FRA B/E Arrival: Shower facilities?
 

Arriving at FRA Monday AM on business from ATL and need to go right on to work. I see that they have closed their own club - called reservations and they really didn't know although the agent diligently tried - searched this site and confirmed what I had guessed, which was that the Air France site is inaccessible to arriving passengers. :td: (Interestingly, the Air France site still lists the old Delta arrival lounge.)

Didn't want to just bump that thread, which was about unhappy general trend of club closings - no one would see I was looking for help...

Does Delta have a contract to let you into one of the airport hotels or anything like that, such as the ones that CO has with Yotel in LHR or some other airports? Agent could not tell me; could only suggest I ask agent at club when connecting in Atlanta. :confused:

Reason I am trying to find out in advance is I need to make arrangements to meet someone at the airport afterwards to travel onward to my meeting.

If Delta doesn't sponsor or steer you toward anything in particular, can anyone provide their experience about good arrival shower options in or near the airport? Thanks so much. ;)

FTF

Currently, departing BE DL passengers can use the JAL Sakura lounge right next to the old DL lounge. I believe they have showers, but I don't know if they will let arriving BE passengers in the lounge. I'm pretty sure that you can access the lounge from arrivals; I have certainly gone to the DL lounge upon arrival in the past.

Thanks duluthDL:

That would be awesome :) if it works that way, but tell me (just from my ignorance): don't they do like most airports/countries do and put arriving/non-connecting passengers on a straight and narrow path to customs and immigration?

Is there a "trick," like you need to act as a connecting passenger or something like that?

It's been a while (probably 5 years) since I did a business arrival at that terminal (back as a Continental flyer), so I don't remember anything other than there was a lounge and showers were available - don't remember how I got there. :confused:

FTF

I'll try to describe it...
When you are departing, the sequence is: ticket counter; outbound passport control; this releases you into a "general area" where you can access duty free, other shops, restaurants and the Sakura lounge; x ray security check; and sterile (?) gate area.
When you arrive, you walk thru a corridor and then are dumped into the general area. Signs will direct you to passport control. If you don't see the lounge, you can locate it as follows: do not go down the escalator to passport control; if you are at the top of the escalator, facing the escalator, then the Sakura lounge will be about 50 yards to your right.

Alternately, the Steigenberger has day rooms; I think it's a little under 100 euro. The shuttle runs every 15-20 minutes. Even more convenient but more expensive is the Sheraton which is on site. I don't know if they have day rooms.

Thanks much, duluth. Several good options there. I will give it a try.

Also, a couple of the restrooms in the departure hall have showers. You may need to find someone to unlock it (not sure if there is a charge, if so it is minimal). I know I have done this once but it has been a while. And I think it was in the terminal that Lufthansa uses, not the one that Delta uses.

In FRA, the AA club is landside, has showers, and belongs to Priority Pass. Even if you're not already a member, it could be convenient and more cost effective to join than to pay a hotel day rate at FRA.

However, if you're not already a PP member, the problem could be receiving the card in time for your trip. I'm not sure there's a way to print a new card on line and have it accepted or to simply join on site, at the lounge you want to use.

From our experience in May, 2010, the answer is no. The agent took a glance at our boarding passes and firmly said, 'No arriving passengers, departing only.' Then pointed us the direction to the down escalators to passport control.

Thanks, everyone. I'm off tomorrow; we'll see how it goes. I'll probably try the JAL lounge because it's there, but based on belle3388's comments will probably not get in. I'll likely end up at the public facility in the Lufthansa terminal rather than the 100 eur day room. Quicker too.

Not a priority pass member; mostly CO/UA and have lifetime club membership there so don't think it makes enough sense to pay to join that, but thanks for the suggestion, MSPeco.

FTF

P.S.: Delta management: I'm suprised you are flying 3 widebodies a day into a business destination and don't provide a facility for your arriving business flyers. I should have stayed with *A but saw a chance to save a few dollars. That was a mistake I won't soon repeat.

Thanks for the advice, all. I ended up in the public facility in terminal 1. It was what you'd expect for 6 euros (standing around for use, very hot inside the tiny room, which had no place for even my tiny carry-on:() but ultimately got the job done. All the terminal 2 facility options were not possible - JAL lounge said no facilities/access for arriving passengers, and although there is a public facility it is not accessible to arriving passengers (back outside departure security).

So, I'll definitely avoid flying Delta business to Frankfurt again when it is so much nicer to use the *A arrival facilities. My bad not to check first but now I know better. Congrats, Delta management, you "win" again. :td: :mad: Wish it were otherwise, but you gotta give the love to those who love you back. ;)

FTF

The few times I flew there, I never noticed if the Crown Room had shower facilities or not. Then again, I never have and never will schedule anything coming right off a TransAtlantic flight, so I am always able to go to the hotel, shower, nap and then head out for an evening of meetings and dinner. But now I am curious, did the FRA facility have showers?

LH has a very nice arrivals lounge in FRA for incoming F and C passengers (no Star Golds or other riff-raff are allowed in AFAIK - it is strictly for alighting LH premium passengers)

It is after immigration (a breeze) and offers many large and nicely outfitted showers with WCs and L'Occitaine products. There is a very comprehensive breakfast spread, with the obligitory sekt on hand for early-morning imbibers.

