Cologne train station to Frankfurt airport

What date are you using? For most dates in the next few month, I see the 5:55 train, ICE 511, getting into Frankfurt Flughafen Fernbahnhof at 6:49.

If a train is scheduled in at 7:23, that gives you over 3 hours to catch your flight. But be aware that AA uses Terminal 2, which is a bit of a trek from the Fernbahnhof. In 2000, I arrived at the closer in Regionalbahnhof with just under 3 hours to catch a NWA flight from Terminal 2 and made it. And, because they only had two people to check in an entire 747, I spent almost 2 hours in the check-in line and still made the flight.

You must have some bogus information. Looking at the arrivals schedule board, the only train I see arriving at the Fernbahnhof at 7:23 is the S9 from FFm Hbf.

Lee, I'm actually speculating at this point because our travel date home is tentatively 8th of December and I don't think the train schedules go that far ahead.

I would say we would just have carry on luggage but I'm probably kidding myself due to Christmas market shopping. We'll probably have to check one bag coming home, which will no doubt add to our time.

The Frankfurt Airport station name to use at the DB website is Frankfurt(Main)Flugh

You have to get on that train at 5:55 am?? 3 hours+ should be enough but I'd prefer to stay a little closer just in case and to make your big travel day less arduous. I suggest you take an afternoon train from Cologne the day before via the scenic Middle Rhine Valley... NOT to the airport (which is boring) but to somewhere nice near the airport - like MAINZ. When you wake up there the next morning, you can have a little breakfast and pack up in a more leisurely way. Then board one of the many trains that get you to FRA. Direct trains at 7:00, 7:03, and 7:10 and 7:43 get you there in around 20-25 minutes.

The Hammer, the Königshof, and the Schottenhof are quite close to Mainz' main station. There are other choices as well.

Actually, the Bahn schedules go out to the 10th of December. But I'm not sure that they couldn't change a little by then. And no where do I see anything but the S9 from the Hbf arriving at the airport at exactly that time. I thought maybe you were looking at something that went from Koeln to the Hbf, then an S-Bahn to the airport, but the only thing I could find coming into the Hbf in time to catch that S-Bahn had already stopped at the airport.

I agree, instead of getting up so early to catch a train from Koeln, travel along the scenic Rhein from Koblenz to Mainz the day before, spend the night in Mainz, then get up at a civilized hour to catch the S-Bahn from Mainz to the airport.

And that's emigration in Frankfurt. You'll go through immigration at DFW.

I'll add this detail... the direct ICE link between Köln and the Frankfurt airport is the most blindingly fast stretch on the entire Deutsche Bahn network. It's possible that I'm remembering the numbers incorrectly, but I think speeds top off at one point above 300 km/hr. It's really an impressive feat of engineering, especially considering that the tracks traverse some rather hilly territory.

Personally, I don't do mornings well so we spend the last night at an airport hotel and stroll to the gate -- not worry about train delays, taxi traffic, or anything outside our control.

We really are morning people as we start work at 0500!

If we did choose to stay in Cologne and leave directly from there to the Frankfurt airport, would we be able to leave directly from the Dom station in Cologne? As I mentioned above, I do see a train, ICE 511 that leaves from Koln Hbf at 05:55 (that is the station by the cathedral, right?) and goes non-stop to Frankfurt Flughafen Fernbf arriving at 0649 on 8 December 2016. I know it isn't scenic but it should be a fast train and we've never experienced that before. I cannot purchase that ticket yet as it states I can only purchase 4 months out.

Thanks everyone for your input. I'm still in the planning stages, I just like to know that my plans are feasible.... I don't even have my airfare purchased yet. I even see a flight on Aer Lingus that doesn't leave until 20:40 from Frankfurt (although that has a 13 hour layover in Dublin, ick on the layover)...

Another thing about staying in Mainz for your last night - one more Christmas market.

If you stay in Frankfurt overnight, you can enjoy the Christmas Market there. The train takes 11 min. from the main station to the airport and it runs every 15 minutes. There are dozens of hotels to choose from to match your budget.

Security at the Frankfurt airport is quick and efficient. British Airways/American Airlines uses Terminal 2, so you would need to take the Sky Train monorail from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2. Add 10 min. to your time to get from the Regional train station to your terminal.