Practical Travel Safety Issues - Connecting flights in Europe

I'm a US Citizen flying from London to Madrid via Frankfurt on Lufthansa (BC). Do I need to clear customs in Frankfurt? It's been years since I've had a connecting flight in Europe. I'm trying to figure out if 55 mins is enough connection time or if I should opt for a 2+ hour connection.

You don't do customs in FRA nor do you see any checked luggage (LH would check it throough). However, AFAIK England isn't in Schengen, so there would be passport control and I would assume airport security. FRA is a large and somewhat confusing airport while London can be prone to delays, so I would be more comfortable with two hours than fifty-five minutes.

However, a better option on LH might be to connect through MUC, which is very pleasant and efficient.

You don't do customs in FRA nor do you see any checked luggage (LH would check it throough). However, AFAIK England isn't in Schengen, so there would be passport control and I would assume airport security. FRA is a large and somewhat confusing airport while London can be prone to delays, so I would be more comfortable with two hours than fifty-five minutes.

However, a better option on LH might be to connect through MUC, which is very pleasant and efficient.

MSPeconomist, sorry, but I'm not sure what you mean by AFAIK isn't in Schengen... Otherwise, good to know about FRA. I had a pleasant experience connecting in MUC before, so I think I will try that, with a 2 hour layover. Thanks!

The Schengen treaty allows, normally, for travel between member countries with no immigration checks at borders/airports (usually no customs checks either).

So one can fly or drive from FCO to FRA to CDG to MAD on just an ID card. Never any immigration checks.

The United Kingdom and Ireland are not part of this travel treaty scheme so one must clear passport control (same on Eurostar or boats) on these flights.

You will not pick up bags at FRA but you will go through an immigration control booth.

I am guessing you want the miles or really like the Biz class because that is a bit of a backtrack to get from London to Madrid via FRA

55 minutes is doable, but you will not have time for beer and pretzels or anything. If your inbound flight is delayed have a back-up plan.

MUC is nicer, with good lounges and food and drink offerings IMO

I'm a US Citizen flying from London to Madrid via Frankfurt on Lufthansa (BC). Do I need to clear customs in Frankfurt? It's been years since I've had a connecting flight in Europe. I'm trying to figure out if 55 mins is enough connection time or if I should opt for a 2+ hour connection.

You are asking about clearing IMMIGRATION and not Customs, correct? (Think of immigration as people and customs as items, in a simplistic fashion.) They are two different things.

At FRA queues for passport control can vary, but generally I don't see more than about 20 people in the non-EU resident queue at a time. Often there are additional lanes open but people don't see them, either to the far left or right. And they are quite good about opening more lanes if required.

MUC is much easier for connections than FRA, but I would read the long FRA connections thread here on FT. I generally like the longer FRA connections so that I can make use of the lounges, even if I don't need to worry about immigration. 55 minutes would be short, unless you get lucky with a bus gate and get dropped off near your connecting gate.

I'm a US Citizen flying from London to Madrid via Frankfurt on Lufthansa (BC). Do I need to clear customs in Frankfurt? It's been years since I've had a connecting flight in Europe. I'm trying to figure out if 55 mins is enough connection time or if I should opt for a 2+ hour connection.

Since Germany will be first point of Entry in EU/Schelngen or whatever it is called, you'll do immigration there.

I just connected through FRA a few days ago:
MAD-FRA( Lffthsansa)
FRA-YYZ (Air Canada).

All I can say is, it is a HUGE airport and I had a 55 minute connection. I hauled (speed walked/ran) and arrived at my connecting flight just as boarding commenced. Since I was leaving out of EU I did some sort of quick passport check in FRA, took 2 seconds.

Don't dilly dally. Get immigration done and haul!

The real question is why not fly direct? There is not a shortage of LON-MAD flights.

At FRA you would have to clear passport control and security, but not customs. You would do customs in MAD (although as you will have EU-tagged baggage with green edged tags, you go through the blue channel and are basically exempt).