I am looking at airfares from NYC to Toulouse or Bordeaux for travel at end of June and am considering a nonstop to Amsterdam, with transfer to connecting flight which seems the best deal on many of the bigger carriers. Some allow just 1 hr. 20 mins. to transfer, others have almost 4 hrs. layover. I am not familiar with airport in Amsterdam. Is the 1hr . 20 mins. enough time; is it easy enough to reach the departure gate from the arrivals terminal? Can travelers walk it or do they provide a bus or shuttle to get over to departure terminal, and how much time is required to go through security to connect with ongoing flight? I plan to have luggage checked to final destination but will need to go through passport control. Any comments? Thank you.

1:20 should be plenty of time. Schiphol is quite large but well-designed (in a star pattern). You should simply walk between gates. Passport control takes just a few minutes and so does security.

Hello Cavangal, no doubt others will have a different thought but personally I would book a flight that had a 4 hour layover versus 1 hour, 20 minutes. The airport is very user friendly and quite pleasant also. Here is the official website.
http://www.schiphol.nl/index_en.html

My preferance would be 3 hours max but if your flight is late in arriving you might feel stressed with the hour plus layover. I have had that happen and hate that feeling. So to repeat, I would chose the 4 hour layover.

To make the decision I would check to see departure time for the next flight of my carrier or its partner and how many seats available on same so have idea of possible wait time if my plane got delayed and I couldn't make connector.

If you do opt for the 4hr, you could use the airport lockers or baggage hold and train into the city (15min/$5Euro) and have lunch,snack,whatever and train back for your flight.

I would let LoveItaly hold my hand on this. Only 1h20m is risky. I had close calls on my last two flights through AMS due to late arrivals. Everything is under one roof but those terminals are spread out and long. Four hours is not really enough time to go into the city IMO. Stay in the airport, enjoy the duty free shops, the museum, a cold fresh Heineken, even the grungy little casino.

PP control will be a snap. The Dutchies are efficient.