Lounge Access
 

Hello All!

My wife and I are planning a quick 5-6 day vacation to Scotland for our anniversary. We are going to use United miles to get over there in business class but had a quick question about lounge access. Here are my two options:

1) IAD - LHR - with this I know we would get Polaris Lounge access at IAD and arrival lounge access at LHR

2) IAD - EDI w/ layover in FRA: the IAD-FRA is on United metal. THe FRA - EDI is on Luftshana metal. I know we would still get Polaris lounge access at IAD but would we get Luftshana business class lounge access on our 2 ish hour layover at FRA?

I know its an extra 6k miles pp but we are leaning towards option 2 as it gets us to EDI right away as opposed to having to then take train from London to Edinburgh

If you are in business class from FRA to EDI then yes you get lounge access -- and if you are *A gold (regardless of class) you can get in to the Senator lounge -- not a huge difference but I do love their eggs....

I figured this was the case, just wanted to double check. Are the business class lounges good at FRA? Are there ones better or less crowded then others?

All depends where your flight departs from in FRA -- to me the lounges in A / Z are better than B -- but B isn't bad honestly -- and to EDI I'm betting that's where you will be departing from....

The flight we are looking at has roughly 3 hours between landing from IAD and takeoff to EDI... I assume itll take us 45 minutes to an hour to clear the customs area and get to gate for EDI?

The UK is not in Schengen -- you won't clear customs just security.... Expect a long walk and possibly the airport train....

Oh interesting....since we are just transiting in FRA we don't have to clear customs... thats good to know

It shouldn't take 45 minutes. You should be able to get a shower at the LH lounge (all of them) and a much better breakfast that what UA will offer you on the plane. There will be a wait for a shower in the morning, but you should have time with a 3-hour connection.

Yea I know United food has been subpar on the plane for some time now so hoping to fill up a little at Polaris lounge, sleep for most of the flight and then have a nice breakfast in FRA

One data point:

I flew EWR-FRA-EDI this summer (United and LH) and I had to clear passport control into the EU and then another check to leave Schengen as there was no way to get from where I landed with United to where my EDI flight departed without going into the EU. I did NOT have to go through security again.

If you experience the same thing, it would probably make sense to get to your gate area first, then use the closest lounge.

Added information you didn't ask for: I ended up misconnecting (we were late arriving) so I had a much longer layover in FRA than anticipated. If that happens to you as well you can use the lounge staff to finalize your rebooking and get paper boarding passes and skip the long customer service lines. I was automatically informed of my new flight on my Lufthansa app, so it might make sense to download that as well.

thanks for the info!

I would assume United always lands and parks around the same place in FRA so should I assume we would have to do the same thing? About how long did it take you to clear passport control and then the 2nd check to leave Schengen?

It wasn't too long but there were a lot of unique issues.

We left late out of EWR because Germany still had a mask mandate and some folks freaked out and had to be removed.

There was a medical emergency on the flight, so we parked at a remote stand and had to wait for the paramedics to remove the person. But there was an issue with the stairs, so we had to wait for a 'lift' to be brought over to take the person off, who ended up walking off on her own power and throwing her luggage at the paramedics. (Lots of drama).

Anyway, we got in 3 hours late. Since we were bussed in, there was no advantage to being in business class as everyone arrived at the same time. So even being in the back of the line, it was quick through passport control. Maybe 15 minutes max? Instead of fussing with united customer service, I just went to the nearest lounge and got rebooked. I then walked and followed signs (the best way to navigate FRA). I went to an elevator, went down, walked a corridor, went up, then I was in another terminal and followed the signs to the gate, which led me to a passport check which was very quick.

So, if all the other drama hadn't happened, I would say it was maybe 30-45 minutes if I didn't stop in the first lounge?

United will probably always land at that terminal, but the EDI flight might be in the same area or might be in another terminal, so you might or might not have to do all that. Either way, it was not a huge deal. Just funny to spend 30 minutes in the EU.

Jeesh that does seem like a lot of drama. I guess we will find out when we get there although having 3 hrs we should have plenty of time even if we arent drama free haha

It is never necessary to enter Schengen to make a transfer like this at FRA, although in the case of a Z-B transfer it might be more pleasant to clear immigration twice instead of transfer security. For a Z-B transfer without entering Schengen, you go to the SkyLine and take that to B, which will require transfer security, or if you're lucky take the bus.

UA will alternate between a physical Z gate and a bus gate in Z. Either way you should end up on the clean Z level.

The SkyLine is non-operational for various periods right now, in which case there is a (clean, non-Schengen) bus between Z and B.

See also https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/luft...ispreloading=1

Okay good to know good to know. At the end of the day, just follow signs and I will eventually get to where I need to get and can always ask someone.