ESpen36

Certainly. The FRA runs are very smooth and easy. Furthermore, there's no risk of missing the return flight to ORD because it's on the same aircraft. I think that's why so many of us do these runs. Out on Saturday evening, back at ORD on Sunday by 5pm. 5pm is early enough, assuming no major snow or ATC delays, to connect back to our home cities in time to work on Monday morning.

My recommendation would be to budget for connection times of 2-3 hours at ORD. You never know (especially if your domestic feeder segments are on Eagle) when your inbound might be delayed. In my case, I was on a CR7, which cannot start its engines on its own, and the "start cart" at RDU wouldn't work, so they had to borrow one from another airline. Yet another reason to stay away from the CR7s.

Once you arrive at ORD, you have plenty of time to enjoy the ACs (and FL if you are EXP or OW EMD, or you have a friend who is). There's also time to wander the terminals if you wish, or to buy Duty Free (though I would caution against buying liquids/gels/aerosols, so as not to complicate your life).

The departure of AA 84 to FRA is at 7:30pm. Right after takeoff, if not before, the FAs will come around in J with the BOSE headphones, as well as the PEDs. In both cabins you will get the International Flagship Dinner service. In J, you get the "enhanced" Dinner service because there is no F. It includes marinated cheese antipasto and warmed nuts, a seafood appetizer, big salad with choice of dressings, bread basket, 4 entree choices (plated on board), "real" made-to-order sundaes or fruit/cheese, and Lindt chocolates. We had a truly superb Purser who came around to introduce himself personally to every J passenger and provide detailed information about the flight. (He definitely got an Applause certificate from me at the end!) After the first meal service, the FAs offered on-board duty free, then turned down the lights so we could sleep.

The ride was a little bumpy shortly after we left the northern Canadian coast behind and headed out over the ocean. But it was a very quick TATL flight--only 7 hours 45 minutes in the air! About 1.5 hours before landing, the FAs woke us up for breakfast (for those who wanted it), consisting of a very tasty omelet with hash browns and a wedge of some kind of meat, or cereal, plus fruit and warmed breakfast breads. Then, at about 1 hour before landing, they collected the PEDs and BOSE headphones. We descended and landed at FRA at 10:25am, 35 minutes ahead of schedule. (The return flight's departure time is 2:05pm, so there was plenty of time at FRA.)

Upon disembarking, my #1 goal was to get to the Admirals Club (which is outside security) for a shower. The EU immigration control at FRA is much quicker than in the States--at least, my experience has been this way. On this particular occasion, the officer took my passport, glanced at it, looked at my face, stamped on a blank page, and tossed the passport bank. He didn't say a word, didn't swipe the passport, didn't record anything. (In fact, once during a run last year, the guy didn't even stamp it--he just glanced at it for half a second and handed the passport back to me.)

Customs at FRA (and throughout the EU) is even easier. If you have nothing to declare, you simply walk out! No getting the "once-over" by an officer, no questions, nothing. Just walk out. (The customs officers looked incredibly bored.) So, I exited customs and went directly to the Admirals Club, which is on a mezzanine level directly across from the sky bridge to the Sheraton (that's how to find the club--look for signs for the Sheraton). The staff is superb there, especially David. I checked in for the return, AA 83 FRA-ORD, right away (departing at 2:05pm) and picked up a shower key. I'm glad I got there first, because I later found out that the waiting list for the showers had 6 people on it by noon! (I'm guessing all with MR folks--who else showers at an airport at 11:45am?)

After my shower, I had something to drink and chatted with several of my fellow MRers in the club. Then, I left a bit early to visit the excellent grocery store in the basement of the airport. It's worth a trip--it has everything from fresh prepared foods to cheeses to chocolates to gifts! And believe it or not, it's very reasonably priced. (You know you're at a good, reasonable place when all the airline/airport employees seem to be going there to pick up lunch.)

About 40 minutes before boarding (just to be on the safe side), I decided to go back through security and immigration. There is a separate F/J line for security. You will go through a standard metal detector and X-ray, and you need to remove your laptop and metal objects, but NO SHOE OR BAGGIE removal! Yay! How civilized! One note: the WTMDs are more sensitive in Germany, so if your belt buckle doesn't set off the TSA machines, it might set off the German ones (as mine did). But the secondary process is very efficient and professional.

Afterwards, you will go through exit immigration, where again, the officer didn't say a word; he merely stamped my passport and tossed it back to me.

On this particular run, we departed from a remote gate (on a bus). The agent checking me in said it was unusual, so I wouldn't expect it again. We boarded a little behind schedule because of some logistical problem getting the aft boarding door open. We left a little bit late, but the pilots said they could make up time in the air, which they did. The return flight was 9 hours, 3 minutes, or something similar. PEDs and BOSE headphones were already waiting for us when we boarded in J. The meals were Lunch and Snack, and were even a notch above the outbound service in terms of catering, I think.

For Lunch, we had the marinated cheese antipasto and warmed nuts, seafood appetizer, salad with choice of dressings, bread basket, 4 entree choices, sundaes or fruit/cheese plate, and chocolates. Afterwards, the FAs set up a "snack attack" basket in the J galley and we were invited to go up at any time and choose from a variety of snacks and drinks, mostly granola bars, chips, and other junk food.

At roughly halfway through the flight, the FAs came around offering fruit/cheese plates. The fruit, however, was dried, not fresh, so I declined this service element. Perhaps others can speak to it.

At roughly 1.5 hours before landing, the FAs came around with a light meal, consisting of a Pizza Uno or a warm turkey sandwich. I had the pizza and thought it was great! (though I know some complain about it) Both options had a green salad on the side, and FRESH fruit and a baked-on-board cookie for dessert.

Finally, just before landing, the FAs came around with the sparkling water (with citrus garnish) service, which I really LOVE and unfortunately most Pursers have stopped doing. Granted, only about half the cabin accepted a glass, but still, I think it's a really nice touch.

We landed at ORD around 4:30pm, half an hour ahead of schedule. We came into M1, which unfortunately is quite a hike from immigration, but we had been sitting for 9+ hours so we didn't mind. I joined several of my MR buddies and we walked to immigration, where there was no line (thankfully). I went right to the GlobalEntry kiosks, which functioned flawlessly, while my friends went to the normal lines. They told me that they were questioned briefly about the MRs, but did not encounter a problem (just inquisitive, bemused looks). We all exited customs without incident and headed back to T3 and the Flagship Lounge. From there, we connected back to our respective home cities.


That's pretty much how I and quite a few FTers spent our weekend! And it was a great time!