Connect in FRA, LHR or YYZ

[bhealy]

I am booking a flight from PHX to CPH using FF miles. I have the choice of connecting in Frankfurt, Heathrow or Toronto. Is one better than the other?

[6rugrats]

Something you may want to consider is the possibility that your first flight arrives late and you miss your connection. I am guessing if this happens, LHR or FRA will offer more flights from which to choose to get to CPH. You'd have to check.

 

Also, what's the difference in flight times, and on what airline will you be flying? Is one flight significantly shorter, or do you prefer one airline over the other?

[FlyerTalker]

Sounds like you are using Star Alliance carriers (UA/US/CO miles). Personally, I'd be looking at the carriers and equipment first, but that's my own preference. Also, a connect in Europe will give you more options to get to CPH than connecting in Toronto.

[bhealy]

Great points. I am using Star Alliance. I will cross off Toronto. Both international flights are on UA, 777-200ER. The connection time in LHR is either 1 hour & 50 mins or 3 hours. The connection in FRA is 2 hours & 50 mins. The US connections are on UA and the European connection on SAS.

[Cruise Junky]

go for the longest connection time possible in either Frankfurt or London. Toronto would be a pain as you'd have to go through Canadian Customs before boarding your next flight to Europe.

[swigso]

Go through Frankfurt, Heathrow is a mess

[6rugrats]

OP - you can see that everyone has their own opinion. Personally, I find FRA a huge mess and haven't ever had a problem with LHR. Choose which suits you better.

[Globaliser]

I am booking a flight from PHX to CPH using FF miles. I have the choice of connecting in Frankfurt, Heathrow or Toronto. Is one better than the other?

I'm sorry, but there's something I'm not understanding here.

 

If you're using *A FF miles, are you looking at some two-connection itineraries? In fact, are there any one-connection itineraries in there? The reason is that one-connection itineraries are inherently more attractive for all sorts of reasons.

 

If you have to pick a two-connection itinerary, then choosing between Frankfurt, Heathrow and Toronto is only one factor out of many. The other connecting point must also be considered, as they can be very different from each other; and then you have to factor in airlines, connection times, schedules and so on.

 

I would also regard swigso's view of LHR as unnecessarily jaded and over-generalised. For example, if you do a *A -> *A connection at LHR, many of them are T1-T1 connections which are about as easy as you could hope for.

[bhealy]

I'm sorry, but there's something I'm not understanding here.

 

If you're using *A FF miles, are you looking at some two-connection itineraries? In fact, are there any one-connection itineraries in there? The reason is that one-connection itineraries are inherently more attractive for all sorts of reasons.

 

If you have to pick a two-connection itinerary, then choosing between Frankfurt, Heathrow and Toronto is only one factor out of many. The other connecting point must also be considered, as they can be very different from each other; and then you have to factor in airlines, connection times, schedules and so on.

 

I would also regard swigso's view of LHR as unnecessarily jaded and over-generalised. For example, if you do a *A -> *A connection at LHR, many of them are T1-T1 connections which are about as easy as you could hope for.

 

Unfortunately the one connection itineraries are not available. I started looking as soon the dates became available and nothing was offered. I will keep watching to see if they open up.

 

The other connecting point is ORD and DEN. They are both ORD if I choose the longer connection in LHR. So it would be PHX to ORD on UA, ORD to either LHR or FRA on UA and then either LHR or FRA to CPH on SAS.

 

I have read good and bad things about both airports. I guess a lot of it is just luck. I was hoping for a good reason to pick one over the other. I am connecting in FRA next month so maybe I will pick FRA since I will be familiar with the airport. If I have a bad experience I can try to change it when I come back.

[Globaliser]

The other connecting point is ORD and DEN. They are both ORD if I choose the longer connection in LHR. So it would be PHX to ORD on UA, ORD to either LHR or FRA on UA and then either LHR or FRA to CPH on SAS.

You might want to check some of that.

 

As far as I can see, DEN-FRA non-stop is not operated by UA but by Lufthansa. In my book, that would be a plus. I can't at the moment get access to the FRA website to confirm whether SAS operates from the same terminal at LH, although this seems very likely.

 

At LHR, a UA->SK connection involves going from T1 to T3, which is not as easy as a T1-T1 connection.

[bhealy]

I looked a day earlier and found a flight that connects in Dulles and then Amsterdam. I am going to take this one because I am familiar with AMS and found it easy to navigate. The first two flights are still UA. I was able to get the one connection on the way home. I am not crazy about flying long distance on a 757.

 

 

Thanks for all the great advice.