Connecting in Frankfurt

Your above comments concerning me. Did you buy one ticket with two legs or did you buy two separate tickets? A big difference. Is USAir telling you that you have to check in with Cityline for a boarding pass?

It is one ticket. But yes they are telling me that they cannot print a boarding pass for me for the second leg of the trip as it is with another airline. Does that seem correct? Maybe its simply the person I spoke with didn't know what she was talking about?

If your luggage is checked through, you will not see it till Florence and customs which is not more than a wave and a walk though. In Frankfurt you will go through immigrations - passport check - and local security for the next flight. The 1:40 is little tight since Frankfurt is a big sprawling airport but the signage is good so follows the signs and walk fast. It would be a good idea to select a seat as close to the exit as possible so that you can get off the plane quickly. Last winter we missed a tight connection in Amsterdam because we were buried in the back of the plane and it took over 20 mins to get off a plane that did arrive a little late. Will not make that mistake again.

Cityline is a Star Alliance airline so it should use Terminal 1. I changed planes in Terminal 1 in about an hour, and that was right after 9/11, and they made us go through security THREE times.

ok, so if USAirways can't print me a boarding pass for the other leg of the trip when I check in at Philly which they said they could not), will I have to leave the the secure area to get checked back in w/ a boarding pass during that window in Frankfurt?

Hi Wendi. we just finished a similar connection using United. When we checked in for our first flight in the US, we were given boarding passes with seat assignments for all flights including the lufthansa branded flight from Frankfurt to Florence. The connection in Frankfurt was a snap. I bet it will go fine. Enjoy your trip!

Lee makes a good point: Try and find out the gates of your incoming and outbound flights, so you know how far you'll have to go. Frankfurt is a HUGE, very crowded, very busy airport. Our 2-hour connection in June was fine, but I'm glad we had that much time. (Both our flights were with Lufthansa). You'll have to go through customs and security again. The lines can be long. Just be prepared, and don't stop to shop. :)

Well, it is possible to change the connection to munich. I would just get to my final destination a bit later. But if it will save me some grief and it would be far easier, then I would do that. Maybe munich is easier to navigate?