Lightman7

That would depend on why you miss the flight. If your inbound to FRA is delayed, you would talk to LH, if your inbound was on time, you would talk to UA.

As a *G, I have had LH put me up in the hotel due to a weather delay on GVA-FRA that caused me to miss 927. UA would never do that. You need to go to the LH first class (*G) counter.

Lightman7

There is a distinct possibility you will deplane on the tarmac and take a bus in to the terminal. If this happens you have a long walk ahead of you. If the bus takes you to terminal A, you follow the signs. If the bus takes you to terminal B, in my opinion it is quicker to head to the train station between gates B1 and C1 rather than deal with the pedestrian tunnel, especially if you have small kids.

Eventually, you will arrive on level 2 in the terminal (this is Europe, level 1 is the ground floor). The international departure gates are on level 3, which means you must go upstairs and clear passport control and security. If you look at the FRA airport map, there are two checkpoints - one by the purple dot that says train station, and one all the way at the end by the Senators lounge. Just follow the signs for gates A51-65. If you arrive at a gate close to the end, I would go to the checkpoint by the Senator lounge, as it is not as busy, usually.

Somebody correct me if I am wrong here - I have only bussed into the A gates once and can't exactly remember where I cleared security. I almost always bus into the B terminal.

MarkedMan

9 out of 10 times if I go through Germany I go to MUC even if it means connecting at ORD. Only done FRA a couple of times, both times got bussed in. I forget where we went the first time, the second time OH had broken leg so we got bussed somewhere unusual. Wasn't too long of a trek to the non-Schengen gates. To be fair, in normal circs 1hr is fine. And you're going at the right time of the year, and not leaving early morning - FLR airport is in a stupid location for more than one reason, it just so happens to be in a basin that is often shrouded in fog in autumn when 5 minutes drive any direction in the morning you are in bright sunshine .....

My brother has absolutely no status with anyone and flies once every two or three years, and got his hotel comped; LH screwed up with the inbound flight, and the airport staff screwed up not letting anyone board IMO, so it was the least they could do. EU regulations in such circumstances dictate you are owed accomodation and meal reimbursement, they got coupons for a lamentable meal at the hotel, beer not included, but at least they got something.

mikew99

This mirrors my experience.

On Monday this week (3/29), I was connecting from an LH ZRH-FRA flight to UA 927 (departing from gate A60) with a 1:15 connection time at FRA. The earlier LH ZRH-FRA flight was delayed 30 minutes due to weather, and I was afraid I would misconnect if my flight were delayed by that much.

I asked to be placed on the earlier flight to FRA and, to my surprise, LH agreed. When we arrived in FRA, the jetbridge did not work, so we had to deplane via stairs and be bussed to the terminal. After these delays, I was very glad that I had asked to be put on the earlier flight!

Surprisingly, I did not have to go through security again on my way to UA927 (only passport control), but I have faced some horrendous security lines at FRA in the past. And, it was a long walk. Between the buses, security, and passport control, I never know what to expect.

merlin

I have never ever seen a LH regional (Canadair / BAe) at a jetway in FRA. They all seem to go to the "V" parking stands in front of the big LH hangars. In other words I would expect to be taken in a bus to the terminal.

cesco.g

Can confirm that, even numerous intra-EU mainline flights get the same treatment, not to mention UA 900.

abcx

I thought it was an exception for 900/901? Got bussed to 901 last week but I thought it was because of the security breach. Let me tell you it was NOT fun.

ORDBound

FRA might be an "easy" airport only if you fly thru LHR

dgcpaphd

So, the lady who has probably not traveled the same flights with a short connect and a change of carriers (LH - UA) (such as you have) knows more than those who have experienced similar type connections at FRA and made reports here.

At a minimum the travel agency lady is loyal to her employer even if she is not customer oriented evidenced by her incorrect response.

I would pay attention to the responses posted in this thread rather than rely on the response you received from your travel agency.

ianlin

I have returned from my trip. On the day of my return, LH4063 FLR-FRA was 45 minutes late taking off. Among the many things that went wrong, the shuttle driver drove the passengers to the wrong plane. It would have been comical if it wasn't so stressful.

On arrival, we took a very long bus ride from tarmac to terminal. And then a very, very long walk to the gate A63 for UA 927. We ran like mad, huffing and puffing, sweat pouring out. And actually managed to get to the gate 15 minutes before departure.

Only to be denied boarding by the gate agent, even though we can see the plane parked right at the gate. We were told that it was because our luggage could not be loaded in time. I later found out they already gave away our seats to standby passengers. We were told to go to gate A54. So still out of breath, we trudged towards A54.

Except there is no gate A54. There is an A53, then the next gate is A55. Ha ha, isn't that funny. Except we weren't laughing then. Turns out, between A53 and A55 there is a service desk, only it is closed. So back to the original gate we go. This time we were led to another ticketing office after a long, long walk.

There were no more flights to SFO until the next moring. We were re-booked on LH454. Being so close to departure, there were only a few seats left, so we could not sit together. But we didn't have any choice.

We spent the night at InterCity airport hotel, courtesy of Lufthansa. Not a bad hotel actually. Very clean rooms. Next morning, we took the LH454. This is an older Boeing, not the Airbus A340. No individual IFE, incredibly cramped seats. After about 11 tortuous hours, we got home.

Looking back, I think FRA is definitely confusing. During our mad dash to catch UA 927, we came to a screeching halt at A45, it was the end of the terminal. All along signs for A46-A65 has been pointing this direction. Turns out we have to go up an level, then go in the opposite direction. There were no signs pointing this useful nugget of information.

But I think if LH4063 had not been late, it would have been possible to make the UA 927. I will definitely think twice about connecting through FRA again.

Again, thank you everyone for your kind replies.

carbonchaser

Wow, I had no idea that LH had any planes that were not upgraded to the new longhaul product. I haven't seen one of those in many years.

Sorry to hear about your experience - I've certainly had my share of tight connections through FRA, but always made them. Reading this thread I now think I was just lucky

WASBLR

Glad you survived the journey!
Yes, LH's 744s have still not been upgraded. I have been on those cramped LH flights that are about as long as FRA-SFO. Definitely feel your pain!

Re: FRA - yes, it seems like a maze. I always choose flights that give at least 2 hours of connecting time. 4 is even better - gives time to eat, shower, relax for a bit.