Short Connection Time in Frankfurt—Lessons Learned

FRA is a difficult airport for transfers. You are lucky you made it. I would end or originate there, but avoid changes based on some less-than-stellar experiences.

LHR can also be a trial for a transfer. We had one hour from the time our BA flight from SFO was to arrive and our connection to Milan was to depart. Our SFO flight was 15 minutes early and were in Business Class or we would not have made it.

I have done that run; and it is not fun, especially for two elderly folks like my husband and me. (We were in our late 70’s at the time.). The good news is that if you are on one ticket, the airline must, by law, get you on the next available flight to your destination. Much better, however, is allowing yourself enough connecting time and not having to deal with reticketing.
I would add, as a further lesson, that this situation is another reason to avoid third party sellers and purchase directly from the airline.

My technique is to opt for a connection time that's about an hour longer than the minimum at that particular airport. I could still have a problem, but that provides a decent buffer. I haven't transferred in Frankfurt recently. Amsterdam and Munich have worked well for me. Due to comments on this forum, I am trying to avoid changing planes at Heathrow or Charles de Gaulle.

Thank you all for your feedback and suggestions.

I travel through Frankfurt usually once a year and find 2 hours minimum is my best bet; I like their food options and the Pocket Book shop if I have time to spare.

What I find interesting is that in the "olden days" (admittedly no technology and slower planes!) only 2 hours connection time was considered legal. In Amsterdam in 2007 three of us girls made a 1-hour connection but we ran and were breathless as we just barely made the flight. There are several airports that I'll only purchase flights with a 3-4 hour transit time such as CDG.

Amsterdam and Munich have worked well for me. Due to comments on this forum, I am trying to avoid changing planes at Heathrow or Charles de Gaulle.

Amsterdam and Munich have also worked well for me in the last several years. Heathrow and CDG, not so good. In fact, right now I'm looking into booking flights for next spring, and the various connection options are those 4 airports, plus Frankfurt. I'm planning to avoid CDG and LHR, and now after reading this post, I'll probably add Frankfurt to that list.

I am going through Munich this morning, flying from Krakow to Berlin. I have a 45 minute layover, but since it is not back to the states, i should have time.

Sandy

Just a report on the Munich airport connect this morning from Krakow to Berlin via Munich. My 45 minute connection time was more than adequate for my connection.

My colleague who was on the same flight had a connection to Chicago. We were still on our plane when boarding of his Chicago flight started, then we had to take the bus from the tarmac to the terminal. This meant that the entire plane had to disembark. Needless to say, he did not make his connection and was rebooked to a later flight.

My next leg of the trip is Tuesday from Berlin to Cork with Air France through CDG airport. At least I have an 1 hour and 30 minute lay over in CDG.

Sandy