Port Of Entry? Frankfurt or Budapest??

[letsgo39]

OK,I know ya'll know everything!

 

So my question is we fly from Chicago to Frankfort to Budapest. Where do we go thru customs and immigration,Frankfort or Budapest?

[DeniceRG]

Definitely you will go through immigration and customs in Frankfurt, but you also might have to go through them in Budapest too since Hungary is not part of the EU.

[steamboats]

Frankfurt, and - sorry, Denice - Hungary is part of the EU but not a Schengen country yet. So you´re right about another customs and passport control in Budapest.

 

steamboats

[bcrcornet]

In November, 2007, we flew from Seattle to Washington, DC, to Frankfurt, to Budapest. Although we had to go through airport security in Frankfurt (because our arrival and departure gates were in different buildings, and each building had its own airport security), our first Customs & Immigration checkpoint didn't happen until Budapest. We flew with United Airlines to Frankfurt, and with Lufthansa to Budapest.

YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary). ;)

[letsgo39]

Thanks all,

We are also on United and I was told yesterday by United that my luggage will be checked thru to Budapest.So that is good and should give us more time in Frankfurt to make our connection. We are on Lufthansa into Budapest.

 

Bccornet, can you tell me which treminal you came into and which one you departed from? Did it take a long time to get from one to the other?

[unberwoob]

Letsgo39

Are you using a TA. If so, they can give you flight numbers, times, and terminal numbers. Then you can download a terminal map from the airport's website.

If you are flying into O'hare give yourself lots of time for layover because if they get backed up they delay incomming flights. Our last flight from St Louis was 4 hours late due to Chicago weather. I hate O'hare but have to use it every year for our river cruises.

Enjoy Budapest. It is the greatest.

[steamboats]

letsgo39,

 

Frankfurt can be a mess. Even if you´re departing from the same terminal that doesn´t mean it´s just a short walk. To the maybe short walk a nice long busride - more a sightseeing tour of the airport by bus - might be added :mad: . We came in from Munich with about 15 min delay. We had about 90 min to get our connection to the US. First the plane from Munich drove all over the airport. Then we had to go all the way back by bus. Then there was a looooooooooong queue at the US security. Our flight had been already called and we went ahead explaining our situation. We literally ran to the gate catching the last bus to the aircraft which was parked more or less next to the plane we just had left more than an hour ago.

 

Anyway don´t worry on your flight to Europe. According to European laws the carrier is reponsible for delays and has to rebook you in case you´re missing your connection. Otherwise they have to pay you quite a lot for missing your flight.

 

steamboats

[bcrcornet]

Frankfurt can be a mess. Even if you´re departing from the same terminal that doesn´t mean it´s just a short walk. To the maybe short walk a nice long busride - more a sightseeing tour of the airport by bus - might be added :mad:

We agree with what Steamboats said.

 

Here's what we encountered: When we checked in at Seattle, we were helpfully given the gate assignments for the plane changes in Washington (Dulles) and Frankfurt. No problem at Washington Dulles. As Steamboats described, we deboarded at Frankfurt onto buses that took us to the terminal complex (see here for a map) and went to boarding gate B52 to await our Lufthansa flight to Budapest. We waited at the gate for about an hour or so, and a flight to somewhere else left. The counter staff then put up the flight number and time for a flight to Istanbul, leaving shortly before our scheduled flight to Budapest. I was inclined to believe that there would be time for the Istanbul flight to leave, then we would see the Budapest flight posted, but my dear wife, bless her, persuaded me to question the gate counter staff about having the right gate. Sure enough, the gate had been changed, to something like B56. The lesson to take away: Frankfurt airport changes gate assignments, so don't ASSUME anything - check!

 

Now, here's where the "mess" part comes in: as you can see on the terminal map, Gates B50-B59 are outside the actual terminal building. The gates are housed in temporary-lookiing small buildings just outside the main terminal, four gates to each building. Gate B52 was in one small building, Gate B56 was in the small building next door. HOWEVER, because they're not part of the main terminal building, EACH small building had its own airport security screening setup and staff. Moreover, the toilets for each small building were outside the "secure zone". So, we went through security once to get into Gate B52, once again to return to it after using the toilet, then once again to get into Gate B56.

