Would we have enough time to get through the Frankfurt, Germany airport?
 

We are considering waiting until the morning of our potential flight to make it from London to Frankfurt to avoid having to leave the day before to spend the night in Frankfurt. We could be on a flight from London to Frankfurt early that morning, which as scheduled for now-will give us about 2 hours and 15 minutes to make our connection Frankfurt to the U.S. Would this give us enough time to claim our bags, re-check in, go through security, and get to our gate? Or is that cutting it too close? Need some opinions on how hard it is to get through the Frankfurt airport or how long it may take. Thanks!

I think this is a bit tight - you may not have to collect your luggage as this should go straight through (check with your airline), but it really leaves no room for error, such as if your plane is delayed. For me the biggest problem is the size of the airport - it just takes a long time to get from A to B in the airport, a pain if you have to run the distance!

Frankfurt isn't so awful - a night in Frankfurt could actually be quite good fun.

Lavandula

Hi Haley_Anthony,

I would check with the carrier for the Frankfurt-US flight. Normally they tell you how early you need to check in, i.e., two hours early or three hours early.

I believe that the minimum time for check-in for a US flight is two hours early. You simply don't have the time to do that.

s

I think it would help if you gave the names of the airlines, and if both flights will be one ticket or booked seperately.

I think it is on a tight side considering uncertainty.
FRA is one airport I had many different experiences. I think the size to the airport adds to the uncertainty.
Here are the variables:
1. Terminal 1A vs. 1B: I have done all sorts of layovers - 1A to 1B, 1B to 1A, 1B to 1B. A to B are quite far apart and take time. The gate assignment at FRA is very dynamic. I never know which gate the plane arrives.
2. Concourse or bus: when the plane cannot get a gate on concourse, it seem to add about 30min to the arrival time.
3. Security check process to US. It seems it is never the same, perhaps intentionally? Sometimes I sail through one security check, while other times it took almost an hour going through two security checks.

Oh God, another one. What is this fascination this year with booking flights to somewhere you don't want to be, having separate tickets to go somewhere you do want to be and insisting on the minimum amount of time between the two?

Has someone written an article on how it's a great idea because it isn't especially when you are trying to get home when a missed flight will mean having to pay for a one way ticket at full rates.

If you want to have a last night in London then book a homeward ticket that starts in London, not several hundred miles away in a different country. Otherwise travel the day befoe and stay overnight

I agree with alanRow, this method is a sure fire anxiety producer. Travel has enough uncertainties; I prefer not to add to them.

"We could be on a flight from London to Frankfurt early that morning"

If you attempt this, make sure your flight lands at Frankfurt's FRA, not Frankfurt Hahn airport, which serves as a destination for many flights from London but is nowhere near Frankfurt. It wouldn't be the first time that error was made.

I am sure that people attempt to do this all of the time. Sometimes it is a grat money saver...booking two round trip tickets.
I even did it once a long time ago. It was on the outward journey that Air France lost our luggage when we arrived in Paris and they were not too happy about getting it to Nice as we had booked that leg on Easy Jet. You can imagine the time we ate up attempting to check on it at the Air France desk.
Given the uncertainty today with air travel I would never attempt a turn around connection like that.

Enjoy Frankfurt for a day.

alanRow is corect. I can't believe the hoops some people jump through to save a few dollars - wsting a day of their vacationa nd risking having to buy a new ticket for a huge amount.

Why don;t people simply go where they want to go - and come back from where they will be at the end of their trip? Simple - yes?

In this case, many US flights require check in two hours in advance - so I would want a flight that landed in FRA (the correct airport) 4 hours before the next flight is scheduled - to allow for bad weather, strikes or just trafic delays - and not have to sprint miles through FRA.

I flew through Frankfurt several times....it is huge and messy - all kinds of elevators, moving sidewalks
gates hard to find,etc.
Agree with other posters about taking it easy.