Layover time in Amsterdam
 

I am flying from Paris to Inverness Scotland and the best flight that works for my circumstances only has a 50 min layover.
This is flying with Air France/ KLM (KLM Cityhopper) on both legs. I have not flown through Schiphol before. Is this enough time? I could also fly with KLM on a different flight and have a 1hr 5 min layover it’s just not as convenient a departure time. TIA for any help!

I personally would not be happy with either of those connections. They do meet the MCT (minimum connection time) but AMS can be a mess sometimes. But if they are on the same ticket you'd be protected so if you miss the connection they will put you on the next available flight -- which might not be the next flight. If those are your only choices - go ahead but be prepared if things do go per shaped.

I don’t know your date but is there a reason you are flying SkyTeam? There are endless possibilities using EasyJet or British Airways between your cities.

Re Schiphol: The RJs (Inverness) seem to always use the B gates and if I were in charge I would put the Paris/Amsterdam flights (these flights connect the 2 SkyTeam hub airports in Europe) as close to the D and E gates as possible, on the C gates. That should make this a straightforward connection assuming on time arrivals. I wouldn’t check a bag, though.

As I discovered last month there is a third floor Schengen D concourse on top of the second floor non-Schengen D concourse. An arrival here would be a very long walk to the B gates.

Like CDG, the maps available online for Schiphol are hard to read.

It’s complicated, but I am trying to coordinate travel that day from Reims to CDG by train and then on to Inverness before the rental car place closes. Most of the flights I’ve found have fairly long layovers getting me into Inverness too late. The KLM one checks all the boxes. Arnold Clark closes at 5pm and there is a 20 min shuttle ride from the Inverness airport too. Throw in that I’m traveling with my daughters who fly out that day from CDG to go home. They will likely have a long wait since their flight doesn’t leave until 2pm. I won’t have a checked bag and Schiphol has a “fast track” lane for short connections, but it still is too tight for my comfort (esp after the description of the airport lol). Thanks for your input! I will keep poking around

Thanks janisj I can always count on you for advice! I’m going to keep poking around and may adjust my reservations either in Reims or Inverness to make it work better. Relying on airlines being on time is a gamble I’d rather not take!

I've done a few Schipol flight connections where the gates are next to each other and they are nerve wracking. Not next to each other..... that taxi journey across the apron can be a long ride

Sorry I forgot that you have to do immigration @AMS so the B gates are out, those are for Schengen departures— I don’t know where the RJs to the UK leave from.

There seemed to be multiple easyJet connections at Luton, Gatwick, Bristol, does none of those work? Just from an efficiency standpoint leaving Schengen @ CDG and entering the UK during a connection makes sense.

What about a flight to London Gatwick and then up to Inverness? Might be two tickets but gets you out of Schengen in Paris. Easyjet fly to Inverness from LGW. You would need to be careful of carry on size is the only thing with them.

At Schiphol you have to leave Schengen, getting a stamp in your passport to prove it, and go through security again. As Bilbo says the taxi in to the terminal makes it feel like you are driving to Amsterdam in the plane if they are using one runway (which is the main one they use due to the wind) and can take an age. Even with fast track handling security is a pain at Schiphol - they allow people to book a time slot for it now!

I've done this (Schengen arrival to UK departure) with one hour connecting time and it has worked OK, multiple times. If the queues are long at the passport check from the Schengen area to the non-Schengen area there are usually staff who will be asking for passengers with short connection times, and will let you jump into a short queue. If your arrival flight is delayed by significantly more than half an hour then you will probably miss the connection, and then you will put on the next possible connection - - if this requires an overnight KLM will be responsible for hotel and meals for your flight the next day. Flying intra-European has protections that make this kind of travel re-assuring and workable - - unless you absolutely have to be there at the time your flight is scheduled to arrive. It's never good to schedule flights that absolutely have to get you there by a specific time, because anything can happen, and sometimes does.

There hasn’t been security doing this kind of connection @ AMS in at least the last 10 years.