I travel through Frankfurt Main pretty often. Flight schedules mean that it's not unusual for me to spend two or three hours kicking around with nothing to do. The quality of airport entertainment, catering and snoozing zones therefore becomes important. As I travel with Lufthansa I have grown ... Read review
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Advantages: I really like the word 'Teutonic' Disadvantages: I hate sitting around at airports
I travel through Frankfurt Main pretty often. Flight schedules mean that it's not unusual for me to spend two or three hours kicking around with nothing to do. The quality of airport entertainment, catering and snoozing zones therefore becomes important. As I travel with Lufthansa I have grown to know and fear Terminal One.
Frankfurt has the annoying habit of loading and unloading little iddy diddy planes to/from Birmingham in the ... ...fall' litigation, but here in Frankfurt you never get to forget that you are in Germany - there's always a huge Heath Robinson engineering construction channelling water away from passenger areas or supporting errant tiles.
Rather meanly the catering areas do boast some rather comfy padded seats which are surrounded by signs declaring 'sleeping forbidden'. However, the gate areas are fairly spacious and if you head to the gate early ... more
I travel through Frankfurt Main pretty often. Flight schedules mean that it's not unusual for me to spend two or three hours kicking around with nothing to do. The quality of airport entertainment, catering and snoozing zones therefore becomes important. As I travel with Lufthansa I have grown to know and fear Terminal One.
Frankfurt has the annoying habit of loading and unloading little iddy diddy planes to/from Birmingham in the field. I know it looks good on news footage to see people walking down airplane steps and kissing the tarmac, but it's just plain irritating to have to get off the plane and on to a bus to trundle to the airport. I want to walk in one of those tube things (which you do get to use when flying across the Atlantic).
I don't suppose it's really fair to complain that it's always grey and rainy in Frankfurt, but I will anyway.
Walking into the Terminal you are confronted with a bank of monitors listing arrivals and departures. There's lots! Information throughout the airport is good with another departures board upstairs giving a total of around three hours worth of advance information. Signage is good in English and German to food, loos and gates.
Loos are less good. Whilst they are clean there are far too few for the traffic in the airport, and there are even fewer sinks available which is a pain when you want to splash a bit of water about to freshen up and brush your teeth.
Catering is OK, certainly nothing to write home about. There's a McDonalds with a permanent queue, but the upside of taking credit and debit cards as well as serving the full menu all day so you aren't just faced with breakfast choices when your body clock is telling you it's supper time. There's plenty of seating that allows you top watch the runways. There's also a McCafe if you just want sandwiches, pastries, beer or coffee.
There's a full blown fancy pants restaurant which I haven't tried and a slightly more German style diner with toasted sandwiches, chicken dinners and the like at fairly reasonable prices. Expect to pay 4 to 10 Euros for a meal here, or 15 to 30 in the restaurant. Downstairs you'll find what looks excitingly like an oyster bar, but isn't, just more sandwiches pastries and booze.
There's a large duty free selection for booze, fags and smellies. Other shopping is rather limited. You'll find an optician, quality watch shop, and a delicatessen selling caviar, German necessities and 'gourmet steak sauce' that is in fact HP Brown Sauce with over developed self esteem.
There's two newsagents, both of the same brand and with the exact same stock, and a candy kiosk which is the only place to buy canned/bottled pop/water. If you are really bored there's a stamp machine and a post box so you can send postcards from the airport and save yourself a job later on.
Staff whiz around the airport on little old lady bicycles which can be a little disconcerting. Each time I've visited there's been a small leak or structural problem. In Britain you'd see a bucket catching drips, in the US the whole area would be closed off to prevent 'slip and fall' litigation, but here in Frankfurt you never get to forget that you are in Germany - there's always a huge Heath Robinson engineering construction channelling water away from passenger areas or supporting errant tiles.
Rather meanly the catering areas do boast some rather comfy padded seats which are surrounded by signs declaring 'sleeping forbidden'. However, the gate areas are fairly spacious and if you head to the gate early you can quite comfortably snuggle down on a triple seat without fear of being moved on.
Security has tightened. You will be patted down and rubbed all over with a metal detector, including two swoops to check that the metal is just under-wiring! I've been through in four different pairs of shoes this year after deciding that it was my 'travelling boots' that raised suspicions but each and every time I've been asked to take them off for checking. Fortunately for the most recent booty call they've added a chair for shoe removal.
Overall Frankfurt is a good choice for a transit airport. It's clean and it has the stores you absolutely need without excessive consumer temptation. It's spacious without requiring you to be the kind of international endurance athlete that Schipol demands for quick transfers. If I could improve one thing it would be to eliminate the bus shuttle.
Advantages: Terminal 2 is much more passenger-friendly... Disadvantages: ...than the cramped and outdated Terminal 1
...which is served by the Frankfurt tram network, connecting to Frankfurt main station, while the other station (which only opened in 1999) is exclusively for long-distance trains.
