Amsterdam airport…any updates

[midwestchick]

We'll be flying home on the 10th and I understand how bad things are at the Amsterdam airport. Supposedly we have to be there 4  hours before our flight. Have things gotten any better or are they still struggling with a lack of staff?

Edited August 2, 2022 by midwestchick

[blag]

6 minutes ago, midwestchick said:

We'll be flying home on the 10th and I understand how bad things are at the Amsterdam airport. Supposedly we have to be there 4  hours before our flight. Have things gotten any better or are they still struggling with a lack of staff?

Check the airport web site. They don't want passengers arriving too early! 

[norn iron]

7 minutes ago, midwestchick said:

We'll be flying home on the 10th and I understand how bad things are at the Amsterdam airport. Supposedly we have to be there 4  hours before our flight. Have things gotten any better or are they still struggling with a lack of staff?

On a visit to the dentist yesterday we were comparing travel and airline difficulties.

Our AZ cruise in June had 5 flight amendments and delayed baggage for 5 days on the return leg.

 

My dentist returned home from Athens, via Amsterdam and her bags have not been returned/forwarded after two weeks. Her husband's and children's bags were received after three days.

She cannot claim on her insurance until the bags have been missing for three full weeks. 

 

I also heard on Saturday of a traveller from Belfast who had returned home via Heathrow and not received their bags for three days. In frustration he then booked a flight back to Heathrow were he approached the luggage desk and proved he could find his bags with the use of Apple AirTags which he had in his luggage.. He was escorted in the baggage area were he retrieved his bags and the rebooked them in for the return flight to Belfast and they made the Belfast bound flight.

Its a lot of effort to get your bags back. 

[uktog]

Although it doesn’t speed up your bags I’d go to Apple in Amsterdam and get AirTags. At least you’d know where your bags are then. 
check in lines are horrendous but no point in going before the check in for your flight opens 

[excitedofharpenden]

I’m in Amsterdam right now. We flew in on Monday. Schipol was a zoo to arrive at. Immigration was very bad and as UK voted to leave the EU that didn’t help either. Allow plenty of time. It took us 45 minutes to fly in and an hour and a half to get out of the airport.. 
 

I totally 👍 uktog's suggestion. If you have an iPhone and can use Airtag then do. It helped us as they sent us to the wrong belt. Chaos from start to finish. Loving Amsterdam though. Go and have a stroopwaffel at this place. They are the best!

 

Phil 

[wjfan417]

1 hour ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I’m in Amsterdam right now. We flew in on Monday. Schipol was a zoo to arrive at. Immigration was very bad and as UK voted to leave the EU that didn’t help either. Allow plenty of time. It took us 45 minutes to fly in and an hour and a half to get out of the airport.. 
 

I totally 👍 uktog's suggestion. If you have an iPhone and can use Airtag then do. It helped us as they sent us to the wrong belt. Chaos from start to finish. Loving Amsterdam though. Go and have a stroopwaffel at this place. They are the best!

 

Phil 

We arrive Friday morning. How did you get from the airport to central Amsterdam?

[midwestchick]

2 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I’m in Amsterdam right now. We flew in on Monday. Schipol was a zoo to arrive at. Immigration was very bad and as UK voted to leave the EU that didn’t help either. Allow plenty of time. It took us 45 minutes to fly in and an hour and a half to get out of the airport.. 
 

I totally 👍 uktog's suggestion. If you have an iPhone and can use Airtag then do. It helped us as they sent us to the wrong belt. Chaos from start to finish. Loving Amsterdam though. Go and have a stroopwaffel at this place. They are the best!

 

Phil 

 

2 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I’m in Amsterdam right now. We flew in on Monday. Schipol was a zoo to arrive at. Immigration was very bad and as UK voted to leave the EU that didn’t help either. Allow plenty of time. It took us 45 minutes to fly in and an hour and a half to get out of the airport.. 
 

I totally 👍 uktog's suggestion. If you have an iPhone and can use Airtag then do. It helped us as they sent us to the wrong belt. Chaos from start to finish. Loving Amsterdam though. Go and have a stroopwaffel at this place. They are the best!

 

Phil 

Nice to see you here Phil. Where is that located?  We have a United direct flight. I hope that makes a difference. I’ll look for the air tags. Where are they located in the airport?

[excitedofharpenden]

2 hours ago, wjfan417 said:

We arrive Friday morning. How did you get from the airport to central Amsterdam?

