Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

Departure is flawless at Schiphol. The remodeling of the departure areas has almost finished and departure lounge three has been 're-opened' recently. Arrivals for non-schengen is terrible, half of the usual accewss routes to the bag claim are blocked due to the renovations, when arriving on the outside d-pier (D25), you actually need to take quite some hike from the D-Pier completely down to the F-pier, get downstairs to the immigration counters, face a non-working Privium gate and then walk the entire distance back in the arrivals level to get you bag as you bag claim is in arrivals two. So you currently have to walk the almost entire length of the terminal complex twice while arriving at Schiphol.

On 17 November 2015, I had a 10 hour transit at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. I arrived on an overnight flight from JFK and was happy to walk into a clean, well planned and spacious airport. The direction signs were clear and you know where you had to go depending on whether you were transiting or heading for the arrival area. There were several self-service stations for transiting passengers to print their boarding passes for their connecting flights. This was a nice touch. The self-service stations were plentiful so you need not worry about queues. The toilets are clean and available in many locations. The toilets themselves were well planned; in each cubicle, there is space to place your bags and several knobs on the wall which served as hooks for clothing. There is even a basin and power socket placed against the wall away from the main washing area should you wish to take some time to get a shave and not get in the way of other users. The toilets were clean, bright and very pleasant to use after a long flight. Schipol is a short 15 min train ride into Amsterdam city. The staff at the train station are helpful and getting a ticket is fuss free. You can get them at the self service stations or at the counter. There are many shopping options in the airport too - good for last minute shopping for gifts.

Amsterdam Schiphol airport is sprawling and not well designed. We had to walk a great distance to our departure gate. Good shopping and food are available outside the secure zone, but next to nothing once you pass through security. Hallways are dimly lit and appear dirty. Staff are courteous but not friendly. Not a good experience in comparison with other European airports.

It looks well organized, but is not. Arrived today after 14 hours flight. Due to one blocked door we could not leave the arrival lounge. Took some time to find security officer with a proper key. Since the escalator kept pumping arriving passagers into the room it was rather scary. Departure is horrible since centralized security, arrival this time too.

Very slow through centralised security (gate security as before was far better). Far too much space dedicated to shopping which could be used instead to provide efficient airport service. It is after all an airport, shopping should not come first.

Schiphol provides a great range of non-aeronautical activities both at the landside and airside area. It has a well thought out construction that allows to meet demand of nearly all types of customers. The arrival area is located within the so called 'Schiphol Plaza' that offers a great variety of different stores. The departure area is clearly structured. After security checks, many stores and non-aeronautical activities such as Rijskmuseum or the library (that are temporarily closed now) are provided. Also places to take a rest are offered in a natural surrounding (Airport Park). Undoubtedly, one of the greatest airports I have ever been.

The airport is in chaos due to refurbishment but I think they have not taken into account the number of people using the airport. The toilets for ladies was a block with 3 as we came off the Delta flight from Atlanta which had a great queue and had to walk quite a long way to the next block which only had 2 in use due to the cleaner in 1 of them. You would think such a large airport would have plenty of facilities for women and baby care

I flew to Antalya with Corendon and the check in was in departures 3 - it was very quiet and security check was fast but can be crowded. The tax-free is good and the signs in the terminal are very clear and you can easily find everything. We had to go to the G gates which were close to the check in. Another time I flew from departures 3 we had to go to the D gates and that was pretty far, so be prepared because some gates require long walks! Boarding was okay as well.

Having avoided London airports while travelling to and from Scotland for years due to their inefficiency and rudeness I often opt for Amsterdam. However with a short transfer you better avoid it. Landing from Brussels on a KLM flight, I was dropped via a bus back in departures, there is no security lane for transferring passengers and security is hopeless, slow, inefficient. My passport and boarding pass where then checked a total of 5 times before getting back into a bus to be dropped at the same KLM Embraer 190 I had just got off. You couldn't make it up.

Usually we try to avoid Schiphol, mainly because the long time (3 hours) before your scheduled time you are 'asked' to be there to play it safe. Even for Schengen-flights with only drop-off. This time, due to centralised security checks, we were surprised how little time that took. Not so nice was the distance we had to walk between the check-in/drop off counter at departures hall #4 to the gate at the C-pier. On returning we had another brisk walk from the C-pier to the baggage-belt #17 at again the other end of the terminal building. But we could have taken a pause and drunk some refreshments, because it took about one hour before all the luggage from our flight had dripped onto the final carroussel. In future we will still try to avoid Schiphol as much as possible.