mh492

I never started a trip from FRA so far, but I assume you can do it pretty quickly even if you are running late.

In the past, I have done 30 minutes before departure arrivals in FMO, MUC and LHR lately. Flying LH and your SEN status allows you to stretch the rules a little bit. Also the fact that they automatically check you in helps a bit.

The missing piece in LHR is the priority security lane, but it seems when moving to terminal 1, then this gets implemented.

flysurfer

If I had to choose between a rather short and easy nonstop hop LON-NYC in C (or even in Premium Economy) and a LHR-FRA-ZRH-JFK ordeal in C / F, I'd always opt for the former.

littlevoices

Thanks for all the thread posts - much appreciated... And I won't be starting in LON as;
1 - Will be spending a day or two in FRA first
2 - Hate paying Gordon Brown his UK APD (Think it will be Ł160 pp by December for F) - I'd rather spend that money (plus a bit more...) in FRA
3 - For this flight I'm intending to try out some different combinations of flights that I wouldn't normally when paying (though I must admit that sadly I don't travel F when paying) - I actually quite enjoy my lounge/plane experiences for a change. (As an FYI from JFK I'll be stopping again for a day or two then carrying on to Asia before ending in Australia a few days later - lots of stops rather than direct flights)

As for the seats... haven't booked, but, checking on the M+M website this morning it appeared to have full availability for F seats on the A330 for days around my expected travel - hoping that wasn't some false hope - maybe I'll get on the telephone (to bmi) and book that tomorrow then!

All the posts have given me a fair amount to think about though - so cheers - much appreciated

NewbieRunner

I agree that APD is a pain but for the record the rate from the UK to the US in C and F will be Ł90 from Nov 2009 - Oct 2010 and Ł120 from Nov 2010 onwards.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pbr2008/pbrn20.pdf

Rambuster

By then the government that imposed this will be long gone ! I do not expect the 2010 changes ever to come into play in the current environment. This nonsense was devised at the hight of the bubble.

SleepOverGreenland

WOW, the next experience maximizer in a long row.

The FCT opens at 5:45am. Usually there are some pax, who camp in a tent in front of the FCT in order to be the first to get in early morning. Since there is a first come first serve process for the FCT I would recommend to come no later than midnight to be sure to be one of the first few hundred to get entry in the morning.

TRAVELSIG

Some people really like to do this. I was on a flight yesterday, where there was a couple who were travelling on to the same destination I was (VCE) but booked the later flight as otherwise they wouldn't have time to visit the FCL. Personally, I opted for the quickest way home as my house is better than the FCL any day However- they said they really liked the experience and always booked this way... To each his own- surely it works for LH or they wouldn't have built the new larger B lounge?

SmilingBoy

I would never book a longer connection just to sit in a lounge (why ), but having lounge access might tip the balance in favour of a longer connection time rather than risking a misconnect.

So, if I fly with SmilingGirl, on, say, HAJ-FRA-YVR-HNL (like I will do in September), there were two options. Either 1h25m in FRA or 2h45m in FRA by taking an earlier plane. The first one is ok, but not a lot of time for delays. But there is a real risk of missing the long-haul flight. Since staying 1h45m in a lounge is not so terrible, we opted for the longer connection.

rolov

I could not even camp out as all the camping spots were taken, I had to settle for the new FCL B.

SleepOverGreenland

I'm sorry to hear. Yeah, that's right, often all camping spots are taken. Hope the FCL B was at least some compensation for your missing hippie experience.

rolov

They only had space for me in the upper deck lav :

TRAVELSIG

Can you reserve a camping spot if you are a HON?

stargold

Only if you're HON+

TRAVELSIG

Ahh- what about HON LONG?

NewbieRunner

You'll need a large tent.