johan rebel

According to luchtvaartnieuws.nl (in Dutch), Schiphol will compensate airlines to the tune of €350.-- for each passenger who cannot not travel due to the airport's pax cap. The airlines have reluctantly accepted.

Johan

johan rebel

I almost spend more time on trains than on planes just because my commute includes a 3+ hour rail segment. Train travel could and should be comfortable and relaxing, and would be if it weren't for atrocious punctuality stats. But taking the train in lieu of flying, as opposed to traveling to and from the airport, is only very rarely an option. The people who believe that trains can replace planes on most or even all shorthaul routes need to have their heads examined.

Apart from the fact of being stuck with a hub that sucks to the power of ten, I figure it's mostly a consequence of their pandemic response, which included shedding staff every which way in a hurry. Staff categories with powerful unions (FAs, pilots) secured generous severance packages & early retirement deals; job counseling and paid vocational training, and so forth. This was by all accounts very successful, but guess what? Travel has rebounded, and to KLM's huge surprise people are not queueing outside their Amstelveen HQ to apply for jobs. Duh!

Johan

johan rebel

It's obvious they prioritize certain flights when it comes to luggage handling, and put others on the backburner.

The other month I was waiting at a B gate to board a bus when a KLC Embraer pulled in at the adjacent gate. No fewer than four luggage handlers were already waiting at the stand. They unloaded the bags quickly and efficiently, then immediately started loading the bags for the outgoing flight. They did the whole job in less than the 20 minutes that my flight was delayed by. When my bus pulled up at the remote stand a short while later, the luggage trailers were all lined up, but there was no ground handling staff to be seen anywhere. To the best of my recollection, it was then another 15-20 minutes before somebody finally showed up, after which I was treated to a slo-mo luggage show.

Johan

johan rebel

So what kind of games exactly do people play to get priority access for security screening at AMS on the return from a land-side jaunt at AMS? (I assume you are referring to a trip to the city of Amsterdam, not airport landside, which strikes me as boring and pointless, except for heavy smokers).

Johan

johan rebel

And in other news, KL expects to cancel about 15 flights a day tomorrow and Friday, more on Saturday and Sunday.

Johan

Bogwoppit

I read the "games" as "upgrading the fare to flex to get Sky Priority access", but not sure that is possible anyway. Leiden was the object of my desire.

westi2002

or buy a full flex ticket for another flight, use that BP to clear security and cancel the ticket before departure.

jamar

It might be a little early to ask, but is there any optimism for the situation improving next month? I booked a Promo award flight ARN-AMS-ORD (only 11500 miles+$150 in surcharges) with about 13 hours in AMS overnight. It seems like my checked bag can remain airside and I might have my connecting boarding pass too, so the only thing I'd have to worry about in the morning is security. If I was planning on booking a hotel nearby and being back at the airport around 9:30 for the 12:25 flight to ORD, is that cutting it too close?

Sjoerd

It’s unpredictable. For tomorrow, next week and most likely for next month.

If you don’t have priority and need to join the regular queue for security I would recommend to be at Schiphol 4 hours before your scheduled time of departure. You might very well be lucky and through security and passport control in 30 or 60 minutes, so bring a book or whatever helps you to kill some time.

Concerto

Yes, I do agree with all of this. In fact, I just bought an itinerary within Germany and Switzerland on LH and LX mainly because I didn't want to sit on a train all day long. But the state of the website of Lufthansa and its IT just raises excrement to a whole new level of unbelievable disgust. Thinking about cancelling the ticket and going back to the train.

Concerning AMS and other joke airports (think LHR), shouldn't their CEOs be thrown in prison for a few days? At the very least they should have their immoral salaries taken away.

johan rebel

Another option is the airside Mercure, assuming they have a room available at a halfway decent price. No more worries about security.

Johan

johan rebel

If it is any consolation, Schiphol's Chief Muppet is not entitled to any severance package whatsoever.

Johan

physicsdude

This made water come out my nose

jamar

No rooms available on the date I'm flying in/out so I'm probably looking at the Ibis nearby (the one I can redeem my points at, since the Ibis budget doesn't seem to allow that). Looks like it's only a couple km, and from what I can tell, my Diner's Club card will get me into either the Aspire lounge or the BA lounge in the non-Schengen area so I can include getting breakfast in the "killing time at the airport" part of my calculations. Still hoping the situation improves soon-ish.

Bogwoppit

Currently the Aspire lounge access with credit cards is not great. They often lock out the access to CC, PP etc holders to save space for business/first travellers. It is not something you can count on any more. I have Dragon Pass, might as well have a pet dragon. Useless.