JillDavis

I am leaving from Orlando andy flying to Amsterdam with a one hour layover and then connecting flight goes to Paris. Is one hour enough time??? Help!

travelgourmet

It is a bit tight, but you should make it if your flight is on time. If this is all on a single ticket, then I wouldn't worry too much about it.

JillDavis

What does single ticket mean?

travelgourmet

Did you buy the ticket all at once from a single provider? If so, it is usually a single ticket. Double check your itinerary. Somewhere there should be a ticket # or #'s noted. If there is more than one ticket # per pax, then you are on separate tickets. If on separate tickets, then neither carrier has much obligation to help you out if your flight is late.

JillDavis

Yes, I bought the ticket all through MartinAir. By the way, have you ever flown MartinAir?

travelgourmet

I assume that the onward flight is with Air France or KLM? If so, I would think they would help you out in the case of a missed connection, as they own Martinair. To be sure, though, it might be worth calling or emailing Martinair directly to confirm.

As to the quality of Martinair, I have never flown them, but know that they are a budget-style carrier. They use older planes (cast-offs from KLM, I think) that won't have in-seat video. I believe that you also can't preassign seats and that other services might be limited. I do believe you get a free meal, but I would doubt alcohol is included. They do have what they call comfort class, which offers a few extra inches of legroom, a portable video player, and a few other niceties. I think it is €60/$90 or something like that.

JillDavis

Travel - yes, the onward flight is with KLM. I believe I can check in 24 hours before and pick my seat.

DerViking

One hour? No way, now how! Travel agents and airline people will say I'm wrong, but they don't have my experience.

I've flown through that airport for 15-20 years and I can assure you, it's big, crowded, with high security, very long lines, and I still find the signs not quite clear enough. I have had to RUN through that airport to make more than one flight, have been yelled at in the (old) Northwest Club for thinking I could relax, and told I would miss my plane. Poor foolish me--that time I had an hour and a half.

I tell all my friends planning trips to Europe and flying through Schiphol that they should figure 2-3 hours to be safe. Remember, it doesn't take much to delay your outbound flight.

JillDavis

Do I have to transfer my own luggage or does the airport do that for you? If I study a map of the airport before I go to understand the layout and be prepared and run when I get off my flight, then do you think I will be okay? There is nothing I can do at this point - my airfare is booked.

Patty

I think you'll be fine provided your flight's on time. I find AMS very user friendly. The only issue is that's is very large so you may have some longish walks. You'll go through passport control and security before heading to your Paris flight gate.

travelgourmet

You should not have to transfer your luggage, the airlines will do that for you.

And I fundamentally disagree with DerViking's assessment. The airport is big, but the lines are not that long and security is no worse than anywhere else. Indeed, going from non-Schengen to Schengen (as you are doing, going from the US to Paris, there is even a short-connect line set up to clear passport control. While 1 hour is tight, it is not that ridiculous, and anything beyond 2 hours is definitely overkill.

And the signs are pretty clear. You will likely arrive in Pier G. You need to follow the signs to the B and C gates. Near the B and C gates, there will be passport control, beyond which is security. As you exit security, the B and C gates will be straight ahead. If you are leaving from a D gate, you want to walk straight and turn left at the Starbucks. Take another left past Starbucks and head up the stairs and the D gates will be to your right. This is a very long walk, so you don't want to dawdle, but there are moving walkways to help.

And I don't know about DerViking's experience, but I have connected through this airport more than 30-40 times within the past 2 years and have only had to run once, and that was a flight that landed 1-1/2 hours late, when I only had a 2 hour connection, and I had to clear passport control.

JillDavis

travelgourmet - you are amazing! Thank you for the details.