Thinking About Tight Connection Train -> Airport in Frankfurt
 

Hi, I'm thinking of a pretty tight connection. Do people think this is feasible?

I take a train from Karlsruhe to Frankfurt at 3 pm and arrive at 4:06 pm for a 5:40 pm flight. The flight goes to London.

1. I've experienced delays with German trains. Do people know if delays are common with this route?

2. I'm thinking of flying BA. I think the train station is near Terminal 2 and I must connect to Terminal 1. I seem to recall there's a bus connection, but I think there's also a sky train. How long does this take? Which one is the quicker way?

3. Do people know what the checkin deadline for FRA-LHR is? I checked BA's website but I need to have a booking to find out. I've not called BA directly yet. So I don't know the answer since I've not bought the ticket yet.

Probably I can get some insight from the Germans who read this website (I know there're a few?). How long do you allow for these kinds of connections?

Thanks!

I haven't made that kind of connection at FRA but might be a bit concerned about the timing. OTOH there's a 18:40 flight as well, so unless you're connecting (tightly) at LHR it wouldn't be the end of the world.

However you might also look at Stuttgart. BA have a 5:10 flight from there, and fairly easy connections from Karlsruhe to STR.

You're right.

I didn't want to elaborate on the situation, but maybe I should. Here it is.

I've bought a ticket to see the terracotta soldiers exhibition at the British Museum that day at 10:30 pm. When I did that I didn't think through this clearly -- I could have taken the latest 10:50 slot, for example.

But anyway now tickets for that exhibition are sold out, as I predicted (which was why I bought early in the first place).

The 6:40 pm BA flight will give me about 3 hours to get to British Museum. But I think that I'll have to go thruogh immigration. Also I'm expecting that I may need to check a bag (more about this later). The historical records for this flight on flightstats.com also worry me. There were two cancelations in the last 60 day period and the average delay is not encouraging.

There're other options I'm considering. Initially I was thinking that I'd buy a separate ticket FRA-LHR on Lufthansa. That flight leaves at 6:10. However because I'm thinking of flying AA for my transatlantic portion, combining this with the BA flight will save me money.

There's also a flight from FRA to LCY (London City) that leaves at 6:10. This can be a good option, but I'm not sure if I'll have to check a bag. Actually I'm expecting to carry a package with me from Berlin whose dimensions most likely exceed 20'' x 24''. Ideally I want to hand carry this, but I think that this is right at the carryon dimension limit. I'm thinking that the planes for FRA-LHR will be bigger than FRA-LCY.

Given all these constraints, what do you think?

I'll look into the Stuttgart connection. Thanks!

I checked the Stuttgart connection with Karlsruhe. Realistically to make the connection for the 5:10 flight I need to leave at 2:30 because the next train at 3 takes about 1 hour whereas the train at 2:30 is a fast train.

I won't go into details but the itinerary that day is also tight, so I also need as much time in Karlsruhe as possible.

Thanks again!

Unless there's some sort of fare price miracle, this suggestion is probably unhelpful, but doesn't business class allow more and possibly bigger carry-on luggage?

FlyerTalk would be the best place to find out about the FRA check-in deadline, if no one here knows.

Unless BA's own policy says something else (BA's German website neither gives any exact times), I would say that arriving 90min prior to departure is okay for the not so faint of heart, but you cannot estimate how busy security and passport control will be. It may also depend on if you have luggage to check or just have carry-on luggage.

4-6pm is one of the rush hours at FRA, even worse on fridays -- so I would be willing to take an earlier train if I had to travel on a Friday. From a fatalistic point of view, this could play in your favor because many incoming flights get delayed during that time slot, so there is a good chance that your flight from the UK is not even near FRA when you step off your train at the airport station.

FRA's layout is not the best (more a pest, actually), so a lot depends on which gate you will get if you have a rather short walk, or a long one (and thus need more time).

The train station connects to T1, so you won't have to worry about the bus or sky train.

Train delays are really hard to anticipate. But this will probably the major point for an earlier arrival at the airport than the one you chose. You can compensate queues at security by pushing and screaming your way to the front of the line, and you can run faster to the gate -- but if there is no train (or no train on time) in Karlsruhe you are on your own.

