Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam) Issues

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Originally Posted by BmillsSkier

Right? I have serious reservations if I could hang with some of y’all.

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Just because we can doesn’t mean we should.

20mg is great. 50mg and you’re blasting off for a few hours. Then really chill for another few.
More than that and I’m not talking to anyone. Like on a plane. 200mg, not sure I could talk even if I wanted to. Felt like I was falling through the plane, not riding on it. That was the most I’ve ever eaten (on accident) and I’m not necessarily looking to do that again.

But getting on a plane to Seattle in the am, we’ll probably go 20.

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Originally Posted by riser4

BTDT. Got the t-shirt. Unfortunately my eyes turn bright red. Like something you see in a movie. Gives me away.

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I landed at O'Hare after all that, looking like a vagrant that had spent a month hitching and riding trains all over Great Britain.
I admit to stopping short of John O' Groats and heading back to Mallaig.

Anyway, on entering O'Hare customs, other passengers dithered and dallied at the entrance to the big, brightly lit room surrounded by armed customs agents and rows of checkout tables personned by more agents. I just walked on past the dallyers and plopped my backpack, bookbag and a fly rod down on the examination table. A female agent slowly took my bookbag and lugubriously began to lethargically untie the top, eying me for a reaction.

I was so done, so tired, I really couldn't care less, I knew I wasn't holding anything and was prepared to get the full drug doggie treatment.

The agent looked at my fly rod as she slowly removed books from the bag and made chit-chat: "where did you go?" "Did you fish?", "What did you catch?"
I told her what I'd done, slept near East Acton at a disused soccer club, wandered London, trying to find a relative of my parents friends, train to Cambridge, hitched to Liverpool, hitched to Edinburgh, train to Paiseley, hitched up the west coast, went out to Skye and the Kintyre..."

..."yeah, I fished some...

..."didn't catch anything..."

At that point the agent sort of chuckled, tied up my book bag, gave it to me and waved me through.

Like I said, carry-on or die... :eek:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/delta-...uggage-london/

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b8e1fb7d0f.jpg
Line up to Schiphol entrance just now. Crazy. Connection was fine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Carry-on or die continued :eek:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/klm-am...m_medium=email

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Originally Posted by I Skied Bandini Mountain

Carry-on or die continued :eek:

https://thepointsguy.com/news/klm-am...m_medium=email

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Dear lawd... Last time I flew through Schiphol I had a Patagonia black hole duffel filled to the gills AND a bike. I'm not sure how I could have packed the essentials in my carry-on: a large 29er, 4 kilos of cheese, and 3 bottles of wine.

Just found out I'm going to Amsterdam 5 minutes ago for work and then this thread pops up.....I usually have 2-4 work bags checked....should I really get to the airport 4 hours before my flight home??

Travel agent had me apply for a cash penalty of I think $800 each due to delayed flights on KLM thru AMS from my July 4 visit to its airport. Shall see what happens.

In addition KLM sent me an apology today (and thousands of others I am sure):

If you have flown recently or are planning to do so in the coming weeks, you will have noticed that airlines and airports all over Europe were not sufficiently prepared to cope with rapidly increasing numbers of passengers. This has also impacted many KLM passengers, and I sincerely apologize to those of you who experienced a disruption or lost a suitcase when flying with KLM this summer. We simply must do better, and in addition to earlier actions, we have taken several steps to improve our performance:

• We reduced the number of flights swiftly to go back to the reliable service and quality you may expect from KLM
• We don’t sell all our available seats and therefore keep some seats available for passengers who have missed a flight or had their original flight cancelled. We apply the same policy to luggage if needed
• We have extended transfer times between flights, giving you more time to make your connecting flight at Schiphol Airport and reducing stress for you and our airport staff serving you
• At the special request of Schiphol Airport, we are actively monitoring and managing the total number of Dutch passengers boarding at Amsterdam to ease the rush at security and customs checks at peak hours

Solving our operational challenges is KLM’s top priority. Every day 28.000 KLM colleagues work around the clock in challenging circumstances to get you and your luggage to your destination in a comfortable and timely way – as you may and, of course, should expect from us. In most cases, we definitely do. However, in recent weeks the main issue related to late delivered and/or misplaced luggage. We have put additional measures and resources in place to get the luggage back to its owners and solve the necessary aftercare and claims. We have hired extra people in our Customer Care Centers to support this effort, but because of some backlog, they are not yet as available for our customers as we want them to be. We understand that this is very frustrating and can leave customers feeling abandoned. But rest assured that we are working on your case. Please use our on-line rebooking, claims and refund services as much as possible.

