Flights

[patmike]

Shopping for flights and need to know what is a reasoable time to fly out of Amsterdam.  Know that the airport is crazy.......

[waterbug123]

Can you be more specific?  Do you mean after disembarking a ship, and are wondering how long it will take to get to the airport and get through check-in and security?  Not Amsterdam specific, but generally if disembarking a ship, it is suggested to not book a flight earlier than noon.

[Globaliser]

On 11/16/2023 at 1:13 PM, patmike said:

Know that the airport is crazy.......

 

Is it?

 

If you're thinking of the time needed to clear security, that's an out-of-date description.

[Zach1213]

On 11/16/2023 at 7:13 AM, patmike said:

Know that the airport is crazy.......

 

I don't love AMS as much as some people, but it's definitely not crazy. It's fairly easy as far as a major hub airport goes. Yes, there were some issues but those have been resolved. The few times I have flown out of AMS in the last year have been just fine. 

 

If you're flying back to ATL, may I recommend looking at the 5pm KLM flight? Gives you an opportunity to have a leisurely morning, maybe even do some stuff in Amsterdam or another city nearby, and still make it home for a reasonable bedtime (arrives in to ATL at like 8:30pm-ish, I believe). 

[patmike]

2 hours ago, Zach1213 said:

 

I don't love AMS as much as some people, but it's definitely not crazy. It's fairly easy as far as a major hub airport goes. Yes, there were some issues but those have been resolved. The few times I have flown out of AMS in the last year have been just fine. 

 

If you're flying back to ATL, may I recommend looking at the 5pm KLM flight? Gives you an opportunity to have a leisurely morning, maybe even do some stuff in Amsterdam or another city nearby, and still make it home for a reasonable bedtime (arrives in to ATL at like 8:30pm-ish, I believe). 

Our last experience at Schipol was in May 2022 - it took several hours to clear security, etc. and then get to our plane. We are disembarking a ship and finding flights that leave around noon has been a chore.  Finally decided to spend a day/night in AMS and fly out the following day.  Less anxiety.....

[Globaliser]

10 hours ago, patmike said:

Our last experience at Schipol was in May 2022 - it took several hours to clear security, etc. and then get to our plane.

 

Well, that was then.

  

10 hours ago, patmike said:

We are disembarking a ship and finding flights that leave around noon has been a chore.

 

Why does it have to be around noon? Even last time, if you hadn't been trying to make an early flight you wouldn't have had nearly so much trouble at Schiphol; the main bottlenecks tended to be in the morning. As Zach1213 suggested, simply taking a later flight would solve many of the issues. You wouldn't have had to delay your travel by a whole day.

[patmike]

3 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

Well, that was then.

  

 

Why does it have to be around noon? Even last time, if you hadn't been trying to make an early flight you wouldn't have had nearly so much trouble at Schiphol; the main bottlenecks tended to be in the morning. As Zach1213 suggested, simply taking a later flight would solve many of the issues. You wouldn't have had to delay your travel by a whole day.

We are disembarking a cruise ship and we are older.....the concern is that the flight times offered are 10:50 or earlier.  That doesn't allow much time.

[Globaliser]

4 minutes ago, patmike said:

... the concern is that the flight times offered are 10:50 or earlier.

 

It does depend on where you're going, but it seems unlikely that there aren't any viable afternoon flights.

[patmike]

There are actually NO afternoon flights that arrive stateside at a decent hour.  Guess we are a bit picky - don't want multiple stops nor another overnight flight.  

[CruiserBruce]

The schedule is what it is. Many flights to the US from Europe leave mid to later morning, for efficient uses of the planes.. It is rare, and difficult, for there to be an overnight flight from Europe to the US, due to time zones.

 

Definitely,  you may need to spend the night, and catch the non-stop the next morning. 

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, patmike said:

There are actually NO afternoon flights that arrive stateside at a decent hour.  Guess we are a bit picky - don't want multiple stops nor another overnight flight.  

What  date are you flying & to what airport ?

 I see  in May  there  are nonstops from AMS to ATL    at 12:30  arr  about 4 pm

Than should be doable 

[Zach1213]

16 hours ago, patmike said:

Our last experience at Schipol was in May 2022 - it took several hours to clear security, etc. and then get to our plane. 

 

May 2022 at AMS is very different than now. Last summer when I had to go to the Amsterdam area, or any part of the Netherlands, for work, I went out of my way to avoid AMS. I would fly in to Rotterdam or Brussels and take a train because it was still quicker or an equal amount of time (with less stress). Now, AMS is fine again. 

 

1 hour ago, patmike said:

There are actually NO afternoon flights that arrive stateside at a decent hour.  Guess we are a bit picky - don't want multiple stops nor another overnight flight.  

 

Seriously, look at the 5pm KLM flight to ATL. It operates every day of the year as far as I know. Even as someone who sticks to OneWorld flights 95% of the time, I take that KLM flight once in a while because I can work until 2pm or so and still make it home to Kansas City that night (AMS-ATL-MCI, arriving home very late but still arriving home)...no other flight out of AMS allows that. 

[patmike]

Thanks for your suggestions.......with pricing in mind it ended up being cheaper to stay the extra day and fly home using miles!

[FlyerTalker]

21 hours ago, patmike said:

Thanks for your suggestions.......with pricing in mind it ended up being cheaper to stay the extra day and fly home using miles!

 

And now the unspoken comes out....it's not that there weren't flights, there weren't flights at the price they wanted to pay.

 

And if you are using SkyPesos, bet those tickets were still pricey.