Need help with Frankfurt Airport arrivals.

[gnome12]

I posted this in the Northern Europe and Baltic Sea ports, but I thought that I should also cross post here, as more river cruise passengers are likely to fly to Frankfurt.

 

I will be arriving in Frankfurt from Toronto at 6:20 am on Air Canada, presumably at Terminal 1, hall B. I will be meeting my sister arriving from Newark at 9:10 am on United, presumably at Terminal 1, hall A. Does anyone have any suggestions on where we should meet, and where I can hang around until she arrives? We will be heading to the Regionalbahnhof when she arrives.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[steamboats]

I would suggest to meet at a restaurant. Just to make it easy, there is a McDonalds in Terminal 1 Hall A. This doesn´t mean I suggest you to hang out there - just as a meeting point 😉  noone can miss. Then you can look for another location. Here´s a list of restaurants in Frankfurt airport.

 

Eat & drink (frankfurt-airport.com)

 

steamboats

[notamermaid]

I have only been at the arrivals gates in the airport not inside the passenger restricted halls so I am not familiar with layouts much. I remember a bistro in front of the gate where I picked someone up. There are also seats there. The arrival times are displayed at the respective gate/door. I would say it is best to meet near where your sister will come through the door. McDonalds always sounds a good idea though as it is so recognizable. Frankfurt must have a map of the airport facilities online, mustn't they? That could be practical.

 

A bit of extra info. Not sure if we have talked about this before. Frankfurt is huge and distances can be a bit much with luggage but there are trolleys of course. I do not remember how far it is to the Regionalbahnhof. Again, layout maps are good. DB will have one.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

There is a quite comprehensive map on the Frankfurt airport site in English but you do have persevere to find it, I tried to copy but failed abysmally.

[gnome12]

24 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

There is a quite comprehensive map on the Frankfurt airport site in English but you do have persevere to find it, I tried to copy but failed abysmally.

Could you copy the link? I only find useless maps.

[jpalbny]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Not sure if we have talked about this before. Frankfurt is huge and distances can be a bit much with luggage but there are trolleys of course. I do not remember how far it is to the Regionalbahnhof. Again, layout maps are good. DB will have one.

 

Yes, it's quite a hike! We have done this a couple of times (land in FRA then walk to the train to get to our final destination). It always takes longer than we think it should.

 

@gnome12, another option would be to wait in the DB lounge, which (at least the last time we were there) is included w/ a first-class train ticket. Not sure if you bought one or not. I know that you said you wanted to walk there together with your sister so this may not be an appealing option for you. 

 

I don't know of any arrivals lounges in FRA and a quick check of Priority Pass didn't show any. Waiting around for 3 hours in a public part of the airport doesn't sound like much fun after an overnight flight.

 

Another option might be to get a day room at the Hilton Garden Inn. That's near the train station. But probably an expensive option for just a few hours.

 

PS we just spent a few very nice days in Toronto. Thanks for arranging to have such nice weather for us!

Edited September 21, 2022 by jpalbny

[gnome12]

17 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

Yes, it's quite a hike! We have done this a couple of times (land in FRA then walk to the train to get to our final destination). It always takes longer than we think it should.

 

@gnome12, another option would be to wait in the DB lounge, which (at least the last time we were there) is included w/ a first-class train ticket. Not sure if you bought one or not. I know that you said you wanted to walk there together with your sister so this may not be an appealing option for you. 

 

I don't know of any arrivals lounges in FRA and a quick check of Priority Pass didn't show any. Waiting around for 3 hours in a public part of the airport doesn't sound like much fun after an overnight flight.

 

Another option might be to get a day room at the Hilton Garden Inn. That's near the train station. But probably an expensive option for just a few hours.

 

PS we just spent a few very nice days in Toronto. Thanks for arranging to have such nice weather for us!

The last time I flew through Frankfurt was returning from Nairobi, and I had 8 hours between flights. I stopped and had a very pleasant breakfast in the secure area. I'm pretty sure however that I had to go through security to get to that spot.

 

I think that the suggestion to meet at McDonald's is probably a good one; presumably we can both find that. Before that, I wouldn't mind having a real breakfast, which would fill some of the time.

 

I really miss the old detailed airport maps; now they seem to be interactive and I can't find anything on them.

 

As to the DB lounge, we have not bought tickets in advance, because we are unsure of the timing. All trains will be regional.

 

Glad you enjoyed your Toronto weather.

[Daisi]

48 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

Could you copy the link? I only find useless maps.

https://www.frankfurt-airport.com/en/airport-guide/orientation/airport-map.html

 

[gnome12]

I think that I have found the arrivals map that shows the restaurants and other services. They all seem to be after baggage claim, and A, B, and C are all together. That should give me the information that I need. In terms of where to meet, I see that the DB travel centre is close to McDonald's so that may also be a suggestion for meeting my sister.

[gnome12]

5 minutes ago, Daisi said:

https://www.frankfurt-airport.com/en/airport-guide/orientation/airport-map.html

 

That link also has a drop down to airport guide, where I found a map of eating and drinking.

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, gnome12 said:

I see that the DB travel centre is close to McDonald's so that may also be a suggestion for meeting my sister.

Oh that may be good. In large train stations there are lockers for luggage, perhaps they exist in the airport, too. Could be convenient for strolling around without it.

