British Airways One way flight Frankfurt to Paris

[lindyb]

Hi Everyone,
I am looking at booking a flight for September 2013 with British Airways.
After arriving in Frankfurt via a QF flight we need to get to Paris so have decided to book with BA as they are a one world alliance airline. After exploring several options I have come up with two scenarios but one is quite a bit dearer for exactly the same flights. So would like to know if anybody would know why this is so or if I go for the cheaper option will there be problems later on, hope this makes sense.
Here are the two options
1. Frankfurt to London (Heathrow) then London to Paris all on the one booking cost is 842 euro (approx $1142 AU) **THESE PRICES ARE FOR 2 PEOPLE, SORRY FORGOT TO MENTION IT
2. Frankfurt to London (Heathrow) 162 euro then a separate booking for London to Paris is 135 pounds (approx $431 AU)
The second option is less than half price, can't work out why. Can anybody suggest why this is so and would there be any issues with me booking the second option?
Thanks in advance
Lindy

 

[Sprucegoose]

what the cost of return? if you don't need it ditch it, however i would have thought a one way ticket could in some circumstance be dearer.

prices varies according to a secret formula that one one knows about apart from AJ's accountant.

 

[mannej]

what the cost of return? if you don't need it ditch it, however i would have thought a one way ticket could in some circumstance be dearer.

prices varies according to a secret formula that one one knows about apart from AJ's accountant.

Wouldn't it be WW's accountant considering it is BA;-)

 

[The Rok]

Hire a car and drive!

 

[lindyb]

I looked at a return flight & cancelling the return part, cost for return was approx 773 euro. Still cheaper to do option 2 and book two separate one way flights.

 

[Fantic125]

You would be better off catching the high speed train from Frankfurt to Paris.

 

[Bundy Bear]

I would not be paying that much for a flight between Frankfurt and Paris, I also wouldn't be buying 2 itineraries that has you changing planes in London.

A couple of options.

1.
Lufthansa ® - Online flight offers | No booking fee | Sale fares to Europe, ok you don't get frequent flyer points on oneworld but at least it is a direct flight, currently the oneway price is Eur 661.00 but a return ticket is available for Euro 120.00 64 outbound and 56 on the return. Remember if you have flown from Australia you really don't want another 2 flights to get to your destination, unless you are doing the trip HLO(Hand luggage Only) or you a mileage runner(you wouldn't pay over $1000 for that). Lufthansa will charge the fare in AUD once you get to the payment screen.

2
If you really want oneworld, then have a look at airberlin.com, one of their options is via London though and I don't think they go to Paris (CDG) but at least it was for Euro 142 on the same ticket.

3.
Look at Airfrance.com you can select Australie from the box then English and you can buy a ticket from Frankfurt to Paris. oneways are $549.00 but you can buy returns for $120.00
If you are Qantas Gold then you can ask for a status match with the current promotion. (AirFrance are part of Skyteam so no points for Qantas and Oneworld)
I notice that Air France use the A318, FRA-CDG so that would be my choice.

 

[lindyb]

Hi Bundy Bear,

Any reason why you wouldn't buy 2 itineraries that has you changing planes in London?
Also forgot to mention in my original post that the prices I quoted are for 2 people.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Hi Bundy Bear,

Any reason why you wouldn't buy 2 itineraries that has you changing planes in London?
Also forgot to mention in my original post that the prices I quoted are for 2 people.

Unless you have a European passport including British Passport you are going to get a lot of questions asked, also London T5 although a good airport isn't the best to change planes.

There are better options for a much cheaper price.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Hire a car and drive!

One option but Fantic125 beat me to it...

You would be better off catching the high speed train from Frankfurt to Paris.

 

[Sprucegoose]

You would be better off catching the high speed train from Frankfurt to Paris.

Have you done this trip? I'm interested

 

[amaroo]

I'd fly.....& have done so.

Car would be a PITA

Train - happy to hear the details. Fast train - maybe.

 

[lindyb]

So what's the deal with booking the cheap return airfares when you only go one way? Do you cancel the return leg once you have flown the first part or do you just not turn up for the flight? Any help would be appreciated.
Did think about the train but it meant changing trains once in Frankfurt central and as I will have my 70+ parents with me thought it would be easier to fly and have someone else worry about the luggage.

 

[kelvedon]

So what's the deal with booking the cheap return airfares when you only go one way? Do you cancel the return leg once you have flown the first part or do you just not turn up for the flight? Any help would be appreciated.
Did think about the train but it meant changing trains once in Frankfurt central and as I will have my 70+ parents with me thought it would be easier to fly and have someone else worry about the luggage.

