Train from Bacharach to Frankfurt Airport

Yes, the train goes through Bacharach to the airport if you check the train going on to Frankfurt from Koblenz. This is a regional train and not an ICE.

The Regional bahnhof at the airport is in Terminal 1.

How far ahead are you trying to buy tickets for? The DB site won't let you do this to far in advance. These tickets never sell out either, so no reservations are needed.

And unless I am wrong, advanced discounts are never offered for regional trains (please correct me if that isn't true).

It's 10.30 Euros one way per person on the RMV system (regional transit authority.)

http://www.rmv.de/coremedia/generator/RMV/Sprachen/SPRACH__ART__en.html

Just buy tickets from the RMV machine in Bacharach (may require cash.)

Last time I looked, most Bacharach-FRA Regionalbf connections have a change of trains in either Bingen or Mainz.

Although Bacharach is actually in the RNN (Rhein-Nahe Nahverkehrsverbund), not the RMV (Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund, Frankfurt metro district), it is in an overlap area between them and RMV sells tickets. The Bahn does not sell online tickets for trips covered by the Verkehrsverbünde, but, as Russ points out, it should be no problem buying your tickets from the automat in the Bacharach Bahnhof.

This is an actual picture I took of the automat in the Bacharach station. Note the shield on the LH side. Find the number for the Frankfurt(M) Flughafen Regionalbf on the shield (it should be 5090). You don't want Frankfurt(M) Hbf (5000); that will cost more. Input the number on the keypad. After it displays the price, then insert cash or a credit card.

ETA: I would suggest you practice a little on the automat in advance of actually buying the ticket. It's a little stressful buying a ticket for the first time with the train coming.

Tom, you are mostly correct. The discounted Sparpreis tickets are not available for all-regional connections. You must have at least one leg that is on a train (ICE/IC/EC) of the Bahn (Fernverkehr). However, you can use regional trains to get to/from the express train and their use will be shown on the Sparpreis ticket. It's little known, but, although the express trains are mandatory and the ticket is not valid for any other train, you can use any regional train for the route specified from midnight (AM) of the day of travel up to 10 AM the following day.

Thank you all for your advice. I took notes and I just want to make sure I have this correct. I buy the tickets at the Bacharach Bahnhof at the automat and put in the number (5090) for the Frankfurt (M) Flughafen Regionalbf. After paying, the train will take us (with a stop or change in Mainz) straight to the airport. We walk out of the train and the actual airport will be viola...right in front of us at Terminal 1?
I don't want any mistakes and end up missing our flight.

Thanks

Yes, the train station at the airport is IN the airport, at Terminal 1, just underground. Simply follow the signs that go upstairs to Departures, as they are all in English.

Do leave enough time to get there. This is not something I would cut close. Plan on arriving there at least 3 hours early.

Thank you:)

I said Frankfurt(M)Flughafen should be 5090 on the destination shield. Check it (it's in alphabetical order). It probably just says "Frankfurt Flughafen", without "Regionalbf", as that is the number of the entire zone around the airport, not just the Regionalbahnhof. It's 5090 on the RMV tariff map, and I think that the Bacharach automat goes by that. I helped some Americans buy tickets in Bacharach to Frankfurt Hbf once and I remember the number being 5000, which is the same as on the tariff map.

As for the Bahnhof, as Jo says, it's underground, actually under the building across the access road from Terminal 1. You come up escalators from the track area into a mall area, still underground under the street, with the ticket machines and ticket counters, then up other escalators into Terminal 1. BTW, Terminal 1 is dominated by Lufthansa and the Star Alliance airlines. A lot of airlines use Terminal 2, which is accessible by a shuttle bus from in front of Terminal 1 or by the "Skyline", a people mover between the upper floors of the terminals.

Thanks for clarifying that for me. I appreciate how you were very detailed in your answer. Thanks for your help:)

Libby, there is an RMV Gruppentageskarte (group day ticket for up to 5P) for Bacharach to FRA for €30,80. That's about as good as you're going to get.

A Sparpreis fare is not offered for those connections, since they are entirely within the RMV. For the distance from Bacharach to FRA, which is less than 100km, the Sparpreis fare would start at €19 for the first person (€10 for each additional person, €49 for four of you).

Sparpreis does require a 3-day advance purchase. What you saw, "excluded from first day of validity" is the return policy.

May I ask another, similar, question?

Our family is also going from Bacharach to FRA. I've read the GREAT information on this thread and understand that we can buy tickets from the automat for E10,30 (and, following the link provided above, discovered that a child's ticket is E6,20).

For our family of four, that's E33 (two adults, two children).

But I've also seen a Sparpreis for E29, which would cover all four of us. I think it must be purchased at least three days in advance. The DB website says, "excluded from the first day of validity" - which sounds like I can buy it one day in advance. It is train specific, but I'm ok with that.

Any comments or thoughts would be appreciated. My apologies for hijacking the thread but I didn't want to lose the valuable information already given.