We got the train from Schipol to the Centraal  railway station. From there and depending upon where you are staying you can get the tram. All very straightforward. Trams go everywhere. Not sure how long you are here. We bought a three day pass for unlimited bus and tram which was good value which included that train journey from the airport. 

 

Phil 

[wjfan417]

18 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

We got the train from Schipol to the Centraal  railway station. From there and depending upon where you are staying you can get the tram. All very straightforward. Trams go everywhere. Not sure how long you are here. We bought a three day pass for unlimited bus and tram which was good value which included that train journey from the airport. 

 

Phil 

Thanks-that’s what I’d been planning to do. Our hotel is only a a couple minutes walk from Muntplein. Any problem with luggage on the trams?

[CynthiaP]

7 hours ago, midwestchick said:

We'll be flying home on the 10th and I understand how bad things are at the Amsterdam airport. Supposedly we have to be there 4  hours before our flight. Have things gotten any better or are they still struggling with a lack of staff?

 We returned home from a Celebrity Apex Baltic sea cruise on July 20. I recently posted the following on the other board in a discussion of only carry-on v.s. checked bags. I would emphasize is that we flew United out of Chicago and both arriving and departing the plane is parked away from the terminal and we were transported by bus from the terminal to the plane so you need to use a staircase. You cannot arrive at the airport more than 4 hours before your flight. They check on this when you enter the terminal. I don't recall at arrival the Passport control line to be so very long that it made an impression. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to help.

 

We're Schiphol survivors, too! We returned home last week from an Apex Baltic cruise that sailed out of Amsterdam. When we arrived In Amsterdam and walked through baggage claim (with our carryons and backpacks) it was shocking to see luggage lining the walls about 6-7 bags high all the way around. When we departed at Schiphol you almost couldn't get into the terminal there were so many people waiting to go through check-in. We had our boarding passes on our phones, so we only needed to find the opening to security (priority access which cut down on time) and then passport control. It only took us 1:15 to get to the gate.

 

A downside to traveling light is that the plane was parked away from the terminal, so we deplaned and boarded via a staircase. Robert takes the two carryons and I take the two backpacks and in a minute or so we're on board. It's good exercise!

[excitedofharpenden]

2 hours ago, wjfan417 said:

Thanks-that’s what I’d been planning to do. Our hotel is only a a couple minutes walk from Muntplein. Any problem with luggage on the trams?

Our hotel is right outside the Muntplein stop (tram 24). Google Maps is your friend. We had no issues with the luggage. We have one large suitcase and two good size backpacks. Amsterdam is not a big city and easily navigated. Enjoy!

 

Phil 

[excitedofharpenden]

1 hour ago, CynthiaP said:

 We returned home from a Celebrity Apex Baltic sea cruise on July 20. I recently posted the following on the other board in a discussion of only carry-on v.s. checked bags. I would emphasize is that we flew United out of Chicago and both arriving and departing the plane is parked away from the terminal and we were transported by bus from the terminal to the plane so you need to use a staircase. You cannot arrive at the airport more than 4 hours before your flight. They check on this when you enter the terminal. I don't recall at arrival the Passport control line to be so very long that it made an impression. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to help.

 

We're Schiphol survivors, too! We returned home last week from an Apex Baltic cruise that sailed out of Amsterdam. When we arrived In Amsterdam and walked through baggage claim (with our carryons and backpacks) it was shocking to see luggage lining the walls about 6-7 bags high all the way around. When we departed at Schiphol you almost couldn't get into the terminal there were so many people waiting to go through check-in. We had our boarding passes on our phones, so we only needed to find the opening to security (priority access which cut down on time) and then passport control. It only took us 1:15 to get to the gate.

 

A downside to traveling light is that the plane was parked away from the terminal, so we deplaned and boarded via a staircase. Robert takes the two carryons and I take the two backpacks and in a minute or so we're on board. It's good exercise!

They told us belt 19 at the start. That changed to 18. There was luggage everywhere, waiting for people who'd taken ages to get through immigration. Eventually the luggage came off belt 15. The Apple Airtag did at least tell us it was near!  

 

Phil 

[excitedofharpenden]

4 hours ago, midwestchick said:

 

Nice to see you here Phil. Where is that located?  We have a United direct flight. I hope that makes a difference. I’ll look for the air tags. Where are they located in the airport?

Hi Nancy. You need to buy the Airtags yourself, probably the Apple Store in Amsterdam is your best bet. I have three. They have come in very useful!

