HELP! Connecting flight at Amsterdam Schipol
 

Hello,

I need help deciding if I will be able to make the following connection at Amsterdam Airport. I'm arriving from New York at 7:45am and the flight I'm connecting to is departing at 8:55am and is going to Vienna on SkyEurope (discount airline). They say that they close the desk 40 minutes before departure so that means I have to be there before 8:15am. I'm not checking any bags so I won't waste time there...If I tell the airline attendant on the plane I hope she will let me leave first. And I will try to check in/print boarding pass beforehand. I contacted SkyEurope and all they said was that I will have to pass through passport check and they can't guarantee that I will make the flight. So I have to make it from the plane, through passport check, all they way to my departure gate in 15-25 minutes (depending on how long the taxi procedure takes) Needless to say, it's going to be risky... Is it a very big airport?

Have you BEEN to Schiphol?

I find it much more efficient to get through than, say, heathrow, but distances between gates at Schiphol can be lengthy.

I suspect it won;t take you too long to get through Immigration BUT

Don't count on getting off earlier than I do on ANY plane...I think that's something you can try but don;t count on it...

and you assume your flight will arrive on time

So I have to make it from the plane, through passport check, all they way to my departure gate in 15-25 minutes

why would anyone schedule such a connection - 99% chance you will not make it:

lines at immigration - many planes land at that time

plane could well be late (or early)

is a big airport

Again - why would you schedule such an impossible connection?

Some international gates can be quite far from the passport control and customs exit.

You can make it <b>IF</b> your flight departs NYC on-time and <b>IF</b> it arrives at gate on-time. But those are big ifs. One of the runways at AMS is like a mile away from the terminal, and taxiing alone can take 10-15 minutes, for example.

In my opinion, you're taking a huge risk, as SkyEurope will not re-accommodate you in any shape or form if you don't get <b>checked-in</b> by 8:15am. You are on your own to buy a new ticket.

I will not take this risk.

rkkwan's point about checked-in time is very important. It doesn't matter if you are in the lineup at 8:15. Check-in must be complete by 8:15.

I don't know which airline you are flying from New York, but in my limited experience on other flights, people with short connections did not get any precedence over others in respect to deboarding, even when those short connections were on the same airline.

For Ryanair and I think EasyJet, you have to be a EU citizen to do online check-in. Is this true for SkyEurope, or do they allow everyone to do online check-in?

I have been in this situation. My flight from Munich to the Louisville had a layover in Amsterdam. My flight was only a few minutes getting into the airport. But by the time I walked from my plane to my connecting plane and passed through the check point they were boarding the plane. You want to get there as quick as possible! They had everyone at the gate and were questioning them, this could take a few minutes so get there early.

You are pretty much in trouble if your flight is late. I suggest looking for an alternate flight because you might not make this one.

ditto to what others have said - you're taking a huge risk.

As far as asking the flight attendants to let you deplane first - that's just impractical! Unless you're sitting up front in First of Business. I mean, how are the FAs going to let you off first? ARe they going to announce, &quot;Ladies and Gentlemen, please let Mr. izzo in seat 35E get off the plane first!&quot;

If I were you, change your SkyEurope flight. If not, go on line and change your seat on your NY-AMS flight to as forward as possible and I guess you'll have to worry during your whole trip!

In my experience, the difference in time getting off a plane is only about 5 minutes even on a full widebody flight between first and last row in coach.

And even if you're in the very back, if you just walk very fast (or run), you'll beat at least half of them to the passport control.

That's really a minor thing. The major thing is if the flight will depart NYC on-time. That depends on your weather and your luck. If you were flying this past July and August, you'd be <b>extremely lucky</b> if your flight arrives at AMS an hour late, departing from EWR or JFK. Or PHL.

but then again the last two times i've flown to Amsterdam the plane arrived quite a bit early

We actually had to sit on the tarmac in U.S. for 45 minutes before take off because winds were so favorable that we would have landed before 7am - Verboten they said at Schiphol but we still landed 45 mins early

maybe the stars or at least the winds will be with you.

Well I haven't actually booked the connecting flight. It's just that some unforeseen events are requiring me to look for a faster way to Vienna. The second portion of my outbound flight goes from Amst to Brussels from which point I already have a cheap flight scheduled to Vienna. I was just trying to save time by booking another flight to Vienna from Amsterdam instead of using the second leg of my original flight. That would get me to Vienna at 12pm. At this point I will be arriving in Vienna at 10pm which I'm trying to avoid. I'm already seated in the front row so I'll be pretty fast leaving the plane. And I've asked flight attendants for help in a similar (though not as extreme) situation before and they were very helpful and allowed me to leave the plane first without announcing &quot;Please allow Mr. Izzo to leave first, blah,blah...&quot; But overall, thank you everyone for all your advice. I think I'll book the flight anyway, since it's very cheap, and if I miss it I'll just continue with my original flight. Only a few euros lost worst case scenario and if I make it I'll have a great story to tell the friends I'm visiting! Thanks again everybody!

We found passport checks, inspection of carry-ons, and security to be especially thorough in Amsterdam. It was quite time-consuming, because they opened many bags for inpection. Probably looking for dummies who might try to bring home pot from Amsterdam. In any event, it took a long time. I wouldn't count on getting through that airport quickly.
:)&gt;-

izzo - If this is the outbound portion of a roundtrip, if you skip any of the intermediate legs, the rest of your itinerary will be canceled.

So, if you jump off at AMS, and didn't continue on to BRU and VIE on that ticket, your return flight to the US will be canceled.

Really? Even if I call them beforehand to explain the situation? I hope not...

WAIT, izzo...

Can you post your actual flight itin? Is Vienna your final, final destination? Or you have a return trip to NYC?

Like rkkwan said, if you skip your AMS-BRU leg (and that's part of your NYC-AMS-BRU-VIE itin), all your remaining flights will be cancelled.

Yes....don't just cut out of an itinerary...

hi, izzo,

if your outward bound flight is already boooked through scheduled airlines, then you can send your luggage all the way through to Vienna.

if you &quot;jump ship&quot; at AMS you wil have to arrange to reclaim it, which will take yet more time, then check it again.

plus you have the problem already identified of possibly having your return ticket cancelled.

this might be worth it if you were likely to make the direct flight, but even at Schipol, which is very easy to negotiate, it's unlikely. You could end up not getting there at all.

though I am yet to get there [working on it] Vienna is a very civilised place, where you should have no problem arranging a driver to meet you to take you to your hotel at 10pm, or just getting a cab.

I would resign myself to the trip as booked and enjoy the delights of Schipol [nice shops, cafes, museum] while you're there.

regards, ann

The only leg one can skip without any consequence is the very last one on an itinerary.

If you HAVE to skip those intermediate flight(s), the airline have to reissue and reprice your ticket. It may be higher, it may be lower. But you'll definitely have to pay a change fee, which can be $200-300.

I honestly wish I though that airlines knew when someone didn't get on a plane and found their bags and removed them.

Thanks guys for making that point. I'll call the airline to see what they're policy is.