mama_mia

We are flying Charlotte to Frankfurt on American and need to change planes for a Lufthansa flight to Krakow. We did not book on one ticket because we wanted to use miles for 3 business class seats.

The American flight arrives 7:20 AM Frankfurt (92% on time). I am looking at a 10:25 AM Lufthansa flight to Krakow. (There is also a flight a little after noon.)

We can probably carry-on for the first flight but I am not sure our luggage will meet Lufthansa carry-on requirements. So may have to check.

Is 3 hours likely to be enough to get through customs, security and check-in?

Thanks.

Dukey1

I would hope so even at FRA. If you need to check those bags I would think you would have to do it at the gate.

Andrew

I have done this several times in Europe but never in Frankfurt. Three hours should be more than enough time...IF your inbound flight is on time!

I always carry my bags these days and have never had trouble carrying them onto my connecting flights. I'm guessing unless your bags are way over regulation sizes, you should be able to on Lufthansa - or they may gate check them at worst. If connecting to a prop plane or small jet, you may be asked to put carry-ons on a cart or something right as you are stepping onto the plane - and you retrieve it when you stop off in Krakow. Depends on the airline - I've never flown Lufthansa either.

I would look at where AA lands and where Lufthansa flights to Krakow depart from at FRA. Would you change terminals? You'll have to go through immigration when you fly in and then have to go through security again, most likely, to get to your Krakow flight. (But I'm not sure - some airports like Amsterdam Schiphol used to send you through security again but not anymore I believe. Depends on the airport.)

The most important thing when you do something like this - risk missing a connection where you aren't "protected" on the same ticket - is to understand what you'll do if you miss it. Will you have to buy a whole new ticket to Krakow, assuming the next flight is even available? How much will that cost? Do you have trip insurance that might cover it? Just do some homework and see what your options are. I am planning to fly into Madrid and right back out to Lisbon 2:10 later on an upcoming trip, but there are lots of daily flights between the two cities, and they seem not to be that expensive even at the last minute, so if I miss my flight, I'm probably not looking at 500 Euros to book another flight same day. But you? Just find out what your contingency plan, just in case, so you won't have to figure it out from scratch once you land in Frankfurt.

Odin

3 hours is plenty of time. There is hardly any difference in dimensions for carry-on between AA and LH, we are talking a centimetre or so. There are several flights a day between FRA and KRK on LH and you can book economy classic which is a bit more expensive than economy light but enables you to rebook for a fee (plus any fare differential) should you miss your connection, eg if your arrival flight into FRA is late. Economy light is not rebookable.