Amsterdam is continuing its summer of operational issues with extensive waiting times but also presents some great availability for travel in the next few months – would you risk flying to or through Amsterdam right now?
If you are considering booking travel or signing up for a new credit card please click here. Both support LiveAndLetsFly.com.
If you haven’t followed us on Facebook or Instagram, add us today.
Amsterdam Airport Troubles
As one of the busiest in Europe, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport has been struggling with a large influx of travelers that began in the summer and hasn’t stopped. As covered previously on this site, Schiphol International Airport has had such an issue with passenger volume (despite passenger restrictions) that flyers often start their journey in long lines stemming from the Departure hall, check-in desks and security checks.
Travelers have been given the opportunity to move their flights for free but this has failed to solve the issue and results in the need for flyers to arrive hours before departure in long waiting lines before they even enter the building.
Good Travel Opportunities
My family often heads to Europe around the Thanksgiving holiday and while it is possible to secure flights right into Manchester, with some effort, the less expensive and easier routes involve flying to or through Schiphol. This is primarily based on available point balances I prefer to use for my trip.
In essence, there are a few prized opportunites but they instantly become risky when utilizing one of the busiest airports in Europe. I can spend more to fly elsewhere, it will take more time and use a currency I’d prefer to avoid. My best friend has a very Marie Antoinette approach to my itineraries, suggesting I just buy the expensive, inconvenient ticket with less risk.
I’d rather not, and besides that, my daughter has never been to the Netherlands, this would be a new country for her. However, there is a greater potential for problems that go part and parcel with traveling through AMS at the moment.
I’m Getting Too Old For This
The sage words, know thy self, have never been truer. After my crazy Armenian trip and even more difficult (but at the same time easier) way home via Tbilisi, Georgia reminded me that I am simply not cut out for booking trips as I once did. In my youth, it would have been nothing for me to switch carriers, even alliances, several times within the same trip if it served a purpose – time, money, or convenience.
But I’m no spring chicken, or perhaps I am spoiled. Lately, I’d rather spend my time on holiday relaxed and feel free to take in the sights without checking my flight status and wondering if a flight from Schiphol will depart on time. Have I arrived at the airport too early or not early enough? What if something goes wrong – or worse, if I plan properly with plenty of buffer, what if everything goes right and I lose valulable time in the city?
Instead, I’d rather ask our informed readership for its opinion:
Considering that:
- Amsterdam’s passenger volume issues remain as they have and;
- I ultimately will move on from AMS on a disconnected itinerary but prefer to spend the majority of my time in England.
Would you book through Amsterdam anyway? Would you pass on it altogether? How much risk is comfortable for you and your family?
Conclusion
My family of three hopes to continue our tradition of Thanksgiving in Europe (and/or England) but we are concerned about the ability to make a flight and spending hours in the cold just waiting to check-in. We are on the fence because it’s unknowable whether the current delays will remain as they are. I have other options but none are as pallatable as the Amsterdam option and none as risky either. We are torn.
What do you think? Would you risk traveling through Amsterdam right now? Do you think it will clear up in the next few months?
I actually went through AMS a few weeks ago on part of my trip across Europe, and I would say it depends on the sort of journey you are making, and moreso if you have the ability to use the priority security lane. If you do (I upgraded my KLM ticket departing AMS to intra-Europe business class to get it), you will avoid most of the chaos and I was through security in 12 minutes after getting in line. If I didn’t have priority security access, the line was deep. Several hundred people deep, if not a thousand.
If you are departing from AMS with no way to access the priority security lane, a big fat NO, whether Schengen or non-Schengen. If you have access to the priority security lane, it should be fine; I think the reports of “bags getting stuck at airports for weeks on end” are a thing of the past.
If you are arriving or transiting AMS and you don’t need to go through passport checks, that should be fine, but if you do need to go through passport checks, then YMMV.
Do I think this will clear up anytime soon? Even if AMS airport management capitulate and offer more money to hire security staffers, it will still take months before they get trained in and provided with the proper access and credentials. So IMO, not anytime in the near future.
Agree with Euro. I flew in and out of AMS and connected a couple of times this summer. With priority, it was okay. The day probably also matters. Saturday was not busy for me. But I’d advise against tight connections anywhere in the EU or UK now, if you want your luggage to make it.
I went through Schiphol 3 days ago. By reading many articles I was at the aieport almost 4 hours ahead. I have to say there was zero line up. From getting out of the taxi to passport control was around 20 mins. There were some lines at other checkin desks or at the security but it wa slime a very norman line. So to sum it up it really depends.
