I just booked a flight for me and my family from US to Frankfort, Germany. I plan to book a second flight from Frankfort to Warsaw but I do not know how much time to leave in between flights. The seond flight has to be with a different airline. Do we then have to go through customs, pick up our baggage and check in at the other airline? I haven't traveled abroad too much so this is all new to me.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23297 posts
Is the flight to Warsaw on the same ticket or booking? If so, then everything would be checked through to Warsaw and you could schedule a shorter time. However, if you are talking about a completely different airline and booking, I would allow five hours since the penalty for missing the second flight is substantial.
Posted by
OP
Macomb, MI, USA
3 posts
The flight to Warsaw will be a seperate booking. Does anyone now how busy the Frankfurt airport is? I have an eye on flights to Warsaw but would only make it a three hour layover.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19099 posts
That's Frankfurt. You might find it easier to look up information if you spell it correctly.
The problem with making a connection in Europe is that trans-Atlantic flights can be significantly delayed. I know I have arrived over an hour late on at least two of seven flights in the last decade, and I think there was a third one. A couple of years ago I booked USAir to Munich, then started tracking the flight arrival times into Munich. In the first couple of weeks they were 8 and 10 hours late on two occasions, due to mechanical problems.
FRA (www.airportcity-frankfurt.com) has two terminals, and they are some distance apart. You can get from one to the other via a shuttle bus on the street outside the terminal or via a "people mover" that goes across the top of the buildings, but it takes time. You need to allow for that, too.
If it were I, I would schedule the second flight for the following day and plan to spend the night in the Frankfurt area and see the sights.
Posted by
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2779 posts
Christine, actually there are only two airlines connecting FRA with Warsaw: Lufthansa and LOT. To the best of my knowledge all other flights are code share flights and are actually operated by either one of those. Both airlines are members of Star Alliance and operate out of Terminal 1, concourses A and B. The minimum connecting time in this case would be 45 minutes. Depending on head or tail winds trans-Atlantic flights can get in more than an hour early or some times up to two hours late or so. There are plenty of coffee places, restaurants etc. at FRA airport so why don't you schedule a buffer of 4 hours between the flights to be on the save side?
Posted by
OP
Macomb, MI, USA
3 posts
I have my eyes on a lot flight to Warsaw with about a 4 hours in between flights. I want to make sure to leave enough time to go through customs, baggage and then check-in for the flight to Warsaw. I have been looking at the maps of the Frankfurt airport and it looks very easy to navigate. Thanks for the valuable information.