BrianW

Thanks to the helpful suggestions I received on this forum last month, my recent trip from PHL to FRA with my 5-month-old baby went really well. GalleyWench provided good insight into flying with a baby on the Airbus, and others helped, too. My wife and I have determined that we probably have one of the world's best traveling babies! He slept nearly the entire flight over and didn't cry once. We were lucky enough to get all four middle seats of the front bulkhead row in coach (row 8 or 9, I can't remember) on the way over. On the way back we had a window and aisle seat at the bulkhead, since the plane was almost fully booked. Still, with the bassinet attached to the bulkhead we had a fair amount of room. Again, the baby only fussed once or twice, which the people around us complimented at the end of the flight. The bassinets on the Airbus were fairly roomy and easy to use, both on the floor and when attached to the bulkhead. I hope to have a Web page up at some point with photos of the setup and other suggestions for traveling with the baby, and will post the URL when it's done.

We usually fly into MUC, and on this trip I was reminded once again how much I dislike FRA. It's too sprawling, the signage is less than great, and airport personnel are (IMO) much less friendly than at MUC. Unfortunately, US doesn't fly the Airbus into MUC.

We tried a new hotel this go-round, which I can recommend to the group. The Holiday Inn Frankfurt Airport North was really nice. It's about a five-minute ride to the airport (has a shuttle) and is located in a very quiet wooded area (the Frankfurter Wald). Believe it or not, I got a weekend rate of 35 euros for a double room! The hotel seems fairly new, the staff was pleasant and helpful, and the location is very peaceful. There is a good-sized town about five minutes away if you have a car, with plenty of restaurant choices.