katiekate

Two of us will be flying into LHR on AA connecting to FCO on BA (British Airways).
A week later, the other passenger will fly into FRA to MXP on Lufthansa.
Can anyone tell me how far the gates will be? Or, where I could find a map of both airports so I can plan ahead of time; to know how much time to allow for gate exchanges?

alanRow

Gates - you mean terminals - generally airlines outside the don't have specific gates unless, like T5 they own the terminal

If you go to the Heathrow Airport website then look under "flight information" you will find an option for "which terminal" which tells you which terminal a flight departs / arrives at.

If you then click on "airport information" then "flight connections" then you will be able to find out how to get between terminals at LHR.

The assumption of course is that your luggage will be checked through and that you can use the Flight Connections Centre.

If you do have to collect luggage then you will need to find your way to T5 via the Heathrow Express unless your AA flight lands at T4 when you find your way to the bus stops and take the free bus between the terminals

alanRow

<<< generally airlines outside the don't have specific gates unless, like T5 they own the terminal >>>

generally airlines outside the US don't have specific gates unless, like BA & T5 they own the terminal

AAFrequentFlyer

AA uses T3 and I believe BA already did or will very soon consolidate all it's flights to T5.

You will need to follow "Flight Connections" signs to catch a bus from terminal 3 to terminal 5.

ms_go

Assuming coming from the US, the person connecting at FRA will need to go through immigration, as it is the Schengen point of entry, and then back through security to get to the onward gate.

It's a large terminal with several concourses (and also under construction at the moment); I'm not sure you'll be able to predict in advance which gates the flights will use. Some flights also use remote stands, with bus transportation to/from the terminal.

This page on the LH site has a map of the Frankfurt airport.
http://tinyurl.com/67agl8

katiekate

Thank you everyone. Sounds like we may not be able to predict our exact course, but just follow the signs.
Also, meant to include this info **A week later, the other passenger will fly "AA" into FRA connecting on Lufthansa to MXP.

A little nerve racking when not familiar with the airports.

katiekate

We are planning on carrying on luggage. Won't that make it easier for us? Or, it better to check luggage?

Would you consider FRA or OHR the more difficult airport to get around? I'll be the one at LHR, but hubby will be at FRA. He's not a very seasoned international traveler, so I'm a bit worried.

dorkforcemom

Hello katiekate,
We did almost this same scenario for the return of our wonderful, memorable trip to Italy.

We flew BA from FCO to LHR arriving at the new Terminal 5. Led by easy to follow signage, we took the escalator downstairs where they have different bus areas to load transfering passengers to their correct terminal. There are video screens hanging on the wall with each airline and terminal listed. For AA, Terminal 3 is used. We got on the bus for Terminal 3 and arrived within 10-15 minutes. The buses seemed new. We didn't have our luggage - it was checked. The reason we checked ours is because last spring when we flew through LHR, they were picky about the size going through security that one was allowed to take. Once you arrive at the correct terminal, you go through security, then there are transfer desks set up for the different airlines.

We had allowed 3 hours for this whole process - in truth, it took less then 30 minutes. It was much easier than I anticipated and there were plenty of personnel available to handle questions. Hope this helps alleve anxiety somewhat. You'd do this in reverse for your itinerary.

katiekate

dorkeforcemom: Sounds pretty easy.... thank you, you've relieved my stress. Now, if hubby can handle the FRA airport...