Trip Report: LHR-AMS - My first ever TP run (gone wrong) :D
Nov 11, 2012, 4:10 am
#61
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 5,159
indeed. The extra time spent posting and debating geeky minutiae seems to exempt one from the wrath of the forum regulars on the anal topics of whether eating something from the lounge, outside the lounge, is a felony hereabouts.
Turning up for a flight with the wrong passport, filling up with junk food because it's free, and nearly missing flight because you're in the toilet too long - jerry springer might be interested in discussing more.
How someone who posts so much on an alleged frequent flyer forum can forget their passport is beyond me, this is ff 101. But then again, Tesco's don't require passports I suppose. d'oh.
Turning up for a flight with the wrong passport, filling up with junk food because it's free, and nearly missing flight because you're in the toilet too long - jerry springer might be interested in discussing more.
How someone who posts so much on an alleged frequent flyer forum can forget their passport is beyond me, this is ff 101. But then again, Tesco's don't require passports I suppose. d'oh.
I've done this route many times- drunk,stoned and sober - and never encountered any of problems the OP did.
But then my philosophy in life is that God always keeps one eye out for drunks and fools so that's me pretty much taken care of.
Nov 11, 2012, 5:41 am
#64
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Balham - Gateway to The South
Programs: BA Bronze
Posts: 2,020
I was similarly bemused, it is as easy as pie in my view. Even my much more than 80 year old granny managed it a few months back. [Mind you there's a view that those from the North East of England can understand Dutch better than the rest of the UK since we have some shared dialect words]. I was going to suggest that maybe Panny should get out more, but then I rather fear for the consequences.
The one thing in Panny's mitigation is that after the recent building works, the display system on platforms is confusing since they've switched off some displays, and NL railways don't display all station stops - it's based on the train type. Though Centraal (CS) would be marked. The easiest way to work this out in Schiphol is that there is, over the main machine bank, a special display which indicates when the next train to main destinations is. You can spot this since the services on it are listed alphabetically, not in time order. This then indicates the platform / spoor.
The one thing in Panny's mitigation is that after the recent building works, the display system on platforms is confusing since they've switched off some displays, and NL railways don't display all station stops - it's based on the train type. Though Centraal (CS) would be marked. The easiest way to work this out in Schiphol is that there is, over the main machine bank, a special display which indicates when the next train to main destinations is. You can spot this since the services on it are listed alphabetically, not in time order. This then indicates the platform / spoor.
This year they changed to include a change of trains at Centraal, we dutifully boarded the train to Centraal - looked for the platform to Utrecht - asked some kindly Dutch people who were also going to the same destination -we were just about to change platforms when I noticed the sign on the platform we were leaving said Utrecht ! We nearly missed our train (not for the first time due to mis-information)
The easiest was our last trip when I asked for two tickets at the ticket office at Schiphol - the nice ticket lady says
- 'go outside and take the bus'
....'I don't want a bus - I want a train !'
......engineering works, so off on the bus we go to Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA (home to Ajax - what a stadium!), walk about 100 yards to the station and straight onto the Utrecht train -long live engineering works !!
My Dutch friends agree that their train service is screwy !!
Nov 11, 2012, 6:25 am
#65
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: BGM/ PHL
Programs: US (Silver, *A Silver), AA, Starbucks (Gold)
Posts: 2,242
You should see Chicago O'Hare... 20 minutes to taxi in to the E gates. As I watched my connection time from the E gates to the C gates (which involves a bus ride) dwindle to a mere 25 minutes I almost wanted to cry. Thankfully I ran like the wind and made it.
Nov 11, 2012, 12:22 pm
#66
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: not far from MUC
Posts: 6,620
This can take the best part of half an hour if it's busy.
I once missed my train connection from the airport station due to this, almost €100 for a new ticket, not a happy bunny...
Nov 11, 2012, 10:26 pm
#67
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Seattle
Programs: BA GGL & LTG, EK Silver, HHonors Lifetime Diamond; Proudly Mucci Free - total nonsense
Posts: 862
Nov 12, 2012, 3:56 am
#68
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Her Majesty's United Kingdom
Programs: BA Gold, BA Lounge Rats, BA Audit Survivors, CW Kitchen Defender, CX Noodle Connoisseurs Club
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I have been on FT just over 1 year, by the end of this calendar year I will have "set foot" on a BA plane 16 times. (8 returns)
8 of those flights are pure redemptions
4 MFUs
4 paid cash
Based on those stats I believe have more than "hardly ever" paid for my flying, for whatever difference it makes.
OK, I'm sure there are people here who fly more than that in a month, but I'm still pretty proud of my achievement.
I would normally have only set foot on a plane once or twice per year if I was lucky.
It's thanks to FT and the useful info here regarding the earning of points that I have been able to do this much flying. I'm not ashamed to admit I would not have been able to fund this year's trips otherwise.
I think those elitists you speak of are slowly getting outnumbered in no small part thanks to the changes to Avios earlier this year bringing a lot more less frequent flyers to this board, which personally I feel is a good thing.