60-minute Layover in Amsterdam?

60 minutes is usually fine at Schipol. All the gates are in one enormous building with a single corridor connecting the various piers, with an immigration checkpoint in the middle; very easy to navigate. At immigration there is an express lane for flights that are closing very soon. There will be a monitor overhead showing which flights qualify. KLM has four direct flights a day to VCE, so if you do miss your original flight it shouldn't be a problem putting you on a later flight.

I was expecting the usual question, "Do I have time to see Amsterdam on my layover?".

LOL me too Richard. If this is one ticket then I would not worry about it. Worse case scenario the plane is crazy late and you miss the connection and they have to put you on the next plane that has room. Chances are you are on the same plane and if so there is not risk at all as the whole plane will have to get off and go through immigration. You go through immigration at your first Schengen port and this is Amsterdam. You won't have to do it again since Venice is also within Schengen.

It only took us 15 minutes to go thru passport control. We had allowed 1.5 hours and spent more than an hour waiting before we could board our next flight. You should be fine especially if you don't have to go to baggage claim area. Even if you did, i wouldn't worry.

Thank you, everyone! It sounds like the 60-minute layover will be okay for us! I will definitely watch for the express lane and monitors to see if our AMS-VCE flight is listed. :-)

To Richard and Jane: I'm going to Italy. I just want to get to Italy. LOL. :-D

If memory serves me, AMS has a short-connect passport control line to the left side of the non-EU and EU lines. If your flight departs in less than 50 minutes (?) you can use the short-connect line which has been shorter than the non-EU line(s).

It seems that airlines build in extra time in their published schedules for delays. One way to have a good on-time record is to have a fat schedule that accounts for late push backs or other unanticipated but usual delays.

This past October we did a 1 hour connection in AMS on our way to Vienna. It wasn't a problem at all.

Wellll....it's not always smooth sailing going thru passport control at Schiphol. One time it took us nearly 45 minutes to get thru, another time only 15 minutes. There is no way to predict what you'll encounter because there are just too many variables. You should be OK, but there's always that set of circumstances that conspire against us. Whatever happens, it's all part of the trip!

45 minutes can be common at the immigration desks to exit the airport, but the immigration desks for transfer passenger are typically much quicker. As has been mentioned above there is an express line for travelers with close connections.

Thanks again for everyone's help! We will watch for the passport check express lane in Amsterdam! :-)