 

No Customs & Immigration at Frankfurt, though.

 

Finally, another bus ride from Gate B56 to the Lufthansa plane on the runway.

[TataTom]

We flew last October from O'Hare to Frankfurt to Budapest, United to Frankfurt and Lufthansa to Budapest. We had a very long walk in Frankfurt to our connecting gate, and when we got there we had to go through security again since the gate was not in the main building. Same situation with toilets as bcrcornet noted, they were outside of security, and you had to go through security again if you had to "go".

 

The security search was amazing, EVERYTHING out of pockets, not just the metal bits, shoes off, jacket. sweaters etc off, and a hand wand applied to all areas of the body very slowly and methodically. Later we were told that an El Al flight was leaving from that area and that was the reason for the heightened security. Don't know, maybe it is just ordinary, but it sure was thorough! I don't think anyone went to the toilet after that, who wanted to go through that hassle again? Finally a bus ride to the aircraft.

 

No customs until Budapest, and no problems there.

[bcrcornet]

... The security search was amazing, EVERYTHING out of pockets, not just the metal bits, shoes off, jacket. sweaters etc off, and a hand wand applied to all areas of the body very slowly and methodically.

We agree again, this time with TataTom.

 

My wife had to lift her shirt and remove her money belt and put it through the X-Ray scanner, then was (as she describes it) "patted down" by a female security agent. More like a "frisk". Over parts of her body usually not touched by people other than spouses or medical personnel, if you know what I mean. Not a pleasant experience at all.

 

We've never encountered this anywhere else but Frankfurt. Definitely makes us want to avoid Frankfurt airport in the future.

[jgnova]

One alert on the United/Lufthansa relationship. Lufthansa never credited our miles to our United account even though we had given them the United account numbers. And my DH doesn't save things the way I do. I had my tickets and boarding passes but he didn't have everything. He never got around to sending the originals of mine (they don't take photocopies, which he did send, and when they demanded the originals....) back to United, so neither of us got the mileage credited to our accounts. Save all the little bits and pieces and make sure your account shows the correct mileage earned right away. Not that we have or are likely to have sufficient earnings to make any use of the miles, but their customer service on this one was dismal.

S

[Livestotravel]

On your original trip report you said you had a driver to shuttle you to your hotel in Munich - can you give me that name? A friend doing the Deilmann Cruise in a few weeks would appreciate that information. Thanks.

 

"We took this trip with a friend of S (ML) and her friend (M) and they arrived a couple of hours before us. Someone on the boards had identified a driver in Munich, and we had arranged for him to shuttle us to the hotel (for all 4 of us it cost what Deilmann wanted per person). He contacted us the day before departure and said he had a family emergency and couldn’t drive us, but would arrange for someone he trusted to be there for us. We were met by the sub (along with the original driver who handed each of the two women a flower and left for his family obligation) who loaded us into his van"

[p598738]

We flew Boston, Munich, Budapest in 2005. Customs and immigration in Budapest only. Returned Bucharest, Frankfort, Boston. Customs, immigration in Boston only. Boston, LHR, Paris 2006. Paris only. Nice, LHR, Boston return. Boston only.

[Kindlychap]

We agree again, this time with TataTom.

 

My wife had to lift her shirt and remove her money belt and put it through the X-Ray scanner, then was (as she describes it) "patted down" by a female security agent. More like a "frisk". Over parts of her body usually not touched by people other than spouses or medical personnel, if you know what I mean. Not a pleasant experience at all.

 

We've never encountered this anywhere else but Frankfurt. Definitely makes us want to avoid Frankfurt airport in the future.

 

It is becoming more and more common due to the hysteria following September 11th and subsequent events/alleged events.

 

It is designed to make us feel safe. It fails with me, knowing how often it is breached.

 

It merely serves to annoy.

 

Matthew