frankfurt layover

So you would be flying SFO to FRA to BRU. Since FRA is the first Schengen country you would arrive in, you would have to go through immigration (Passport control) in Frankfurt. That, combined with the uncertainty of the arrival time in Frankfurt, after a long trans-Atlantic flight, would make me very concerned about your making the connection, even if your connection stayed within Concourse A/Z. You'd better count on not making the connection.

If your entire ticket is booked with United, they would have to put you on a later flight to Brussels if you didn't have time to connect in Frankfurt. Would that be so terrible?

Same thought: looks unlikely to be successful.
By the way, have you looked into the train from Frankfurt airport to Brussels? There are direct trains taking 2.53 hours every 2 hours or so. Could be cheaper, too.

Not nearly enough time. Frankfurt is a HUGE, crowded, confusing airport. It’s no fun to start your trip sleep-deprived and stressed.

Can you take your preferred SFO-Frankfurt flight, and then a later flight onward to Brussels?

It’s true you could take the train. But even then, you’ll need lots of time to get from the plane to the train. It’s a long walk to the train station, you’ll have to buy a ticket, go thru immigration, etc. The earliest you could get on a train is probably 1+ hours after arrival. So compare schedules, fares, etc.

Def not enough time, you need to give yourself 3 hours to not be sweating it. Frankfurt is atrocious layout-wise. I had a 1:30 min layover for a train.. didn't work. The plane from our home country took off late by 30 minutes, leaving us a short window to go through immigration, find where the heck our luggage had gone, then find the platform, we missed the train then had to wait another 2 hours. No fun!

I'll put it this way - immigration took 35+ minutes and that was during "covid times" when the line was considered really short (like maybe 30 people). So I cannot imagine during normal season.

Ugh that's what I thought.... the other option is 1:50 in Munich which doesn't seem great either.

Let me keep looking, thanks!

1:50 in Munich is a LOT better. Munich is much easier to handle than Frankfurt, smaller airport, more efficient.

The trouble with taking the train, Balso, is that full fare (open) tickets are expensive and less expensive, advance purchase ticket require use of a specific train, so unless you plan a big time buffer, you stand the chance of losing you ticket if you trans-Atlantic flight is late (I think I have had my flight from the US to Germany delayed by an hour three times).

If you were going to end up in Germany, I would suggest you look into Rail&Fly, which I think is offered by United (it is by United's partner, Lufthansa). Rail&Fly allows you to purchase a full fare (open) ticket that allows you to go from any airport in Germany to any rail station in Germany, by any train (including ICEs) for about 33€. But I don't think Brussels is included in that offer (you could get to Köln on Rail&Fly and then purchase a full fare ticket to Brussels, but I'm not sure how much you would save that way).

Kim, have you tried ticketing this connection with a later flight to Brussels (there are probably many during the day). If there is another flight two hours later, that would give you over 3 hours to make the connection.

Why can't you book a flight directly to Brussels, without the Frankfurt connection?

Lee, you are right. A fully-flexible fare from Frankfurt airport to Brussels with seat reservation is close to 160€, which is staggeringly high...

Just saying that I had a similar situation in FRA in December. AND our flight arrived a little late. It is far from optimal and I am sure I ran off the chocolate calories from the plane, but made it for my connection on to Paris. It would not be my choice to try again; but that being said, there was time for Lufthansa to put me on a later flight if I hadn’t made it. I also had a similar short connection in Munich leaving the EU (connection from Prague) headed back home. It wasn’t much better although there really was time. In both cases, processes (entry and exit) were efficient. I didn’t have a real choice (for unrelated reasons) and wouldn’t choose such a short time, if you have an alternative. But in my case, it worked.

yes... there is another one with a 3 hour layover or so but it's $1900 vs. $1600 (which is still stupid expensive IMO) and then x4 for the family... There is a $1600 with a 6 hour layover but ugh, that is long. And that one leaves earlier... We want to fly United since we have status and can get economy plus.

The one with the 1 hour layover leaves at 7:25pm which is better because 1. better chance of sleeping and 2. I have to teach a summer camp that day and if I leave at night I don't have to try and find coverage for me to leave in the afternoon....

SIGH. I mean we could risk it and then they would have to just move us to another flight and I guess that would be ok... but you are right, starting off the trip with sort of a hassle that I feel is almost guaranteed....

Also a 2 hour layover in Munich but leaves early afternoon which I hate, and not even sure the extra 40 minutes will make that much difference... plus Frankfurt is closer if we end up needing to take the train or whatever...

Flew PHL FRA in December. Flight was on time. Our next gate was 100 meters away. It was great. Flying back, there was a terminal change. Train, security checks, COVID check. Lots of walking and time. Breakfast calories got consumed.

Frankfurt airport is huge and complicated (the way it’s run). Munich is much smaller. So if u do go with Frankfurt be prepared with contingency plans, esp if you will have to do immigration (guaranteed time sink). Note that the United service desk is in the middle of terminals and Lufthansa desks so not help. Check if gates are in same terminal (flight aware or google historical data) Also pray that your SFO FRA flight is on time :)

OK so I think I may have finally found a new plan! We can fly direct to Amsterdam then take the train to Brussels - I will go ahead and risk buying the train tickets... maybe book for 3 hours after landing? More? Because it's only About $120 for the 4 of us total... if we miss and have to buy new tickets then we will be out about $300 - though when we were delayed in London a few years ago and had to spend the night, travel insurance covered a ton of the costs so that may be an option as well. I guess I'll ask on the Netherlands board, but seems train station is right at airport, if we have extra time we can just eat, and it's about the same time anyway as a layover. I hate layovers. I hope I can convince my husband to book this! :)

thanks everyone for your help!

Short layover is ok, if you are on 1 ticket.

If you make it, you make it. If not, airlines have to take care of you.

That Amsterdam alternative looks a lot better. There's a train station right at AMS (as also at FRA), then a short ride to Brussels. I think three hours is a reasonable time cushion, longer than any I can remember over several successful routings. But another hour or so might be worth it for the peace of mind.

3 hours sounds like an appropriate time buffer for the Thalys high-speed train to Brussels.
If things go really wrong and you miss your booked train, you can take the Intercity train to Brussels without prior booking at a reasonable price (€50 or so). It leaves every 1-2 hours and takes 2.5 hours instead of 1.5 by Thalys.

aaah good to know! thanks everyone! hoping to book this soon... the tickets dropped $200 each today so I want to jump on it! It's still like double what we have paid for Europe, but oh well! :)