After experiencing this delightful way to break up a trip to the middle-east, there is yet even less reason to fly ST.

re: the golden past

yes, they did have 4 or 5 showers in the "left" "back" behind the silent resting area with the nice chairs.

however: I am flying next week the first time after DL closed in FRA, is there any new development re: Showers as I have the same issue (as I always schedule meetings right away ... keep you running, no time for jet lag) and I have meeting downtown FRA and then will go to a different city via rental car ... in other words, I hope it does not "stink":D

Any thoughts are appreciated!

There wasn't anything provided by Delta - I ended up in the public facility in terminal 1 (the only one reachable outside security for arriving passengers). It was adequate but far from pleasant (see description a few posts back). The location's pretty well described on the FRA web site, among some luxury shops in the "mall" area. I don't remember the exact details or I'd direct you. It's a single room in the back of the men's room; there's a hostess you pay. It's cheap and you can get clean but not only is it dreary, there can be a considerable wait since it's one at a time.

I did go back more recently and based on this level of "business elite-dom" you can bet I skipped Delta and flew Star business instead (in this case Lufthansa). Their arrival facility was terrrific - only wished I had more time to enjoy breakfast. :cool: By the way, as Sabai mentioned below, they presumably don't let in Star Golds, but they DO allow business class partners from any of their US partners - I checked specifically with the agent at the front desk for future reference and she named all 3 as OK. :)

Then there are day rooms at some of the neighboring hotels - not sure which but I think it was described before in this thread.

Add it up and if you need to be doing something on the day of arrival after a business flight, you need to be flying Star, not Delta. Sorry Delta, but as someone who gets the same miles for either, you've driven this business customer away.

FTF

It's not as though they will miss you - you were giving so much business to *A anyway (since I see you are a UA 1P, CO Plat). So even with arrival showers, the delta (sic) gain would likely not be that great for them anyway. And I doubt Delta (or any other airline) would want to start a bun fight in Lufthansa's backyard - they wouldn't win a point.

I'm also a Gold Medallion with Delta, and with the upcoming merger of United (1P) and Continental (Plat) I have been looking to balance out with another primary airline to take the place of one of those. I don't like having all my eggs in one airline basket.

No obviously the actions of any one business traveler doesn't warrant any particular response. But they are flying multiple widebodies there a day, and yes, I want to highlight for anyone from Delta who cruises these threads that there are specific costs and customers driven away by their decisions.

It's not just a hub thing either. I've checked around and CO, for example, has welcoming arrangements at many non-hub airports for arriving business travelers, for example, brief use of local airport hotel rooms. (No, I don't know how that will end up postmerger.) I haven't been able to get much info on Delta but so far I'm not finding that to be the case. I may do some looking into AA, and they could develop into my second airline instead of Delta, which would have been since I have used them some.

FTF

Thanks. I think I will find it. I will however then have my checked luggage with me. Based on your words how tight it is there ... how would I manage to drag a suitcase plus a carry on plus a laptop bag inside?

Thanks for this , as a frequent LH traveller ... I know the facilities, they are great but require same day LH connection. Too bad I will take a car from there ...

Thanks for all the reply!

Apparently when this new shower facility opened, they closed the free shower in one of the other restrooms. The one described above is relatively easy to find - there are shower pictograms that you can follow. But being so small and cramped, as well as the cost, is a bummer.

Definitely agree with fti - it'll be pretty cramped. I think I had to spread my carryon-bag out on the toilet as it was, to have my shower kit up on the sink. (Don't even remember where I stashed my lap top bag, maybe under the sink.)

So with the checked bag it's going to be cozy, but you can probably stand it in front of the door. Inside, of course.

FTF

I am puzzled by the assertion that use of the arrivals lounge is contingent upon an onward LH flight. The only thing that I have ever had to produce to gain entrance is the ticket stub of an inbound LH flight to FRA in C (or F.)

I believe that FRA could be your final destination and had you flown LH in C or F access would be assured.

I didn't reply to that part, but I'd second Sabai's comment. I didn't have a connecting LH flight either, just the arrival, and it was't required. That's for the arrival lounge.

Oh, I get it - DLH, are you talking about the regular lounges, some of which also have showers (but with less availability, usually just 3 or 4 in each of the larger lounges if I recall correctly. They are post-security, so you'd only visit them if you were a connecting passenger. And in that case, yes, you'd need an onward ticket to pass through security I believe, rather than exiting.

FTF

The arrivals lounge is open to pax in J and F on LH and US-based Star Alliance carriers. They wouldn't let me in with a SQ F ticket. However, I ended up using a LH business lounge (using *G status) before going through customs.

OK, thanks for the clarification, it seems there is pre exit (e.g. pre picking up luggage, pre passport control lounge on Terminal 2 in FRA? THis would be ideal ... just like the old DL lounge, where you could go pre exiting and refresh. All I understand now they are all post baggage claim and only in Terminal 1? Correct? Thanks a bunch!

No sorry, I think I was unclear. I wasn't talking about terminal 2.

There's the LH arrivals lounge in T1, which is indeed after passport, baggage claim and customs. Then there are the various LH lounges in the airside departure area, several of which have showers for connecting passengers. All Star.

I couldn't find anything in T2 available to arriving Delta passengers, although there is an Air France/KLM lounge you can use if you are somehow connecting over in that part of the terminal. I guess this has wandered a bit but the search for something you could use arriving on Delta BE was the start of this. All we have for that is the public shower in a men's room in T1 (which is the main reason why T1 keeps popping up along with the comparison of facilities in general) and local hotels.

FTF