ees

The lines can be long or they can be quite efficient. No way to predict in advance.

It sounds like your biggest concern is Luggage Security in the pick up area. Here is where an ounce of prevention pays off. Keep everything essential to your trip with you in your carryon. Your documents, your medicine, 2 changes of clothes, any durable medical equipment. While no one wants a bag with their clothing, etc, to disappear, such a rare occurrence is survivable if you have the essentials in your carryon.

Another strategy if you are traveling with another person is to cross pack. Put some of each of your clothes in each checked bag. If one goes missing, at least both of you will have some options. I can attest that when checking two bags at the same time, they almost never come out on the luggage belt on arrival at anywhere close to the same time! One would be sure to make it through.

Now if the airline misplaces your bag that is a different story, but these precautions should help there too.

Hi there, there's a LOT written about EES on the Forum, you can use the search bar on the home page, or what I've pulled up here specifically about baggage -
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/extremely-long-immigration-delays-and-checked-luggage.

There is no way to predict based upon past experience how long of a wait you might have in Zurich, but it's unlikely to be as long as has been the case in some other airports. Your luggage will be waiting for you.

This is a more general search - https://search.ricksteves.com/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=EES+luggage&button=

I went to Zurich in June. EES for entry took about 35 minutes. On my way out, passport checks took 45 minutes.

No worries about luggage. Unlike US airports, non-passengers cannot gain access to the luggage retrieval area. Therefore, it's less likely that your bags will get stolen.

Our EES for entry in June took 1h 20m. As Carol says , there's really no way to predict.