roelst

Update on flying with my partner (she has no FF or Privium).

KLM let us check in at the SP counters together no problem after showing the plat card on my phone and most surprisingly: no line (a rare sight these days).

Because of the in-person boardingpass check before security I gave my SkyPrio BP to my partner. She showed that to the girl at the stairs and she gave it a quick glance. All good. I used my Privium card in the gate next to her.

Upstairs at the scanners she used her own BP at the priority scanner. That worked fine, so the scanners still don't check for priority access. I used my Privium card again.

There was barely any line in front of security, but (because of inexperience?) the Schiphol personel there mixed priority travelers with regular travelers. The mixing happened at the last part of the line, but you still have to deal with incompetent travelers thinking huge scissors and the entire Douglas collection are fine to take with you.

DIgital passport control was empty. My partner was through the check as fast as I went through Privium.


To summarize:
Time from taxi to gate: ~20 minutes.
Boarding pass check downstairs is just a quick glance, so you can probably trick them with an old SP ticket. The scanners upstairs don't check for Prio. I have to note though that there was a couple that was denied prio because only one of the two had the SP logo on the BP.

dgr

Not sure if I am taking the right take-aways from these posts, have read back a few weeks, but I'm not as familiar with some of the frequent flier jargon.

I'm Delta Platinum (irrelevant given class of booking I think, so mention just to be sure), flying out of Amsterdam to US on 9/29 in Delta One (their business class product). I will have one checked bag. From the posts I've read here, it appears priority bag check and security lanes for business class tickets are open, and that they're pretty much normal time through, such that arriving 2 hours before departure time ought to be sufficient. Is that correct? Of course when I ask hotel they tell me to go eight hours before departure time given trouble at airport, but I am doubting that applies to premium tickets. If it does, would purchasing Easyjet Plus change anything, or is that redundant with the checkin/security benefits of having a Delta One ticket?

BA850

No need to arrive eight hours early, but as other posters have noted, things are very unpredictable, so you should aim to arrive the recommended 4 hours in advance. You’re in Delta One and will therefore be eligible for SkyPriority check-in and security, so if you get through quickly, just head to the KLM Crown Lounge (signposted as Lounge 52). Sitting there a little longer than expected is better than ending up caught up in a landside queue for longer than expected.

If you have an American passport, you will be eligible to use the eGates at exit passport control if they’re turned on.

EasyJet is a British low cost airline. ‘EasyJet Plus’ is a subscription service which offers priority benefits at certain airports, but only if you’re flying on an EasyJet ticket.

irishguy28

As per the KLM website, free flight changes are again possible, as was the case through the summer until mid August. (In my previous experience, "change your travel dates free of cost" also includes selecting different flights on the same date).

I've not played around with it for this weekend's flights yet, but bewarned that last time I used the facility, it was not possible to easily make a further change online by ones' self.

roelst

The chaos seems to extend to the KLM Lounge 52. A line for the entrance, most food stations are empty, tables and couches were disgusting, and long lines for the bar. It was an easy decision to move to the Privium lounge (still had one of those tickets for a companion), which was as nice as usual.

erik123

I am quite certain 2 hours will be sufficient 99% of the time. You can add 30 minutes for peace of mind. It will depend slightly on the day/time but the 29th should be quite OK.

thehyrax

I've been flying with KLM last couple of months w/ SkyPriority and Privium and never had any issue or long wait. SkyPriority check in has always been VERY fast, security max wait I had was 20 min. Can't tell you anything about passport check since I have Privium but yeah, those lines tend to be long

thehyrax

I've been flying with KLM last couple of months w/ SkyPriority and Privium and never had any issue or long wait. SkyPriority check in has always been VERY fast, security max wait I had was 20 min. Can't tell you anything about passport check since I have Privium but yeah, those lines tend to be long

Kensterfly

Anyone been flown UA out of AMS in recent days.
wondering what to expect Sunday morning, 9/18.
Carry on only. Business class.

Hoping the summer crowds have lessened.

irishguy28

The summer crowds are not the problem; the problem is that the summer security staff resigned en-masse when the temporary summer supplement paid to them was discontinued last week. Schiphol yesterday requested the airlines to cut another 18% of flights in October on top of those cuts already made.

Play safe and turn up earlier than your original plan. Better to have that extra coffee in the lounge than languish in slow-moving security line with your boarding cut off time approaching...

I'm currently on the train set to arrive 3 hours before my flight with Skypriority and carry-on only.

Kensterfly

Thank you.
We will probably be there at least by 0730 for our 1115 departure. That should be more than plenty of time. Hopefully, we will get some lounge time. I understand there is a lounge beyond Passport Control in United’s terminal.

ArnoldB

Any recent experience with Friday afternoons (from 16 onwards)?

johan rebel

There is, but it's probably not an experience you want to await with bated breath. Not my idea of fun, that's for sure.

Johan

offvoice

Asking for advice on a travel scheme I need to build:

I have a flight departing from AMS on SV (NS) On October 18th (STD 4pm).

I'm in Paris so I essentially have the option to either fly (AFKL) to AMS and transit to NS, or take a train (Thalys) from Paris to Schipol. The train is significantly cheaper (for 2 PAX : €300 instead of €550 by plane), but I would have to go through Plaza to reach security and border control.

How's the situation currently (I do understand it might change drastically by then) transiting S to NS? Would you say it's worth it to splurge on the plane for peace of mind?

FlyingRVS

Very helpful, thank you. Now I regret listening to my wife and buy the upgrade to Economy Flex (she didn't want to have any of it when I suggested manipulating the BP by adding SP logo to it)