My DH and I are traveling from Charlotte, NC to Rome via Munich, and our preliminary schedule (FF tickets) allow only a 50-minute connection in Munich to catch our flight to Rome.

My question is, do we go through Customs in Munich or Rome, and if it is Munich, are we totally out of luck in terms of connection time?

Thanks.

Depends, if you check in you luggage to go right through to Rome, it'll go through customs in Rome. Your cabin luggage will be checked in Munich (If someone's interested at all in it). If you want to smuggle things into Germany, cabin luggage only and entering via italian airports are a great option.

You will go through customs in Rome, not in Munich.

In Munich you will need to go through immigration and, if I remember correctly, airport security to get to your departure gate.

Lots of folks confuse customs and immigration (passport control)

You will have Immigration in Munich and Customs in Rome. If your plane lands on time you should be fine. But if it is all one ticket it doesn't really matter. If you miss your flight, they will put on the next available flight.

Customs in Munich ARE resonsible for checking you cabin luggage. Plus everything you have on you when entering Germany.

Thanks so much. 50 minutes just didn't sound like much, but hopefully we will land and depart from the international terminal, so we won't have very far to go. I was just shuddering at having to wait for our bags to go through customs and then rechecking them. I don't travel internationally often and can confuse myself very easily with what happens when.

(Dang, Janis, I could have just called you! I wasn't thinking.)

FF tickets are harder than ever to come by. I did have a very helpful agent on the telephone today, and he is holding tickets for our outbound flight, but our return flight dates are not yet up on the schedule. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Thanks again for the prompt replies.

This is what will happen (I've gone through Munich many times):
Your luggage will be checked through to Rome.
Charlotte NC to Munich on Lufthansa - you arrive at Terminal 2 (non-Schengen) and have to go through passport control (quick, painless) and security to the Schengen part of the terminal for your Rome flight. 50 min is usually ample, unless your flight is delayed. They sometimes hold up the connecting flight, unless another flight departs soon. If you miss the 8:50 flight, next one is 10:45.
Munich to Rome on Lufthansa - this is an internal Schengen flight so you arrive at the Schengen section of the terminal, and no further passport check. You pick up your luggage and while nominally you go through customs, there won't be the normal green and red channels because you've come on an internal Schengen flight (though there may be a spot check). If you have anything to declare, you are supposed to contact the customs officer (by phone, say), but otherwise you just walk straight out.

Just make sure that if you have something on or with you in you cabin luggage that needs to be declared at customs that you declare it in Munich. It's the law. There's no arguing about that

logos is correct.
check #5 on this list:

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs...s/index_en.htm

Though, in real life there is no "Customs you go through" in Munich when you transfer while staying airside, just Immigration and Security, in the sense that there would be a Customs checkpoint.

Nevertheless, a Customs officer in Munich would have the right to check your hand luggage if he was interested in it.

There are flights from Munich to Venice every 2hrs, so if you miss one, you and your checked luggage gets on the next. I would no worry.

I didn't even notice your screen name - DUH!

Yep - direct line to the straight skinny