Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

Poor communication and a lack of departure information monitors. For an ultra modern airport I was very surprised to see such steep and dangerous steps leading down to boarding gates which are extremely unsuitable for young children and elderly passengers. Grand Cafe Plaza possibly the worst cooked breakfast. For two breakfasts a tea a coffee and a bottle of still water we were charged an extortionate €34.95 for a meal which was extremely sub-standard. Next stop the Internet cafe. €3 gets you 15 minutes of nothing as I tried two different keyboards with faulty keys. Absolutely no departure information regarding our EasyJet flight back to London Gatwick. I had to go to an information desk instead. We were told to go to lounge H a 20 minutes walk from the main lounge. Having passed through passport control and a full body X-ray we were greeted by three airport workers conducting a questionnaire. We were not given the option of volunteering we were hijacked into it and I have to say that the questions were absolutely ridiculous. They could see that I was in a hurry and they were not interested in the lack of departure information or the steep and dangerous steps. I cannot say that I would want to visit this airport again. It's huge with plenty of faults.

AMS is one of Europe's main hubs but unlike confusing FRA or crowded LHR quite well-arranged and clean. Although big the terminal is one coherent building and good signposted so no annoying terminal change. For me it's been the best transfer airport I've ever been by now. No long queues at security. Very friendly staff. Cafes/restaurants can be a bit crowded at peak times. Good accessibility by train with own station (local cross-country and international services).

Schiphol is among the best airport in Europe and it surely deserves it. It's huge modern busy and there are plenty of shops. However the plus side of this airport could also be the minus at times especially if you are in hurry catching a flight. It's huge and if you arrive less than 30 mins before your flight and you are new to this airport prepare some extra energy to sprint! I arrived in AMS at 6am on a cold November Saturday morning on my way to Oslo using a connecting flight. The bad thing was my flight from KUL was supposed to arrive at 5.25 am and the plane to Oslo was to leave at 6.50 am. Fortunately the immigration line (though crowded) was quite efficient. But for the rest I had to sprint all my way through Holland Boulevard a seemingly endless strip stretching in the middle of the airport to reach the gate where my plane waited. For passengers make sure you arrive at least 2 hours before your flight to enjoy all Schiphol has to offer.

Long rows very inefficient. I arrived at 5.35 at the check-in for Lufthansa and the queue was terrible long. My flight left at 07.05. Turned out they had just 2 kiosks open for around 4 different Lufthansa Flights. Finally they decided to open more check-in kiosks and the queue disappeared rapidly. It was already 06.20 when I could check-in. The lady was nice and when I told her I had a flight at 7.00 she advised me to tell it to the ground security as there were ridiculous long queues for the luggage check. I was directed to the premium users queue and although it took a while arrived at the gate at exactly 6.35. What is disappointing for me is that a great airport as Schiphol has this kind of problems. There must be something wrong there. It is a very nice airport but they really should invest in order to make check-in much smoother.

Flew in to Schiphol from Montreal by KLM on 20th Oct 2012. Read a lot of negative reviews but I must say it is a wonderful airport for transit. Yes it may not be as big as Changhi or Dubai but nevertheless not a bad place for a short transit. Love the free WiFi.

Large airport where everything but baggage delivery seems to be working very fine. Check in was flawless albeit I do have a platinum sky team card so no long lines. Passport control very friendly and professional duty free anything you can imagine but very expensive. KLM lounge is nice but not enough cleaning staff to keep the place clean of empty glasses and used dishes. Long walks to gates as there are many but everything is clearly marked so you do not get lost. All be it very well organized airport.

LUX-AMS-SIN - SIN-AMS-LUX - The airport is very functional and the area of Tax free shops and restaurants are numerous. It was clean and it was easy to find its way. What a pity I had a short time for the connection. On the whole I've really appreciated the infrastructures shops and signals. My bad experience concern the security check. The staff was quite unclear regarding the electronic appliances to show and I had to re-pass the check of my cabin luggage and without any pressure from ourselves we could still wait. I've nearly missed my connection due to security check. Anyway I hope to come back to Amsterdam for a connecting flight. Really good airport.

Insufficient time to catch connecting flights due to ridiculously long queues in passport control. Lack of special channel for European Union Residents existing in other airports. Flippant and inefficient attitude of passport controllers who appeared to be young and shallow. Numerous anxious passengers waiting in the queues who were ignored by the ground staff overlooking the queues. Security baggage checkers slow rude and careless with passenger's baggage literally throwing bags onto the floor to be rechecked. Many of them with a deficient level of English to facilitate the process. Surprising in Holland where most people have a good command of English! Enormous distance to reach connecting flight gate. I was heading to gate D87 at full speed when gate D56 was announced for my flight. I took no notice and a couple of minutes later they corrected themselves and said D87. Without doubt my last visit to this nightmare airport!

Combined with internet check in and the KLM app for Android it works great. Luggage drop off is fast and easy waiting time at customs can take a while but in general it takes 5 minutes to pass. Enough to do to pass time like a museum many shops and even a casino. Facilities are clean staff is friendly and finding your way around is easy. Food and drinks are like any airport priced upscale.

There are so many good things about this airport that make it my favourite to travel through on and off for the last thirty years almost. It may be big but it is never a real chore to walk from one point to another and in many trips through the airport I have perhaps fortunately not found myself seriously having to race from one flight to another. The shops the bars and restaurants are generally of a very high standard as are the lounges and staff are generally very pleasant. I have but one criticism and that is security for flights to the UK. On my outward journey last week security check for the leg to Helsinki was fair and thorough but just a common ordinary security check; on the return journey from Amsterdam to Aberdeen the security was oppressive and obtrusive. Some staff were thoroughly unpleasant process was slow and perhaps amusingly and reassuringly the captain was forced to go through the scanner three times before he was allowed to board the flight. Nevertheless I find it strange that flights to the UK should be so much more thoroughly checked than others. Are we a greater risk or at greater risk or is this just a reaction to our not being members of the common border agreement in the EU? For all that I would still say Schipol is my favourite airport of the majors in Europe. I have noticed this disparity of treatment several times in the last few years.