Another travel question

[melly 0]

I'll be flying to Cairo next month and the flight will be stopping in Frankfurt, Germany. Will I pass through customs there or how does that work? I've never flown internationally before.

Obviously there wouldn't be much to check since I'm checking my baggage and only taking a smallish carryon but I don't know if I still go through some check?

Also, do I need a visa for Germany when I'm just passing through to get to Egypt??

Thanks

[Together4ever 1]

When I flew to Cairo via Paris and then again through Rome, there was nothing special about the routine. Off the plane, through the usual cattle chutes, bags scanned, etc and then to your next gate. You don't need a visa for the country you're passing through.

[peezey 0]

If you were going to a visa-requiring country, you would only need one should you leave the airport. Germany & France do not require visas of Americans, so if you had a long delay & left for a hotel or wanted to spend a few days over your layover, you just need your passport & air ticket.

[mybackpages 0]

I'll be flying to Cairo next month and the flight will be stopping in Frankfurt, Germany. Will I pass through customs there or how does that work? I've never flown internationally before.

Obviously there wouldn't be much to check since I'm checking my baggage and only taking a smallish carryon but I don't know if I still go through some check?

Also, do I need a visa for Germany when I'm just passing through to get to Egypt??

Thanks

You may or may not have to clear an immigration check point depending on which terminal your plane lands in and which one your next flight leaves from. Just ask when you check in if you luggage is checked all the way through to Cairo- otherwise you make have to clear customs and recheck.

Last time I flew through Frankfurt, the immigration officer looked at the outside cover and saw US passport and waved me through without even looking inside.

[peezey 0]

Last time I flew through Frankfurt, the immigration officer looked at the outside cover and saw US passport and waved me through without even looking inside.

Sorry, I did leave this out of my response...this is exactly what's happened to me going through Paris every time for years.

[Henia 11]

Melly, if you book your flight straight throu...you need not worry about your baggage, buuuut if you leave the secure areas...like go downstairs to the shopping areas, McD's and the supermarket in Frankfurt then they will check your passport...but no stamp...and recheck you when you reenter the secure areas...but that is all you need worry about.

On coming back, the procedure is more strict...you have 2 checkpoints to go through...if you like I can explain more in a PM.

Also if you are US passport holder, you need NO visas in any EU country... and usually for transit when you donnot leave the secure areas generally in most airports visa not required.

Edited December 17, 2006 by Henia

[melly 0]

Thanks everyone. I guess I don't have anything much to worry about. I think the time between flights is fairly short, well, a few hours, so I'm not sure that I'll leave the "secure" areas. Though I may. I almost wish there was a longer time between flights. I've been wanting to go to Germany for years.

[peezey 0]

Thanks everyone. I guess I don't have anything much to worry about. I think the time between flights is fairly short, well, a few hours, so I'm not sure that I'll leave the "secure" areas. Though I may. I almost wish there was a longer time between flights. I've been wanting to go to Germany for years.

You should do it! It's normally not a huge fee to change your flight, especially if you will take the same flight number but a couple days later.

[cbd2cai 0]

Thanks everyone. I guess I don't have anything much to worry about. I think the time between flights is fairly short, well, a few hours, so I'm not sure that I'll leave the "secure" areas. Though I may. I almost wish there was a longer time between flights. I've been wanting to go to Germany for years.

Yep, I've never had any problems in Frankfurt. I don't leave the secure areas because there isn't really anything that I need . . . I bring snacks and water (try to get a bottle in the airport if you cant bring thru security) so I don't have to change any money . . . and if there is time, I go shopping in duty free . . . chocolate in either direction, hehe. And I always have a book to read because I do have to sit awhile. Usually the flights on Lufthansa, to and from DFW/Cairo, are 2 - 4 hours apart so there isn't much time to fuss will running around. There is time to wash your face and brush your teeth if you didn't do it before leaving the plane.

Relax, melly! Everything will be fine . . . if you have any other questions, PM me . . . I am an old hand on the Dallas-Frankfurt-Cairo run . . . and a few other international destinations in the past year.

Catherine

[ya falaha! 0]

I had a layover in Frankfurt my first trip to Egypt. *Gulp*...I didn't even go through security before getting on the plane to Egypt. I guess they don't give a ####### what happens on the way to or upon arrival in Egypt.

[doodlebug 3]

I had a layover in Frankfurt my first trip to Egypt. *Gulp*...I didn't even go through security before getting on the plane to Egypt. I guess they don't give a ####### what happens on the way to or upon arrival in Egypt.

niiiiiiice!!! lol

[rclouse 0]

As long as you don't leave the airport it should be much like changing planes here in the US. In Paris-CDG if you move from one terminal to another (still within CDG) you do have to go through a security chack at the next terminal, just passport/boarding pass/metal detector/carryon X-ray. Madrid-Barajas doesn't though. So YMMV.

[cbd2cai 0]

As long as you don't leave the airport it should be much like changing planes here in the US. In Paris-CDG if you move from one terminal to another (still within CDG) you do have to go through a security chack at the next terminal, just passport/boarding pass/metal detector/carryon X-ray. Madrid-Barajas doesn't though. So YMMV.

It is the same in Frankfurt. On the way from US thru Frankfurt, you don't go thru additional security because you don't have to leave the terminal. When coming back, the departures to the US are all out of one terminal and you go thru separate security to get into that terminal. At that time, you are also having to walk all over the place to get to the tram/train which takes you to the U.S. departures terminal. That has been my experience at least the last 2 times that I went to Cairo and I guess it could be different on other airlines . . . these were all Lufthansa flights. Of course, the part I don't like, is when they park the plane further out from the terminal and you have to walk down those steep metal stairs to get to the ground and board buses to the terminal . . . so much fun when it is winter and snowing outside!!

Disclaimer: I could always be completely mis-remembering . . . it has been 9 months since the last time I went. And procedures do change . . . . for security reasons, they might have changed a lot in that time. So flier beware!!

[melly 0]

Thanks again to everyone who has replied. Lots of great information. What a great community, always willing to share to help others.