 

Phil 

[boxman52]

7 hours ago, wjfan417 said:

We arrive Friday morning. How did you get from the airport to central Amsterdam?

I've worked in Amsterdam for the last 8 years flying in from UK weekly

Last 2 weeks I breezed through the airport. 

A lot depends on your timing on how long your wait will be . They are meant to have started 500 more staff last week 

Amsterdam is really easy to get around get a pass/ticket from the yellow & blue machines at the airport

Use buses, teams, metro & trains by using Google maps. Tap in & out with your ticket. At the airport they are stands by the downward escalator before you go down to the platform

Central is always from platform 1,2 or 3 at the airport

If you are not going to stay near Central the airport express bus 397 is very good. Take a look on Google Maps if that is better for your hotel. I think with bags it's better to get the bus than arrive at Central & try & get the right track outside with cases. Unless you are staying nearby at the front 

The number of the bus stop per bus is shown on screens outside the airport. 397 is out and to the right furthest stop

It's more straight forward than it sounds 

Finally under no circumstances take a taxi from anyone standing outside shouting taxi. They are bad people

The taxi stand is directly ahead when you exit the terminal by the bus stops. There is an organised queue. If someone takes your cases & crosses the roads stop & get your cases back

 

[midwestchick]

3 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Hi Nancy. You need to buy the Airtags yourself, probably the Apple Store in Amsterdam is your best bet. I have three. They have come in very useful!

 

Phil 

We are staying at the Swissotel.  Maybe they can direct me there. How long are you in Amsterdam? I’ve been trying to get Anne Frank tickets but it only shows me September. 
If you are there next week would love to connect and buy you a drink. We’re finally doing our Norway cruse…the weather is much different than your last trip. 

[excitedofharpenden]

17 hours ago, midwestchick said:

We are staying at the Swissotel.  Maybe they can direct me there. How long are you in Amsterdam? I’ve been trying to get Anne Frank tickets but it only shows me September. 
If you are there next week would love to connect and buy you a drink. We’re finally doing our Norway cruse…the weather is much different than your last trip. 

We are here until tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

 

Phil 

[midwestchick]

18 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

We are here until tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

 

Phil 

We definitely will. We’ve enjoyed it so far and many pax are really nice, kind and friendly.  
If you fly home from Amsterdam let us know how the airport is.

[excitedofharpenden]

3 hours ago, midwestchick said:

We definitely will. We’ve enjoyed it so far and many pax are really nice, kind and friendly.  
If you fly home from Amsterdam let us know how the airport is.

We are getting the Eurostar home. Very simple for me as I can get the train all the way home. Fingers crossed it's simpler. I won't miss flying, but it ain't cheap. 

 

Phil 

[midwestchick]

1 hour ago, excitedofharpenden said:

We are getting the Eurostar home. Very simple for me as I can get the train all the way home. Fingers crossed it's simpler. I won't miss flying, but it ain't cheap. 

 

Phil 

Lucky you. I hate these long flights to the US.

[FlyerTalker]

On 8/2/2022 at 10:41 AM, CynthiaP said:

A downside to traveling light is that the plane was parked away from the terminal, so we deplaned and boarded via a staircase.

 

Note that remote stands are the exception at AMS.  I'd say that 95+% of flights use a jet bridge, if not more.

[jstrutton]

We are connecting through Amsterdam later this fall from Rome.  I’m hoping that we will not have any of these issues since we are just connecting through.  We have a 2.5 hour layover.  
 

jay

[wjfan417]

We got through the airport today with all luggage making it-took less than an hour from landing to leaving airport.. Very easy to take the train from the airport to the city and transfer to the tram to get to our hotel.

 

Diana

[Nippy Sweetie]

Glad to hear that @wjfan417. We were getting worried about our transfer via Amsterdam in October. Enjoy your trip.

[midwestchick]

1 hour ago, wjfan417 said:

We got through the airport today with all luggage making it-took less than an hour from landing to leaving airport.. Very easy to take the train from the airport to the city and transfer to the tram to get to our hotel.

 

Diana

That is truly wonderful

news. Does it feel as if there are enough staff now 

[uktog]

1 hour ago, midwestchick said:

That is truly wonderful

news. Does it feel as if there are enough staff now 

Arriving and departing are very different experiences. Departure yesterday our neighbour who had fast track business was 45 minutes to check in, 30 minutes at the border queue to get his passport stamped and 30 minutes in the fast track security line. He reckoned the other line was double that. It’s not for the faint hearted!