Flight time from Amsterdam question

[krittykat]

Sailing in/out of Rotterdam with a flight from Amsterdam. We have a return flight at 11:15am.  I know it is at least an hour from Rotterdam to Amsterdam. We are taking Holland's transfer from ship to Schipol. 

Is there enough time for us to get off the ship and get through all hoops of check in etc at the airport?

 

[Sir PMP]

No, you won’t make the flight. You need to be no later than 8:30am at the airport which will be congested, the bus to Schiphol probably won’t leave until 9:00am. Try to get a flight after 1:00 pm or spend the night at Schiphol.

[krittykat]

2 minutes ago, Sir PMP said:

No, you won’t make the flight. You need to be no later than 8:30am at the airport which will be congested, the bus to Schiphol probably won’t leave until 9:00am. Try to get a flight after 1:00 pm or spend the night at Schiphol.

That is what I feared. Ok. I can change our tickets to later. I hate feeling pressured so it is better this way

[kirkc]

Agreed. Schiphol is crazy busy at the best of times, let alone in the morning with flights to North America.

[CruiserBruce]

Another negative answer. By the way, this frequently discussed on the Western Europe board.

[cobalt206]

I would spend the night at the airport and catch an early morning flight. The Sheraton Schiphol is connected to the terminal. We just stayed there in June and it was very easy to check out and walk to our flight. 

[Mary229]

18 minutes ago, cobalt206 said:

I would spend the night at the airport and catch an early morning flight. The Sheraton Schiphol is connected to the terminal. We just stayed there in June and it was very easy to check out and walk to our flight. 

And the Hilton is connected also.   I suggest taking one of those tours with airport transfer or stashing your luggage and enjoying Rotterdam before heading to the airport late in the afternoon 

[ghstudio]

1 hour ago, krittykat said:

Sailing in/out of Rotterdam with a flight from Amsterdam. We have a return flight at 11:15am.  I know it is at least an hour from Rotterdam to Amsterdam. We are taking Holland's transfer from ship to Schipol. 

Is there enough time for us to get off the ship and get through all hoops of check in etc at the airport?

 

The airport shuttle bus at Schiphol lets you off in a parking area near the terminal. The luggage is unloaded outside the bus and you take it to the terminal and then to the desk that's checking in your flight.  If it's raining (as happened to our friends), the luggage sits in the rain outside the bus.  It's not exactly well done, in our opinion.  I would suggest arranging a private car that will drop you at the correct terminal if the price isn't outrageous.  We went through Schiphol a couple of weeks ago and we had no issue catching an 11:30 plane, but we docked in Amsterdam.  

 

I join others....I would not want to fly out on a flight before maybe 1PM if coming from Rotterdam.  Stay a night in Amsterdam...actually, stay two nights IN Amsterdam and then fly home.

[Navybikermom]

We took the HAL bus from the Rotterdam terminal to the airport. We barely made our flight due to a long line of people waiting to board the buses, plus the crowded parking lot made it impossible for our bus to even get out until some vehicles were removed. I’ll be taking a taxi next time if I have an early flight. 

[krittykat]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I flew once the Schipol just after the pandemic...it was crazy then but understaffed.

Staying another night isn't an option but I was able to reschedule our flight for 2:50pm. That should give us enough time to get through check in and all that. 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

That would be very tight.

[Navybikermom]

13 hours ago, krittykat said:

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I flew once the Schipol just after the pandemic...it was crazy then but understaffed.

Staying another night isn't an option but I was able to reschedule our flight for 2:50pm. That should give us enough time to get through check in and all that. 

We had a noon flight, so you should be ok. I thought that security in Schiphol moved along pretty well, considering the large crowds, although we only had carryon bags, so it might be different if you have to check a bag. 

[krittykat]

On 9/5/2024 at 5:20 AM, Navybikermom said:

We had a noon flight, so you should be ok. I thought that security in Schiphol moved along pretty well, considering the large crowds, although we only had carryon bags, so it might be different if you have to check a bag. 

Last time at Schipol (2022), we went through the check in/ baggage check quickly. However, we stood for nearly an hour in the passport check line. That was a nightmare. We had enough time but very stressful and many people were missing flights because of that.

[julia]

1 hour ago, krittykat said:

Last time at Schipol (2022), we went through the check in/ baggage check quickly. However, we stood for nearly an hour in the passport check line. That was a nightmare. We had enough time but very stressful and many people were missing flights because of that.

Your passports were checked as you were exiting the country??

[krittykat]

36 minutes ago, julia said:

Your passports were checked as you were exiting the country??

Yes, it is called Passport Control. The countries will monitor both entry and exiting their country.

[VMax1700]

3 hours ago, krittykat said:

Last time at Schipol (2022), we went through the check in/ baggage check quickly. However, we stood for nearly an hour in the passport check line. That was a nightmare. We had enough time but very stressful and many people were missing flights because of that.

 

1 hour ago, julia said:

Your passports were checked as you were exiting the country??

