"FRA Comfort Services" to expedite connection in Frankfurt?

Old Aug 5, 2017, 1:44 pm
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"FRA Comfort Services" to expedite connection in Frankfurt?

I have a tight connection in Frankfurt of 80 minutes traveling from Geneva to Johannesburg. It appears that this flight from Geneva is routinely 20ish minutes late, so it's probably really more like 60 minutes.There isn't another flight to Johannesburg until nearly 24 hours later, so I really need to make this connection.

I will have my elderly parents in tow, so I can't bolt through the airport. I'm debating either requesting assistance from the airline (mobility assistance given my parents' advance age of 82) or booking a service I just found in the Frankfurt airport called FRA Comfort Services which will meet you at your gate and taxi you to your next connection. Not sure if they get a separate/expedited lane for immigration or not. Has anyone used this service and can speak to its effectiveness? Would I be better off booking this or requesting assistance from Lufthansa? There is a fee for this service, but it's minimal in comparison to what it would cost us if we missed our next connections in Johannesburg.
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Old Aug 5, 2017, 2:19 pm
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Originally Posted by floraan
I have a tight connection in Frankfurt of 80 minutes traveling from Geneva to Johannesburg. It appears that this flight from Geneva is routinely 20ish minutes late, so it's probably really more like 60 minutes.There isn't another flight to Johannesburg until nearly 24 hours later, so I really need to make this connection.

I will have my elderly parents in tow, so I can't bolt through the airport. I'm debating either requesting assistance from the airline (mobility assistance given my parents' advance age of 82) or booking a service I just found in the Frankfurt airport called FRA Comfort Services which will meet you at your gate and taxi you to your next connection. Not sure if they get a separate/expedited lane for immigration or not. Has anyone used this service and can speak to its effectiveness? Would I be better off booking this or requesting assistance from Lufthansa? There is a fee for this service, but it's minimal in comparison to what it would cost us if we missed our next connections in Johannesburg.
Welcome to FlyerTalk, floraan!

I have no personal experience of either service but I believe they use a separate checkpoint for passport control if you book the airport's Gate to Gate service.
https://www.frankfurt-airport.com/en...e-service.html

No security is necessary since you are connecting from Schengen.

Since flights from GVA usually arrive at a remote stand and passengers are taken to the terminal by bus, the Gate to Gate service seems ideal in your situation.

Assuming you are on one ticket the airline will pay for hotel accommodation and meals if you miss your connection but of course you will also miss one day at your destination.
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Old Aug 5, 2017, 4:02 pm
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Have you thought about changing your GVA-FRA flight to allow for more time in FRA? Plenty of direct flights on that route.
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Old Aug 5, 2017, 5:32 pm
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I called the airlines today (started with Lufthansa, whose flight these are, but had to talk to United, where I booked the ticket) to try to change to an earlier flight from Geneva to Frankfurt (there are several that day), but it would cost me $1800 in change fees and fare differences.

If we miss this connection, it gets quite difficult on the other end. The next flight to Johannesburg wouldn't be until the next day, and we'd have to try to figure out how to rebook our SAA flight from JNB to our safari destination, and we'd miss one of our only 5 days on safari. Each day is quite costly, so it would be a total bummer to miss one of those.

I'm taking my elderly parents on their "bucket list" trip while they are still healthy enough to travel, so I really want to try to make this go smoothly. Kicking myself for not booking an earlier flight from Geneva to Frankfurt, but hindsight is 20/20.
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Old Aug 5, 2017, 6:54 pm
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In that case I'd consider the Gate to Gate Service a very good value costing a fraction of the change fee.
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Old Aug 6, 2017, 1:34 am
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I would recommend the LH Guide service: https://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/lh/us/infoservice?nodeid=1735816395&l=en

Their advantage is they can call their colleague at the gate to hold the flight
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Old Aug 6, 2017, 8:48 am
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Thank you! I didn't know the airline offered such a guide service. I will look into it. It does seem like that might be better as someone within the airline knows we are on our way.
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Old Aug 6, 2017, 9:36 am
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Originally Posted by floraan
Thank you! I didn't know the airline offered such a guide service. I will look into it. It does seem like that might be better as someone within the airline knows we are on our way.
They should know regardless. But having someone remind them about that sure may come in handy as well.
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Old Aug 21, 2017, 9:29 am
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Originally Posted by floraan
Thank you! I didn't know the airline offered such a guide service. I will look into it. It does seem like that might be better as someone within the airline knows we are on our way.
It is really good that they provide this service. Do you think a charge 75 ok?
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