Have you been to AMS as of late? It's definitely not headed in the right direction in my opinion.

I was just there 2 weeks ago, and I found it to be reasonably well. The layout of
the airport is very well. Its quick to get around the airport from
gate to gate. One thing I dont like about it is the smoking areas.
They make the whole terminal stink. The crown club lounges
are often over crowded. Besides that, its pretty good.

but getting in, out and around is very quick! Its my preferred EU hub.
Much better than CDG or LHR.

It's better than CDG, of that much I certainly agree. It can be even better than LHR normally, but it doesn't work that way for me usually.

Wherever possible, I'd choose CPH over AMS, and ZRH or VIE over AMS too.

My real dislike of AMS comes from security-related matters there, including an ever growing presence of wasteful questioning by "security" that can create huge lines right at the gate itself. It was better before.

I think it depends on the destination. I flew about 5 round trips through
AMS between November 05 until a couple of weeks back.
Only time we had the huge line was for the NW flight
from AMS to BOM. I've seen the same thing on Delta from CDG-BOM
where they have extra questioning.

Other than that, I havent seen any big lines for the extra security questioning.

Also a lot of people flying in/out/through AMS are elite, so the elite lines
tend to be long.

Only for flights on US-based airlines. Easy to avoid. I have *never* had a security interview at AMS although it is my home airport.

Despite its size, AMS Does an awesome job. The security is as said only on US flights, and hardly AMS's fault... I am able to go from parking to the gate in under 10 minutes thanks to dedicated Privium parking and iris scanning security.

AMS is just too busy for me. I've yet to have a connection there that didn't feature a long walk through exclusively commercial areas. It's great that they've got the casino and shopping, but I'm really not interested and that stuff just gets in my way. I've had no problems with the place, but it just hasn't made me happier than usual.

As far as European (heck, any) hubs go, I've yet to see anything I prefer to FRA.

Smaller airports are a whole different matter.

Stumbled upon this thread and thought I'd revive it as there have been some new airports and terminals opening recently.
I have to say that AMS tops the list of all the airports I know unless you're flying with luggage. On average it takes me 3-5 minutes from the moment I disembark from a non-Shengen flight to reach baggage reclaim. However, this is during off-peak times and with an EU/EEA passport. Now that I have Privium the same applies for peak times because I get to bypass the lines.
Waiting for your luggage at AMS has always been a nightmare for me, especially when flying BA (Servisair). Though whenever I fly KLM other passengers' luggage seems to make it out swiftly, mine just always never appears and I'm making my way over to their service desk.

LHR-t5 is also growing on me, though departing always seems to be a bigger hassle than it should be and Fast-Track never really helps much. Never terminated at T5 with luggage before so I can't really comment on that, but connecting always seems to work fine.

Maybe a rarity on this list but YYZ-t3 also has a lot going for it IMO. Key though is to check-in online with an airline that has a dedicated fast-bag-drop counter because check-in lines at t3 are horrendous at the best of times. Immigration is also very efficient.

SIN then MUC.

I've been shockingly pleased with LHR as a United passenger lately.

The Iris system is great...from the time I exit the plane to the time I'm on the platform for the Heathrow Express is about 15 minutes. (I don't check a bag.)

I usually *do* check the bag coming back to the U.S., and I've never had to wait in line behind more than 1 other passenger at the UA counter to check it. (1P, flying coach or biz) Security is never more than a 2 or 3 minute wait. I'm usually on the 10:05AM flight to Chicago...

The terminal itself is the same dreary old thing it's always been, but we're just talking efficiency, right? For aesthetics, both of the big German hubs (FRA and MUC) are quite nice, but I seem to encounter a higher ratio of bus rides in FRA...especially if I'm connecting through there on a narrowbody. The United 767 from ORD (landing at 11:05) has gotten its gate on all but one of my flights this year to LHR, eliminating the need for the bus ride.