Fra stop-over for 18 and 14 year old?

[flyingace]

I am considering an award ticket for day after Yom Kippur for my boys,18 and 15, JFK-FRA-TLV. They will have eleven hours in Frankfurt. How daunting will that be? Can they do it if they are not very experienced travelers? Should I hire someone to meet them at the airport...? Looking for replies from people who have actually been there...

[steve2]

 I went thru FRA last yr to/from TLV, UA to/from US , LH to/from TLV

 I got lost a few times as you arrive in 1 area and the next flight is from another, and I live on planes. Besides 11 hrs is a long time to have to kill and if it was me Id go nuts simply hanging in the Term especially if I didnt have Lounge access and I dont think theyd let a 18 & 15 yr old into the Lounges w/o an adult with them

Id try for something with alot less layover time or if somehow they can fly to XYZ from FRA and then to TLV, or aflight that gets in alot closer to the time the TLV will depart

 Unfortunately theres really nothing to do or see in FRA, most other Cities theres enough things to keep them busy

[SuperFlyer]

It might be a bit boring, but if they are regular boys (not especially childish) it shouldn't be a problem.

if the 18 year old is *A G they will let both in the lounges.

They have tons of lounges there, so staying some time in each will burn most the time.

do they stay day or night time?

[me]

I stopped there in the past and took a taxi to the local shul. I found the average german not so nice when asking for help but there were some big exceptions to that.

If you do send them - make sure that you send them with a plan.

[flyingace]

I was actually intending for them to visit the old cemetery and maybe Mainz, not stay in the airport.

[SuperFlyer]

Okay, here is a list from Jewish Cabdrivers in Germany:

Schlomo Raskin:

01149179/5453540
hc090772@walla.com
hc090772@gmail.com
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Nathan:

01149162/7426632
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Nuriel Dekel:

01149160/4325007
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Schächter:

0049151/17245680
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Yoram Inbar:

01149176/20845707
yoin@hotmail.de
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Isaak:

0114917661182788
0114917620838705
zadikimisaak@aol.com
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from outside the usa & canada, replace the 011 by 00

[flyingace]

Thank you. I will try to see how that will work out.

[SuperFlyer]

sorry to inform, but is the deal via FRA so amazing that you are willing to go through that? if yes, do you let us in on the secret?

[steve2]

sorry to inform, but is the deal via FRA so amazing that you are willing to go through that? if yes, do you let us in on the secret?

 reread the 1st post

my take is since they said it was a Free tkt and its eve Succos the only thing available was LHs late night flight out of FRA. and with most flights arriving from the USA landing in the morning = an 11 hr layover

 I take that to mean that the better connection the morning LH flight wasnt available as I dont think the OP would have wanted their kids to tour around FRA if they could have helped it, and I guess they didnt want to wait and see if anything else opens up later on least nothing does, and these flights wont be available then either

 maybe you can find then something better fitting its with *A I take it for the day after YK , but 1st find out from which city they are departing from over here as they might not too much of a choice, some places have but 1 flight a day
 

[flyingace]

Correct. This is a United award ticket. I have a hold on a reservation and am trying to decide if I should go through with it. Yes, it is Erev Succos and the rest of the family is booked via ANA and CO for various departures. I was able to reserve the same return for them, but starnet blocking is not letting United "see" the better connections. I may book it and then pay to change it if something better opens up.. Still deciding.

[SuperFlyer]

You also called united, I assume, right? On the phone, you might stand a better chance.

[ChikkyMonkey]

The other option is to have them book a hotel and just rest... There is a nice Sheraton at the airport just past passport control (10 minute walk and all inside) but it's pricey...

[steve2]

The other option is to have them book a hotel and just rest... There is a nice Sheraton at the airport just past passport control (10 minute walk and all inside) but it's pricey...

 Its not too bad its avaialble for C&P for 4000 pts & $60 (+ tx) a Cat4 or 10k in pts or 200 Euro You need to book it for the night youd be flying out and hope they let you in real early. Booking for the night youd be flying over from the US might not get you too much time in the room as they must have an 11am or noon checkout time, doubt their 18 yr old is Plat and even if they are its max a 4pm checkout still leaving another 5 hrs to have to cover

 I PMed the OP a workable solution if she doesnt or cant get it due to Star Blocking I will post it for everyone to see if they want to use it. I liked it so much I grabbed a tkt for myself! but its Coach only

[Dan]

Its not too bad its avaialble for C&P for 4000 pts & $60 (+ tx) a Cat4 or 10k in pts or 200 Euro You need to book it for the night youd be flying out and hope they let you in real early. Booking for the night youd be flying over from the US might not get you too much time in the room as they must have an 11am or noon checkout time, doubt their 18 yr old is Plat and even if they are its max a 4pm checkout still leaving another 5 hrs to have to cover

 I PMed the OP a workable solution if she doesnt or cant get it due to Star Blocking I will post it for everyone to see if they want to use it. I liked it so much I grabbed a tkt for myself! but its Coach only

4pm checkout is a benefit for anyone who has the Starwood credit card (SPG Preferred Plus level or higher), definitely don't have to be Plat.
Plus as long as the person booking has a Starwood credit card you will get 4pm checkout by adding the 18 year old as an additional guest in the room.

[steve2]

4pm checkout is a benefit for anyone who has the Starwood credit card (SPG Preferred Plus level or higher), definitely don't have to be Plat.
Plus as long as the person booking has a Starwood credit card you will get 4pm checkout by adding the 18 year old as an additional guest in the room.

 good to know, but since Ive been a Plat for 10+ yrs I will admitt NOT to knowing what the Benefits are for non-Plats

 but to the issue at hand; if they have no choice but must remanin with the flights they have on hold, it would seem a better deal to me to book for upcoming night hoping to get in, so that worse comes to worse they let the Hotel hold their bags while they do some touring and can catch a few ZZZs and shower up before flying out and have a wake-up call in place so as not to miss their flight. i hardly doubt that they should run into a problem with a morning check-in they may have to wait an hr tops for arom to be cleaned as Airport Hotels have alot of people who are flying out from 6am onwards staying at them.

[steve2]

 the only smooth connection I found was 9/20 JFK-ZRH 6pm- 8:05am (Mon) Swiss

                                                        9/21 ZRH-TLV 9:45am- 1:30pm (Tues) Swiss

                                                         10/3 TLV-ZRH 4:30am-8:50am (Sun) Swiss

                                                          10/3 ZRH-TLV 9:55am- 12:35pm (Sun) Swiss

 most everything else on the wya over wasnt available or was a 11-12 hr layover and coming back a later departure out of TLV meant staying overnight in Europe

 Most flights were already Xed out thats for flights even not out of or back to NY.

 To get this you cant use UA miles but can use CO miles, it may even be too late. A friend with a LH routing back (not to NY) was just able to get the very last seat out of FRA to their City

 flyingace PMed me that they cant get this routing and thusly gave me the go ahead to post it. I didnt do so before hand since I felt it wouldnt have been proper since they were trying to get UA to give them this routing. No way would I have found it had flyingace not have started this thread thusly I wanted to give them the opportunity to get it before posting it and then others grab it and they wouldnt have been able to

 

[Monsey]

The other option is to have them book a hotel and just rest... There is a nice Sheraton at the airport just past passport control (10 minute walk and all inside) but it's pricey...

Alot of hotels especially sheratons have a minimum age of 21 to check in. This is in the us maybe europe is different but you should find out.

[ChikkyMonkey]

This sheraton is very big and always has rooms.. (atleast when ever I've gone through about once every 3 months or so)

They ask you what time you plan on checking out so they can clean the room right away, so early checkin is not usually a problem.