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I have 2 different tickets where I would be flying into Munich Airport Terminal 2 at 7:55am on Singapore Airlines and transiting to a 12:45pm Lufthansa flight to Rome. I would like to know if there is a way for me to check in my luggage after collecting them within the secured area. Or do I need to go out of the secured area and check in the luggage separately.

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This comes down to whether Singapore Airlines is able to check your bags through despite the two separate tickets. They are not required to do so under Star Alliance rules, but they're generally known to be on the more generous side, compared to some airlines that will absolutely refuse to do it. Make sure you have all the ticket information for your Lufthansa flight, present it to the Singapore agent at check-in, and ask nicely if your bags can be checked through. If the agent is unsure how to do it, perhaps ask if there is someone else who can help.

If they cannot check your bags through, you'll have to go through immigration in Munich, pick them up in baggage claim, take them through customs, check them in at the counter, then go through airport security. This shouldn't be a huge problem though, as you have a fair amount of time if your flight is not significantly delayed. For this itinerary, you'll have to go through Schengen immigration and airport security in Munich whether you need to recheck bags or not, so these are largely steps you'd be doing anyway, just not in the transit area; the only additional steps are the stop at baggage claim and the ticket counter, plus the walks in between.

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    Note that you are much more likely to (temporarily) lose your baggage if you check it through like this. The airlines/handlers are pretty good at getting checked luggage onto the right plane and off it again. Transferring it to a different plane is much easier to get wrong.
    – Martin Bonner supports Monica
    Commented May 24, 2017 at 8:17
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I would like to know if there is a way for me to check in my luggage after collecting them within the secured area. Or do I need to go out of the secured area and check in the luggage separately?

If you have to recheck your bags, there's no way to avoid leaving the secure area of the airport. You have to go through customs, recheck your bag, and then go through security to get to the gate. Here's an image of the Terminal 2 baggage claim area, taken from the interactive map on the airport's website, showing that all roads lead through customs:

Munich airport, Terminal 2, baggage claim exit signs

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To be precise: Luggage pickup is already outside the secured area, so if you have to recheck your luggage, you have to leave the secured area before you collect it.

Even if your luggage can be checked through, I would consider leaving the secured area if you have almost 5 hours in transit. At Munich airport, everything (eateries, shops) within the secured area is very expensive. Outside the secured area, there are also many shops, even grocery stores and a baker and several places to eat, with a more or less normal price level.

In terminal 2, Lufthansa has self-service check-in and bag drop kiosks, usually with no waiting time at all. Security check is also usually very swift, with rarely more than 5-10 minutes waiting time. Walking distances are also unusually short. When you come out of the luggage pickup area, you are on the floor immediately below the check-in area. Take the escalator one floor up and there are just a few minutes walk past to the check-in kiosks and security, before you are back in the secure departure area.

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    Is baggage claim really "outside the secured area"? The only people who can reach it are passengers leaving the gate area and authorized personnel.
    – phoog
    Commented May 24, 2017 at 19:13
  • @phoog If we with 'secured area' both mean the area of the airport, which you enter after security control of yourself and your hand luggage, then yes, the pickup area for checked luggage must obviously be outside the 'secured area'. If not, it would be trivial to bring items allowed in checked luggage, but not in hand luggage onto the plane.
    – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
    Commented May 24, 2017 at 20:29
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    Which is, I suppose, why one cannot pass directly back into the departure area from the baggage claim. It still seems rather more secure than the area containing the check-in desks.
    – phoog
    Commented May 24, 2017 at 20:52
  • @phoog Sorry, but I can't follow your understanding or interpretation of the word 'secure'. Yes, the luggage pickup area is on most airports not accessible to arbitrary visitors, just as the platforms on many train stations or many office buildings. I don't understand why that should make the area more secure than any other part of the airport. If you have your gun and ammunition in checked luggage, there is noone preventing you from wreak havoc after picking up your bags.
    – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
    Commented May 24, 2017 at 21:53
  • @ Tor- Einar Jarnbjo secure areas are beyond the security check points. Therefore after customs you cannot re enter the building by which you exit. On the mention of gun and ammunition. Those are things you CANNOT check in your luggages even if they are licensed. Unless the screeners are sleeping or working with you.
    – user91470
    Commented Jan 31, 2019 at 7:37

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