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Connecting flight in Frankfurt from San Francisco

Posted by on

I'm starting to get concerned about my layover time so I wanted to throw this out there to see if anyone has experienced this and if you have any suggestions. I am flying to Rome the end of August from San Francisco changing planes in Frankfurt. Our layover is 1.5 hours. I had originally thought that 1.5 hours would be plenty of time since we don't change airlines just planes. I have flown into Europe many times in the years past but now I hear they have a new system. We are flying on Condor and booked our flights months ago. At the time this was the longest layover we could get on this airline. Has anyone flown through Frankfurt recently? I'm reading horror stories about the amount of time and people missing flights. Can anyone give me their experience? I'm not sure we can even change our flights and Even if we do their other flight has the same layover.

I appreciate any feed back you can give on your experience and/or advice.

Thank you

Posted by
8260 posts

Just to be clear, you will be flying on CONDOR, correct?

Can't help with the connection. Frankfurt is typically my final destination. But I would advise bringing whatever pocket snacks make you happy. I just completed an SFO - FRA round trip with Condor; I've never had such bad food on any airline before or anywhere else, for that matter. Otherwise, everything was great.

Posted by
346 posts

My daughter just transited FRA on her way to Venice. Her exact report from yesterday:
"No problem at all in Frankfurt. A million kiosks to pre-scan yourself for the biometrics before passport control. Took two minutes. Had an hour an (sic) a half between landing and connecting flight departure and cleared biometrics, passport control, customs, and security with time to spare before boarding started. Plane land to gate in 45 minutes total."

Posted by
19697 posts

The problem with short connections at any European airports after a long trans-Atlantic flight is that you never know when the flight will arrive. In 11 flights to Europe in the last 25 years, I've been an hour late arriving 3 times.

At this early date, I can only see 11:40 to 14:00 connections at FRA from San Francisco to Rome. That's almost 2½ hours, if your arrival is on time. That should be enough time, but ... .

If looks like Condor, for trans-Atlantic flights, uses Concourse C. Concourse C has only non-Schengen (air-side) gates, like for arrivals from the US. The SkyLine shuttle that goes between Concourses, only opens the doors to the airside cars at Concourse C.

Condor's flights to Rome, it appears, leave from Concourse B. Concourse B has both Schengen and non-Schengen gates, with passport checks (immigration and emigration) between them. Your best bet is probably to take the SkyLine to Concourse B, airside area and go through immigration there to get to your landside Concourse B gate. That process should not take an hour and a half.

Posted by
925 posts

We’ve twice flown Condor from SEA through FRA to other destinations. Both times comparable connections as yours and we made it.

BUT - at least before Terminal 3 opened (which could make a difference) - both of our Condor planes from the US parked far from the Terminal. So, we had to await a bus from plane to terminal, then up to 45 minutes or more at passport control (before EES), then to the gate for another bus ride to the next plane.

The last time (2024), we ran through the terminal to get to passport control and we ran to the gate. We made it, but the gate attendant snidely asked us if we had stopped for a cup of coffee on the way.

LATE NOTE. Bottom line. Be prepared to run and not walk. We’ve had to do so at LHR and CDG as well, on other trips. (At CDG the Air France gate attendant was very kind, told us to take a breath and relax, and allowed us to board even though the jetway had closed 3 minutes earlier. Our seat mate, an AF pilot on his way home to Cap Ferrat was also an absolute gentleman who gave us useful info and shared quite a bit about himself. Vive la difference!)

Posted by
6505 posts

According to the immigration official I spoke to when I went through Frankfurt in April in the mid-afternoon, it depends on what time of day you arrive and how many other connecting passengers there are.

I arrived mid-afternoon from Valencia (Schengen) to Frankfurt for my flight to the US. It took me 30 minutes (at a very fast pace) from the apron (non-gate) landing to my new gate. I stepped right up to an immigration agent, with no line.

I commented on my surprise at there being no lines and he said "you should have seen it this morning" shaking his head. He further commented that it was due to all the passengers with connections arriving at a similar time in the morning.

You can read my more detailed comments:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/transportation/layover-time-through-frankfurt

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