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Flight Change--Is This Doable?

I just learned our flight from Frankfurt to Budapest has been changed, so that it now leaves four hours earlier. (We are travelling from Calgary to Budapest via Frankfurt.) Initially, there were five hours between flights. Now there is 1 hour and 5 minutes, assuming our flight to Frankfurt is on time. Travelocity tells me this is considered to be a "valid" flight connection (i.e. there is enough time), but I have my doubts. Wouldn't we have to go through EU customs in Frankfurt? And there's no cushion at all if our first flight is late.

I am concerned, because we are renting an apartment in Budapest, so it's not like a hotel, where we can arrive in the middle of the night, if we miss our connection and can't get to Budapest until some odd time.

I've never been to the airport in Frankfurt and have no sense of how realistic a connection this would be. I tried to leave Calgary a day or two earlier, but there are no reasonably-priced options with the same airline. In order to change our itinerary, we have to either book an alternate flight with the same airline, or we have to cancel our entire itinerary and rebook (currently, at a higher cost).

:(

Posted by
4637 posts

It is doable but you will have very little time to spare. In Frankfurt you go only through immigration and it's much faster than in US. Customs in Budapest: simply go through the gate with a green light and sign nothing to declare. So if your plane is not delayed you should be able to catch your connection.

Posted by
2030 posts

Last year I flew into Frankfurt airport for a connection to Florence. Frankfurt is a huge airport. Our plane landed on the tarmac and we were bused to the terminal. I had to go through immigration, where they checked my passport, there was quite a line and it probably took about 20 minutes. I had to walk a long way to get to my connecting flight. I think I had about 2 hours to do this, but I had to hustle. You may be able to do it in one hour, if everything goes well. I suggest you check your bags, or not have a lot of heavy carry-on items to drag around with you.
Why don't you contact the apartment owners and tell them you may be delayed and come up with an alternate plan?