Booking Flights

60 minutes is doable if every things works perfectly. I would try for at least 2 hours to be safe. We had the 60 minute connection last year to Venice -- our plane was 20 minutes late and we just missed our flight - and I know the short cuts. You do have to go thru immigration (passport only) and that is pot luck 1 minute to 20 minutes.. I prefer FRA over MUC but that is only an opinion. Also you might consider going thru Zurich.

We have connected through Frankfurt for two cruises. No problems with flight delays or luggage, but found it to be a massive airport with long distances between flights..indeed a hassle even when things go well. Sincere question: I am curious why you express a preference for Frankfurt over Munich, which I have heard is much smaller and more efficient?

Ed

I book direct with the airline why mess around with 3rd party sites

I have found seat sales in Jan for flights to Europe in summer just depends on when you are going & how long your nerves can wait to get things sorted ;)

I book direct with the airline why mess around with 3rd party sites

 

I'm not sure if you are referring to "Kayak" or the "Itamatrix" site.

You can't book anything on Itamatrix. It just shows you what airlines are going where you want to go and how much the fare is. It saves you going to every airline site to see which flight combinations are the best and most affordable. Then you go to the airline to book. The site is used by a lot of travel agents.

You can't book anything on Itamatrix. It just shows you what airlines are going where you want to go and how much the fare is. It saves you going to every airline site to see which flight combinations are the best and most affordable. Then you go to the airline to book. The site is used by a lot of travel agents.

ITA is a good tool for finding the flights

book with the airline directly or submit the flight details to O for consideration when paying the deviation fee

I use it often

ITA is a good tool for finding the flights

book with the airline directly or submit the flight details to O for consideration when paying the deviation fee

I use it often

I like the ITA site. But you can also use the American Express site as they use the ITA search engine.

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I've been looking at flights, and the best pairs of flights going through Frankfurt and Munich have an hour connection time at each airport. Is there anything I should know about those airports? We've connected in Frankfurt before and it was easy, however, I don't remember how much time we had. Should I rule out any flight that only allows 60 minutes to connect> How about Munich - same question? We also usually request a wheelchair to take one of us to our connection. That makes it more likely for us to be more fearful of short connection times, as in some airports, there is a wait for the wheelchair. Once rolling, however, they are great (as long as I can keep up!) - but a 10-15 minute wait for chair or something to ride on to our connecting gate can throw a wrench into best laid plans. Does anyone have an idea of whether wheelchairs are normally waiting for passengers in Munich and Frankfurt?

Happy Hallowe'en! (Well at least on this side of the continent)

We've flown with Lufthanza connecting onwards to Cairo and Rome through Frankfurt. I find the airport very large (and confusing), but it is very efficient and processed us faster than we expected! I can't remember exactly, but I think there was passport control and then you had to go through security again but I remember there were people constantly around to shuffle you through. My preference would be to have a little extra time. 2 hours? Frankfurt is a major hub so you should have some choice as to flights. We had no problems with missing luggage, but our flights were with the same airline throughout. Have a nice cruise - maybe we'll see each other again!

Mia

We have connected through Frankfurt for two cruises. No problems with flight delays or luggage, but found it to be a massive airport with long distances between flights..indeed a hassle even when things go well. Sincere question: I am curious why you express a preference for Frankfurt over Munich, which I have heard is much smaller and more efficient?

 

Ed

The immigration lines can be longer (and slower) in Munich. Deadly on a tight connection.

But I also know FRA better. Been using it since the 70's flying the Pan Am Berlin route.

I know when it is easier to take the train from B/C to A. When to take the under ground corridor and moving walkway and when to just exit and go back on the A side to make a European connection.

The airport has gotten better since they open the Z gates and many United flights exit here -- which is a short connection to the A gates.

My next European flights in one month I connect thru FRA outbound and thru MUC in the inbound - both with 75 minute connects.

In case you are delayed en route it is always wise to book the same airline to Europe and then onward to your European destination. That way the airline should protect you on their next flight if it is their fault that you have missed your original connection. I have found that Frankfurt is less hectic on weekends when there tend to be fewer business travelers.

I also try to avoid airlines that do not have gates in the terminal and thus you have to be bussed from an outlying location after deplaning. This definitely means a longer connection time which could create problems. Such arrival information is available online through the airline or by going to the airport site which lists each flight's arrival location each day. Although this is not foolproof since arrival locations can change it is a good indication.

Flying Lufthansa guarantees you arrival and departure at some gate in Terminal One which is a big plus. Since United is a Star Alliance partner of Lufthansa they also are likely to be assigned Terminal One gates. Airlines in the SkyTeam or OneWorld alliances are usually not given such favorable treatment.

My last connection through Frankfurt was by United from SFO and then onward to Pisa on Lufthansa. Both flights were in Terminal One.