The train really is the logical solution. 4 hours from Frankfurt airport station to Paris. I put in arbitrary dates on the DB website and fare available for 69 euro. You would have to carry your luggage but the change of trains at Manheim is between platforms 5 and 8. Almost certainly less walking than at LHR T5.

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query2.exe/en?ld=9647&seqnr=1&ident=93.0959447.1359332509&rt=1&rememberSortType=minDeparture&HWAI=JS!ajax=yes!&HWAI=CONNECTION$C0-1!id=C0-1!HwaiConId=C0-1!HwaiDetailStatus=details!;~CONNECTION$C0-1!HwaiMapStatus=UNDEFINED!HwaiMapNumber=UNDEFINED!HwaiMapSlider=UNDEFINED!HwaiDetailHimMessage=UNDEFINED!;

 

[Must...Fly!]

I have done the train from Frankfurt to Paris

very easy. end up in the city, easy to transfer to the metro. would do it again for sure, don't know why you would fly!

 

[an*g-bne]

Having done this a number of times (both flying and on the train), this is what I think of the various options:

OP's original thought of buying two separate itineraries, connecting in LHR
True, it saves money, but comes with a number of disadvantages. Connecting in LHR is not fun. If you use BA as suggested in your original post, at least you'll be in T5 for both arrival from FRA and departure to CDG, which helps. However, the biggest drawback to two separate itineraries is that if, for whatever reason, your flight from FRA-LHR is delayed and you miss your LHR-CDG flight, BA is well within their rights to do nothing to help you and force you to buy a new ticket to get from LHR-CDG at the exorbitant same-day price. That's not to say that they will, it is more probable that they will simply rebook you onto the next flight, but there's no guarantee. One itinerary - you're protected - you'll be rebooked at no charge. Also, you might come across a check-in agent at FRA who refuses to check your bags to CDG because you're on two separate itineraries, meaning that you'll need to clear customs and immigration at LHR and re-check your bags in there. I would allow 4 hours to do so in LHR - not something I'd try with my 70+ year old parents. Again, not likely, but do you want to spend your whole flight from Australia to Europe worrying about that?

Flying Direct
As others have pointed out Lufthansa and Air France both have direct flights, and if you buy a return ticket, it will be cheaper. We do this regularly, with the return date pushed out as far as possible, just in case we need it on some future trip (and that's come in handy on the odd occasion). We've never once been pulled up on this, and the Mrs currently has 5 open, unused, valid and unwanted returns (I have 2). Note, if you are going to do this, make sure that the flight you want is the FIRST segment on the ticket - you cannot book it the other way around and fly a later segment without having flown the earlier ones.

The Train
This would be my preference. If you flew, when you arrived at CDG, you would need to take the Roissybus, a train or an (expensive, particularly if you don't speak French) taxi in to Paris anyway.

There's no need to transfer at Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (although, even if you did, it is certainly one of the best stations to transfer at, in my view - all platforms for the long distance trains are accessible at the same level without needing to go up or down escalators). You could transfer at Köln or Mannheim, but both of those stations will require going up and down escalators. A quick search indicates you can also transfer at Brussels or Karlsrühe, though I have no personal experience transferring at those. Regardless, the transfer time for a Frankfurt Flughafen (airport) to Paris service at any of those seems to be around 30 minutes - plenty of time for a leisurely transfer. And, the train puts you right in the heart of Paris - a short taxi trip to the hotel, if you choose a hotel wisely.

If you know which part of Paris you were planning to stay in, you'd be able to weigh up the relative ease of getting there for the various modes of transport as well.

 

[davidjbell]

Hi Everyone,
I am looking at booking a flight for September 2013 with British Airways.
After arriving in Frankfurt via a QF flight we need to get to Paris so have decided to book with BA

I'd take the train. At FRA there is a major DB train station, and it's about 4 hours to Paris, but there is a change - either go into Frankfurt main train station and connect onto a through train to Paris, or else leave from the airport. The train from the airport to the main train station is about 10 minutes, and there are lots of them during the day.

check out bahn dot com - it's the friendliest european train site I find.

 

[lindyb]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions certainly gave me plenty to think about.
If it wasn't for the parents being with me for this trip I would be taking the train without a doubt, having done other areas of europe by train.
I ended up buying an Airfrance return ticket for appox $123 AU each, great value.