In the spirit of honesty and transparency, I felt it essential to reach out and apologize to those of you who were directly affected. We will do our utmost to restore your confidence. Millions of passengers choose to fly KLM each summer, and it is in these difficult times that we must show what we’re made of to continue to earn and deserve your trust in our brand. For each and every customer and for each and every flight. Thank you for flying KLM, and thank you for your patience and understanding.

On behalf of the entire KLM Executive Committee,

Sincerely,
Marjan Rintel
President & CEO
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

A quick update - out and back was incident free. Arrived at Schiphol, walked to connecting gate, got on airplane. Same on way home. Sample size of one. Croatia is beautiful.

A little more than 2 hours total from arrival to gate as a first timer. But holy hell, what a shit show. But flight delayed leaving and missed connector home. Absolute clusterfk in Frankfurt resulting. Try again tomorrow, but was initially rebooked for Wednesday as everything is full. Was like OJ in the airport but to no avail.
Attachment 422333

I did a Travelpro Crew Expert (roller - international size) and an Osprey Transporter Boarding bag for a personal item. Planned on buying a couple of shirts, and did some laundry while there, but easily made it 18 days with carry on.

so, i must assume yer rockin' the snow blades?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cdqq0FQWEAAHqI5.jpg

No but if I was traveling with skis, at least there are some rentals as an option if needed?

Any recent experiences flying through Schipol? I just booked with KLM flying into Schipol with 1-1/2 hour layover and then on to Zurich. Do I have to worry that KLM will loose my skis or do they successfully get your baggage to the detsination when the fights are all in the KLM system? Thanks

I just flew through there in July and the only thing that was annoying is it’s a “quiet” airport, so when things change, there’s no announcements. You have to basically go to your gate and hang out there and watch and walk back-and-forth to the boards posting information.
On our return flight, there was a fire alarm issue, so there was a safety breach, so they had to have those people go through security again. The whole airport basically was shut down for about an hour. (Remember no announcements about what was going on.) We luckily were near the flight attendants for our flight, so we basically just followed them to their lounge. Most everybody else hung out at the gate.
Otherwise it’s a big honking huge international airport.

Silly - My couple of flights through there, the bags made it fine after a flight from SLC to AMS, then to ZUR.
The time our flight was delayed into AMS, the bags made it too late for our imminently departing flight to Zurich, but were on the next flight 3 hrs. later.
If you want to wait...

Otherwise, KLM will send your bags out to your destination the next day for free.

Also good to know about AMS: when you go to passport control, if your flight is leaving soon, they have people around the maze to let you out and put you up front. If it's tight, find one, be proactive.

We connected there SFO to Stockholm. Passport control was out the maze and well down the hall. People with tight connections were trying to get bumped ahead without any luck--airport employees were indifferent. The people in front of us in line missed their flight. This was midmorning weekday. We had two hours and made it about half hour before doors closing. Part of the problem was that the line wasn't moving because people kept joining the line from the sides as it entered the maze. (Sound familiar?) Once we reached the maze the line moved much faster.

It was well into tourist season. Maybe winter is lighter. I wonder if Brexit has made passport control in Europe busier, although I seem to remember that EU citizens were having to go through the same line as us.

I don't think your bags will have a problem. They'll be checked through to zurich. As always carry your boots on.

Good to hear is a BFA and mostly works with KLM. We're arriving Tues am early March and don't plan on skiing until Thursday so it sounds like a reasonable plan.

OG - are you talking your experience was pre-Brexit?

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Originally Posted by Djongo Unchained

OG - are you talking your experience was pre-Brexit?

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My recent experience was this last June. Before that I think my previous transfer at Schipol was pre Brexit and there was no delay. I'm wondering if Brexit increased the number of non EU travelers going through Schipol. Probably though it's just more travelers plus fewer agents plus assholes cutting the line.

^^^

Hmm, interesting. My trip was Feb./March and 180 degrees in experience. Line was not much out the maze tho, maybe a dozen peeps or so.
That's why we went straight to a worker who walked us straight up to the front. Just like my prior trip in '22.

I haven't been through there in the last two years but have transited there a couple dozen times over the years. Getting through immigration can be hit or miss. I have breezed through in ten minutes and have been in line for well over two hours.

In my experience, your time will greatly be impacted depending on where the flights coming in through immigration ahead of you are from. If they're coming from somewhere the Euros don't necessarily want lots of immigration from, it will take forever because every one of those passengers gets put through the ringer.