Hi, sorry that I "reversed the terminals." You're right the train goes to T1. But BA uses T2. Lufthansa uses T1. So I do need to connect if I fly BA.

I used the info here:
http://www.airportcity-frankfurt.com...rik/9/9682.htm

I don't think that the Stuttgart connection will work at all. I'm guessing from the info here:

aecsite.cramgo.nl/DownloadView.aspx?ses=7420

There's a train from Karlsruhe that goes to Frankfurt airport but I don't think there's one that goes to Stuttgart airport. I'll have to waste time switching downtown.

I think my AA Plat status runs out in February. Theoretically I can use business class checkin lines, so I can save some time there, but I don't think that I can carry a larger than normal luggage unless, as you say, I buy a business class ticket. But I think that will defeat the purpose of trying to save money.

I can call BA to find out the checkin deadline for FRA-LHR. I'm hoping it's 30 minutes. Typically the longest is 45 minutes, but I understand they insist on 60 minutes for flights from LHR (or maybe the long-haul flights).

Stuttgart can be more complicated (as you said) since the airport station is only served by surburban trains (S-Bahn). So you have to change at Stuttgart Central station.

When I fly from FRA, I'm usually at the airport 45-60min prior to departure, but that is for domestic/ Schengen flights only, so it does not help you a bit, I'm afraid.

Delays happen. I'd take the train one hour earlier. Better wait at the airport than be sorry.

quokka, a Karlsruhe resident

Ok, I just bought my ticket. I'm taking the 5:40 pm BA flight, but I'll try to take an earlier train if I can.

Quokka, since you live in Karlsruhe, can you let me know whether I can take a taxi easily? I'm thinking of going to the Kunsthalle. I've checked Google maps and it's near an S-bahn station, but with limited time I think it's easier to take a taxi. I assume that's easy from a train station, but how about in the city itself?

Do you know anything about taxis in Baden-Baden? I know the train station is outside the city, so I need to take a taxi into town. But again, the question is how easy it is to get back to the train station.

I forgot to thank everyone.

The BA checkin deadline is 40 minutes prior to departure for this flight. This is from the BA website, now that I've my booking reference and can check the booking:

Airport desks 05:30 40 mins before Dep. Location - Departures area, Hall E

Hi, I'm trying to finalize my plans for this trip.

I'm still thinking of a lateish arrival at the airport. Has anyone used the SkyTrain (is this what it's called)? Can you comment on how easy it is to go from T1 and T2? The Frankfurt airport's website says that the train runs every 2 minutes. I assume this doesn't take long?

My flight is at 5:40. I'm thinking of leaving Karlsruhe at 2 and taking a train for Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. I'm going to go to Staedel for about 20 minutes. Then I plan to take the 4:01 pm S-bahn and it goes to the airport in 11 minutes. I should be able to arrive at the checkin desk one hour prior to check in.

If my train from Karlsruhe has a problem I can still get into Frankfurt. The S-bahn runs every 15 minutes or so. If the train is on time, I'll go to Staedel for about 20 minutes. I am thinking the S-bahn should be fine.

> I'm thinking of going to the Kunsthalle. I've checked Google maps and it's near an S-bahn station, but with limited time I think it's easier to take a taxi. I assume that's easy from a train station, but how about in the city itself?

Well, you can always simply take a tram back to the train station. By taxi you can shave another 5-10 min off but you pay for it of course.

>Do you know anything about taxis in Baden-Baden? I know the train station is outside the city, so I need to take a taxi into town.

You don't need, but you can. Again, it's not really cheap. The bus 201 runs every 10 min and needs about 15 min to the city center; by taxi you can probably gain another 5 min at the expense of 10 Euro. There are many taxi ranks in the city center.

>But again, the question is how easy it is to get back to the train station.

Either by 201 or by taxi from one of the many ranks...

Thanks for answering the older questions. They are no longer relevant as I went to Baden Baden last month. I decided to go to Strasbourg, then Colmar, then back to Strasbourg to take a train to Baden Baden (all in one day). I did take bus 201, by the way. It was a Sunday night, and since I was going back to the train station around 8 pm, the bus was running less frequently (about once every 30 minutes at that time). But it did work.

Now if someone can comment something about the Frankfurt airport and the T1-T2 connection via Sky Train (?) that'd be great!