johan rebel

I must confess that I don't miss them at all. But then I'm a very fast walker, and actually appreciate a bit of exercise between sitting in the lounge and sitting on a plane. Those walkways are often not any faster either, because 90% of those who use them immediately come to a full stop, and then stand like immobile statues blocking the way until the "mind your step" lady brings them back to life again. Except for those who fall flat on their faces, which I should probably not admit to finding entertaining.

Johan

johan rebel

The taxpayers, in other words.

Johan

BA850

Heathrow pulled that stunt at the start of this year, hiking fees by 37% (oddly enough, the same as Schiphol), but in one fell swoop. The CAA gave them permission to do so as an interim measure, but swiftly slapped them with an order to cut fees progressively until 2026, by which time the average should fall to about £26 per person (Heathrow wanted about £41).

In Schiphol’s case, it would be nice to see some tangible improvements before fees are hiked. As things stand, all anyone has secured is a vague promise that things will get better at an indeterminate future date as we wait with bated breath to see who they’ll appoint to replace Benschop.

sashafox

Hi and thankyou.

No, 25 mins for Manchester security on departure, 60 mins for Schiphol passport check on arrival, 90 mins for Schiphol security on departure, 15 mins for Manchester passort check on arrival.

johan rebel

Schiphol hasn't promised any in exchange for the fee hikes. On the contrary, they have expressly stated that they are increasing fees to recoup pandemic losses. They have even said that it is equitable to make current users pay for past deficits. I'm not sure I follow their logic.

Johan

BA850

Oh, Heathrow made the same ludicrous claim. The difference is the CAA called their bluff by allowing them an “interim” increase to “cover the losses” and ordering cuts thereafter (pointing out that a rebound in travel demand would see more money flowing through the coffers anyway). Not really what they had in mind

Kensterfly

Walked into the terminal at the Plaza at 0705. Cleared Passport control about 0730. (would have been even quicker if a large flight crew had not slipped in in front of us, and my bag hadn’t been selected for a random wipe down.)
Sat down at Aspire Lounge about 0740.

Carry on bags only.
Premium security (Polaris).

The economy security line sign was showing a 15 minute wait.

Overall, very pleased and surprised.

This Aspire lounge is pretty poor. Very small. We were lucky to get seats at a two top table. Very little food out. Dishes not being replaced. Tables not being cleared.

They’re turning away hordes or people who have some sort of benefit from a credit card or other program. Accepting only premium pax.
Gate keepers are getting beat up by irate economy pax.

I guess it’s better than sitting at the gate for three hours.

And thank you, HADES! Your photos and directions to the Premium security queue was spot on!

HadesNL

Kensterfly : thank you so much for the effort to report back on the actual situation,
Very glad to hear that everything went ok and that you were able to clear all formalities without any confusion and chaos.

Most information is indeed about T1/T2 but am delighted to find our shared information about T3 could still be helpful to you and others
We, all the posters, at "mess in Amsterdam thread" are very allergic to endless queues and
I especially don't like nonsensical queues that do not provide a free kiss by a gorgeous creature at the end as reward for tackling said queues.....
So glad to be of help!

And yes the T3 Aspire lounge needs to turn away all PriorityPass/CC-schemes passengers because space is very limited during peak travel hours.
Observing those persons being turned away with all emotional outburst is similair in watching episodes of NightCourt, NewsRadio, JustShootMe

It boggles the mind that for Amsterdam's all non-schengen departures T3 + T2 airside there are only two lounges open: KLM 52 (Skyteam) and Aspire (rest) for pax in business class + elites
Hopefully the closed British Airlines lounge will soon be merged with the Aspire Lounge to provide additional speating,
it will be anyone's guess if the extra space will be for all eligable, for business class only, for status-elites only or dedicated for prioritypass/cc scheme passengers only.

Have a safe trip back home and let's hope the sundae cart finally makes its triumphant return to Polaris !

PS: i looked back when you asked your question,
seems you managed to escape last week Q-ruckus just in time

Xandrios

Colleagues flew out of Dep 2 yesterday afternoon and reported about ~1,5 hr from train to having passed passport control. No status whatsoever.

BA850

Looks like the mess in Amsterdam translated into a brawl in Manchester:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...t-luggage.html

In some ways, it’s surprising this doesn’t happen more often. In others, it’s disappointing (as a Brit) that when it does, it often seems to involve a flight bound for, or originating, in the UK…

malmostoso

As a Brit, do you think British media would report on airport brawls in other countries?

BA850

A fair point, but purely anecdotally, I don’t see all that many similar events reported in the European press, which suggests a lower rate of air rage.

There was also a brawl in the opposite direction earlier this year: https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/a...amsterdam/amp/

FWIW, the Daily Mail in particular does report such incidents when they occur in the US.

But back on topic; it’s a reminder that the chaos which starts at Schiphol doesn’t end there.

b12e

anecdotally, and further offtopic, but when I was living in Spain and I saw a bunch of people in a fist fight, 95% chance they were British.

I don't think I ever saw some Belgians , Dutch, French, Spanish or Italians physically fighting (where I was living), only verbally.

On one occasion, what I believe to have been Germans - but the usual suspects were Brits.

kprrr

Any idea where I can find a list which flights get cancelled? I have a flight to Munich on Wednesday and with 5 flights per day I'm guessing one of them would be high on the axe list. So if there's a pattern in some certain flights to be cancelled, I can preemptively rebook myself on a flight with a bigger chance to take off with passengers.

johan rebel

All I can tell you is that on my commute (CPH, not MUC) there has definitely been a pattern this summer. That happened to be to my advantage, as I have had 0% cancelations, but 100% delays.

Johan