Dallas to Frankfurt Flights (DFW to FRA): Nonstops, Flight Time and Getting into the City

Nonstop is the normal way to fly this route

Dallas/Fort Worth and Frankfurt are linked by daily nonstops year-round. As of recent schedules, Lufthansa and American both fly the route, which gives you a choice of a Star Alliance or a oneworld departure most days, and United and British Airways sell seats on their partners' flights. Lufthansa has long used some of its largest aircraft on this route, so capacity is generous even in the busy summer months.

One-stop alternatives exist but rarely make sense unless the fare gap is large. The common ones route through London Heathrow on American or British Airways, through Chicago, Newark or Washington Dulles on United, or through Atlanta or New York on Delta with its partners. Each adds three to six hours and a second airport to the day. The exception is if your final destination is elsewhere in Germany; then a routing through Munich on Lufthansa may serve you better than Frankfurt.

Frankfurt itself is the hub for much of Lufthansa's network, so this nonstop is also the natural first leg for travellers heading on to Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Zurich, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, India and parts of Africa.

Flight time and distance

Dallas to Frankfurt is roughly 5,130 miles (about 8,260 km). Eastbound, the nonstop typically takes 9.5 to 10 hours with the jet stream behind you. The return from Frankfurt to Dallas is longer, usually 10.5 to 11.5 hours, flying into the wind.

Eastbound departures leave Dallas in the late afternoon or evening and land in Frankfurt in the morning or around midday the following day. Westbound flights leave Frankfurt around midday or early afternoon and arrive in Dallas in the late afternoon or evening of the same day, so you gain back the day you lost on the way out.

Leaving from Dallas/Fort Worth International

DFW has five terminals connected airside by the Skylink train, which makes connecting from a domestic American flight straightforward. Lufthansa departs from Terminal D, the international terminal. American's Frankfurt flight also normally uses Terminal D, though American moves some international departures to Terminals A or C by season, so confirm on the day.

Terminal D's security lines are longest in the late afternoon when the European bank departs together. Three hours before departure is a sensible target with checked bags; two hours works if you have already checked in online and have only carry-on.

DART's Orange Line light rail reaches Terminal A from downtown Dallas in about 50 minutes; from there the free Skylink takes you airside to D, or the landside Terminal Link shuttle if you still need to check in. From Fort Worth, TEXRail runs to Terminal B. Taxis and rideshares take 30 to 45 minutes from downtown Dallas outside rush hour, and the airport's remote parking lots run frequent shuttles.

Arriving at Frankfurt am Main

Frankfurt Airport has two terminals. Lufthansa and its Star Alliance partners use Terminal 1, with long-haul arrivals from outside the Schengen area usually coming into the Z or B gates; you clear German passport control, then collect your bag in the Terminal 1 arrivals halls. American uses Terminal 2. The two terminals are linked by the free SkyLine people mover and by a shuttle bus, with a journey of a few minutes.

Frankfurt is one of the easiest major airports in Europe to leave by train:

• S-Bahn: lines S8 and S9 run from the Regionalbahnhof beneath Terminal 1 to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof in about 11 to 15 minutes and continue to Hauptwache and Konstablerwache in the city centre. Trains run every few minutes. From Terminal 2, take the SkyLine to Terminal 1 first.
• Long-distance trains: the Fernbahnhof, across a walkway from Terminal 1, has ICE high-speed services to Cologne, Stuttgart, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Basel and beyond. For many travellers this replaces a connecting flight within Germany.
• Taxi: 20 to 30 minutes to the city centre depending on traffic, from the ranks outside each terminal.
• Rental car: all major agencies are on site, and the Autobahn network starts at the airport's door.

Buy an RMV ticket for the S-Bahn from the machines before boarding; a ticket to the city centre covers the airport zone. Frankfurt's Hauptbahnhof is a short walk or one more S-Bahn stop from the banking district and the Römer old town.

When to fly and when to book

Demand on this route runs all year because of business traffic between Texas and Germany, so the usual leisure peaks matter a little less than on holiday routes. Still, late June through August, the Christmas markets in late November and December, Easter and the Oktoberfest weeks in late September and early October, when many Dallas travellers connect on to Munich, are the busiest periods. Frankfurt's own trade fairs, the Frankfurt Book Fair in October and the motor and consumer fairs in other months, fill hotels and push up fares for a week at a time.

May, early June and September have the best weather for the Rhine and the Taunus hills with moderate demand. January and February are cold, grey and quiet, and usually the cheapest months to fly. Book two to four months ahead for summer and the markets, and four to eight weeks ahead the rest of the year.

Entry requirements and documents

Germany is a Schengen country. As of recent rules, US passport holders can visit for short stays without a visa, but the EU is introducing an online pre-travel registration for visa-exempt visitors, so check the official EU and German government sources before you travel. Your passport should be valid for several months beyond your planned departure from Schengen.

If Frankfurt is only a connection on your way to another Schengen country, you clear passport control there and your onward flight is treated as domestic. If you are connecting to a non-Schengen destination, you stay airside and do not enter Germany.

Time zones and jet lag

Frankfurt is on Central European Time, seven hours ahead of Dallas. Both observe daylight saving on different dates, so the gap is briefly six or eight hours in March and around the end of October.

Eastbound, the overnight flight lands in the morning, and the kindest plan is to sleep as much as you can on board, then stay awake until a local evening with a walk along the Main or through the Palmengarten. The return lands you in Dallas in the evening, so you can sleep that night and the westbound jet lag is mild.

What travellers on this route get wrong

The first mistake is booking a tight onward connection at Frankfurt. The airport is large, non-Schengen arrivals have to clear passport control before Schengen flights, and a gate change can mean a long walk or a bus; an hour is the minimum worth considering and 90 minutes is safer. The second is landing at Terminal 2 on American and heading for the trains without realising they leave from Terminal 1. The third is flying on to a German city when the ICE from the airport's own station would have been faster and more comfortable door to door.