Transitting at Schiphol.

[CharlotteCChapel]

How easy it is, we're going on holiday at the beginning of next month, it will be to another EU county.

I'm used to flying but the last time we transited it was a nightmare due to US immigration. Can someone reassure that Schiphol is easy.

It is usually fine, but it can be a long way to walk if you're changing between different carriers, so allow time for that.

It’s a nice airport but the queues if you have to have your passport checked (and I think you will going to an EU country) can be long so go straight for them and make sure you have at least 2 hours for your connection

Our flights are with the same carrier and the times are the ones given to us when we booked.

When DH used to travel for business he would choose to transit through Schipol as he said it was so easy and efficient, howver he does have an EU passport so the other queue might be longer

It’s a well laid out, modern, well signposted airport for connecting through.

but.

it’s big.

My biggest tip is to not stop until you get to the gate for your next flight (or as a minimum until you’re through passport control).

It can be a fairly lengthy queue and a long walk so don’t assume you’ve got time. There’s good facilities everywhere, so it’s not like there’s nothing once you get to your gate.

Excellent kids play areas if you get delayed.

In case you haven't already seen it, OP, Schiphol has a helpful page on transfers here
https://www.schiphol.nl/en/transfers/

Schiphol is a great airport, very well organised. But it is absolutely massive!! You will need plenty of time between your connections. There can be queues for passport control.

Although last time we were at Schiphol ds spotted a mouse in Starbucks, the staff were not bothered at all! Then later we saw them running around at the gates next to the travellator. A quick Google and 'mice of Schiphol' is a thing, they're everywhere!

How long do you have to transfer? Agree with all PPs, Schipol is fine when on time but if you have around an hour to transfer it can be a bit touch and go if there is even a minor delay with the inbound flight. I will accept an itinerary with a 1 hour transfer, but I'll also check when the next connection is departing in case I miss mine. If you are landing and it's looking tight I've seen people ask air stewards for advice/help and pretty sure they can whizz you on a golf cart if necessary (assuming not everyone on board has same problem). There are computer terminals dotted around to get help for missed connections. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst I reckon!

I had a 40 minute transit at schiphol. I made it but my baggage didn't....

We had a transit there this summer but from one EU country to another with KLM. We were fine (had an hour transit) but the queues for non EU passports were very long. However they had a system where if your flight was due to leave within 40 mins you could skip the queue. It was all very well organized.

I have a good experience of Schiphol but didn’t have to queue for passports (EU national). If you’ve booked both flights through / on KLM you will be fine, even if you missed your connection for unavoidable reasons such as coming in late, or massive airport queues, they will rebook you on to the next available flight.