ianlin

Our family 2 adults and 2 kids will take Lufthansa LH4063 FLR-FRA, then UA927 FRA-SFO, with about 1 hour between flights. Economy. Can anyone tell me about the onboard experience? Seat comfort? Food service? In flight entertainment? How many meals? Are alcoholic drinks free?

Are connecting flights hard to locate, (espcially since we are changing airlines, LH to UAL)? I have heard bad things about FRA.

Is this flight a code share with Lufthansa?

higgsjoa

A 1-hour connection in FRA is cutting it close. There is no rhyme nor reason at FRA. Sometimes you have to pass through security and/or passport control and sometimes you don't. Sometimes the lines are endless and sometimes they're not. And last time I took FLR-FRA, LH check-in agents were ... about what one could and could not carry on board. They let me take my purse, but made me check-in my backpack. Officially, a purse and a backpack is allowed, but not for these folks.

UAL4life

That pretty much sums up FRA! One hour is a crazy connection IMHO

restlessinRNO

After rushing to make this 1 hour connection , you may well need an adult beverage. Regrettably though, they are not free on UA across the Atlantic. UA likes to charge $6.

WidgetsOfTheSkies

To answer your question, a 1 hour connection, as aforementioned, is tight, but totally within reason. Let's remember this is the ca. 17.20 departure... there's not much going on at FRA at that time (compared to the hours before) so this shouldn't be a problem. And the LH people are good at whisking you to your next gate, if for example, the FLR flight arrives late.

MarkedMan

My brother did this exact same route last year when he came to visit, and all the connecting passengers from FLR got bounced at the gate for being late - the plane clearly still being there. LH chose to put all of them (over 10) in one of the FRA hotels rather than let them board. So I'm not sure I share the overall optimism about the connection. It can be a bit tight. They were delayed perhaps 10 minutes, but it was enough.

FLR-FRA agents are italian, that's all. You have to know how to play the game with them. Helps if you are italian

I once took an LX flight out of FLR with a small carryon (really small) and a small documents bag around my neck. Initially it was "Oh, can't do that, bla bla" I'm like "What do you want me to do, my laptop's in my carryon bag, no way I can check that in", you know, do some hand waving, so she goes "OK, let me take a look, see what we can do, why don't you pull your laptop out and hold it, then your docs bag fits in, let's call that one bag and we're done"

Absolutely priceless. I miss it sometimes.

CAPT Tee

I agree with others that 1 hour connection in FRA from an EU flight to US flight is extremely tight especially there is a 50/50 chance that you have to be bussed to the terminal from the FLA-FRA flight to catch flight 927, then still have to go through passport control and security. I would change to an earlier LH flight from FLA to FRA if possible.

Flight UA 927 is operated by UA currently on a B777. One full meal and an arrival snack will be served. Coach has individual seat back monitor IFE that plays program in a loop, not AVOD. No free alcohol. Seats are as comfortable as any coach seat can be, more leggroom in E+.

Lightman7

I think security is going to be your big potential trouble spot - sometimes they breeze you through, sometimes they are so friggin nit-picky that you have to take virtually everything out of your carry on, which requires many run throughs of the X ray. I would make a bee line for the gate when you land, and don't even do a bathroom break until you have cleared security.

ianlin

Now I am really worried. The trip was puchased as a package with hotel. LH4063 FLR-FRA is scheduled to land at 4:15PM and UA 927 FRA-SFO departs at 5:25PM. At the time of booking, I knew nothing about FRA. I had thought a 1 hour connection should be okay. Since this was purchased as package, I am fairly certain I cannot change the flight on such short notice, at least not without significant penalty.

Upon further research, I have found that FLR-FRA leg of the trip is operated by Lufthansa CityLine, which uses terminal 1A. And according to United Airlines website, UA 927 usually departs from terminal 1A as well. Does this help matters, or makes no difference?

What should I do if I could not make the connection in time?

usa18dca

I had a 1:55 connection in FRA...inbound was late...busted...not worth the forced overnight since LH is so stingy they won't pay for a Hotel or anything even to * Gold Customers on a Y Fare...

ianlin

I just finished talking with go-today.com, where I booked this trip. The lady I spoke to claimed FRA is one of the "easiest" airports to navigate. At any rate, it will cost more than $1000 to change the flight. So, it will probably be cheaper to pay for one night of hotel in Frankfort than to change the flight. She confirmed to me that UA 927 is a code share with Lufthansa. If we do miss the connecting flight, who should I talk to, Lufthansa or UA?

Downdog

I took the exact same flights last year. LH from FLR was delayed, so I had only 25 minutes to make it UA 927 at FRA. I ran really fast with 2 other passengers. We barely made it, but our bags didn't. Boarding, of course, had already started while ago. I was waitlisted for upgrade and hoping to get C-class boarding pass at the gate, but it didn't happen. Another passenger who ran with me who was also on waitlist (she is also 1K,) believed that our upgraded seats had been given away. I am not sure about that, since neither of us really had gotten confirmation.

Downdog

This is the first time I heard anybody saying "FRA is one of the easiest airports to navigate." I can't think of anyone who would agree to that.

N1120A

Some teeth grinding and fast talk in German helps with LH, sort of like hand waiving and Italian in Italy ;-)

It will assuredly be cheaper to pay for a hotel, but you would be wise to insist on a hotel room because the airline did the booking. If that doesn't work, I would write the airline when you get home and also invoice the hotel room to go-today.com.

As far as navigating FRA...

Its not so bad past security, especially if you are staying in the same concourse. Also, experienced FRA travelers can pretty easily handle it.

CAPT Tee

Even if FLR-FRA flight arrives in Terminal 1 Pier A, it will be in one of Schengen gates (Gate A11 to A42) in the lower level. UA 927 leaves from one of non-Schengen gates in the upper level of Pier A (Gate A51 to A65). You still have to go through passport control and security.