FRA question...
 

I'm a US flyer heading into FRA from VIE on Lufthansa, then connecting to MSY on Condor 4 hrs later. Any ideas on if I will have to clear passport control, get checked luggage, then start process over again to get to New Orleans?

Thanks in advance.

We just flew FCO-FRA-MSY with Lufthansa on the FCO-FRA leg and Condor on the FRA-MSY leg. Your bags will be checked all the way through to MSY per the interline agreement between Lufthansa and Condor, so no worries about that.

Connecting was fairly painless going to Concourse C where our flight was departing. We landed at one of the bus gates, and took that to terminal 1. I believe that if you are already in A, B, or C you can easily use a transfer walkway or tunnel to avoid passport control. However, if you are like us and get routed into the landside area, you will have to go through a passport check which took us all of two minutes to clear. After that, there will be a check of the boarding pass at the gate, and then you will have to go through U.S. style security with the X-ray scanner, no liquid rules, etc at the gate. Only difference was we could keep our shoes on.

Hope that helps.

1. You should be able to have your bags checked through since Condor and LH have an interline agreement.

2. When flying VIA-FRA-MSY, you'll need to go through passport control at FRA since you'll be leaving the Schengen area.

Thanks for the replies. I'm at the tail end of a 3 week, 1st time journey across Europe, and hoping/trying to minimize the potential delays.

Flying from Vienna to Frankfurt is like flying from MSY to JFK.

I'm secretly cringing at what potential fresh hell awaits us upon our return at MSY. ;)

International flights on BA and Condor just started a few weeks ago, the first non-Central/South American flights there in many years. I love my town, but I have no illusions about the way we treat air travelers, despite our heavily tourist-dependent economy. I'm sure they'll be working bugs out for several more months at home, or until the new terminal opens, which will be a whole new set of problems.

Customs was a breeze for us at MSY. They had two stations for US citizens and two for non-citizens open for the Condor flight. We were through customs in a little under 15 minutes on a very full flight.

Excellent. Thanks for the info