However, if your flight lands at Terminal 2 this imposing and spacious building will give you a far more favourable (not to say stereotypical!) impression of Germany. The terminal itself is noticeably clean, but the size of the building means you are guaranteed a long walk ... ...to the airport either, as Frankfurt has one of the largest and busiest motorway junctions in Germany, and the airport is well signposted from the Frankfurter Kreuz.
The check-in desks here are positioned far more sensibly in the two wings of the building, thus avoiding the cramped space that leads to the congestion in the other terminal, and the whole building has been designed for the growing requirements of the airport. Basically, this terminal ...
JVL 27.02.2001 (20.09.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Frankfurt (FRA)
Advantages: all kinds of facilities you can possibly think of Disadvantages: bad signposting, overcrowded, few shops in duty free area, minimum transit unrealistic
Frankfurt Airport is Europe's second biggest airport and the home base of German carrier Lufthansa. Yet its ability to deal with the demands of 21st century airtravel is limited, and passengers already have to suffer today.
In total passenger figures, Frankfurt/Main Airport (or Fraport, as it is called now) is second only to London Heathrow among European airports, and ahead of Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schiphol.
FRA (the airport's ... ...car in 20 minutes from Frankfurt downtown, and has quick access to the rest of the country (Cologne is 90 minutes by car). During rush hour, however, the motorway junction is often jammed, and travel times can easily double.
Public transport is perfect, indeed the best of any mayor European hub. The airport has its own train terminal with direct connections to all of Germany with high-speed ICE trains. There are direct metropolitan trains to the ...
From_The_Continent 10.03.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Frankfurt (FRA)
Advantages: As An Airport none Disadvantages: A grim depressing place
Frankfurt Airport must be one of the most depressing, boring airports in the world. It is rare for an airport to be architecturally inspiring but whoever designed Frankfurt airport seems to have aimed to squeeze every possible ounce of warmth and humanity out of the place.
When airports like this one are to be built it must be like manna from heaven to the suppliers of grey marble. There are 2 terminals, Terminal 1 is the main flying hub of Lufthansa ... ...flying out of or into Frankfurt is. Wherever you go in the shops (average) the toilets (adequate) the seating (typically uncomfortable) or visit the bureau de change you are met with people who seem to wish they were somewhere else, seem to wish they were doing something else, anything else. The job selection process for people wishing to work at Frankfurt airport must include a test for whether you can be a smiling helpful assistant. And anyone ...
polydeuces 20.05.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Frankfurt (FRA)
Advantages: None - standards of cleanliness are more acceptable than suggested by other reviewers Disadvantages: The absolute logistical nightmare
...me. So not only is Frankfurt terminal 1 an insult to the passenger, but it is also unsafe. My final count was a total of three border controls and three security checks - which seemed to pop up out of nowhere behind every corner - following the inadequate and misleading signing (some of which had been replaced by indications written onto cardboard!!!!!). Due to severe overcrowding as well as non existant queue management each check involved at least ... ...non EU-citizens the wait was even worse). At some point I grew certain that I would never reach the gate on time. And I wouldn't have, if I hadn't picked up myself that the information on my boarding card (gate A25 instead of gate A11) was false. The procedures varied at each of the security checks, with my 90 ml jar of caviar making it through two, but then being picked up by the third security check (thus adding another 5 minutes to my schedule). ...
pwsanders96 12.04.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Frankfurt (FRA)
Advantages: Nice map poster Disadvantages: It is dark, hot, untidy & boring!
It is the Frankfurt Airport in Germany. After browsing at others' review, i believe i was in terminal 1 when i am being transferred to another plane to Italy. The waiting time is about three hours. Wow, it is so hard to spend the three hours in Frankfurt Airport Terminal 1. I was there during late July. It was dark, under-air-conditioned, old & untidy bathrooms, no internet access, even if you are willing to pay, so boring! The area is hot and dark, ... ...you go, do not choose Frankfurt Germany Airport Terminal One to be your transit area, you will regret it! Please give me a rating if you found my experience is useful for your information! Because I need your support to continue the writing career. Many many thanks! ^!^ ...
heeheehaahaa 08.09.2004 (22.11.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Frankfurt (FRA)
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Advantages: Punctual,good service &food. Disadvantages: None
I recently had to fly to Jerez in Spain from Heathrow (LHR)and was booked via Frankfurt using Thomas Cook for the FRA to Jerez sector.
Never having flown with this airline I was expecting the level of attention and punctuality usual to British holiday airlines. This was it appeared mostly a holiday type service after all. Was I ever in for a surprise. First my luggage made the flight with only a 40 min connection time due to late arrival of the flight from LHR.Next the flight left on time. Aircraft was exceptionally clean and crew very welcoming.
Information in flight was in english and german. Food was of a better standard than most major carriers.
Leg room was very good.
Flight arrived punctually. ...
