We returned from Munich to the United States on July 14. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10:15 a.m. We arrived at the airport at 7:15 a.m. and barely made our flight. In fact, the airline held the flight for us and about two dozen other customers for about 30 minutes. The first line, the check-in at the airline counter, was about 80 minutes of wait time. Some individuals with only carry-on luggage were pulled out of the line to process separately, but as I watched, they didn't seem to move much faster than we did. We then passed through a security line that was about an hour wait. Finally, we waited at passport control for 25 minutes. We then had to wait for a shuttle out to our airplane.
I'm not sure if we hit an unusually busy morning or if there were other extenuating circumstances at play, but just for what it's worth, three hours may not be enough time for processing through Munich to return to the U.S.
Posted by
RIchmond, BC,Canada
932 posts
Back in 2015 I went through Munich on my way to Venice and almost missed my connecting flight. After getting off the plane I followed the crowd and found myself in a large room full of hundreds of people. I was a little tired so I thought I must be in the wrong place so I backtracked a bit and concluded it was the right place. I just hadn’t seen such an unorganized mess in an international airport. The ‘lineups’ for security check had no signs, no ropes indicating where to stand, and absolutely no staff to answer questions. It took me almost an hour to get through, and the they were calling my name and I had to make a mad dash with my luggage to make the flight. I wasn’t the only one.
Posted by
Almost Heaven
3114 posts
When we just take carry-on we get our tickets over the phone or one of the airport kiosks in order to skip the airline counter. Is that not always possible?
Anyway, for international flights I'd suggest a good 4 hours nowadays. Just take a book or whatever and chill near the gate. Save yourself a lot of unnecessary stress and energy drain.
Funny though as I've considered the Germans to be among the most efficient and well-organized people on Earth.
Posted by
Denver, CO
122 posts
Save time when you get to the airport by using the airline's app to check in and get your boarding pass, so you don't have to wait in line for an agent or at a kiosk. This is assuming that you don't need to check bags, of course.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Hi J.E. Yes, we flew Delta and used the FlyDelta app to check in and get digital boarding passes 24 hours before our flight. The Munich airport employees were directing everyone into the check-in lines prior to going through security. They pulled out some carry-on-only passengers into a second line, but they were processed in the same way. It was just a little quicker for them since they didn't have to have a bag tagged. So I think there must have been something unusual going on that morning, or perhaps, as Anita said, the Munich airport is just a little chaotic.
Posted by
Imperial, Missouri
1002 posts
I’ve connected through, left from and arrived in Munich a few times, and it is not my favorite airport for sure. Last time I arrived there was in 2019 and my experience was exactly as Anita described above. I imagine in these times where most airports are chaotic that Munich would definitely need extra time.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
The last few times I flew out of Munich, I just went up to a kiosk (there was no line), placed my passport on the platten, and it printed my boarding pass - couple minutes at most. I had only carryon, so that was all it took to check in. I was there 2½ hours ahead of flight time and waited at the gate to board for over an hour.
Do they still have the boarding pass kiosks? Was the wait line long? Not waiting 80 minutes to check bags is a great argument for carrying on.
Not much we can do about the security and emigration lines, though.
I've been taking my cell phone with me to Europe just so I can coordinate with my ride when I get back to Denver. I've never needed it over there. I'd hate to think I'm going to have to arrange for cell service every time I go over now, just to get my boarding pass to come home.