I just booked a trip to Germany. I am flying to Berlin through Munich. There is a 30 difference between when I arrive in Munich and leave for Berlin. Am I pretty much guaranteed to miss my flight? Do I have to go through customs in Munich or Berlin?

What is your origin?

USA..

A 30 minute connection involving a large plane sounds like an almost certain miss, period. International just makes it worse.

You go through Immigration at your first point of entry (i.e. Munich). Your baggage gets checked through to Berlin, and you clear Customs there.

Clearing Customs is very much a non-event in the EU (as long as you are not bringing anything on which you have to pay duty). There is no paperwork, you just go through the appropriate channel, and unless you get picked out for a spot check that's it - you don't have to stop and talk to anyone. Arriving from the USA you go through the green channel (as opposed to the blue EU one).

As regards your connection - I haven't connected in MUC for many years (in fact I have never connected at the present airport at all) so I don't know if 30 minutes is enough. It's got to be a legal connection or you wouldn't have been booked on it.

I booked through Orbitz, and didn't realize there was so little time between flights. Assuming I miss the flight, would it be considered my fault? Couldn't they send me on the next availble flight?

Btw, I'm flying US Air, but they transfer the Lufthansa for the Munich to Berlin flight.

Thanks for the replies.

jnash 85, welcome to FlyerTalk! As this is really focused on connections at MUC, please follow as the thread moves to the Travel->Germany forum.

It's a legal connection (I have just checked - minimum connecting time is 30 minutes)

Assuming this is all booked on one ticket you have nothing to worry about - you either make it, or they put you on the next available flight (and the process should be fairly much automatic).

It's very tight, but not impossible to make that connection. MUC is very good for connecting at.

If you don't make it and it's all one ticket, LH will put you on the next available flight to TXL. There are, I think, 14 flights a day.

If it is, as you say, a US Airways to Lufthansa connection on the same ticket, you have nothing to worry about.

Arriving from the US, you will have to pass through immigration and a security check (customs will be at TXL), but MUC's Terminal 2 (which Lufthansa and its partners use) is specially set up for short connections, so that this is enough time for everything under normal circumstances. It usually works a treat.

If your US flight is delayed and you miss your connection because of it, LH will automatically rebook you to one of the many later flights to Berlin.

Welcome to FT!
MUC is set up so that each gate can be used as a Schengen or a non-Schengen gate, so there are different levels -- one for Schengen flights, one for non-Schengen.

When you exit the US flight, head for the center of the terminal along with everyone else, where you will pass through passport control, and before coming down to the baggage area, you will turn right to "connections", pass through the security check along with other departing passengers and head into the Schengen level, where you will then find your gate and board the plane. This is tight, but doable in 30 mins assuming the flight is on time. Otherwise, after passing security head to the customer service center and they'll put you on the next flight.

Thank you all for the responses. I was able to cancel the flight without any major fee's and rebook. I now have a 2 hour layover.

Good for peace of mind, but probably unnecessary.

But if it was (nearly) free, then it's probably a good investment towards keeping your blood pressure in the normal range.