the extra expenses involved with transportation costs and an extra nights' stay but it is less expensive than multi-city airfare and the flights are shorter. After years of flying economy to Europe I recently switched to Delta Comfort Plus tickets and I would like a similar experience. Maybe I need to look at other airlines. Any suggestions?

Silvana, what do you mean is "awful" about flights home from Vienna? Just curious. Where are you flying from/to (home airport)? That makes a difference.

I live in CT - i would prefer to fly to Boston as it is a reasonable distance from my home. Delta does not have any direct flights home from Vienna. Some have a layover in Detroit lol.

If you want to fly out of Boston, Delta has no direct flights to Frankfurt, but United/Lufthansa does. You can fly direct to Frankfurt, and return with a plane change in Munich for less than flying round trip with a connection on Delta or partners.

Silvana, for your return (from VIE to BOS), Delta has two codeshare options you might consider: one on Air France with a connection in Paris; another via KLM with connection in Amsterdam. No Detroit turnaround required. :)

Also, which Sep/GAS Tour are you on? We're with the 091220 group.

I fly Delta transatlantically. Round-trip Frankfurt is very expensive. So what I have done is found an open jaw (multi city) from other European cities like Amsterdam. I am often departing Europe from Amsterdam even if Amsterdam is not part of my itinerary. You will have access to nonstops to Boston on Delta & KLM from Amsterdam. JFK too if that is an option if the fare is cheaper than Boston. So see what BOS — FRA — AMS — BOS or JFK — FRA — AMS — JFK costs. Or maybe consider flying round-trip between Boston and Amsterdam. You can take the train right from Schiphol Airport to wherever you want in Germany or consider a flight on Eurowings from Amsterdam to the German city where they fly closest to Trier. Eurowings is a subsidiary of Lufthansa.

Price Austrian Airlines from Vienna to AMS. EasyJet also flies to Amsterdam from Vienna.

Just some ideas.

As there are no direct flights from VIE to BOS, you have to accept that you will need to make at least one stop along the way. Whether you choose to book roundtrip from BOS to Frankfurt and then fly one-way on a budget airline from Vienna to Frankfurt vs. a multicity booking, it will all pretty much be the same journey back. Overall, I highly recommend flying from VIE to Frankfurt vs. the train.

Thanks for all the information!

We booked our flights for this tour through Lufthansa a few years ago. I didn't look to see if the same schedules are being used. We left Boston at 10:15pm arriving in Frankfurt at 11:30am the next day. When we returned home we left Vienna at 9:10am for a 1:35 hour flight to Frankfurt. The Frankfurt to Boston leg departed at 1:05pm, arriving at 3:05pm local time. I have also flown Swiss, which is part of the same group as Lufthansa, for other trips to that area of Europe.

Thank You!

Arriving early to get acclimated is a really good idea. You can catch a train to Trier from Frankfurt. Plan a few hours to go to Koblenz then down to Trier. It might be faster. I haven't done it in awhile but recall going from Koln to Trier, using local trains, and arriving still very early in the day. I like to give myself plenty of time, being in a hurry is never a good travel option.

Getting back to Frankfurt, I'd go with a plane from Vienna to Frankfurt. A train is a good option but you've already visited most of the intermediate sights going back. If you don't want to stop along the way, a plane is faster and cheaper than a train (figure about an hour flight and 50 euro).

I'd plan some time on the back end too. At least a day in or around Frankfurt before your flight home. If anything goes wrong in your plans (e.g. missed connection), you have time to recover and still catch your flight home.

If you do wind up going with Delta or a code share partner, I'd take the transit in Amsterdam over the transit thru Paris. If you go with a transit thru Paris give yourselves plenty of time for that.

I have just discovered that Austrian Airlines will begin direct service between Boston and Vienna in Spring 2020.

Here are the details:

https://www.austrianairlines.ag/Press/PressReleases/Press/2019/11/072.aspx?sc_lang=en&mode=%7B30999B4B-42D0-45A6-B671-FE5E3CB68ED8%7D