What time of day is most affected? I am flying from Amsterdam to London on Friday 21st October departing at 8:45am.
Returned from Schiphol on 10/10/2022. Although I was there two hours before scheduled departure time and with the plane departing an hour later than scheduled I did miss the flight. This due to long queues at security and customs. KLM was helpfull in getting me a flight with KQ via Niarobi to Johannesburg. Considering that 50% of a ticket is for airport taxes, we do not get what we pay for. If I wanted to fly KQ I would have done so in the first place and at a cheaper ticket price. The question is, who can I make responsible and ask for a partial refund for the inconvenience of it all. After all we do not get what we pay for.
I wouldn’t do it. Checking in or going through security there are to be avoided at almost any cost. I wouldn’t want to end up with the day I’m there being the day AMS makes the news. Again.
That said, I did transit AMS last month. It was quick and easy, but it was a zoo. No line for passport control, but lines at every restaurant and bathroom and lines in the lounge. Took me a while to find a single seat available.
That said, I was able to burn up some orphaned miles, and in a similar situation, I’d do it again. But not if I had to check in or go through security there.
I live in Paris and use AMS frequently. With status for security it has never taken me longer than 20 mins to get through the controls at Schiphol (which, incidentally, is 9 metres below sea level). They have brilliant new scanners which allow you to leave laptops and liquids in your bags. My only real concern would relate to baggage handling delays if you have checked luggage.
My 72 year old parents transited through there last week going from Detroit to prague and had an hour and a half. No issue.
Did they have to go through customs? Security? Did they collect their own checked bag and check it back in for the next flight?
We are flying to Barcelona from Florida with a 6 hour layover at AMS. Not sure what to expect.
Thanks.
Matthew, you’re definitely getting too old for this.
I’m not, but Kyle may be.
Fantastico is talking about me. He knows I’m too old for this sh!t.
Transit in AMS was no big deal 10 days ago. I wouldn’t want to start there though.
Agree with Thomas below. Transferring at AMS isn’t a problem most of the time. But anyone is too old to try to check in there. With such good train service in Europe, find another city to start your flight back to the U.S.
Flew out Thursday and had zero wait and no problems.
So no lines at all snaking outside the airport? What day of tbe week and what time of the day were you flying?
Whoops, you mentioned the day.
Transit isn’t an issue. You’ll already be security screened and the immigration line moves fast. The 4 hour lines are for getting into the airport if originating in Amsterdam.
Was on a Beer-cation last month (starting with Oktoberfest). Really wanted to hit AMS for a few days but since they STILL don’t have their act together, opted for PRG…..best decision ever! I had a tight schedule as it was. I wasn’t going to chance ruining my trip.
With family I’d rather fly economy non stop with convenience. This week we had a choice of Philippines airlines from Dubai to Saigon via Manila in biz with a 12 hour layover or direct on emirates in economy. Chose emirates for the five of us.
In regards to ams I’ve seen it ebb and flow. Close enough to the uk that you should find some solution. And it is a great place to walk around with kids.
I think the worst of the European fiasco is over. We’ve found most airports to be pretty seamless. Also got our bag delivered today after being missing for 4 months!
Your trip home from Georgia make me gag 🙂
Should have mentioned the economy was the same price as biz and was a day flight. iPad all the way. Although did manage to upgrade at checkin. Was prob a waste of points for a day flight on the 777
I’m a London based DL Diamond. Been to & fro AMS a few times this summer for meetings. Departing AMS all three times was totally painless. Even sans status looked largely painless, but obviously that’s not always the case or everyone’s experience.
Ironically, the only almost-issue I had once was arrival immigration, which was a total nightmarish mess (I didn’t join and passed thru transit immigration instead which was clear. Then exited from the Schengen side. I know that pivot saved me several hours in June bc several colleagues were stuck in it.)
I can appreciate the predicament tho. If I arrived at Schipol to a 5 hours queue – you’d find me on the next day’s Eurostar back to London which is obviously not such a practical option with a family/kids in tow.
What time of day were you flying to avoid the long lines of people?
Flew through AMS with family in the peak of the summer and had no issues. We only had carry on bags on the way into Europe connecting in AMS to Italy but on the way back we checked bags from Italy to AMS and they got there with no issues. We overnighted at a hotel near Schipol and next morning had no problems going through security (flying Delta One) and actually were allowed to bring our water bottles through security with water inside. Checked bags all the way to the US and they arrived without any problems.
