San Francisco to Frankfurt process?
 

It will be my first time taking an international flight alone or well a flight in general. I will be flying from San Francisco to Frankfurt in which I will have a layover of 1h 15m before proceeding to Warsaw. If the the gate to my next flight (Warsaw) is presumably in the same terminal/area then will I have to go through customs/immigration/luggage/passport control? If so, how long will it take? Or would I just go to my next gate right when I get off my plane from SF? Also, will I make it to my next flight with such a short layover if it is in the same area? If I miss my next flight as a result of a delayed plane then will the company reimburse me or help me get on a new plane? It is the same airline company but a plane change. Lastly, would my luggage follow through the plane change since it is the same airline company? Or would I have to retrieve my luggage and go through check-in again?

Thanks so much!

Also, as a summary, my trip is from the US to Frankfurt and then to Warsaw. My layover is in Frankfurt.

Three things:

1) You will definitely have to show your passport on arrival in Frankfurt before going to your connecting flight, since Frankfurt is your first entry into the "Schengen" area of Europe (the geographical area that is subject to the free movement across borders, according to an agreement that was signed in the town of Schengen and has take its name from that).

Upon arrival in Warsaw you'll walk off the airplane scot free, nobody will want to see your papers. That's because, by then, you'll be in just another state that is a signatory to the Schengen agreement.

However, note that Poland does not use the Euro, it still has its own currency, the Zloty - one Zloty is worth just about a US quarter.

2) You may have to go through security again (like TSA in the US) on your way to the terminal and gate for your connecting flight.

2) It's a tight connection schedule for such a big airport. Are you booked through to Warsaw on one and the same ticket? If so, the second leg will have to be taken care of by the airline that takes you from FRA to Warsaw, on the next available flight, in case you come in too late to make the connection.

Your luggage may go all the way, and it could be delayed with such a tight connection. Only the airline can tell you for sure if it will be tagged all the way or if you have to retrieve it in FRA and re-check - which would be an additional hassle of course.

What is the airline or are the airlines in question?

It will be booked with Lufthansa Airlines and I am fairly sure that it will be one ticket through (not 100%). I am not sure if this helps but these are the details:

Lufthansa
Flight 455 388
03:05pm - Sat, Jun 17
11:00am - Sun, Jun 18 San Francisco (SFO)
Frankfurt (FRA) Nonstop
Coach
10h 55m

Layover: 1h 15m (Short connection)

Lufthansa
Flight 1348 320
12:15pm - Sun, Jun 18
01:50pm - Sun, Jun 18 Frankfurt (FRA)
Warsaw (WAW) Nonstop
Coach
1h 35m Flight Duration : 12h 30m
Total Trip: 13h 45m

That is a tight connection. I hope the plane is not late or you are not sitting at the back of the plane or the immigration queue is full of people who will be getting extra scrutiny.

That is a tight connection and FRA is a huge airport and you will have to go through passport control and probably security. Your Warsaw flight will start boarding around 1145. The next flight is at 1635 and there are several more later so you will very likely make it to Warsaw that day even if you miss your connection.

I should also note that you will have to pay if you wish to select seats on LH. I would check seat availability when you book to decide whether the load warrants seat selection. Would also recheck closer to your flight date. The A380 is however big plane so you might just be fine getting your seat at the airport unless you are particular.

If you need any meds, make sure you have hand luggage access to them as delayed luggage is a real pain

1. By what you listed, it looks like 2 connecting flights, so they will transport your luggage directly to Warsaw, but ask about it in SF to be sure.

2. The layover in Frankfurt is indeed short. Before your flight land in Frankfurt, you can ask the air hostess which terminal you're landing and which terminal you'll depart to Warsaw, the air staff know the information and can tell you. It'll prepare you for the walk in Frankfurt airport.

3. If there are long queues for passport control or security, you can tell the staff about your next departure time, they will do what they can to help you, or even put you in front of the queue.

4. Normally with connecting flights they will arrange for you, if you miss that second flight they will put you on the next available flight, which can be the next day, not so convenient anyway. If the departure hour arrives but you do not, they may call your name on loud-speaker, so pay attention to it, they will only wait for you several minutes after that. It's important that you are in the correct terminal, otherwise you wouldn't hear they call.

Good luck then, I have made several short connections like that in big airport, it's doable, just be careful.

I forgot, A380 (if you fly on it) is a huge airplane, so make sure you check in early and ask the check-in staff to have a seat near an exit door (normal door, not emergency door), otherwise you'll have to wait a long time just to get out of the airplane.

Yikes, short connection. Are you checking or carry on? I would take a small carry on for sure with some items you will need for a couple of days. They have people there that will help you though as you exit the plane. I have done it there with a short connection and we were lucky our next plane was delayed.

Two years ago, we flew United to Frankfurt and had a Luftansa flight to Rome with about the same time layover time. We got through customs super quickly, walked downstairs and sat bored for about 40 mins. I won't say anything to jinx you, so enjoy!

You will go through customs (control of goods entering a country) in Warsaw, not Frankfurt. If you have anything to declare it is your responsibility to notify the customs agents, otherwise you just walk through customs green lane after baggage claim.

As noted, you will go through immigration/passport control at Frankfurt.

75 minutes is too short to make a stress-free connection, especially as you'll have to go through passport control.

Recommend that when you call Lufthansa or going onto their website, you book the 2 p.m. SFO-FRA flight (United metal but there's a Lufthansa codeshare). This will give you 2h 20m for your connection, MUCH more comfortable!

You do not have to ask the air hostess which terminal you are landing in. Lufthansa always uses Terminal 1. You can check your own flight history by using Google, with your flight # and then you can see which gates both of your flights usually use for arrival and departure.
Frankfurt is fairly predictable and very efficient.
Your one hour and 15 min. is plenty of time. Look at the airport maps to get a sense of where the gates are located in relationship to each other.

Passport control is easy and efficient too. They aren't going to ask you questions or anything like they do in the US.

Your checked luggage is going to be checked through so you don't need to pick it up. There is no customs check in Frankfurt for your carry-on.

Aside from this being a short connection:

1. FRA is a big airport, but you should be changing planes exclusively within one section of Terminal 1 on a LH to LH transfer. So you won't be dealing with the whole big airport but just with one part of it.
Terminal 1 A/Z is a V-shaped 2-level structure, seperating departures to Schengen destinations (lower level, A gates) from non-Schengen flights (upper level, Z gates). Your connecting flight to WAW can depart from either "arm" of the V-shaped terminal building.
Check out the map:
http://www.lufthansa.com/online/port...d=1771239&l=en

2. Make sure you know where you are going. Double-check departure gate AFTER passport control and security. Since Terminal 1 A/Z is a V-shaped structure, the major mistake you can make is to start running without keeping an eye on the overhead signs.
Gate numbers up to the 40s are in one arm of the "V", gates 50 and higher are in the other.

3. Eastbound flights FROM the US arrive often early, ahead of scheduled time.

4. If your connection becomes officially "tight", you will be greeted upon leaving your incoming flight by LH staff which will escort you to the departure gate. In this case, the flight attendants will inform you about this shortly before landing in FRA.

5. If you miss your flight to WAW due to other circumstances and find the departure gate empty, ask at the nearby gates one of the LH staff for the way to the nearest customer/transfer service desk.

6. If your incoming flight from SFO was already that late that you had to be automatically re-booked on the next flight to WAW, go to one of the check-in machines and punch in your original flight data (the 6 digit confirmation number). The machine should then issue your new boarding pass for Warsaw - without having to find and line up at a staffed customer service desk.

7. Don't waste your time taking off your shoes at security in FRA - unless being asked by staff to do so.