Nothing helpful to add except a recommendation of Frankfurt because it helps our economy, and a Douglas Adams quote (mainly inspired by Heathrow, I think):
If you can avoid Heathrow, do so. It’s always a nightmare.
Rather similar is the Otis Lee Crenshaw song, Death Row Blues…‘I’m taking that long walk, to the seat where they strap you in, knowing that I’m gonna see my mom and dad again’…‘no, wait, it’s Heathrow Blues’. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be on Youtube.
Hehe. Everything I was going to say, said for me. Excellent.
(happy sigh) I adore Heathrow. So much of travel is mind-numbingly safe and one dependably waits for more time than planned, rather than less.
Going through Heathrow, on the other hand, is a golden opportunity to remember that you’re alive in the middle of a grueling trip. A quick adrenaline rush when you realize that you don’t know precisely what terminal you’re going to and neither do they; a couple miles of walking to get to the little buses; a breath of fresh air as you get on the bus and another as you get off; time to collect your thoughts as you go through security again; another brisk mile’s walk and then five blinding minutes in the glitter and designer glory of the terminal before, whoops! They figured out what gate your connection is at, and it’s boarding NOW, and you’ve got another mile of walking to do.
It’s brilliant. I know that I’ve written this satirically, but… I do enjoy the confusion. I always go through Heathrow if I can.
Every time I’ve gone through Heathrow, the experience has been bad, somehow. Often it involves running through the terminals.
I only had one problem with Frankfurt. They didn’t post what gate your flight was going out of until 1 hour before the flight. So I couldn’t go to the gate direct from my other flight.
I second this. It is an extremely efficient and well-run airport.
That is so funny!!! I agree with the rest of the thread respondents: Frankfurt is much better as a transit airport. If you have time to explore, you can find almost anything you’d want to buy. Try to find the supermarket!
I’ve flown through Frankfurt twice, both delightful experiences. Flown through Heathrow many times, and always ran into some problem, from insane overcrowding (I’ve eaten lunch literally standing, literally in the aisle) to flights delayed without any notice of the new terminal until the last minute.
Frankfurt over Heathrow, of course.
Frankfurt isn’t a treat, though. I get in from Dubai (a real nice airport and a breeze to get through. Too bad neither Frankfurt or Heathrow can follow this example) and am in the ‘B’ area. I check which gate I’m boarding on (Bxx) and, only by chance, I decide to leave the lounge early to do some shopping. Shopping is typical airport fare in that everything there is the super expensive (again unlike the Dubai airport where the price difference between what you can buy in a mall and in the airport is only minimal), so I wander over to the gate. Little did I suspect that even though I am in the same bloody terminal and meters away from duty free, I have to pass through another security check! WTF! They are security check mad in Frankfurt. For no apparent reason they make you pass through them even though to get into the bloody airport you had to go through one earlier. I think it is a scam myself. They trick you into buying something at the duty free then confiscate it at the security check to put it back on the shelf to sell it to the next unsuspecting sucker. Bastards!
I generally prefer Frankfurt over Heathrow. The sole exception is if you are wealthy or flying on someone else’s money in Business or First Class. Then Heathrow has much nicer club rooms – German efficiency is true, German comfort is not always a consideration.
I used to fly from Frankfurt to Saudi via Heathrow even though I lived in Frankfurt. I hated Lufthansa long haul flights that much.
One vote for Heathrow (or at least a tie). I transited Heathrow on a Chicago to Prague flight a week ago. Arrived at terminal 3, departed from 5. Didn’t have to remove shoes or take the laptop out of the case in London - very easy 30 time from arrival gate to departure gate.
Uzi, were you connecting Dubai --> Frankfurt --> somewhere in the United States? That extra security check is necessitated by the USA, not ze Germans? I can’t recall anywhere else in Frankfurt airport which they do that. Even that is post-9/11, it wasn’t like that previously. Frankly, anyone who could sneak past German security is going to have a breeze getting past TSA trained personnel, in my opinion.
Also, for shopping in Frankfurt, yes, stuff is euro priced and mostly not worthwhile. Some exceptions exist outside of security if someone has a REALLY long layover, and I think that inside the security perimeter of Terminal A there is also a Beate Use (sp?) porn store, which is kind of unique for an airport. Also, the beer there is quite decent. There is a nice little market in the basement level of Frankfurt airport, outside of security, between the baggage level and the subway level.
One other thing, if anyone is flying in to Frankfurt and needs to take the D-Bahn trains, the longer distance trains are outside and up, not down. I found that a little confusing the first time or two when they put it in. Won’t apply for Flodnak, though.
FWIW I am flying Tampa --> Charlotte --> Frankfurt later today, then taking the train down to Stuttgart. Wave if you see me. Yes, I’ll be on USAirways, so hopefully we don’t land on the Main River or anywhere else on the water.
The last time my brother flew USAirways from his home in Cincinnati to Zurich, he ended up having to rent a car to drive from Washington to Cincinnati (12 hours) after USAirways routed him via Washington onto a non-existent Air France flight.
Just be sure you don’t end up having to drive from Lisbon to Amsterdam on your Oslo-Philly itinerary. 
No, Canada. It is the first time I’ve had to go through that gate in 8 years of monthly travel through that airport. Normally, even after 9-11 we’ve gone through the regular ‘B’ section with no extra security checks. It now seems standard to hit that stupid section of ‘B’. They then put you on the worst configured buses to take you to the plane. The buses are designed for people with no bags and are narrow. They also pack you into the bus like sardines. In the past, before Terminal 3 opened in Dubai and most planes dock now, a bus trip was pleasant (other than the heat in the summer) because the buses are wide and don’t have seats in rows, but rather alone the sides in regard to people with carry-on baggage. Not some half-assed tour bus like the Germans have.
They also have extra security checks to get into the ‘D’ section now that that is open. Not much of a pain because I have a couple of hours on the way to Dubai and they have excellent lounges there, not the packed ones like in ‘B’ wing. I just don’t understand the extra need for security checks once you are already past the one to get into the building in the first place. I really think they are deliberately there to inconvenience travelers, rather than to ensure planes are secure. There is no rational otherwise.
The last time I went through Heathrow I had to run from one gate to another in order to make my flight. I only just made it.
We lost our cats (the wife’s cats) at Frankfurt one time. Boy, that was a fun day. Not really the airport’s fault, more the carrier. We went to the airport proper to retrieve the cats and they weren’t there. Then we spent the rest of the day driving around all the outlying buildings trying to track down who had the cats. The wife got really frazzled towards the end of the day and burst into tears. “My cats are gone!” I reassured her they had to be someplace. It was starting to get dark when we found the animal import/export place the cats ended up in, and got them home. The people at the animal import place were dicks though. We could see them sitting there at their desks with the door locked and refusing to answer the door because, well, I don’t know why. When they didn’t feel like being open, they weren’t open. They made us stand around for a loooong time and made us jump through all kinds of official document hoops, and the documents were always not quite right, or didn’t have the fucking Federal Chancellor’s signature.
While there I had a nice chat with a German gentleman who was there importing exotic tropical fish. He said they’re always like that.
Ok, very, very fresh info on Frankfurt airport: it’s got a lot of little construction projects going on and they moved around several places (or eliminated/replaced them) that I used to use as landmarks. Getting in from immigration and customs was actually easier than normal since we flew into Terminal C, which is not the main international terminal (that’s D & E), but getting around was a bit more complicated than previous. Still not as bad as I recall Heathrow can be.