We went thru Weds am and it only took 35 minutes ! We had heard all this the week prior, so arrived 4+ hours ahead at 7am. Only 2 turnstiles!!
Last week (Saturday, 10/8/22) I flew home through Schiphol. I arrived at the airport at 6:00 (with the prescribed 4 hrs before flight time). It took me 1 hour and 3 minutes to run the gauntlet and arrive at the KLM lounge #52. I had Delta priority check-in, but no other special treatment. About 90 minutes later, friends halved that time.
So who is correct? All the articles and pictures showing how long the lines are or the posts by people on here stating that it took them almost no time to enter, clear security, etc? And did all those people on here show up 4 hours prior to departure?
My experience flying KLM business class through Schiphol was one prolonged sh#@ show.Not only do they charge for drinks in the lounge,the meal onboard would have been better if not served at all-cheap spaghetti and a cheap ice cream bar,neither edible.Another flyer told me he saw the crew eating the meal he was told unavailable,in the galley.Add the airport lines and crowding,delays.Never Again.
They only charge for drinks until 17:00, after that the main bar closes and you are sent to the downstairs one which hasn’t got anything worth drinking. The only thing that I would countenance ordering was a vermouth, and even that was served in the wrong glass and with a 20ml measure with the barman exclaiming multiple times that he was ‘not allowed’ to serve it as a ‘double’ (at 40ml it would still be less than the usual serve of vermouth/port)!
The food selection is equally dire, as they have done away with meat. It was quite possibly my worst lounge experience ever, and I have been to some very bad lounges (it’s one thing if they haven’t managed to secure/develop a nice space, and quite another when they are just being nasty about the product that they are delivering).
Unfortunately, media rarely does ongoing reportage when things improve. You only get the news items and the horrific pictures when things are a problem. There is never a headline “Today much better at Schiphol than yesterday”, just like you never see the headline, “Dog Bites Man” the day after a “Man Bites Dog” article. (I flew through AMS multiple times this past summer, and, as others have noted, as a transit passenger, never had an issue.)
I just flew out of Amsterdam Friday morning with zero issues. But I did only have a carry on. Lines for check in and checked bags but thru security for myself within 10 minutes. Don’t recommend flying thru Berlin. We waited for over an hour on the plane to get off.
Transit in AMS has never been a longstanding issue this summer. It was always the check-in and security coming into the airport that was the big bottleneck. Non Schengen -> NS, S->NS, NS->S, has not been a big problem. Passport control has long lines but very efficient (10-15 min)
If you’re a SkyTeam flyer (and if you’re not ex-JFK), no doubt you’d be rerouted to AMS a good amount of time for TATL, but there’s always CDG connections if you’re still worried about potential AMS issues.
The transport issue is not really border control or security, it is lack of staff to get luggage efficiently from flight A to flight B. They are slow bringing it out for arrivals, too. I just would avoid a tight connection at AMS unless I only had only carryon. Right now, same goes for pretty much every airport in the EU and UK.
My wife and I took a trip to Paris-Belgium-Amsterdam in September, and we took the high speed train from Amsterdam back to Paris to fly home from CDG rather than deal with AMS. Not being familiar with that airport, and having read about all the problems for months, we just avoided it altogether. Trip home was very smooth, though it made for a long day. We may have been too cautious, but in some ways it made for a simpler (and possibly cheaper) airline booking to go round trip LAX to CDG and back, rather than open jaw.
I flew with Emirates on 4th Oct from Ams and NO SECURITY QUEUE at all! I wish I could share the short video I made then with you
It took me about 30 minutes for luggage drop off and retrieving boarding pass at the airline counter after they opened.
Transited through AMS Oct. 12. No problems. A few of the vendors were closed, but the passport control was only about 15 minutes long.
Besides wait times, there is also the possibility of flights being cancelled. The Dutch government is looking to scale down capacity.
My partner’s flight this week through AMS was cancelled (LAX-AMS). No status will solve a cancelled flight. Another friend had their fight from Norway cancelled.
Our connection there was the same, security only took 15mins or so airside, sadly three weeks before travel they cancelled our UK leg home putting us on the only other flight 8 hours later, horrible place to wait that long, filthy toilets, McDonald’s had only carrot sticks on their breakfast menu at 8am, Starbucks was 50+m long queue with 2 staff.
I went to Amsterdam for a long weekend holiday 2 weeks ago and didn’t have issues getting to my flight. The airport itself, while buay, seemed manageable and the lines moved along quickly enough. I guess it depends on the time and day or your flight and whether you need to check in any luggage.
