Clearing Customs...

There are two things your clear and you need to keep them separate and understand the difference -- immigration or passport control and customs. Immigration or checking of your passport for entry into the country - Schengen zone - is the time consuming variable that is unpredictable. That will occur in Amsterdam. Could be 15 minutes or an hour - who knows? Assuming that your luggage is check through to Nuremberg, you will go through customs in Nuremberg. That generally is a simple walk through the "Green Door" -- Nothing to Declare.

You will have to go through security again before boarding the local flight to Nuremberg. While Amsterdam is a very efficient airport, we did recently missed a flight in Amsterdam because the of the lines for both immigration and security were long.

Has something changed at Schipol? I don't recall any further security check when transferring from a transatlantic flight to a Schengen connecting flight, just Schengen Immigration. But it was Jan 2017 when last did this.

After clearing immigration we were outside of security and had to change wings of the airport for our connecting flight on to Paris. And through standard airport security.

Like Frank said it’s variable. For me I only needed to go through immigration. My bag was transferred onto my next flight. Immigration was very quick and then onto my gate. From plane to gate about 30 minutes including a bathroom stop.

Whether or not you have to go back through security could depend on whether or not you change terminals, which could be because you change airlines. With a lot of European airports (Frankfurt, Munich, and Düsseldorf, for example), if you transfer with the same airline you often stay in the same concourse or terminal and don't have to go through security.

I've flown through AMS several times over the last 4 years, most recently a month ago. It's probably worth noting that all my transfers have involved Delta and KLM, except for one round trip this summer that involved Delta and Air Baltic (for KLM-marketed flights). I've never had to pass through security at AMS with the exception of the old at-the-gate security checks on US-bound international flights that have now been eliminated, replaced by the dreaded SSSS random security checks. A year ago, I had a long layover due to a missed connection and walked the entire Schengren area part of the airport and did not encounter any security checks.

Yes, Schipol is really one big terminal with many arms. Schengen passport control is strategically located at a narrow point in the terminal between the Schengen and non-Schengen gate arms.

I don't want to discount Frank's experience, so I've been turning over his security experience in my head. I see two possibilities:

1. I was thinking about metal detectors and placing luggage on belts. I have not experienced anything like that at AMS with a transfer, but there are security interviews that are done for US-bound international flights. At the entry to both the D and E concourses, Delta has a queue for the interviews, which can range from 2-3 questions about whether you packed your own bags to detailed questions about where you've been and why you are headed to the US. After the interview, you get a sticker for your passport that lets you on your flight, as well as a printout with your gate number. The line for that can be quite long depending on the time of day, but there is a Sky Priority line if you happen to be traveling business class or if you are Gold Medallion or higher in Delta's frequent flyer program. That line allows you to breeze through the checkpoint (I fall into the frequent flyer group). That would impact your return trip, but not your transfer headed to Nuremberg.

2. I found a terminal map on the Schiphol website. It looks like there is a "Transfer Security Check" near the G concourse. I've never been to that part of the airport, so I don't know what happens there. It looks like a lot of Middle Eastern carriers (well-known and not-so-well known) use the G gates, so perhaps there is additional security established for those incoming passengers that affects whomever arrives at those gates? Not sure, but gives me something to explore during my 2.5-hour layover at Schiphol in early November. :)