OFSO

In my case i would probably attract more attention when doing that! I originate from a region that has a bulls eye painted on our backsides when transiting any western airports and regularly get the "special treatment" at the said airports. The "ensure you are at the gate 2 hours before departure for security" usually is not enough time for me to be searched. :sad:


Not particularly keen to have a 6 foot 200 kg Frau give me the cavity search on a sunday morning as I attempt in my accented German to throw my weight around and strut around like a peacock.

That said the situation is gradually improving as I have mastered the art of removing every metal object from my clothing , shoes and body (next stop to replace the gold fillings in my teeth with something more Airport friendly). I also do not carry hand baggage anymore as it saves a lot of agony.

For that, you probably need to catch a taxi over to the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof, then a short walk from there.

then a short walk from there.

The walk back will not be short, however.

Back in the 1980's Kaiserstrasse was not only famous for les filles de joie, you could hire someone to do a murder for you. The going rate was DM5000 per stiff plus travelling expenses.

Not, I hasten to add, that I ever availed myself of this service.

The latter one presumed OFSO. :p

Significantly cheaper "per stiff" for the former though.

I was stationed in Germany for several years back in the early 70's.

Someone told me about the place. ;);)

.

No, not a stupid tax issue. It appears that you need a visa to enter the EU

So WF, what happened ? Did you manage to exhit der Flughafen and penetrate deepest Frankfurt a. Main, or did you find the disco ? Was the dwarf still there and had he grown (or shrunk) ? Do tell.

REvMan2: I have a a valid visa for the EU so that was not the issue. The issue was in checked baggage. If you plan to exit in Frankfurt and it is not a scheduled stop on your ticket (by scheduled they mean a leg of the journey) then have to book your luggage till FRA pay the fare differential and go thru the entire 9 yards while checking back in.

Naturally you could just slip out thru immigration as many stated, however in this case immigration does ask you for your return/onward ticket since i come from a country that requires a visa. Once you show them that you are referred to LH and the process comes to a halt. This was explained to me by one of the cabin crew on the LH flight who also said that not worth it for a Sunday morning in Frankfurt.

I chose the 36 Euro payment for the lounge which was an excellent value and included free wifi blazing connection, shower, drinks, breakfast and a nice place to relax.

I find this hard to believe and have never experienced or heard of such a thing.

A couple of years ago I transited AMS with a South African passport holder who had a multiple entry Schengen visa for France. We arrived from CPT mid morning, and took a flight out of AMS early the next morning. This is a transit (<24 hours) in terms of fare rules, not a stopover. We had no problems and nothing was mentioned or queried. It may be that the Germans do it differently ........... but isn't the EU meant to harmonise and ensure consistency.

Oh I forgot ...........

In reality from a security point of view I do agree with them. I was issued my onward boarding pass when I first checked in, my bags were thru checked. Can you imagine the inconvenience and delays if I did not show up at the boarding gate? I have done similar transits in Malaysia of 24 hours and the airlines provided a hotel stay for us and knew where to get us from and had a pick and drop arranged for us, however in this case the layover was 6 hours (turned out to be a net of under 5 hours with the delay and then we had to be bussed into the terminal which added to the time), i cannot see them warranting an exit.

LH makes a very big deal over 'complete' use of flight coupons. Yes I read that you had through-checked your luggage but they do what they can to discourage people buying a ticket beyond FRA and getting off at FRA.

The comment: suggests this is at least one of the reasons.

They also could be absorbing airport fees / taxes / whatever for Transit passengers (to be competitive in the beyond market) and don't want to do so for passengers who have 'business' in FRA.

May seem dogmatic of them but they have spend literally millions in legal fees defending their right to apply 'sequential and complete' use of flight coupons. In winning these cases they now have to offer passengers the option of using their coupons out of sequence, at least in Germany, at a higher cost which probably cost them a bundle in programming their fare quote system - to offer something nobody will likely buy.

Not defending their practice (lets not get into that argument again) but guessing why they may be doing what they are doing.