Umbrellas are also high on the list.

Oh . . . thanks for the heads-up. I always thought only Bulgarian umbrellas were lethal, but perhaps the security staff have a hard time telling the difference. In any case I can do without umbrellas of any kind, instead I carry a packable rain jacket and rain covers for my gearslinger & backpack. Somehow works a lot better when riding a bike, and they don't cause problems at Schiphol security either.

Johan

The NS warns that, other than the route Amsterdam Centraal to Schiphol, there will be no trains to Schiphol tomorrow, or indeed in the rest of the country.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f47f2c66ba.jpg

Talking about umbrellas: don't forget the special umbrella of John Steed containg a rapier,

Then again anyone using a wheelchair can use jujutsu and should be declared a dangerous weapon...

Flew in this AM at 0730; 20 minutes from plane to bus to town….I was shocked that no one was even in the passport control area!

Tuesday 30 AUG : VERY limited railservice to the airport
 

adding To irishguy28 post:
https://nos.nl/artikel/2442496-ns-tr...gersvereniging
Indeed reconfirmed no NS (Dutch Rail) trains AT ALL in the whole Netherlands
except:
1 - Amsterdam Centraal - Amsterdam Schiphol Airport vv. (limited service: 4x p/h)
2 - Thalys and Eurostar services

https://www.ns.nl/en
Limited train travel possible between Amsterdam Central Station and Schiphol Airport
Eurostar and Thalys will run, other international trains will not run in the Netherlands. The trains of the regional transport companies will also continue to run.

Good luck everyone!

I had long ago gotten used to expecting the security screeners at US airports and LHR to be traveler-unfriendly yellers. AMS has tried to play catch-up in that regard, and unfortunately it's not even just at the security screening checkpoints where I've encountered the hostility that has me wondering where are the supervisors to get their act together and understand that people on average perform better when there is less hostility than when there is excess hostility. Never had travel party members subject to such yelling at CPH, although I did encounter an airport worker who made a fuss about grabbing one too many plastic bags to help them fight the "war on water" (and other liquids, gels and aerosols). It doesn't take much guessing to figure out that even for general passenger security screening, CPH is a better experience than AMS -- even when cabin baggage screeners and the WTMD and other body scan users get an alarm prompting additional scrutiny of the screened item and/or traveler.

It seems to me that the more yelling goes on from workers at an airport, the more likely it is that the airport is a mess or can become a mess.

Messes at an airport do cause people to shift travel plans to other destinations where the odds of being hit by a mess are less. With the mess at AMS being less messy and frequent now than it used to be earlier this year, people may adjust travel plans to include it more yet again but a reputation shot is a reputation shot.

Data point lunchtime today
 

- Arrived on a delayed flight, pretty much par for the course these days. Short-connection pax (the vast majority, by the looks of it) were told to make a run for it, all others were asked to stay in their seats and out of the way. That included a fair contingent of cruise ship pax in various stages decrepitude who had been wheeled on board, or had hobbled down the jetway on crutches under what remained of their own steam. A couple with plenty of time to make their also delayed onward flight were specifically asked by the purser to remain in their seats and wait for wheelchair assistance to arrive, but they decided otherwise and tried to fight their way off amongst the first. The lady made it halfway through the jetway, at that point she had to be supported by other pax who rushed to her aid, blocking the way for all those in a real hurry. At the gate no mobility assistance staff were anywhere in sight, s o pax waiting to board the next flight were asked to vacate entire rows of seats so those waiting for help could be parked.

- I trust and hope that all those short-connection pax made their flights, but I'm pretty sure none of their bags did. 10 Minutes after arrival there was still no sign of any baggage handlers anywhere near the plane. A ramp supervisor showed up, removed a stroller from the hold and left it in the jetway, and that was it. It was almost as if the area around the aircraft had been declared a no-go zone. Not a soul to be seen.

- Crown Lounge 25 not even half full.

- D immigrations was packed all the way from the access doors. All six E-gates in operation, yet there was a crowd in line there too. Four manned desks open, if I remember correctly.

- Luggage hall was a zoo, packed with passengers as well as abandoned bags in piles and heaps all over the place.

- Stairs/elevator/moving walkway from Plaza to Departures 1 & 2 not supervised.

- KLM check-in areas pretty much deserted. One single pax at SkyPriority, 11 at regular check-in.

- "Back door" to priority security supervised, all the signs showing the way two weeks ago are now gone.

