Questions and Answers

I need some insight please!

I had planned to travel ORD-DOH-FRA on Qatar Airr, then Ii was going to continue to FRA-ORD on Lufthansa. I intended to do all of this to travel on the ever-more rare 747 with my son who’s never been on one. We did not intend to ever leave the airport(s).Yesterday I was denied boarding by a Qatar manager at ORD because he said Germany would never allow a US citizen to enter Germany, and that was required since I was switching airlines from Qatar to Lufthansa.

In short, based upon my research, I think that Qatar manager was wrong, and he incorrectly put a stop to my eagerly planned venture. I could have indeed remained in the international transit area at FRA after disembarking Qatar and then received a Lufthansa boarding pass in the transit area without ever going through passport control. All of this could be accomplished even in the age of covid.

Any feedback would be much appreciated! I really want to make this trip happen.

I agree with you. I believe the Qatar manager was wrong. Yes, there are restrictions on Americans entering Germany, but you don’t have to do that. Transits are allowed. Right now, per the FRA website, all flights are being handled via Terminal 1. You wont have to enter the country as long as you stay in the transit area. Lufthansa and Qatar are on different concourses in Terminal 1 (so, walking/train/bus), but everything stays airside.

[URL]https://www.frankfurt-airport.com/en/transfer-at-frankfurt-airport/transfer-at-fra.html[/URL]

Good luck, and I hope this helps!

[QUOTE=”RTBones, post: 70459, member: 1686″]I agree with you. I believe the Qatar manager was wrong. Yes, there are restrictions on Americans entering Germany, but you don’t have to do that. Transits are allowed. Right now, per the FRA website, all flights are being handled via Terminal 1. You wont have to enter the country as long as you stay in the transit area. Lufthansa and Qatar are on different concourses in Terminal 1 (so, walking/train/bus), but everything stays airside.

[URL]https://www.frankfurt-airport.com/en/transfer-at-frankfurt-airport/transfer-at-fra.html[/URL]

Good luck, and I hope this helps![/QUOTE]
I appreciate that feedback. In the end the Qatar manager at ORD did not budge and an override from the Qatar station manager in Frankfurt never came. Overall a very disappointing customer service experience, especially since I had the correct information.

We did manage to complete our journey by requiring a re-routing through Istanbul then on to FRA for our 747 journey.