I flew nonstop on KLM from LAX to AMS in August/September. Arriving was fine. Departure was a nightmare. I had arranged assistance for my elderly mom for our departure and had to wait 2 hours for a wheelchair. By time we arrived at the boarding gate, Mom realized one of her bags was missing which contained her purse, cell phone, jewelry bag, etc. we had to board the plane by then. Then we sat on the plane another 1-1 1/2 hours as they didn’t have crew to load baggage onto the plane. At arrival in LA, the flight attendant asked us to remain on the plane until everyone exited. By time I went to get my carryons in the overhead bins, someone had taken my newly purchased jacket! Overall, I would not go through AMS at this time. BTW, someone did attempt to use my mom’s credit card at the AMS airport.
I flew from Amsterdam last saturday to Glasgow with no delay or long queues whatsoever. In 30 minutes I had passed both security and passport control.
I went through Schiphol on 9/26 and 10/08. Although i was there 4 hrs before checkin i had plenty of time to shop and do whatever i needed to do. Security was the longest at 50 minutes. But many people with less than 4 hours missed their flight. Basically follow the advice of 4 hours and you will be ok. It’s still a great airport.
I flew delta, Amsterdam to JFK, yesterday. Queues at 8-9 a.m. were not painful. I was in Business class but I went through security in the economy lane because queue was short, passport queue was modest. The worst queue I saw was immigration at JFK, but I bypassed with Global Entry. My main question is, Schipol is known as a brand for a painless airport. They are so respected that they win co tracts to run other airports. Why doesn’t Schipol protect their brand from all this awful publicity by staffing up?
I frequently connect through AMS with KLM. My experience is that for those connecting through the airport, the media horror stories are overblown. Everything goes smoothly and I have no problems whatsoever. Even passing through passport control, the most I every waited was 25 minutes in line, which happened to about about a week ago when leaving the Schengen area — I used the automated passport machines, which admittedly half were closed, I assume due to staff shortages (they still have to stamp your passport after using the automated machines if you are non-EU). Still even with half the machines shut down, I still only waited 25 minutes to get through that line (yes, I timed it). If you are entering the Schengen area through AMS and the line is long, they will let you cut in line if the line is long and your plane is about to start boarding. Someone goes by the line yelling, “Anyone with a flight after X:YZ, please step forward!” But lately, every time I arrive in the Schengen area, this line has been quite short — maybe I’ve just been lucky.
I can only assume that the capacity caps that the airport implemented ensures that everything runs smoothly. I will continue to connect through AMS because (1) I like their airport and I like clearing passport control in Amsterdam to get that out of the way so I don’t have to do that when I land at my final destination and (2) I really prefer KLM over Lufthansa and United.
My husband and I had a long weekend in Amsterdam 30th Sept -3rd of October.
We arrived at AMS 4 hours before our flight.
We checked our luggage in, which although severely understaffed, didn’t take too long (around 20 mins) we then had to go back outside to join the security queue. Starting in a marquee outside then snaking the whole way around the airport! It took around 2¾ hours to get to security we were provided with a free bottle of water along the route.
It was a faff and did put us off the idea of flying there again.
There were no queues when I flew LH into AMS last Tuesday and no real queues when departing Wednesday afternoon either (I did have priority as flying in business class). However, the KLM lounge experience was shocking (see comment above, plus I should also mention that I saw a MOUSE running around the floor), and the Aspire one wasn’t much better either, so KLM are now firmly on my ‘only fly when there’s no other choice ‘ list.
NEWSFLASH: Passing through Schiphol is not the issue!
The major complications and almost guaranteed ‘missing of the flight’ or airline cancelation scenarios occur when DEPARTING FROM AMS.
As an ex-Pat American living in NL since 2008, I have forgone the “pleasure” of standing in 4 – 6 hour lines and/or missing flights; thus will not be attempting to visit back home any time soon.
One more thing, not made clear here:
Schiphol has a daily passenger cap. A limit to th number of passengers departing per day.
just sharing my experience, flying out of AMS back to LAX on 10/17/2022 (Mon). Me and my wife doesn’t have check in luggage and already got our boarding passes. Arrived about 9am for a 12:50pm flight, go through the automated gate that scans the boarding passes, zero wait. Then go upstairs from there, meeting a long zig-zaging line, its long but moves fairly fast, takes about 40-45 mins. Then the passport control, takes about 15-20 mins, then we are free to roam around the departure area. So, maybe i got lucky, it wasn’t ask crazy as they’ve been saying.