- Only a trickle of pax using the regular security access by door F.

- Security access behind the regular KL check-in desks almost empty, only two pax at the access point.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...91d01ab3e2.jpg


- Car drop-off zone a bigger mess than usual, but not as huge a disaster as I had expected given the rail strike. T3 a lot worse than T2.

- No lines outside.

Johan

Where, from whom, and why? I don't think I've ever met with downright hostility anywhere at Schiphol, not even at security. Gross incompetence? Yes, for sure. Overt hostility? No. I've witnessed the odd heated argument, including one with a Spaniard who insisted on speaking Spanish while refusing to surrender his large hunting knife. I figured he was an idiot and had it coming.

Went through CPH Express today. I was the only priority pax, but some smart alec had opened a tensabarrier separating the regular line from the priority one, something over a dozen pax had taken advantage of, and more were preparing an assault behind me. It took a little while for the staff to cotton on and chase the crowd back to the side where they belonged, so I ended up with that first dozen ahead of me. An American couple was determined to show everyone how travel-savvy they were, asking questions such as "do I have to take my liquids out?", followed by "also my toothpaste?", etc. etc. The lady ended up filling her tray with three bags full of liquids, many obviously over the size limit, as were at least two of the bags. The security staff didn't bat an eye.

You said it.

Any empirical data to back that assertion up? AMS is a mess of impressive proportions, but that's caused by a lack of workers, not a surfeit of yelling ones. I don't see any correlation, and on the rare occasions I do hear yelling it's the pax who are doing the shouting.

Johan

I've noticed (for years already) that they do not do a very good job of load balancing these. On more than one occasion I've seen one immigration hall packed to the gills while the other was literally empty. I've even gone so far as to back out of a full hall (before the one-way exit), go back up the stairs and back down another set to find not a single person down there.

As for the baggage hall it's the same thing, last week when they forgot to load my bag in London I went to the other hall (I was at belt 13) to see if there were fewer people at the KLM baggage office there and that was a huge mistake as there it was a complete zoo, while the hall with belts 1-13 was calm.

Any westerly gales September 5 - 13 . . .
 

. . . will make the infamous mess even messier, as the Buitenveldertbaan (RWY 09/27) will be closed for maintenance that week.

Johan

Non schengen to non schengen transfer
 

I had a for me new experience today, transiting through Schiphol. I arrived on an EK flight and thought I would make use of the transfer security filter at the begin of the G arrivals to catch my Easyjet flight onwards to the UK.

However, the transfer security was completely shut. There was no other option than to take the stairs down towards immigration. A staff member over there explained to me I had to report to the Marechaussee desk next to the immigration queues. There were 4 other persons with the same problem, three of them in distress as they had a short connection.

The marechaussee made a phone call and after a 15 minute wait, a security person appeared and guided us via the Departures G gates and Holland boulevard towards an open security filter. It all went pretty smooth. The security person took our passports though and kept a close eye on his group of transfer passengers.

It was for me a first, and interesting experience.

Last friday, Sept 1st, a friend was on the KL 565 to NBO at 12:55 PM. FB Silver, so check-in at SP but no priority security. I was asked what time would be ok to be at the airport, i said be there at 9:30 AM just in case it is busy. Friend reported back that it took 55 mins to get through security/passports. It does seem as if the lines for security are much more ok now, and going in the line and outside the terminal is not happening that often anymore. Keep an eye on weekend days especially and the beginning of the fall holidays. In some of my posts, i revealed i am often working as an airport rep, meet/greet cruise passengers. In the last few weeks, it looked like arrivals were back to almost normal: no exceptional waiting times at passports anymore and just the usual late deliveries for luggage (AC for instance, handled by Swissport).

No wait at e-gates for Schengen exit. It appeared that most people who could have used them didn't try.

I have a multi-city itinerary with the long hauls arriving/departing at AMS in Oct and Dec respectively. Should I be worried?

The itinerary:
YVR-AMS-FLR on J, all on KLM metal.
RNS-AMS-YVR on J, the short one is on AF Hop, with long haul on KLM.

The layover at AMS is short - 1 hr 5 min only, but it's way out in Dec after Christmas. The first leg is smack dab in mid October. DL issued the ticket (paid tickets, not awards). The RNS to AMS just got moved up, so our layover is getting shorter (as stated above) so there is an opportunity for us to change. Should we? By October, is there a light at the end of the tunnel so to speak ... ?