Hello all!
My family is thinking about traveling to Budapest and Prague next May, and we would be flying Lufthansa for each leg of the trip.
The connection home is in Frankfurt. We can either do a 2 hour layover that flies to Newark or a 6 hour layover to JFK.
The 2 hour layover to Newark is by far preferable logistically, but I'm wondering if 2 hours is cutting it too close? What steps would we face in the Frankfurt airport?
Thank you!
Well, I am doing a 1 hour transfer in Munich this January and I am not worried (yet). 2 hours in Frankfurt seems pretty safe to me. Check and see if there are any flights, even with connections, that will get you back to Newark if a delay causes you to miss your planned flight. They can get you on that one then.
Edit - There are 2 nonstops from FRA to EWR, one operated by United and one operated by Lufthansa, both code sharing with each other. One at 11:20 am and one at 1:20 pm. I assume you are looking at the 1:20. There is also a 5:10 pm United flight with a connection at Dulles that will get you home the same day at 9 pm, so there is back up.
Lufthansa uses terminal 1, so you don't have to switch terminals or anything. Look up your flight # (use Google) to see which gate they usually arrive or depart from. This can always change, but Lufthansa is mostly in A or Z which are next to each other.
I would stick with the 2 hours and Newark. Never, ever want to use JFK.
Two hours shall be very sufficient in your case - no change of terminal expected. Also: if LH brings you too late to catch their own next flight they need to and will care.
Transfering out of Schengen: When your luggage is checked through (expected) you will need to go through a passport / ID check (more info). After that find your new gate, likely Axx or Zxx (xx = numbers), go there immediately and you shall be done. Also a lot of assisting staff around that can help / guide you.
Just as info: Frankfurt Airport has also an assist service called Gate to Gate. I guess not necesary in your case but maybe others read it and feel better to use that for their purpose.
Tip 1: On YouTube you will find some videos on arriving and transfering in Frankfurt.
Tip 2: There is a good bakery in the angle between A and Z. If you are hungry after Hungary ;-)
Tip 3: Berlin is also worth a trip and relatively close to Prague with good train and bus connections.
Hope that helps. Good luck!
I'll address the Newark or JFK part of your question.
Will you be flying one itinerary between your European departure airport and your US destination? If the answer is yes, here is the next question:
How many flights are there to your final US destination if you miss the Newark flight?
If there are several flights to your US destination if you miss your scheduled flight, then the 2 hour layover at Newark could be doable even though that 120 minutes is really too tight. You have to factor in the time it takes to exit the aircraft, walk to immigration, wait on line at immigration, perhaps wait again at the TSA lines at Newark for your domestic flight to your final destination and then walk to the gate. That US flight could also close 15 minutes before departure so you may not have 120 minutes. You should NOT check luggage in order to make that connection. You should also verify you will not need to change terminals at Newark.
If there is only 1 backup flight & you miss your flight from Newark, if there is no seat availability, you are stuck at Newark and will pay for hotel & food expenses unless the reason for missing the flight is because Lufthansa's transatlantic aircraft and/or staffing were the cause of the lateness. I would do JFK then as the risk is too high for me.
If the US destination flight is on a separate ticket and not on the same itinerary from your European departure airport, go to JFK. 6 hours will cover what is probably the need to change terminals via the Airtrain and go through security again.
Thank you everyone!
That information about backup flights is very reassuring and that the transfer in the airport sounds relatively simple.
MarkK thank you for the information about passport check as well as the tips about Frankfurt airport and the bakery! We are hoping to make to Berlin at some point as well!
Continental - Our possible itinerary is to fly from Budapest to Frankfurt, then to the NYC area which gives us the option of either JFK or Newark. Once we land in either JFK or Newark, we are done traveling.
Passed through Frankfurt in October on the return to IAD from Sicily, also on a Lufthansa flight. We only needed to pass through passport control in Frankfurt, and since our flight wasn’t full of people returning to the U.S., that took all of 3 minutes. There were very few stores and restaurants in the Z concourse we departed from (that bakery being one of the few).
