FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Consolidated FRA connection time/logistics-Domestic & International
Old May 2, 2017, 5:45 pm
  #653  
flaii
 
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: PVG
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, Hilton Silver, Marriott Gold
Posts: 316
Just one more voice in favor of taking an earlier flight to connect to the TATL if you must be back in the US on a certain day. Not sure what your schedule is the day before the flight, but you could also consider driving the night before and overnighting closer to one of those airports for an early morning connection (Pisa, Florence, Bologna).

I just took a long weekend trip and connected in ZRH on the outbound and FRA on the inbound. Despite the oft-cited Swiss and German national reputations for punctuality and precision, 2 out of my 3 flights were delayed 20-35 minutes, and my train/Lufthansa Express Rail connection from Stuttgart to Frankfurt was delayed 10 minutes.

- I fly often connecting Lufthansa-United in FRA, and when flights are on time and you are making a connection from A to Z gates (basically one is upstairs from the other), it's super easy. BUT sometimes the first flight will disembark at the very end of one of the piers, and perhaps your connecting flight is at the end of another, and then it's a very long walk. And yesterday my usual flight to Spain departed from the B gates, accessible only through a very long underground moving sidewalk, and elevators on both ends, and 1 of the 2 elevators wasn't working on one of the ends making the process even slower. So, 1 hour CAN be doable, but I think it's risky due to potential flight delays and long distances between gates.

- edited to add: my plane wasn't even at the B-gates. We took the bus to the A320, and it was one of the longest tarmac rides I ever taken, about 15-20 minutes. So imagine this process in reverse: you land on time but don't reach he terminal until 20 minutes later.

- I agree with you that 50 min is too tight even in ZRH. I only had a 45 minute connection in ZRH, and my inbound from Spain was 35 minutes delayed leaving me 10 minutes to connect. As I was flying from an outstation (i.e. contract staff), they gave me no options for rebooking and just said that I should fly to ZRH to try my luck and if necessary, they will put me up in a hotel and fly me out the next morning. Luckily I made my connection as my connecting flight was directly opposite, but I feel sorry for the passengers on my flight connecting to HKG which also left 10 minutes after landing, because they had to take the train to the other terminal for intercontinental flights.

Last edited by flaii; May 2, 2017 at 6:04 pm
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