True, often it is... but also depends on the situation. Getting to MUC (or FRA) first and the figure out how to proceed is not a bad thing as you got quite a lot of options from MUC/FRA and a mit of LH staff on the ground.

Calling in or talking to (in the worst case outsourced) outstation agents sometimes leads to not that desirable outcomes.

My first priority is always to get over the pond, then figure out the shorthaul later.