For John · private

Frankfurt airport, step by step

Your flights (United e-ticket I4XXSC): UA 926 SFO 19:25 Mon → FRA 15:15 Tue 20 Oct. Then XQ 3541 (SunExpress, booked on the United ticket) FRA 08:10 Wed 21 Oct → Dalaman 12:35. Night at the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport, confirmation 92037613, +49 69 69770.

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Sheraton confirmation

Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel and Conference Center

Confirmation number

92037613

Dates: one night, check in Tue 20 Oct (after UA 926 lands 15:15), check out Wed 21 Oct about 05:30 for XQ 3541 at 08:10.
Hotel times: check-in from 15:00, check-out by 12:00. Your early departure is fine; express check-out works, or just leave the key.
Address: Hugo-Eckener-Ring 15, Flughafen / Terminal 1, 60549 Frankfurt am Main. Indoors from Terminal 1 Hall A over the bridge (see below).
Phone: +49 69 69770
Price: €247 for the night (from our trip notes; the email doesn't show the rate or whether it's prepaid, so expect a card at the desk for incidentals).

Checking in

Front desk (simplest): give your name, passport and confirmation 92037613.
Or mobile check-in in the Marriott Bonvoy app: open from 48 hours before arrival until midnight on Tue 20 Oct. The reservation has to be in the Bonvoy account you check in with. Marriott sent these instructions to Susan, so it's most likely in her account. If it's not in yours, use the front desk.
Mobile Key: once checked in on the app, turn on notifications to get a “room ready” alert, then tap the key to open your room, the gym and the outside doors.

Susan forwarded Marriott's check-in email (19 Oct). It covers mobile check-in and the Mobile Key but has no confirmation number, room type or rate. The number and €247 come from our trip notes. Check-in and check-out times are from Marriott's hotel page.

Before you leave SFO, ask about your checked bag. Both flights are on one ticket, and the gap is under 24 hours, so United may tag your bag straight through to Dalaman (DLM). If you want the bag at the hotel tonight, ask the SFO agent to tag it to FRA only. If it's tagged to DLM, you won't see it in Frankfurt; just pack an overnight kit in your carry-on. Not verified: whether United can through-check onto SunExpress at all. Look at the airport code on your bag tag.

Tue 20: landing → Sheraton (about 45–75 min)

Gate. United uses Terminal 1. Its check-in is in Hall B, so you'll most likely arrive at a B or Z gate, both non-Schengen. The gate isn't known until the day. Coming from the US, you're not yet in the Schengen area.
Follow the yellow signs for “Ausgang / Exit” and “Gepäckausgabe / Baggage claim”. Do not follow “Anschlussflüge / Connecting flights” or “Transfer”. That's the trap: your SunExpress flight is tomorrow, so you're leaving the airport tonight.
Passport control (“Passkontrolle / Border control”). Use the “All passports / Alle Pässe” or “Non-EU” lanes, not “EU/EEA/CH” or EasyPASS. This is your first entry under the EU's new Entry/Exit System (EES), fully running since April 2026, so expect a self-service kiosk first if there is one: scan your passport, photo, four fingerprints. Then go to the officer's desk, where your fingerprints are scanned again. There's no stamp now. Have the Sheraton address and your Turkey flight ready in case they ask. Allow 20–45 minutes.
Baggage claim. Find UA 926 / San Francisco on the screens for your belt number. Baggage carts are free.
Customs (“Zoll / Customs”). Walk through the green “Nichts zu verzollen / Nothing to declare” exit. Red is only for goods over the duty-free limits.
You're in the Terminal 1 arrivals hall (Level 1, the “Ankunft / Arrivals” level, Hall B). Don't go outside to the taxis.
To the Sheraton (about 10–15 min with a bag, all indoors): take the escalator or lift up to Level 2, “Abflug / Departures”. Then walk west to Hall A and follow the signs “Fernbahnhof / Long-distance trains”, “AIRail” and “Hotels”. In Hall A, an escalator leads up to the covered bridge toward the Fernbahnhof / The Squaire. On that bridge, the Sheraton entrance is on the right, next to the “Ditsch” bakery. If you reach the train station or The Squaire, you've gone too far; turn back.

Wed 21: Sheraton → XQ 3541 at 08:10

Leave the room by 05:30 so you're at check-in by 05:45, about 2½ hours before the flight. You leave Schengen tonight, which means another EES check, and early-morning lines can be long.

Check in online first. SunExpress opens online check-in 72 hours before departure and closes it 1 hour before. Mobile boarding passes work. Use the United app, or sunexpress.com with code I4XXSC (or the SunExpress code shown in the United app). You still need the desk for a bag.
Hotel → terminal: go back out the hotel entrance onto the bridge, then left (away from Ditsch and the train station) into Terminal 1, Hall A, Level 2 “Abflug / Departures”. Stay in Terminal 1. Don't take the SkyLine train to Terminal 2 or 3.
SunExpress check-in is Terminal 1, Hall C, Level 2. Walk east through Hall A and Hall B into Hall C, about 10 minutes. The overhead screens list XQ 3541 / Dalaman with its counter numbers.
Security (“Sicherheitskontrolle”). Use the entrance toward the C gates shown on your boarding pass. Liquids go in the 1 L bag.
Exit passport control. Turkey is outside Schengen, so you go through border control again. Use the “All passports” lanes, and there's another EES face and fingerprint check.
Gate. Check the screens, which are labeled “Abflug / Departures”. A C gate is most likely, but that isn't confirmed. Boarding usually closes 20–30 minutes before departure.

If you're lost

Look for the “Info” desks (Fraport Infopoint) in every hall, or ask anyone in a Fraport or airline vest. Say “Sheraton?” or “SunExpress check-in?”. The Sheraton front desk is at +49 69 69770. If you can't tell where you are, look for A / B / C on the signs and stay in Terminal 1.

Small useful things

Free Wi-Fi: network “Airport Frankfurt Free Wi-Fi”. The Sheraton has its own Wi-Fi too.
Euros: bank ATMs (Geldautomat) are in the arrivals hall. Choose “without conversion” / charge in EUR. You already carry €50 for the Istanbul van. Cards work almost everywhere.
Water: refill a bottle at the drinking fountains after security, or buy one at the shops.
Keep your passport in your hand from the gate through customs, and again from check-in to the gate on Wednesday.
Terminal 1 has four levels: 0 trains (Regionalbahnhof), 1 arrivals, 2 departures and check-in, 3 the SkyLine and the bridge. Most wrong turns are on the wrong level.

Sources: Fraport airline pages for United (T1 Hall B; Hall C from 25 Oct) and SunExpress (T1 Hall C), Fraport border control and EES, Sheraton/Marriott directions (Hall A escalator to the bridge, entrance by Ditsch), and the SunExpress check-in rules. Gates and belts are only known on the day.