marlib1951

Another Frankfurt Layover Question! Is this feasible? Where should we stay?

We have a layover in Frankfurt of several hours on Monday, October 1 - 2. We arrive at 8:00 pm from Malaga and fly out at 12:00 pm the next day to Atlanta. Anyway, am I correct in thinking that we can
1. Check luggage all the way through from Malaga to Atlanta.?
2. Go through customs at Frankfurt with carry on luggage, catch S-Bahn to Hauptbahnhof, (15 minute trip) take a taxi to Sachsenhausen area?
3. Oh, and is the gruppen karte good for 24 hours, the next day? Or does it expire by date at midnight?
4. So where should we stay? We intend to go to the apple wine bars. I have narrowed the choices to Excelsior, Maingau, or National. Is any one of these more conveniently located or better?
5. Any suggestions? Comments?

kfusto

I can only respond to luggage question #1 and it is airline dependent.

Last year Delta would not allow us to check bags through when we over nighted on the way back to the US, despite their res agent assuring me it was indeed allowed.

lincasanova

I have not been allowed to check luggage through when overnighting now on two different trips once in the USA from Europe to the USA. But I have no experience in the other direction, nor when the overnight is in Europe.

adrienne

I wouldn't want my luggage hanging around someplace overnight. What if someone decides to blow it up or steal it or it goes astray to another airport. Too many possibilities.

greg

I am with the previous poster. I would not leave luggage for a long time at airport luggage handling area even if offered that option. It increases the chance of theft. I would rather pay to use a locker or secured storage if I have to.

flanneruk

My experience is that airlines have a maximum period they'll allow bags to be held in transit, and that this varies between 12 and 23 hrs - but can vary by airport. You can't always rely on information given by telephone advisors, so whatever advice you're given you might find the checkin staff at Malaga will operate a different policy. I've never found "overnight" relevant: arriving at 11 pm and flying on at 7 am always means bags stay with the airline.

"Customs" is an irrelevance for you at Frankfurt. You're arriving from Spain: there are neither arriving Customs nor Immigration controls for you at Frankfurt, though you go through outgoing passport control there when leaving for Atlanta.

Fears of theft are close to deranged, unless your policy is to mistrust everyone, always. In which case you ought to ask what devious self-interest those telling you your bags will be stolen are showing.

You're as likely to get a heart attack through all that extra hauling of bags, or get mugged because those cases MUST have something valuable in them if you're making such a fuss.

Mainhattengirl

The luggage storage facility at the airport charges 7 euro for 24 hours. With personal and cameras, this is much safer than a locker and millions of people do this all the time.

The group day ticket for Frankfurt is only good until end of business, they are not valid for 24 hours. You will need a new one the next day. Single, one way tickets are 4.10 each or a group day ticket is 14.90.

I would pick Maingau as 1st choice, Excelsior 2nd.

marlib1951

Thanks to all of you for the advice! Flanneruk, I had not realized that customs/immigration was not necessary. I had forgotten the Schengen Agreement! That will save us a bit of time. I don't want to carry around luggage for a one night stay, so, I will try to check it all the way through or use the storage as Mainhattengirl suggested. We are flying Lufthansa if that is revelant.

Again, thank for the advice, esp. Flanneruk & Mainhattengirl!