mfkne

Schiphol is running a trial during which laptops and liquids may stay in the bag:

[http://news.schiphol.com/test-at-ams...y-in-the-bag/]

johan rebel

Went through Terminal 2 non-Schengen departures this evening. It was a disaster. I'll spare you the details but in brief:

• automatic gates refused to admit me.
  
  
• long line of regular pax at what they dare call "priorty" security
  
  
• so many bags sent to secondary that one of the "priority" checkpoints came to a complete halt.
  
  
• one of my bags sent to secondary.
  
  
• The Privium scanner at the passport checkpoint refused to recognize me, as well as the gentleman in front of me. (happens all the time, said the KMar officer)

Oh boy, oh boy.

Johan

Ditto

How long did it all take?

Xandrios

The news item has been deleted

It sounds almost like a hoax to me. AMS is one of the worst airports regarding security (through LGW also sucks - a lot), and they plan on making a full 180 going from extremely strict to not strict at all? Very weird!

johan rebel

Forgot to check. Probably around around 15 minutes. Even getting access to priority security took time, as the scanners at the automatic gates refused to admit me. The staff in charge had more important things to do than their job.

Johan

CyBeR

No, the URL is just wrong.

http://news.schiphol.com/test-at-ams...ay-in-the-bag/

caliform

Ahhh look at that PR image, a smiling agent and happy passenger with no line or stack of 28 bags going to secondary. Next thing you know they'll announce they no longer suspect every wire in a bag! Progress.

tobitronics

Still can't wrap my head around the fact that every time I fly out of AMS priority people are mixed in with normal people, slowing everything down to 0 efficiency. Only time it netted me big gains was in cases where te regular line stretched all the way from lounge 1 to the KL BC checkin desks....

... In which case I could proceed directly to the front and made it through quicker than in the case of light loads en 'mixing' policy in effect :')

CyBeR

Pretty standard though, I think in most places priority security is just a separate line to the beginning of regular security.

Ditto

Yep, and actually in AMS as long as there are priority PAX waiting, normal PAX will not be sent over to the priority queues, they will only be sent to the priority queue if it is empty, which of course makes perfect sense.
I don't see how waiting for 1 or 2 non-priority PAX is "slowing everything down to 0 efficiency"

CyBeR

Exactly. This is clearly the best outcome for everyone involved.

johan rebel

1 or 2? Yeah, right! Last time I counted 11, not including the throng waiting at secondary.

Yeah, that qualifies as zero efficiency; and no that's not what priority security is supposed to be, nor are Privium members getting anything near value for money.

If the much maligned TSA can implement and properly execute TSA Pre✓® at a whole bunch of airports, then Privium should be able to offer something similar at AMS.

How difficult can it be?

Johan

Ditto

11 non-priority PAX? or 11 PAX in total?

And even with 11 PAX, given just 2 queues (and sometimes they utilize 4 for priority) and 3 stands at each queue, it shouldn't take longer than 5 minutes, of course with so many bags going to secondary it is a different story all together, but that has nothing to do with the queuing mechanism.

You still get to skip the long queue that can easily take 45 minutes or more during rush hour...

johan rebel

At least 11, plus another priority guy and I.

Only two "priority" checkpoints, one of which had ground to a complete halt due secondary, with trays backed up all the way to the loading stations. I was in due course directed to the other one, where I again had to wait as the regular pax struggled with their trays and clogged the system. Then, despite having removed anything and everything that could possibly cause offense, one of my bags was of course selected for secondary, even though that very bag had sailed through CPH, EWR, JFK and LAX in the weeks before (but not LHR, which is almost as big a security pain as AMS is). I was of course also frisked after the body scanner, which funnily enough invariably happens at AMS, but almost never at other airports.

Then the Privium iris scanner (which is located as far from "priority" security as possible) rejected me, as it did the guy ahead of me. KMar officer said that happens all the time.

All in all another great and typical AMS priority experience.

I could not care less how long the line I'm skipping is, what matters is the length of the one in front of me. Back when there was still a dedicated Privium checkpoint, it was at most one or two people long, if that.

Johan

Ditto

This is exactly the issue, and obviously what causing the long queues to begin with, but I don't see a handful of non-priority PAX in the priority queue makes a big difference...

BTW I passing through LHR went smoothly for me when I was there about 2 weeks ago, of course on the outbound from AMS one of my trays had to go to secondary

I beg to differ, the amount of queue you skip is as equally if not more important, since it is what allows you to arrive to the airport 1hr before your flight instead of 2 or more...

Yep, obviously Privium was "downgraded", but back at that time none of my bags ever went to secondary...