SFOtoTYO

Mods feel free to move if this isn’t in the right place.

I’m coming back BRU to SFO in November and currently booked through IAD in J on 773s for both segments. I have the option to switch to a shorter journey overall by taking LH to FRA then switching to UA metal directly home. The FRA layover is just under 3 hours, but I plan to check a bag on this flight and want to make sure they will forward it to SFO. This is all one itinerary but I haven’t connected with a checked bag in Europe before. This shaves 2 hours off my journey unless there’s some compelling reason to go through IAD that I’m not thinking of.

hirohito888

Under 3h is more than enough time for you and your bag to transit at FRA.

laughinlab2001

100%, you will have more than enough time. I personally prefer the FRA-SFO flight on UA to maximize time in the air (and sleep) on return to the west coast from Europe, I’ve done this many times with far less connection time than 3 hours.

jsloan

I agree with the other posters, but your question wasn't addressed directly. Yes, your bag will be forwarded by LH automatically. There's no need to pick it up, recheck, or even see it in FRA.

SFOtoTYO

Thanks and yes, that was the heart of my question.

ezefllying

I'm connecting through Frankfurt back to the U.S., and I've drawn the bus end of the stick. My inbound on Lufthansa went to a hardstand, and my United departure is from a hardstand at the opposite side of the airport. Which, given a tight connection and a lot of standing in stairwells, has made for a very sweaty me.

Is there any consistency regarding which UA flights get bona fide gates? Does United prioritize flights to certain hubs over others? Or is it a pure crapshoot?

supine

There are just not enough Z gates so any UA tail that is on the ground in the early morning is at risk of parking at an apron position, particularly between 8:00-11:00 when LH has had an arrival wave but the departure wave is only just getting started.

avi8tir

I had 2 long haul arrivals into FRA last week. Both went to a hardstand. UA46 from IAH at the start of my trip and LH561 from LAD on the way back to Houston. Interesting though is that the LH early morning arrival (0530) was parked all the way down in the cargo area.

Both of my departures (LH560 and UA47) won the gate lottery and I actually boarded from the terminal.

This I'd say I've been about 50/50 on arrivals and departures for hard stands. Historically I was pretty much safe on long hauls but those are impacted as well these days.

sfo3388

Travel date: One Saturday in November. (Would be less crowded?)
Business class.

DUB-FRA on LH: arrival 11:40am (B non-Schengen gate?)
FRA-ORD on UA departure 12:50pm (Z gate?)

70 minutes OK from B to Z? I can walk fast as long as I know how to navigate.

If too risky, I could take an earlier LH flight with 5:15am DUB departure and 8:20am FRA arrival, although arriving airport at 3:30am is not fun though.

supine

If you arrive clean you can try the bus that will get you to Z staying clean. It leaves from one of the bus gates at the root of B arms. If it's running it should be well signposted.

Otherwise you can go up one level, exit the secure area, follow the signs to Z, take the SkyTrain, go through transit security and you'll be in Z.

tods27

In typical FRA fashion, the DUB flights seem to come into different areas on different days. Tomorrow's LH977 flight shows an AEUW arrival, which is clean A gate arrival. From there, it's just a matter of going upstairs to the Z gates. Based on this post , it looks like at least some DUB flights end up in B (that post suggests the user use the clean bus, but there are other reports of really long lines for that in the AM). Even better, some of the DUB flights arrive in Z (looking at LH.com flight status, but those seem to be the later flights in the day). There is also the LH forum FRA connection thread for more information. You do have the late LH flight FRA-ORD as a potential backup if you miss the UA flight, if that factors into your risk tolerance.

malgudi

I have two hours between arriving from SFO on UA and departing for LHR on Lufthansa (actual time in the airport will be a tad less)

Will this be sufficient? I'm assuming passport control will be in LHR?

fwiw, I will be in Business class throughout.

fumje

Connection will be fine. You'll arrive Z gates, and you'll quite probably need to go to B gates. You won't need to do passport control at FRA, but you can. You will need to do it at LHR.

Most expeditious routes for the transfer: you can use an airside bus A to B; or you can enter Schengen, walk A to B, and exit Schengen again. The bus stops running approximately 1300 (don't recall exact time).

bmwe92fan

No passport control -- possibly / likely security though. The UK is not in the EU any more so no passport needed until LHR... That is plenty of time to transit -- just trust me -- follow the signage no matter how maddening it may seem to be -- FRA is one of the most convoluted airports in the world -- but the signs are accurate... Unfortunately I still think many of the LH lounges are closed for renovation... It's been a while -- but IIRC many of the LHR flights leave from the B terminal -- and you will likely arrive at Z (which is above A). You will likely have to take the train to get to B and clear security -- don't worry it's quick... Sometimes the underground pathway from Z to B is open -- if so you might be able to skip the security check...

BelmontRef

The EU has nothing to do with passport control. It's the Schengen area that is one area for immigration (passport control). OTOH, the EU is one area for Customs (inspection of goods). The UK was never in the Schengen area even when it was in the EU. At that time, it meant going from a Schengen and EU country to the UK involved immigration but there was no Customs inspection. To further confuse things, not all Schengen countries are in the EU (e.g. Norway) and not all EU countries are Schengen (e.g. Ireland).