Hello,
I will be traveling to Germany in October. I will be traveling into the Frankfurt Airport. I was with someone else last year and found the airport to be a bit confusing. Since I will be alone this time I would like a step by step to get to the exit of the airport where my cousin will be picking me up. I know sounds silly but I am feeling a little anxious making it through on my own when I am not familiar with this airport...
Thank you in advance for your help
Patricia
Do you know at which terminal (1 or 2) your flight will arrive? Normally depending on airline.
I believe it will be terminal 1 is my recall from last year!
Thank you
Patricia
If you Google your flight, it will tell you the terminal.
Will your cousin be meeting you inside or picking you up with a car? If they could park and meet you inside at your arrival gate, it would be easier for you.
Terminal 1 has concourses A/Z, B and C which you can see on level 2 and 3 of FRA airport map.
In these you will be guided through immigation (passport & visa check) when not arriving from inner Schengen zone.
After this you are in a secure zone of the concourse which you have to leave: follow signs "Exit" and/or "Baggage claim" to public zone of Terminal 1. Without checked luggage your cousin could pick you up there (level 2 after leaving concourse).
With checked luggage follow signs "Baggage claim"; escalators and stairs will bring you down to level 1 (arrival level) where the luggage belts are. Signs or an electronic board will show you on which belt the baggage from your flight is provided. After collecting your luggage you will leave this zone through the customs area - choose "nothing to declare" (if so) and just walk through. You will come into the arrival area in which cousins, hosts, family and friends welcome and pick-up their arriving passengers.
If you agreed to meet your cousin at a different place go there now. Tip: in every terminal there are meeting points.
Hope this helps.
I wish it were that simple, but it isn't. You see, Frankfurt has multiple options to get from Point A to Point B, and the signs are electronic and changeable based on flow. So for example when there is a bottleneck at one set of passport controls, the signs will be changed to reroute passengers to another passport control (for example). I have flown through this airport my entire life and have absolutely ZERO sense of where anything is--unusual for me. But I have never had trouble getting where I needed to be because I simply followed the signs. I would say don't let yourself be intimidated because a) the crowd from your flight will be headed toward immigration (passport control) and then split into baggage claim / exit vs. connecting flights, and b) the signs will be giving you the fastest (if not most direct) route. Oh, and c) people in Germany may not LOOK approachable and helpful, but they actually are and speak excellent English. Don't be afraid to ask if you don't see any signs.
