What it’s like flying (and riding) on an Air France Air & Rail ticket

27.01.2025 - 14:35 / thepointsguy.com

Did you know some airlines, including Air France, offer tickets that combine flights and train rides? They function much like air-only itineraries except one segment is on a train instead of a plane. Some travelers might want to do this if they are flying into a hub airport, such as Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), and then continuing on to a smaller city where there might be little flight connectivity. Booking a combined ticket can make the experience more seamless.

I had no idea combined flight and train itineraries existed until I accidentally booked an Air France Air & Rail ticket last month. Here's what the experience was like and what you should know if you're considering booking one yourself.

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Last year, my husband and I took advantage of one of Flying Blue's Promo Rewards. It was offering economy flights between Denver (our home base) and several European cities for only 15,000 Flying Blue miles each way.

We ultimately settled on a combined trip to Prague and Brussels over Christmas. We flew into Prague, then took a sleeper train to Brussels and flew home from there. Little did we know that wouldn't be our only train ride on this trip.

After making our reservation, we noticed our return trip left not from an airport but from Brussels Midi/Zuid Station (which uses transportation code ZYR). We would take a train from Brussels to Paris and then catch a nonstop flight to Denver.

What we had stumbled upon was one of Air France's Air & Rail itineraries. It was included in our 15,000-mile Promo Rewards flight from Brussels to Denver, and according to Air France's site, it would work just like any flight-only itinerary.

Related: Move over, Delta: Why Air France-KLM's Flying Blue program has become my favorite SkyTeam loyalty program

Part of the reason why we, and other travelers, might be confused by these types of tickets is that Air France's website lists four types of air and rail journeys, each of which has a different name (and different punctuation marks, even!) depending on the region where you are originating or terminating. Here's how they break down:

For our Air & Rail journey from Brussels, the airline site explained that the entire trip was booked as a single ticket, so we could treat the hour and 32 minutes between our train and plane as a connection. Arriving at a major international airport like CDG over the holidays just an hour and a half before an international flight seemed unwise. As a connection, however, it seemed more reasonable since we would be pulling right into the station at the airport.

Also, if a delayed train caused us to miss our flight, Air France would be responsible for rebooking us — a guarantee you