swampwiz

In late October, I'm looking to go LED-MSY (only $302 1-way!) with an overnight layover at AMS, but staying at a hotel that is not within the airport (I'm not in the mood to pay more for the darn overnight hotel stay than the trip itself!) What's the deal with Schengen/Netherlands and Americans with such an overnight?

the810

Not possible, I'm afraid. You are not permitted to enter Schengen area at this moment.

swampwiz

I wonder if my going back to my country of citizenship would count me in as a "traveller with an essential function or need".

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/p...xternal-border

the810

I did some research and it actually may be possible.

According to the Council's recommendation (specifically Annex II), transit is considered an essential need. However, as the name suggests, this is merely a recommendation and not a law. Member states are free to divert from it.

The website of Dutch government also suggests transit is considered essential ("Third-country nationals who are key workers or have exceptional circumstances are also exempted. These are: .... Transit passengers travelling to a third country via the Netherlands or another Schengen country"). However, the document was published in June and I can't find anything more recent.

The question is whether Netherlands still applies the same rules and if they do, what definition of transit do they use. I recommend that you contact Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, which is in charge of border controls, and describe your situation to them - that way you can get a reliable answer. You can find their contacts here: https://english.defensie.nl/organisa...aussee/contact

flyertalker28120

I'm sure he can transit through AMS. Although, my understanding is he'd have to remain in the international transit area. This specifically excludes entering Schengen for a hotel stay.

@swampwiz: Are you traveling in Sept.? If not, the Mercure transit hotel may be an option which is scheduled to reopen in two weeks or so. Isn't there also the Yotelair? (Personally, I've only stayed at the Mercure. Merely aware there exists a Yotel. But I ain't sure it's suitable for your purposes.)

the810

Airside transit is definitely possible, but sources I found suggest that admission into the Netherlands is also possible, if transit is the purpose (note that neither the recommendation, nor Dutch advisory say anything about flying - same rules would apply to ground transit, where there's no "transit area"). The Dutch website also mentions transit into another Schengen state, in which case it's not possible to stay in non-Schengen area anyway. But again, it's necessary to contact authorities to obtain definitive answer. I am optimistic - as far as I know, Netherlands never had their own entry restrictions, they only introduced these to harmonise their policy with the rest of the Union. Therefore I'd expect they are fairly relaxed about it and essentially only implement the bare minimum.

flyertalker28120

TIMATIC says it's not possible (not possible without a visa, at least) and that's what matters.

He can transit provided he stays in the international transit area, has an onward BP, and the required docs (passport).

Temedar

I would actually be worried about LED-AMS operating in October, if that's the OP's routing (LED-SVO-AMS is safer, but still flies only a few times a week on the SVO-AMS sector).

tlott

Agree. As someone who has been keeping up to date on Russian intl. flights, I think it is extremely unlikely this will operate. OP would be better flying SVO-JFK on SU (or I guess some of the other SU European flights if they can be ticketed together with an onward TATL flight), TK from either LED or VKO, or LX/BA ex-DME

(~$300 one way is a normal price ex-RU to USA.)

Often1

Seems quite clear that OP will be denied boarding at LED as this is not a transit of NL, but rather an entry to NL Seems equally clear that OP will be permitted to transit AMS by staying airside.

Late October is also the distant future. No way of remotely predicting whether today's restrictions will remain, be stricter or looser. Thus, worth monitoring the situation and possibly shifting if limited entry is authorized.

the810

Timatic matters to the airline. Since OP will have a connecting flight, they will be allowed to board the flight to AMS - airline won't care whether they can go to a hotel during the layover. For the entry itself and access to the hotel, law matters, not Timatic. The law is not entirely clear on this, which is why I'd contact authorities rather than rely on strangers' interpretations.

​Airline will not ask OP whether they plan to leave airside or not during the transit in AMS, thus will have no reason to deny boarding as along as the ticket includes a connecting flight within 24 hours.

KARFA

​
How would the OP get past immigration at AMS to go landside?

I think the answer is they may be ok boarding if the airline expects them to be staying airside (AMS airside is open 24 hours) during the transit, but the OP's actual plan to go landside will not work since they can't enter the Netherlands.

swampwiz

This would be in late October. It looks like Yotel will cost about $150, HALF of what the freaking air travel would be!

swampwiz

The ticket would be LED-AMS-ATL-MSY, so technically there would be no necessary entry into NL.

KARFA

how much is the mecure airside?

you will have to remain airside since you would have no right of entry to the netherlands. whether you prefer to use the airside hotels or sleep on the seats is up to you.