German Customs/Non Stop U.S. Flight

There is a difference between customs and immigration. When you enter the Schengen Zone (Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, et al) for the first time, you will go through immigration (Passport control). From then on, as long as you stay in the Zone, you should not have to go through immigration again. . . . . . . . ¶ Customs is different. You are subject to customs when you recover your luggage. If your luggage is checked through to Munich, you will go through customs after you pick up your luggage from the carousel in Munich. If you have carryon, it might be subject to customs in Frankfurt. However, customs today is a spotcheck kind of thing. There is a lane marked "Nothing to [INVALID]". If you go down that lane, you probably will not be questioned. I have flown into Germany 8 times since Schengen and always gone past customs without a search. . . . . . ¶ To answer your other question, unless you specifically ask to have access to your checked luggage in Frankfurt, you won't see it until Munich (the airport in Munich is heated). If you want to change cloths, have a carryon. . . . . . . ¶ As I wrote this, I somehow knew you were from California. Californians are neurotic about cold weather. My parents were Californians, and one winter they came to Pennsylvania to spend Christmas with their grandchildren. I had to assure them that the pickup at the airport was underground, my car was heated, when I got home I would drive into a heated, integral garage.

Hi Lee..smiles Not only am I a native Californian, but I also live at the beach and surf too. We simply don't get cold weather like you and many others do and this is my chance to wear all the cool warm stuff I have that I never get to wear, but it looks like for the flight over I'll just go local(my hotel is very near the Munich airport)By the way, we aren't as neurotic about cold weather as we are about that water that falls from the sky and lands on our roads making it impossible for us to drive on them..that is absolutely true :) And thanks for the explanation about Passport control and Customs..I remember when I went to Italy in '08 that it was very easy and casual entering the country....it sounds exactly the same for Germany. Thank you

Nothing stops you from changing into warmer clothing once you retrieve your luggage in Munich. You can do that inside the warm airport before you head out. . . . . . This is pretty much what Canadians do when they fly to Mexico in the middle of winter and return to -30 C after a week on the beach ;-)

I used to travel all over CA for business and still make it out there a couple of times per year. My winter strategy for the return trip was to wear a pair of jeans and a long sleeve tee (short-sleeve tee underneath) while carrying a medium weight jacket with me. That way, I was comfortable in CA, didn't have to wear too much, could throw the jacket in the overhead bin with my case, and had enough clothing to survive the arctic blast from the terminal to the car. You could do the same sort of thing and not worry about digging into your luggage for your hip winter clothes until after your arrival at the hotel in Munich. That's what I would do anyway...Germany can be cold and snowy, but Iowa's winter's can be freakin' life-threatening. Happy travels!

If you are on a single ticket, you won't see your checked luggage until you reach your final destination.

I like to pack a scarf or hat at the top of my stuff in my suitcase; I can just reach in and grab it for a little extra warmth. A coat pocket also contains a scarf of ear-warmer.

After checking my ticket/itinerary and seeing its the single kind I guess I'll be seeing my gear in Munich so I'll probably be going casual for the flight over to Frankfurt, where the plane change to Munich only takes an hour, hopefully time enough to get schnitzeled and brewed. Thanks all for your responses....leaving Dec.11

I hate to break it to you, but after going through immigration and security, you'll probably just have enough time to make it to your gate. The schnitzel and beer will have to wait until Munich!

www.frankfurt-airport.com/content/frankfurt_airport/en.html will show the gate assignments by flight number. If both gates are on the same concourse, A-E, you should have no problem. If they are both in Terminal 1 (Concourses A-C) OR Terminal 2 (D,E), pretty easy but you still have to go through security between concourses. If is Terminal 1 (A-C) to/from Terminal 2 (D,E), which is highly unlikely if you are using the same airline, it might be a problem. Since you are going on to Munich, I'm guessing Lufthansa (or another Alliance airline using Lufthansa), it should all be Terminal 1.

Lee... Thanks for that info, I hadn't given a lot of thought to the gate layout yet and yes, I am on a Luftansa 747 from LAX to Frankfurt then getting on an Airbus of some sort that for some reason I can't pick my seats on. And I'm going to do my very best as an American to provide a good economic boost to our good German friends....starting with an airport toast and continuing on to every Christmasmarket I come across....Munich, Nuremberg, Dresden. Hoping to get some photos of Neuschwanstein with some snow around it too. Hey Lee, my little sister lives in Telluride now.....that is one funky airport there, I gotta tell ya.