Customs in Brussels
 

Two weeks and counting until I leave for Berlin, but I'm getting kind of nervous about the customs and my connecting flight from Brussels to Berlin. I only have an hour between flights there and was wondering whether or not I would have to go through customs in Brussels or in Berlin. If someone could please please help me that would be wonderful!! Thanks. :)

You'd go through immigration in Brussels. If you have checked luggage, those will clear through to Berlin.

From what I gathered, Brussels' airport is pretty small, so you should be okay if your plane arrive on time.

Your will go through customs wherever you actually enter the EU (ie. pick up your luggage and leave the transit zone). So, if you have a connecting flight in Brussels, your luggage will probably be checked through to Berlin- you will never see it and you will just sit in the airport building waiting for your connecting flight. So you will NOT go through customs in Brussels, but you may or may not have to go through the immigration in Brussels and that will depend on what terminal you arrive in. More on that below...

In Berlin, you will clear customs (and possibly immigration if you had not done it in Brussels and have arrived as an extra-EU visitor). This should not worry you at all - as an American, you should have no immigration issues and ditto for customs- no problems at all for a tourist visiting briefly (i.e. not living there)...

Actually, Brussels airport is quite LARGE. Maybe not compared to some other airports, but nevertheless can get quite cumbersome. The old terminal (terminal B) is connected to the main building and is quite manageable and short walking-distance. The new terminal (terminal A) is a recently constructed and separate from the main building and it is quite (!) a walk to get to your gate from where the check-in counters are... Now, I know that American flights mostly arrive/depart through B and the European ones from the other terminal. You might quite possibly have to walk quite a bit from one to the other (no luggage though). Depending on their security set-up, you may or may not have to go through an immigration point to get from one building to the other...

They are not going to put your luggage on next plane without you, that is for sure, but they might put you on the next plane without your luggage..I think 1 hr is definitely enough time for you to get to the next gate, and it is probably enough time for airport staff to transfer luggage to next plane. So, just in case, what I do in these scenarios is take my sweet time to get to next gate, do not fret.. I'd only start getting alarmed if they are calling me over PA.:)..If you are real late, the staff of next flight knows to expect you and they do, and if you are not- then there is no issue...

Thank you both for your help. I have actually woken up from nightmares about missing my flight in Brussels because of customs/immigration. I tend to be a worrier when it comes to missing a flight and such. You have calmed my fears immensely and I greatly appreciate it! :)

You pass immigration in Brussel, as stated above.

Transfer between terminal B and last gate of terminal A may take 15/20 minutes, at least, not considering the queue for immigration control !