greggarious

Edit: Never mind, I was getting AMS confused with Ottowa (which has pre-clearance for US customs) my bad. Too many trips coming up

emkn45

I'm still not 100% clear on the lounge situation. If I am a US citizen returning from AMS to ORD (on a KLM operated flight), what is the order of operations?

I'd like to utilize the KLM lounge since I have a 4 hour layover, but it sounds like after leaving the lounge, I need to visit passport control before getting to my departure gate, and I don't know how long passport control will take on a given day so I need to leave the lounge early. I used to go straight from the lounge to my gate, but now PDC is in between the lounge and the gate? Am I understanding this correctly?

I'll have my mom with me on my next trip and she's not so mobile anymore, so I am trying to figure this all out ahead of time.

Aviatrix

The new procedure only applies to US carriers. For KLM-operated flights you go straight to your gate.

I've walked past one of the areas where they do the extra checks for US carriers, and it's just a row of desks - it's not a one-way street where you have to go straight to your gate afterwards. As I understand it you go through the formalities, you get given a piece of paper to confirm this, and you're then free to wander round the terminal (or sit in the lounge) until boarding time.

mfkne

Just do the following: As soon as you get to the airport go through the PDC and do your formalities. Once you're done you're free to go to the lounge and from there go your actual departure gate when it's time to board.

Amiee Shelton

I'm a American citizen and just flew through Amsterdam yesterday. Our flight was delayed getting into Amsterdam which caused us to be in a very short time schedule to catch my flight to the US and The screening was something I can't even put into words. I was asked the normal question I would get at passport control which is "why were you in Europe"? I answered that I was a professor teaching a class and he wanted to know what I thought. When I said I taught propaganda all hell broke loose. In hindsight I should've said I thought customer service... but the questions were aggressive and they lasted for 12 minutes and he asked me how I taught and why I taught and what sources are used and what was my opinion on current propaganda compared to past propaganda. When I became frustrated he gleefully informed me that I was losing my temper and I told him I wasn't losing my temper but I was very frustrated being as I had two minutes to get to my gate and he was asking me questions about my teaching philosophy that I didn't understand. He reported to me that this security was needed because "we have to be very careful about who enters the US."As a United States citizen and a professor at a university I was shocked and dismayed. I honestly thought I was going to be detained ( and I'm a white woman with a PHD and had students with me). Plus, these people don't wear official uniforms or is there any signage explains what this is....

Amiee Shelton

This is currently only for American Airlines. It's aggressive questioning.

KLouis

This is not aggressive but, rather, idiotic questioning (using "idiotic" as a medical term): I used to fly 4-5 times a year to the US and until I switched from KL to AF and then *A flights I had to go through this stupidity at Schiphzl, carried out by people whose IQ was below 30 (thus, the medical term used above). A small collection of questions/statements I remember:

+ What, you don't remember your friend's birthday, how can you call him a friend?

+ What is Molecular Genetics, I've only heard about Molecular Biology!

+ Why do you stay in Boston for only two days, I would never fly that far unless I'd spend at least one or two weeks there.

Not their fault if they're stupid but why do US carriers pay to have this kind of controls at AMS?

muji

Is the questioning done by Dutch police / border control officials?

Is the questioning usually brief and cursory for most people, with only certain (random/suspicious) persons getting the more extensive questioning?

GUWonder

It's done by security contractors hired by the airlines. It varies on when and how brief and cursory the questioning is, but it has very little to do with passengers being targeted due to randomness or being suspicious (except in the heads of those with suspect "thinking"). If the contractors get too excited in ways, then they may try to draft in Dutch governmental authorities.

muji

Thanks, GU.

I just read some online information about how overcrowded, and unpleasant, that airport has become.

The last time we were there was in 2005 and it was nice then. We got interviewed at the gate by someone who appeared to be a policeman. He asked us a few personal questions about where we had been traveling; he was polite.

muji

I hadn't realized until now that Schipol had gotten so bad. My wife and I, flying from Seattle, have had bad experiences at CDG & LHR, so we wanted to avoid them and were looking forward to arriving at, transiting through, and leaving from Schipol.

Our only other option would be to arrive at, transit through, and leave from CDG.
Which of these two airports would be considered the better (less bad) one?

GUWonder

After AMS airport got a new runway, the quality of my experiences at AMS as a transit airport got worse and worse, but in 2005 it was still fine indeed.

In the past two calendar years however, it has gotten better in one regard: when flying from the US to Schengen destinations with a Schengen transit airport being involved, AMS no longer requires me to clear general passenger security screening again during my transits at AMS.

If the choice is between AMS and CDG, I choose AMS.

Romanianflyer

While in general I agree that AMS is more pleasant - there is one big downside.

If banking on lounge access: the lounges are among the worst in Europe - that even includes whatever KL dares to call their flagship lounge.

in this aspect I do like CDG better!

BigFlyer

What airline were you flying?

BigFlyer

While we can argue about the need for screening, the questions to not sound idiotic. They are open-ended or designed to put the passenger on the defensive, allowing a questioner to spot suspicious/nervous behavior. Of course the same questions could throw off an innocent person as well. But, the questions sound purposeful and not idiotic.