Layover in Frankfurt

As Frankfurt will be your entry to the Schengen area you will go through border security/immigration in Germany then the flight to Venice is similar to a domestic flight here in the U.S. I typically give myself no less than two hours to transit as you don't know how long it will take you to get through border security and depending on if you arrive on time or behind.

Welcome to the TF. Theoretically, per the airline's offering of this specific itinerary, it is possible. My preference for an international layover is minimum 2 to 2.5 hours. Less stress, more buffer time for that which can go wrong. Which in the world of travel, is plenty and legendary. Your choosing an international flight for first leg of your journey is also my preference. I like heading over on my first flight to the other continent, rather than just traversing my own. Weather in December at your home airport, layover airport and final destination airport will be a factor to consider. You go through passport control in Frankfurt, your first point of entry to the Schengen Area. Checked luggage on a single ticket will (hopefully, airlines do lose luggage) automatically transfer.

If it was another airport, maybe. But FRA is huge & arriving from the US you could well have a remote gate, immigration plus long walk time, I would try to have at least 2 hours. Good luck!

That’s cutting it really close in these times. Yes, you will need to go thru EES passport control before going to your connecting flight gate. The last couple of times that we have flown into Frankfurt from SFO on United, we unloaded on the tarmac and were bussed to a gate. There were agents directing us where to go but as someone else mentioned Frankfurt is huge and it takes a bit of walking time.

My husband and I came back from Europe on June 27. We flew from Malta to Frankfurt. As mentioned by Margie from Bend, we disembarket the plane outside the Frankfurt terminal via stairs and were bussed to the airport for the immigration process. It took us more than 45 minutes in line for immigration and security. Then we waited about 15 minutes to pick up luggage. We overnighted in Frankfurt at an airport hotel before taking a flight the next day home to San Francisco. (At the beginning of the trip we entered the EU through Amsterdam. There it took 1 1/2 hours to get through immigration and security.) I'm hopeful that after the Shengen area has our photos and fingerprints, facial recognition will make the process much more quick in the future.

My advice is the same as those who have previously posted. Allow a lot of time!!! I would suggest 3 hours. 1 1/2 hours connection time is not enough in my opinion. Breaking up our trip by spending the night in Frankfurt allowed us to be more relaxed with the lengthy entry process, because we didn't have a plane to catch until the next day.

Regarding the weather, it was super hot in Frankfurt on 6/27. The airport, while air conditioned, could not keep up with the heat. I think it must have been about 80 degrees F in some parts of the Frankfurt airport. Be sure to have a bottle of water with you in case you have a similar situation. The hotel at the airport was reached through an elevated skyway of glass. It was about 100 degrees in the skyway. As luck would have it, while the hotel's lobby was pleasantly cool, the hotel room's A/C was not working. The refrigerator didn't work either.

As they say, expect the unexpected and keep on traveling!

Check when the next flight to Venice is after the one you would book with the tight connection.
If it is not too much later, you might want to see what the price is to book the later connection.

If it's a few hours later, then that is your backup option; as long as both flights are on the same
ticket, LH will put you on the later flight if you miss the earlier one.

Frankfurt is, as noted, a large airport, and the possibility of a remote gate, even for a transatlantic
flight, is non-trivial. I've made connections less than 1:15, but there are a lot of unknowns.

It took us more than 45 minutes in line for immigration and security.

Coming from Malta you should not have to go through security and immigration when arriving. You just walk to luggage pick up and wait for your luggage.

To the OP: The airline must get you to your destination. They will try hard to make sure you don’t miss your connection. Just don’t have anything you can’t afford to miss on your arrival date.