CGN to DUS
07-29-2013 | 12:19 PM
#12
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Dec 2006
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I should have clarified. The tickets I'm talking about, which you can get from the Köln Hbf DB office, or any DB office, are open ended, either direction, with U-Bahn connections included. As such, they are not tied to a specific date or train, so they want to make sure you time stamp (the best term I could come up with) so that, if the ticket isn't checked, you cannot reuse it. Long winded explanation...
In practical terms, as you board U-Bahn train, there is a time stamp machine in every car, it has a little slot for the ticket (similar to a parking lot time stamp), insert ticket, and it'll print time and date. If you board train at Köln Hbf, any train to DUS, those little machines are at the bottom of the stairs/escalators before going up to the train platforms. In DUS, the machine is at the top of escalators, before descending to platforms. Once you look for them, they'll be more obvious.
I learned this to avoid having to get tickets tied to a specific date or train. Open ended tickets work easily. You just look for the next departure on your DB Bahn app, and board.
In practical terms, as you board U-Bahn train, there is a time stamp machine in every car, it has a little slot for the ticket (similar to a parking lot time stamp), insert ticket, and it'll print time and date. If you board train at Köln Hbf, any train to DUS, those little machines are at the bottom of the stairs/escalators before going up to the train platforms. In DUS, the machine is at the top of escalators, before descending to platforms. Once you look for them, they'll be more obvious.
I learned this to avoid having to get tickets tied to a specific date or train. Open ended tickets work easily. You just look for the next departure on your DB Bahn app, and board.
08-07-2013 | 02:39 PM
#15
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Gets Weekends Off
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From: Couch Potato
Just a few notes on riding the train from DUS to CGN, and back again. First, thanks to those who provided me with invaluable info on "how to do it." I'll just add a bit more to the collection.
I DH'ed into DUS on DL the other morning. If you want to have the FedEx driver pick you up and you're paying for it, it's a 100 Euro. Having had the driver no-show on me previously, I took the train. There are 2 train stations. One is right in the terminal and the other is a short distance away via the "SkyTrain." I looked at the terminal train first and it appeared that you might have to change trains and at least in one case there were 28 stops and 1+20 enroute to get to Koln HBF. Don't know what the price is. I took the train from DUS Flaghagen. (It's only 6 stops to Koln HBF and less than 40 minutes.) That's the station accessed via the Sky Train. The Sky Train runs about every 6 minutes and appears to be free, but it's not. If you look closely there is an automated ticket machine. I didn't see a single person buy a ticket. They just got on. Not saying you should or shouldn't buy the ticket. I think it's 1.50 Euro. Anyway, the Sky Train goes from Terminal C (where Delta is) to Terminal A/B then to a parking garage then the DUS Flughagen station. Takes about 5 minutes.
In the train station is an information office. Closed on Sundays. I bought my ticket there. Bad move. From the ticket man, the cost was 14.50 Euro. You get a ticket for a specific train. They can take your credit card however. (More on that debacle.)
On my return trip to take back my GF to DUS from CGN, I went to the Koln HBF station the day before just to buy my tickets and not be rushed the next morning. I decided to try to master the Kiosk. How hard can it be? The first selection of "buy ticket" would only allow me to buy a ticket for the current day. A kind German person showed me that if you hit the "timetable" icon you can select a day in the future as well as a time. Then there's the matter of selecting your destination. Typing in DUS will give you "Dusseldorf..." Select that and you will get DUS options, i.e. DUS Flughagen and DUS Terminal. The cost was 10.80 vice 14.50 from the information office. Feeling pretty smart I stuck my USAA "Chip and Pin" credit card in the slot...and it was rejected. (Card and pin both had been used that day and were used subsequently at restaurants. Didn't try the FedEx card since this was a personal journey.) I had several 10 Euro notes just in case. Stuck the first 10 in and the machine sucked it in. Stuck in the second 10 and it spit it back out. After several futile attempts with different 10's another kindly German showed me that the kiosk won't give back more than 5 Euro in change. What a PITA. Dug out some 1Euro coins and I was good to go.
Finally got the tickets and they appear to be generic tickets as Cloud Sailor had talked about. We used the tickets the next morning and the precision German train system was running about 20-30 minutes late. We were on the platform when suddenly our train information disappeared from the platform screen. We had to scramble back down to the information office to figure out when and where the next train would depart. Bottom line, don't cut it too close if you're going back to DUS for a DH and I would certainly avoid having to make a train connection at the DUS HBF to get to the DUS Terminal.
