No, it wasn't a mistake. UA and CO now have arrangements with LH (i.e. they pay!) for their premium class pax to use the Welcome Lounge.

http://www.lufthansa.com/de/en/Loung...%20information

Is the Welcome Lounge located outside the B baggage pickup area (after you walk out past the red / green customs exit and enter the public meeting area)?

I will be arriving on LH491 in F from SEA and meeting my wife who will already have been in Frankfurt for several days. We are picking up a rental car at the airport and leaving on vacation. If I want to have a shower at the Welcome Lounge before we go, will I have to re-enter the baggage area to enter the lounge? Would my wife be allowed to wait in the lounge while I have my shower? (She obviously would not have a ticket for travel that day)

The Welcome Lounge is after customs in the public area as you see on this map.

Your guest must have a valid, same-day boarding pass, so unfortunately your wife will not be eligible.

[QUOTE=NewbieRunner;14619833]The Welcome Lounge is after customs in the public area as you see on this map.

--> actually I don´t see this from the map. You need to have a very good working knowledge of FRA to work out where the lounge really is from this.

Does anyone know of a map which shows the locations of lounges and their relation to security and passport controls (i.e. are the lounges in Schengen
or non-Schengen?)

Specifically I´d like to know which lounge to use when arriving in C from Asia and connecting in B to a Schengen destination. AFAIK the only options are going into non-Schengen B (via Passport control, returning via Passport control + additional security check) or walking about 2 miles to A and back. The welcome lounge doesn´t help because it´s only open in the morning.

Any suggestions?

Try this one instead.
http://www.lufthansa.com/mediapool/p...ap%20of%20term

There just isn't a very good map of FRA unfortunately... :(

The one above is the best I can find. All the A lounges (FCL, SEN & BIZ) are in Schengen, and B and C lounges are non-Schengen.

If arriving in C and going to a B non-Schengen lounge you only need to go through security and not passport control. After leaving the lounge you'll have to go through passport control.

thanks for this, now I finally understand (after more than 100 times in FRA)

please tell me how? My experience of arriving in C (and just following the signs) is that there is a passport control on leaving C (into the public area - where the welcome lounge is located, if only it were open). Then to enter B there is a security control to pass before the Schengen gates (B1-19). Now I can go to the A lounges (no security or passports but long walk 2x through that tunnel ) or through passports to the non-Schengen lounge; in that case, way back to the gate is through Passports, customs and security.

Or have I missed a short-cut from C-Arrivals to B-non-Schengen?

Does anyone know if the same UA access holds true for the SWISS Arrivals lounge in Zurich?

Not according to this page.

http://www.swiss.com/web/EN/services...zurich_lounges

It looks like you have to arrive on LX/LH F or C, or hold status with M&M to access the SWISS Arrivals Lounge.

It's hardly a shortcut but at the end of the moving walkways go down the escalator and don't go through passport control on your right.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2446/...240dbc2aac.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3604/...aaa55699e1.jpg
This is looking back towards the C gates from the passage linking C and B. You can just about see where passport control is (not visible but to the far left of the photo) by the German eagle crest.

Follow the signs for B20-62 which should take you through security check, passed escalators to the SkyLine train platform and eventually to the central area of Concourse B. Don't follow the signs for A1-42, B1-19, C1 if you want to go to the B lounges as they are all Schengen gates. It is some time since I followed this route last but it must be still possible to go from C gates to non-Schengen B gates (and B lounges) as there are pax without Schengen visas who need to connect between C and non-Schengen B gates without going through passport control.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2628/...251eabb5ef.jpg

Signs for A1-42, B1-19, C1 and D21-44, E21-26 point to the SkyLine train platform. There is a separate escalator for A51-65 Schengen gates via the SkyLine train.

Thanks, that's helpful, although the idea of her waiting outside while I shower is a bit disconcerting, but them's the rules, I guess.

We need to go from there to Terminal 2 car rental area. From the map it looks like the quickest way would be to pick up the shuttle bus, which appears to stop close to the Welcome Lounge?

re
 

At least there are places where your wife can sit and have coffee while she waits.

http://www.frankfurt-airport.com/con...segafredo.html

I thought it was possible to use the SkyLine train between B/C and D/E landside but the shuttle bus may indeed be the more convenient option.

http://www.frankfurt-airport.com/con..._services.html

thanks NewbieRunner! Next time I´ll try this.

btw. Miles & more [so-called] service couldn´t/wouldn´t answer this question and told me I should call Frankfurt airport....not my idea of service

M&M service team obviously doesn't share my obsession about FRA. :o;)

Is FRA the most confusing airport or am I imagining it? I am flying UA to FRA in F class, have about 3.5 hours before connecting flight to ABV on LH in C class. Can I use the welcome lounge? If not, which lounge should I use? Can I use the first class lounges if ARRIVING in F class but departing in C class? First time going through FRA, seems quite confusing

Yes, if your UA flight arrives in the morning you have access to the Welcome Lounge. You can also use one of the Business Lounges but the Welcome Lounge is much nicer. You will have to go through immigration and customs to get there.

http://www.lufthansa.com/de/en/Loung...%20information

You must arrive on LH in F to use the LH First Class Lounge.

Welcome to FT, DCAfricaFlyer !