KLflyerRalph

The KMar checkpoints are also understaffed. If they then keep the self service kiosks closed, it becomes a big mess. Luckily the problems get some attention. Hopefully that will induce Schiphol to take action.

johan rebel

But why the heck do they do that?

Shouldn't these kiosks be open all the time? The more the better?

Waiting times are reportedly still about 40 minutes, so apparently no improvement on yesterday, when they blamed it on being a very busy day, too many flight arriving at the same time, and the railroads.

If a couple of politicians get caught in the mess and miss their flights then maybe questions will be asked in parliament. There are quite a few people who would like to see Schiphol's CEO's head roll already.

Johan

Grouchy

Yesterday, 182k pax...today 177k pax expected. Do the math

Collegue of mine was through in a couple of minutes (10-15 earlier today)

San Gottardo

My journey will start in AMS.

I started looking into what Privium is and how it works. But not quite certain if and how that might speed up things when traveling to non-Schengen destinations as it seems to be the same mess for everybody (all the posts in this thread probably make 100% sense for people familiar with the AMS setup and with Privium, but not to someone like me). I have seen Privium at work at the Schengen (Departure 1) security controls where it was signficantly faster than a plain vanilla SkyPriority status. But less certain about Departures 2 and 3.

EricVdb

It seems a bit typically Dutch to operate this way. Start with only 1 desk open, see what happens. Obviously you get long waiting times, open another one and again see what happens.

Ypou do this until the amount of desks produce a tolerable waiting time and you have saved a lot of money by never having to much desks (and staff).

That this way causes a lot of grief and probably loss of money in the long run is secondary, now all is well within budget, target reached, bonus earned...

johan rebel

Privium used to be great, but no longer.

Before they revamped Security 1 (i.e. Schengen), you could take an elevator straight up to a dedicated security checkpoint from the Privium ClubLounge. No need to even scan your card (already done when entering the lounge) and usually nobody ahead of you in line, or perhaps one or two at most. One could reliably count on not having to spend more than a minute or two at security. Those not coming from the lounge only had to scan their card and go through a turnstile to reach the same exclusive checkpoint.

With the introduction of the new checkpoints, Privium was lumped together with all other priority pax, rendering it pointless. Why pay for "Fast" Track when you can get it for free if flying J/F and/or SkyPriority?

As far as non-Schengen goes, there was a direct exit from the ClubLounge to departures, just a matter of scanning your card, followed by an iris scan. One then still had to contend with gate security, of course, but with priority that was usually not the end of the world, and the wait generally not that long.

Now you have to take your chances with assorted other priorty pax at the new shambles that passes for security, so once again there is no advantage to Privium.

In short, don't waste your money, unless you are planning to spend a lot of time in the ClubLounge (yeah, you really spell it that way, it must have cost a fortune in branding consultancy fees to dream that one up), which offers the best lounge catering at AMS by a very wide margin.

Johan

mfkne

SkyPriority as a result of frequent flyer status is equivalent to SkyPriority as a result of travel class. Not just in AMS but everywhere.

Henry III

OT, but that's not entirely correct! I once took a KL flight from either GIG or GRU (can't remember) to AMS; when boarding commenced, all Sky Priority PAX were invited through the gate/scanner but, when the bus came, genuine J-PAX were taken off separately in a limousine to the aircraft ... SkyTeam Elite/Elite+ had to board the cattle wagon along with the proletariat ballast. I think similar arrangements occur at many of the Gulf State airports.

-- Henry

San Gottardo

Thank you Johan ^ Fantastic input from a real AMS insider.

Your summary is extremely useful and answers all my questions. Guess I won't bother then.

Calchas

Similarly on Delta they will often board J before SkyPriority I think

Grouchy

If you are AMS based it might still worth it, not excactly because of the fast track access but i do like Privium Parking and as Johan wrote the lounge is quit ok and can imagine it is nice for a lot of pax to have access to one when they are travelling on for example Flybe, Easyjet etc.

Always;

Pre-Boarding

Premium Boarding Zone
Delta One™ customers
First Class customers
Diamond Medallion® members

Sky Priority Boarding Zone
Delta Comfort+™ customers
SkyTeam® Elite Plus members
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Gold members
Virgin Australia Platinum and Gold members

Zone 1
Priority Boarding Trip Extra customers
Gold, Platinum and Reserve Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card members
Virgin Australia Velocity Silver members
Sky Team® Elite
Crossover RewardsTM SPG® Platinum members
Capital One World Mastercard® cardholders

Zone 2
Main Cabin

Zone 3
Basic Economy

johan rebel

No doubt a very useful benefit, but if your car never gets within 1,000 kilometers of Schiphol it becomes irrelevant.

I actually find it useful regardless of airline, simply because the other lounges are so lousy. However, with the new security setup the lounge's location before security has now become a liability. Previously one could cut it fine and leave the lounge at the last minute, zip through security and arrive at the gate just before boarding closed. Now you have to add an extra 15 minutes for Schengen just in case, and for non-Schengen as much as an hour if the current mess continues.

With my travel pattern, the lounge often affords me the only opportunity all day to have a pretty decent meal in a comfortable environment , but for others this may be far less of a consideration.

Johan

mfkne

Right, but I didn't say that J gets the same treatment as SkyPriority. But where SkyPriority is referenced, it doesn't matter whether you got it from flying a lot or because on this occasion you're flying J.

Grouchy

Needed 5 minutes today from the entrance (scan your bp) going through security & passport control. No improvemeny as you no longer have a seperate Privium lane. Plus because it wasn't busy they are also guiding kettles through the same security line holding things up.
At the current situation passport control (for non privium pax) will be certainly a bottleneck when it's getting busy.

KLflyerRalph

Were the automated kiosks opened? Which Departure Hall?