At our destination or when we change at Schiphol? We’ve got an hour and forty at Schiphol, and it was a ‘schit-show’ last time I was there, so hoping it’s Munich otherwise we might miss the connection.
I think you’ll get stamped at Schipol on the way in and out. Had a similar short transfer recently at Schipol and they were very good at policing the passport queue, they shouted out departure times every few minutes and fast tracked folk through after checking their boarding pass.
When you first land in the EU (and it may get done in Munich as well)...
Cheers, I guessed as much. That’s allayed my fears somewhat though Origin_Al.
Schiphol. MrsJ recently went through with a tight connection. There was a “fast track” for people with short connections but the queue was so long that staff advised just using the normal queue. She made it.
and it may get done in Munich as well
Having recently done a Schengen zone flight into Munich then Munich to Manchester, the only time we went through passport control was on the way to Manchester.
How is EES/ETIAS working?
It isn’t. Or at least it wasn’t a week or so so ago. I got fingerprint scanned going into Hamburg before Xmas but nothing since.
the schipol entry is a shitshow usually, only a couple of desks open so you get kettled in a glacial queue until you are about to miss your flight when they will let you into a slightly less glacial queue that pushes you to the front. There are so many in the about to miss the flight queue that the normal queue barely moved.
#brexitbenefits
There are so many in the about to miss the flight queue that the normal queue barely moved.
😢 Oh well, forewarned is forearmed I suppose!
the schipol entry is a shitshow usually,
When did it get so bad? Schiphol used to be our favourite place to connect for longer flights, and now, as you say, it's a disaster.
They haven't really up-resourced immigration at AMS since covid. Even with a Euro passport it can be so under-resourced that the e-gates get shut and everyone gets corralled into the 3rd country queue.
Each Schengen country reserves the right to put everyone through immigration checks on arrival irrespective of your inbound flight's origin. I've had that from Malta into Charles de Gaulle and from Helsinki into Frankfurt, though I think at CDG that was just belligerent incompetence rather than an actual desire to screen that particular flight.
Norwich has an airport?!?
Norwich has an airport?!?
Apparently so. In the days before we worried about things like CO2 and when FlyBe was a thing, one of my friends used to commute from Liverpool to Norwich, flying out on a Sun evening and back on a Fri evening.
When did it get so bad?
31st Jan 2020.
I transit through AMS fairly frequently and can't fault it. Basically, you land in the 'international' part of the airport and then you will need to go through the border to the 'Schengen' part of the airport. It is extremely well signed and if (I assume you are) flying KLM, their app gives a map, directions etc or there is a map in the back of the in-flight magazine.
Just join the normal queue, if its getting tight they will pull you out (basically they do it in 5 minute blocks) and you'll go through the fast track lane - don't worry you'll have lots of time. Also, if your NWI - AMS is delayed it is normal practice for the cabin crew to come and find you before final approach to let your know your gate for the next flight.
Above all else enjoy it, a lovely little flight on what is the shortest UK - Continental Europe route. Lots of planespotting opportunities if you're into that thing and you genuinely might spend more time taxiing at AMS than in the air.
you genuinely might spend more time taxiing at AMS than in the air.
That's generally true, as the "polderbaan" runway, or whatever it's called, is actually a supermarket car park in Belgium.
Just join the normal queue, if its getting tight they will pull you out (basically they do it in 5 minute blocks) and you'll go through the fast track lane
you clearly land in a different time slot to me..
late afternoon/early evening is alway a shitshow
Norwich? is the 'airport development charge' still a thing?
couldn't believe it when i went to go through departures to find they were charging 20 quid or so to get through! from what i read later it was a bit of a standing joke, having been in place for a number of years with no visible signs of improvement!
Dick Turpin's airport!
Norwich has an airport?!?
Yes it does, and a nice antidote to the ‘shopping centre’ airports, vis-a-vis Stansted, it is too.
Yep, the £10 ‘development’ fee still applies, but they argue other airports just bundle it in with all the other charges - who knows 🤷♂️
Anyway, with two days to go I’m getting excited and ready and primed for any Schiphol-Shenanigans! ✈️
Thanks for the advice.
Done LBA - AMS many times in the past. Enoyed the drive 😀
stop press Norwich airport has ditched the ‘development’ fee! PLUS we got yanked-out of the queue before we even joined it at Schiphol, through passport control in seconds 😅