 

Found the map: https://www.frankfurt-airport.com/de/anreise-parken/an-und-abreise/oeffentlicher-nahverkehr.html

 

It is the second download, the Lageplan. The other one is the network of the area.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[gnome12]

4 hours ago, jpalbny said:

PS we just spent a few very nice days in Toronto. Thanks for arranging to have such nice weather for us!

If I remember correctly, Chris has Ukrainian roots. Did you make it to the Ukrainian festival (or the Polish one which was on at the same time)?

 

[jpalbny]

On 9/21/2022 at 11:56 AM, gnome12 said:

If I remember correctly, Chris has Ukrainian roots. Did you make it to the Ukrainian festival (or the Polish one which was on at the same time)?

 

 

Good memory! We didn't know about any festival other than TIFF, which we blamed for the very high hotel rates during our stay in Toronto. Looking now, I think we left Toronto just before the Ukrainian Festival started.

[gnome12]

32 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

Good memory! We didn't know about any festival other than TIFF, which we blamed for the very high hotel rates during our stay in Toronto. Looking now, I think we left Toronto just before the Ukrainian Festival started.

Yes, TIFF definitely has an effect on hotel rates.

[Gretchendz]

If you plan to take the train, another option is to head right to the airport rail station and meet there. There are multiple restaurants to choose from. Personally, I would pick a meeting point there.

 

It is a large airport. The first time I went I found some recent You Tube videos that show exactly how to get where you want to be. Not sure i can legally post a link but just do a search and you find several.

 

Incidentally, the train ticket kiosks can be a little tricky for Americans and Canadians. Don't be afraid to ask someone who looks like they know what they're doing for help.

[gnome12]

22 minutes ago, Gretchendz said:

If you plan to take the train, another option is to head right to the airport rail station and meet there. There are multiple restaurants to choose from. Personally, I would pick a meeting point there.

 

It is a large airport. The first time I went I found some recent You Tube videos that show exactly how to get where you want to be. Not sure i can legally post a link but just do a search and you find several.

 

Incidentally, the train ticket kiosks can be a little tricky for Americans and Canadians. Don't be afraid to ask someone who looks like they know what they're doing for help.

We have arranged to meet at the DB travel centre. Since we are both already underway, I’ll leave it at that. We will walk to the train station together. 

[jpalbny]

Safe travels and hope your meeting goes off exactly as planned! Have a wonderful trip!

[rcaruso]

Download the DB App and you can buy your train ticket on that.  Generally I bought the ticket right before take off, but now if using 2nd class regional I will buy it when I get there, as no price difference.  With the savings rate on First Class you need to buy it in advance as it goes up the closer to departure.

[gnome12]

6 hours ago, rcaruso said:

Download the DB App and you can buy your train ticket on that.  Generally I bought the ticket right before take off, but now if using 2nd class regional I will buy it when I get there, as no price difference.  With the savings rate on First Class you need to buy it in advance as it goes up the closer to departure.

I have the app, but I want the open regional Rheinland-Pfalz ticket (plus single fares to Mainz). Since I have time to kill, maybe I’ll ask at the travel centre next door. 
 

I already bought the tickets where advanced purchase made sense. 

[gnome12]

By the way, there is a meeting point with seating on the arrivals level, with food available. 

[rcaruso]

6 hours ago, gnome12 said:

I have the app, but I want the open regional Rheinland-Pfalz ticket (plus single fares to Mainz). Since I have time to kill, maybe I’ll ask at the travel centre next door. 
 

I already bought the tickets where advanced purchase made sense. 

In the app you will be offered the regional Bayern, Land Quer Durch etc tickets and can get day of.  I just book one way, and then book another one way when leaving.  Depending where you are the single fare to Mainz may need to be bought at the automatic ticket dispenser.  It is so much easier having the qr code for the trip easily accessed on your phone from the app, the train personnel will just scan the code.

[gnome12]

58 minutes ago, rcaruso said:

In the app you will be offered the regional Bayern, Land Quer Durch etc tickets and can get day of.  I just book one way, and then book another one way when leaving.  Depending where you are the single fare to Mainz may need to be bought at the automatic ticket dispenser.  It is so much easier having the qr code for the trip easily accessed on your phone from the app, the train personnel will just scan the code.

Well I tried to do it in the app but it timed out. Ended up using the machines in the airport for trip to Mainz, then in Mainz bought Rheinland-Pfalz tickets. No one checked our tickets on any of the 3 legs of the trip. (Unfortunately, today was the last day of construction on the line so we couldn’t get a train direct to Koblenz.)

[rcaruso]

2 hours ago, gnome12 said:

Well I tried to do it in the app but it timed out. Ended up using the machines in the airport for trip to Mainz, then in Mainz bought Rheinland-Pfalz tickets. No one checked our tickets on any of the 3 legs of the trip. (Unfortunately, today was the last day of construction on the line so we couldn’t get a train direct to Koblenz.)

Sometimes they check and sometimes not.  We mostly see no checking on the s8/s9 to Frankfurt to airport etc, however in Munich we took train from airport to Hauptbahnhof and they checked, we were fine, but a tourist from asia wasn't so lucky ( the guys looked like bums, I guess undercover, but it was legit). Enjoy your trip, you will be a master at the train system for your next visit!

[Los_Pepes]

Hang out at the bar/coffee shop area of the Sheraton. it is attached to the airport so you don't have to go outside. It is marked very well from all areas of the airport and can't be missed. Once you get together just go outside and cross the street to the train station.