Things had changed last year and it was much easier to clear security and passport control.

Yes, there is passport control as you move to airside and leave Netherlands.

[krittykat]

52 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

 

Things had changed last year and it was much easier to clear security and passport control.

Yes, there is passport control as you move to airside and leave Netherlands.

That was our biggest wait time at Schipol in 2022. The rest was breeze. 

[SDARCH]

On 9/4/2024 at 3:22 PM, Navybikermom said:

We barely made our flight due to a long line of people waiting to board the buses, plus the crowded parking lot made it impossible for our bus to even get out until some vehicles were removed.

It was a nightmare.  I felt bad for those with short connections.  

[SDARCH]

2 hours ago, julia said:

Your passports were checked as you were exiting the country??

Yes.  That way they confirm you do not overstay your time allowed in country without a visa.

[IAcruising]

 

Your problem will be at Schiphol. We got through customs easily, but our bags took forever.

 

It's unlikely you will make a 11:15 flight.

 

[krittykat]

36 minutes ago, IAcruising said:

 

Your problem will be at Schiphol. We got through customs easily, but our bags took forever.

 

It's unlikely you will make a 11:15 flight.

 

Changed our flight to 2:50pm. Too much stress otherwise.

[Zippercat]

We departed through Schiphol on September 7.  As noted above, the new bus drop off is out in the parking lot. No porters or rental push carts when we got there. If you are flying United or American (the two airlines our party used) you must drag your bags from this parking lot drop off to the far end of the terminal.  We won’t be taking the HAL bus next time.

 

Schiphol tip: at the airport’s website you can sign up for a free reserved time to go through their security line (after you’ve checked any checked luggage with your airline, checked in (online or in person) and have a boarding pass).  When we went through very few people were using the option and we got to jump ahead of a very long line of passengers.  
 

You can only sign up a few days before your flight.  We estimated our arrival time at the airport and added 45 minutes (just my guess) for checking bags and getting to the check point. Our HAL bus was about 30 minutes late leaving Amsterdam but it was easy to use my iPhone to change our scheduled time to a later slot.

[IAcruising]

4 hours ago, Zippercat said:

Schiphol tip: at the airport’s website you can sign up for a free reserved time to go through their security line (after you’ve checked any checked luggage with your airline, checked in (online or in person) and have a boarding pass).  When we went through very few people were using the option and we got to jump ahead of a very long line of passengers.  

 

That is great to know. Every airport has its tips and tricks.

 

[syesmar]

20 hours ago, Zippercat said:

…Schiphol tip: at the airport’s website you can sign up for a free reserved time to go through their security line…When we went through very few people were using the option and we got to jump ahead of a very long line of passengers.  
 

You can only sign up a few days before your flight.  We estimated our arrival time at the airport and added 45 minutes (just my guess) for checking bags and getting to the check point. Our HAL bus was about 30 minutes late leaving Amsterdam but it was easy to use my iPhone to change our scheduled time to a later slot.

Good to know about this, thanks for sharing! I also have experienced very long lines at Schiphol’s Passport Control for departing (and arriving, too) passengers. There is no “priority lane” for this like there is in some other airports.

@Zippercat did they ask for your confirmation as you got in line?

 

Interesting about HAL’s transfer bus running late. We had that happen in Civitavecchia and I said “never again!” Last time we flew out of AMS our flight got canceled so we abandoned our plans for the tram and train which we had done numerous times before and took a taxi, thinking we might be able to catch another flight that day. The taxi was so easy we agreed we’d be doing that from then on.

Edited Sunday at 11:34 AM by syesmar

[Zippercat]

33 minutes ago, syesmar said:

Good to know about this, thanks for sharing! I also have experienced very long lines at Schiphol’s Passport Control for departing (and arriving, too) passengers. There is no “priority lane” for this like there is in some other airports.

@Zippercat did they ask for your confirmation as you got in line?

 

Interesting about HAL’s transfer bus running late. We had that happen in Civitavecchia and I said “never again!” Last time we flew out of AMS our flight got canceled so we abandoned our plans for the tram and train which we had done numerous times before and took a taxi, thinking we might be able to catch another flight that day. The taxi was so easy we agreed we’d be doing that from then on.

We had to scan our boarding pass at an unmanned gate (similar to a train station turnstyle) to go from the airline bag check counter areas to the hallway and escalators leading to the security check areas.  At the entry to the security check areas there was a sign for timed entry to the left.  
 

An airport worker at that area asked for and looked at the timed entry QR code and listed entry time on my phone, but didn’t scan it or appear to have the ability to scan it.  She just indicated we could proceed around the corner to the security area.  We went to a very short line (maybe three people ahead of us) instead of having to enter the long lines of switchbacks (like at Disney World) waiting the thrills of airport security checks.

 

Schiphol is a pretty big airport and I believe that there are multiple entrances  to the security check area.  We just used the one closest to the United Airlines counter for our flight.  So, of course, your mileage most likely may vary!