Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

I had the misfortune to travel through Schipol on my way to Boston. When we landed we were stranded on the plane for over 4 hours because we could not get to a gate apparently due to the snow. Once inside the filthy airport our connecting flight to Boston was cancelled but only after we had gone through security and forced to wait in the disgusting holding pen with no flushing toilets for hours. From the holding pen we were told we needed to rebook our tickets and that there were no vouchers available for food or hotels. At this stage nearly all the flights in the airport had been cancelled and there was queue literally a mile long waiting for rebookings. I waited in this queue for over 12 hours I slept in the queue I even met new people in the queue. There were contradicting stories being given by ground staff. There were no blankets or beds provided. The floor was filthy. It was the worst experience I have ever had. The worst part of my story is that when we finally got to the front of the queue the next morning we were told we could use our boarding pass from the previous day and just go to the gate. They made us stand in the queue for 12 hours for nothing! I will never set my foot in Schipol ever again.

Two recent experiences connecting at AMS for onward flights to the UK (LHR MAN). Totally inadequate staffing of the security check at the gate both times - only one lane open security therefore so slow that flight departures delayed by ~30 minutes. This is unacceptable and KLM should press Schiphol to make gate security in the non-Schengen area much quicker.

I have been through Amsterdam many times and know the airport well. My main comments today (2010) is that it is a fairly easy airport to use great shopping lots of airline lounges if you have time between connections and are a privileged member of a frequent flyer programme plenty of toilets / rest rooms some left luggage safes restaurants internet access etc. It has the advantage of not being as big as London Heathrow or some of the large USA airports (JFK or Chicago) and having lots of flights all over the place. I have used the Yotel (airport hotel where rooms are booked by the hour) and it is useful if you arrive late at night and leave the next morning. The airport has 2 main sections - international (Gates D - H) and EU (Gates B -D). Note that some of the D gates are in the international section and some in the EU section. The biggest problem with Amsterdam airport is if you are connecting between a EU flight and an international flight you might have quite a walk and will most likely (unless you are very lucky) have to wait in a ridiculous immigration queue to get from one section to the other. There is a separate queue behind each immigration officers desk so if you get stuck behind someone who is being questioned you could have quite a wait. They also never have enough immigration officers for the amount of passengers passing through here and so they have now started a first / business class separate queue. Basically this bit is a mess. Someone else's comment about security at the gates meaning you can't buy water after security is a good point. Just take an empty bottle and fill it on the plane. Also if you buy any liquids in any other airport make sure they seal it in a an approved EU plastic bag seal otherwise you will leave it behind in Amsterdam! Overall it is an easy airport to use. Pity about the immigration mess!

I have used Schiphol many times before and when eventually behind customs it is a very pleasant and vibrant airport. The train connections to Amsterdam and the rest of Holland are superb and cheap. There are plenty of shops and it is easy to find directions. Be aware though that there might be queing at check-in and customs so arrive on time. Schiphol really gives you a travel experience and I always enjoy staring my holiday or business trip from this airport. If you depart from Schiphol (not connecting) you must visit the panorama deck. Best in the world. Easy to access from Terminal 1 and 2 check in desks.

Recently transited through Schipol from Edinburgh to Bangkok on KLM. The system is shambolic! The railed off lanes are supposed to allow Business Class passengers priority to go through security and to wait for boarding the onward flight. There are no KLM staff available and the airport staff misdirected me to the Economy queue. Once through security you are made to wait in an inadequately fitted cattle pen with insufficient seats and then a scum to get on board. Blame should go to both Schipol airport and to KLM neither of which seems to have any control over how this is managed.

I have used Schiphol many times over the past 30 years but as I grow older the advantages diminish. The one-terminal concept is a major selling point for this airport but the airport is too large for this concept to be viable. The last time I used Schiphol the planes landed on and took off from the Polderbarn runway and this added about 20 -30 minutes to the overall journey time. Both the incoming and return flights involved a lengthy trek to Gate E. Baggage handling was fine on this occasion but is not reliable. Since I live in Japan and use Osaka Kansai as my main airport perhaps I am biased.

I've travelled to and from Schipol a lot of times the last 2-3 years and my first impression was that it was well organized informative friendly staff and alot of things to do while waiting for a train. Now after being there a little bit too much there is a couple of things I don't like. Cleanliness in the dining areas (at least downstairs). Rats running around and when I asked for the money back for the food I had ordered the waitress just said with an unpleasant voice "its an epedemi just eat your food". Try to avoid food that is not sealed in plastic and made somewhere else.

Why is Schiphol proud of it's one-terminal-concept? It may take up to a 40 minutes walk from one gate to catch a connecting flight and last week after landing taxi-ing and docking the plane took about 30 minutes - 50% of the flying time of my flight from ZRH. The whole enterprise feels like it has grown to an unmanageable scale for those who do the job on the ground. The core business should be efficient flight and passenger handling not operating a shopping mall.

I have used AMS on numerous occasions and cannot fault it. Plenty of shops bars and cafes and well sign posted. The walk to and from D/H piers can be a bit of a pain.

On the whole quite a pleasant experience. Schipol Airport is large and spread out but sign posting is good. Ample shops and eating places and the airport seemed to be run quite efficiently. Security staff whilst very professional were a little over-zelous. I had to place my passport on a tray to be scanned. I was a bit puzzled at this. I see a previous correspondent has also commented on this.