Level75

Hi, I have a ticket to Seville from LBA changing in Amsterdam bought through KLM who do the first leg. From Amsterdam to Seville we're on a Transavia flight.

The change is 1 hour 10 which I thought was a little tight but doable but I've now been told that we can't check in for the Transavia flight in advance and need to do so in Amsterdam.

Does anyone know whether there are Transavia check in desks airside or do we have to go out through passport control, check in and back through security? If so, is it realistic to think we can do this in the time we have before the gate closes?

​​

atflyer

Maybe you can check in online on the Transavia website? I never had to use any check-in machines airside at Schiphol so do not know if Transavia has these. 1:10 is very tight to go landside - do not know when they close the check in desks but that is often 1 hour before flight. If in trouble I would stay airside and ask for a boarding pass at the gate (and hope immigration will let you pass to Schengen with your ticket without boarding pass). I certainly would throw in a question with KLM via chat or Facebook messenger or so well in time.

Level75

Thanks for the response. I've been on live chat with both KLM and Transavia. Both were useless. The Transavia person didn't know when the gates close or whether we could check in airside or landside. They said the gate and check in close around an hour before departure leaving 10 minutes to land, do through passport control, check in, go through security and find the gate which seems impossible. KLM just said "the system" says we can make the connection so there's nothing we can do.

CyBeR

Are you checking bags? If not you should be able to use the airside check-in machines or the transfer desk the point of which are specifically to let you check-in to flights without having to go landside.

That said you aren't able to do so, an hour and 10 minutes should still be enough to go landside and check in there, albeit it's on the tighter side and assuming you're on-time or early. If you are checking bags and you have to pick them up and re-check them that's definitely not going to work; AMS is notoriously slow with getting bags on the belt.

Level75

Thanks again. I contacted the airport who say Transavia doesn't have an airside transfer desk so we'd definitely need to go out through passport control, check in, back through security etc (hand luggage only). Given transavia have said check in and gates close 1 hour (ish) before departure I don't see how this is feasible.
KLM should know when they sell the ticket that this is how it works with Transavia and I don't understand why they think it's OK to sell tickets with such a short connection in these circumstances.

Level75

Schiphol airport, via chat, are saying that it should be possible to check in for the Transavia leg at the self service transfer kiosks. Does anyone have any experience of this? Thank you!

dkeng

It's very strange for me that you wouldn't be able to check in for the second leg at LBA. If for some odd reason they can't print the boarding pass then you should be able to get it at the gate in AMS or at the self service kiosks - I can't imagine it would be necessary to go landside.

tourguide

If you are traveling without checked bags, do not go landside. LBA passengers will arrive at the terminal by bus at the beginning of the D-pier. Go upstairs and follow the signs to Schengen departures. You will now go through passport control, where, if needed, there is a short connection lane. Your HV fllight to Sevilla will leave from the C-pier or D-pier Schengen gates. If LBA is unable to give you a boarding pass, there is a big station for transfers in the Schengen lounge, on your left hand just before the split to (straight ahead) the C pier and (turning right) to the B-pier. Transavia is not handled by KLM anymore, but by Viggo.Check if there is a Viggo transfer counter there, if not you may ask KLM staff, but if you are really tight timewise head directly to the gate. If you do have checked bags, is KLM handling agent in LBA able to tag them through to Sevilla? They may be able to tag the bags through but not issue boarding passes, in that case do as above, get your boarding passes at the gate.
If you have checked bags and LBA can only tag them to Amsterdam, you will need to go landside: via passport control to baggage claim, then out, upstairs and to terminal 1 to check in with Transavia (check-in row 2/3). But this scenario is not going to work, as there will be waiting time to go through passport control and to wait for your luggage at the belt.
Are you traveling anytime soon? I may be able to check with Viggo at Schiphol how and what. Do print out a copy of your ticket in case passport control asks about it though.

atflyer

It would be pretty ridiculous if KLM sells LBA-AMS-SVQ as KL marketed and you end up in a self-connecting situation retrieving your luggage airside. Can't believe it would be so bad.

In all this, I of course assume OP is flying on a single ticket - totally different story if LBA-AMS and AMS SVQ is different tickets...

The doomed

Is it time to have a single wiki style thread on Transavia?

Level75

Thanks for all the replies. It is indeed a single ticket so I wasn't anticipating all this uncertainty.

Transavia keep saying I should get a boarding pass for the second leg from LBA. KLM are saying they have had a change of policy and can no longer do that and that we need to check in in Amsterdam.

Transavia have escalated my query and now say I "might" be able to use the self service check in kiosks.

I don't understand why there's so much uncertainty. It doesn't seem like a complex travel situation.

Level75

We're travelling 11 Feb.

The doomed

Billyfergus might be able to help clarify, looks like he took Aberdeen > AMS > Seville last year for a football match with the same Transavia leg

dkeng

I find generally in this kind of situation it brings better peace of mind not to try and inquire with the airlines. Poorly trained customer service agents have a reasonably high likelihood of 1: Not knowing the answer and 2: Making up something to compensate...

Level75

I've been in contact over WhatsApp with Transavia and Schiphol, with varying degrees of success. I've pasted some of the conversation below as they may prove useful to others.

Transavia kept telling me KLM would give me the boarding pass for their flight. I repeatedly told them KLM had confirmed (over chat and by direct phone call) they would not, and asked how to check in with Transavia when in Amsterdam.

Finally we got to this:
"If KLM is assuring you that you cannot get your Transavia boarding pass in Leeds, in that case you will have to leave the airport in Amsterdam and do the check-in directly with us."

I asked "How can I find out if I can self check in with Transavia airside?"

The response... "With Transavia, if we are talking about the airport of Leeds you won't be able to since the flight is not departing from there. Gon�alo 🐧"

I responded "No, Amsterdam. Can I self check in with Transavia using the self check kiosks airside in Amsterdam? "

The response to this was "Just the fact that you do not have any information regarding the airside in Amsterdam already means that you won't be able to do self check-in. I'm sorry if this is a inconvenience. Gon�alo 🐧"

I was asked them for the information!!

The Schiphol adviser said:
"In the case that there is no transfer desk available, you can also simply go to the gate to get your boarding pass. Another option is to go to T3 and T9 for a self-service kiosk. At T3, T5 and T9 it is indicated above or on the counter what you can do. "

I asked "So even if I haven't checked in I can get my boarding pass at the gate, airside, without needing to go landside? "

Reply was "Yes. However, I do recommend first going to one of the desks I just listed, to try and get your boarding pass at the self-service kiosks."

I'd had a few mixed messages so asked "Also just above you (or a colleague) have said there is no transfer desk for Transavia. Does this mean that there is nowhere airside to check in for a Transavia flight or that there is no dedicated desk but airside check in is still possible at self service or at the gate? "

Response was "I completely understand that you want to make sure. However, as the check-in process is entirely under the airline's responsibility, it is a little difficult for us to guarantee anything. So, while it should be possible to get your boarding pass at the gate, it is still the airline who decides about this. And yes, it is true that there is no transfer desk for Transavia specifically (which is why we recommend going straight to the gate). The self-service kiosks are not for a specific airline, any passenger can use these. So what you said is indeed correct. "

The last response was a bit equivocal but I've got a bit more confidence that I can use a self transfer kiosk. The ones I've seen pictures of have "Air France KLM" written on them but the agent says the kiosks are for all airlines.

Do any of you very helpful people have any experience of checking in airside using the kiosks? Or getting a boarding pass at the gate?