montone59

I am flying LH coach from FCO to FRA and have to connect in about 1hr 50minutes (recently shortened from the booked time of 2hrs) to another LH flight to Chicago, also in coach. I know it's supposed to be enough time, but I worry about missing connecting flights in airports that are new to me. Does the LH Guide Sevice just escort you to your next line (passport or security) or do they actually speed things up for you? Is it worth the significant price? Many thanks for any first hand experience.

UAPremExecflyer

Welcome to FT!
Suggest you read the Wiki in this comprehensive thread about connecting at FRA http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/lufth...on-thread.html
1h50 should be plenty of time for you. Don't see a need for you to pay for a guide service.

montone59

Would still like to know if the hired LH Guide gets you through the lines faster or not. Noone seems to know!

NewbieRunner

Welcome to FT, montone59!

No, the Guide Service doesn't get you through passport control any faster. It would be an expensive service for what should be a straightforward connection. Just follow the signs for your departure gate.

Jasper2009

+1

FCO-FRA-EWR should be very straight-forward, probably among the easiest connections possible at FRA.

montone59

Thank you to NewbieRunner for the very useful information and to all of you for the kind reassurances.

oliver2002

I booked the LGS for my in laws who only speak Swedish and Finnish to navigate FRA back in 2007, 08 and 09. The LGS helped them make a 25 connection to DTW because the ARN arrival was an hour late. The staff of the LGS is real LH (not service staff for WCHR) with knowledge on how to call the gate etc.

So yes, there is an insurance component to the guide service. @:-)

That said you will be fine with a 110 min connection. I wouldn't recommend you to get a guide.

N1003U

+1 or recommendation against LGS in this case.

However:
I just used LGS a couple of times recently for guests who were not familiar with FRA. The service will meet you at your gate and escort you to nearly any point within the Airport complex, including the boarding gate of your connection (even the train station). It is ideal for elderly or foreigners who can't read German or English. I used it once to make absolutely sure an important guest would be able to get through transfer security (if necessary) to get to an FCL upon arrival to freshen up. The other time I used it to make sure my mother found her way the the flight to VIE form ORD (why I didn't put her on the nonstop on OS is a separate discussion ). She speaks English, but feels better being escorted. The risk of hearing about it for weeks from your 84-year-old mother if something goes wrong during the transfer is to me worth way more than 75€. @:-)

However, they will not be able to expedite your transfer (i.e., they can't get you through lines faster (except maybe if you get a really good guide, he/she will know (or know where to ask) where the fastest lines are).

If you can follow signs in German or English, the service will be a waste of money.

If you think you want to do the Guide Service anyway, I'll state it this way: If you are the type of person that takes full coverage from the rental company when you rent a car, and it makes you feel less stressed to be escorted, it can be worth it, but on objective criteria it is a waste of money. Piece of mind is a very personal thing.

Forrest Bump

You are likely to arrive either at a bridge gate (A gates) or apron position, and bussed to A (though sometimes for an unknown mysterious reason they bus Schengen passengers to the Schengen portion of the B gates).

A to Z (where US flights depart) can be everything from 1 min. to 20 min. walk.
Nothing to worry about. Passport check IME never takes more than few additional min.
Keep handy your ESTA copy (if not US citizen) as randomly requested.

This map may help for some homework.

YuropFlyer

Imho, that's usually only happens for flights from Schengen countries which are not part of the EU, ie Island, Norway, Switzerland - as Arrivals B has the facilities to declare goods, while A doesn't.

Forrest Bump

May be a valid explanation, though I'm quite sure happened a handful of times even for EU inbound flight.

NickyEWR

NewbieRunner

There have been some discussion/questions about the service in this forum but as far as I know no one has actually posted about their experience of using the service. By the way the service is not run by LH but by Frankfurt Airport.

https://www.frankfurt-airport.com/en...e-service.html

chris63

oliver2002

The LH guide service is really good and worth the money if you have passengers who don't feel confident. The Fraport service is even better but pretty pricey.