Cloud Sailor spoke about a box to "time stamp" his ticket. I never saw one at all. On my way back to DUS we never saw a "ticket checker." When I came back to CGN later that morning, the ticket checker did check my ticket.
Lastly, the walk to the hotel in CGN is only about 10 minutes. If you want to take a cab the price varied from about 5.50 to 7.50 Euro. Most cabbies don't seem to speak much English. Show them the address for the Dorint. There is more than one Dorint in CGN.
Just a couple more notes. There is an app called "DB Navigator" that is useful for figuring out when the trains are running and from what platform. Unfortunately, when you're standing on the platform and things get screwed up, you'll have not wifi and this app will be useless.
I checked into the hotel a day early. They would NOT give me the FedEx contract rate. They popped me for an additional 40 Euro.
That's all I have to offer. If anyone can explain why my fancy chip and pin Mastercard wouldn't work at the kiosk, I'd like to know. Happy travels.
MG2
I DH'ed into DUS on DL the other morning. If you want to have the FedEx driver pick you up and you're paying for it, it's a 100 Euro. Having had the driver no-show on me previously, I took the train. There are 2 train stations. One is right in the terminal and the other is a short distance away via the "SkyTrain." I looked at the terminal train first and it appeared that you might have to change trains and at least in one case there were 28 stops and 1+20 enroute to get to Koln HBF. Don't know what the price is. I took the train from DUS Flaghagen. (It's only 6 stops to Koln HBF and less than 40 minutes.) That's the station accessed via the Sky Train. The Sky Train runs about every 6 minutes and appears to be free, but it's not. If you look closely there is an automated ticket machine. I didn't see a single person buy a ticket. They just got on. Not saying you should or shouldn't buy the ticket. I think it's 1.50 Euro. Anyway, the Sky Train goes from Terminal C (where Delta is) to Terminal A/B then to a parking garage then the DUS Flughagen station. Takes about 5 minutes.
In the train station is an information office. Closed on Sundays. I bought my ticket there. Bad move. From the ticket man, the cost was 14.50 Euro. You get a ticket for a specific train. They can take your credit card however. (More on that debacle.)
On my return trip to take back my GF to DUS from CGN, I went to the Koln HBF station the day before just to buy my tickets and not be rushed the next morning. I decided to try to master the Kiosk. How hard can it be? The first selection of "buy ticket" would only allow me to buy a ticket for the current day. A kind German person showed me that if you hit the "timetable" icon you can select a day in the future as well as a time. Then there's the matter of selecting your destination. Typing in DUS will give you "Dusseldorf..." Select that and you will get DUS options, i.e. DUS Flughagen and DUS Terminal. The cost was 10.80 vice 14.50 from the information office. Feeling pretty smart I stuck my USAA "Chip and Pin" credit card in the slot...and it was rejected. (Card and pin both had been used that day and were used subsequently at restaurants. Didn't try the FedEx card since this was a personal journey.) I had several 10 Euro notes just in case. Stuck the first 10 in and the machine sucked it in. Stuck in the second 10 and it spit it back out. After several futile attempts with different 10's another kindly German showed me that the kiosk won't give back more than 5 Euro in change. What a PITA. Dug out some 1Euro coins and I was good to go.
Finally got the tickets and they appear to be generic tickets as Cloud Sailor had talked about. We used the tickets the next morning and the precision German train system was running about 20-30 minutes late. We were on the platform when suddenly our train information disappeared from the platform screen. We had to scramble back down to the information office to figure out when and where the next train would depart. Bottom line, don't cut it too close if you're going back to DUS for a DH and I would certainly avoid having to make a train connection at the DUS HBF to get to the DUS Terminal.
Cloud Sailor spoke about a box to "time stamp" his ticket. I never saw one at all. On my way back to DUS we never saw a "ticket checker." When I came back to CGN later that morning, the ticket checker did check my ticket.
Lastly, the walk to the hotel in CGN is only about 10 minutes. If you want to take a cab the price varied from about 5.50 to 7.50 Euro. Most cabbies don't seem to speak much English. Show them the address for the Dorint. There is more than one Dorint in CGN.
Just a couple more notes. There is an app called "DB Navigator" that is useful for figuring out when the trains are running and from what platform. Unfortunately, when you're standing on the platform and things get screwed up, you'll have not wifi and this app will be useless.
I checked into the hotel a day early. They would NOT give me the FedEx contract rate. They popped me for an additional 40 Euro.
That's all I have to offer. If anyone can explain why my fancy chip and pin Mastercard wouldn't work at the kiosk, I'd like to know. Happy travels.
MG2
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