Considering avoiding Amsterdam Schiphol altogether... Simplest option for EIN-Ams?

I don't see any options for getting from Pittsburgh to Eindhoven with less than 2 stops, and one of those is AMS. Plus, prices are like $6000 round trip.

Not coming from Pittsburgh! :) I have all my flight options in front of me, that's why I'm trying to figure out if I want to do the bus/tram/train situation.

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/05/bring-comfy-shoes-schiphol-tells-passengers-as-union-threatens-action/?fbclid=IwAR2YJyWngNzrouAPPEpyrrOphn3IMOjg67Yq6uPWrUMuPIC4CgblJPDwL4A

More problems at Schiphol. I know this doesn't answer your question.

Shuttle bus no. 400 or regular bus no. 401 from Eindhoven airport to Eindhoven station, then direct train to Amsterdam centraal station, right in the middle of Amsterdam. Will probably take under 2 1/2 hours.

A simple trick that will learn you how to get from A to B anywhere in the Netherlands; open Google maps, fill in your place of departure and the place you want to get to. Click the train symbol to get directions for public transport, click the walking person symbol for directions on how to walk. Google maps will then give you point to point directions. For public transport you can also use this public transport planner; https://9292.nl/en

I don’t know about the transfer, but I can tell you to avoid Schiphol at all costs. We tried to connect there from Valletta continuing on an Icelandair flight home on Monday. Check-in was a nightmare. We waited an hour to finally be served by a security person who really struggled to do the job. The conveyor belt was not working and the luggage of those who did manage to check in sat piled everywhere. Staff told us that security clearance lines were up to a four hour wait, and I wouldn’t doubt it. Lines, no mobs, snaked through the departure area. In frustration, people were yelling at each other and at staff. We sat on the tarmac for more than two hours as the pilot waited for passengers caught in the mess, causing us to miss our take-off window, prolonging our unhappiness. We missed our connection and had to spend a night in Reykjavik. I don’t know if Eindhoven is any better, but I don’t know how it could be. Our wheelchair attendant, who was being paid $.50 an hour and not allowed to accept tips as an intern working as she considered a job in the industry, told us that labor across the board is angry, underpaid and overwhelmed. She felt that this situation will continue. If you have any other option, take it.

If not coming from Pittsburgh, Duesseldorf airport is a nice smaller International airport I have used in the past. Trains to Amsterdam Centraal with a single connection is 2 1/2 hours. You don't say where you are coming from? If from London per your previous thread, BA has direct flights from Heathrow or London City.

Where are you coming from?

Arriving is usually easier than departing, but if there are problems at Schiphol it might be problems at Eindhoven as well.

Wow, I don't have any answers either, other than you are smart to think of other options. The Dutchnews site that Kateja linked to had an updated article that stated the Schiphol delays will last all summer, and Wednesdays are usually the worst days.

I see you are probably looking at Ryanair, Stansted to Eindhoven. That is an option. About 50 minute train ride from London Liverpool Street to Stansted airport.

I see you are probably looking at Ryanair, Stansted to Eindhoven. That
is an option. About 50 minute train ride from London Liverpool Street
to Stansted airport.

If that is correct, I'd suggest Eurostar instead. Faster, more comfortable and probably cheaper as well.

Thanks all!

@AmandaR,

Thank you for the specific advice, it is appreciated! I did see that on google maps prior to posting, which brings me to @Dutch_traveler,
I learned the hard way to never trust google maps alone, but I still checked the point to point before asking this question, which is how I knew it would involve a bus and a train at min.

Do you feel google maps p2p is pretty darn accurate in the Netherlands then? It didn't do amazingly well in Italy as it doesn't seem to consider water transfer options at all and though it often adds bicycling, it doesn't seem to have large bike rental systems/stations like those in many large cities, integrated yet. And despite what I'm sure is quite a bit of feedback, it's not great at directing you to the entrance to things, which can make quite a difference!

I was hoping someone might be able to share something like, "You can buy bus tickets at the airport, but avoid X kiosk and the train station is easy to get to, but you might miss the sign for X so watch for X" You know, the stuff google can't do.

@Wanderlust58
I'm sorry. That sounds so frustrating. I can feel the cortisol just thinking about it!

@Sam
We are thinking of coming from Edinburgh. I considered Dusseldorf and Rotterdam and Antwerp, etc... Most add considerable cost in addition to the time, both of which I am making an effort at keeping down.

@Badger
Are you thinking just overflow problems from other people redirecting or that if there is a labor dispute at Schiphol, it would be at EIN too?

I see Ryanair does have flights from Edinburgh to Eindhoven, but only on Monday and Friday.

I am supposed to fly out of AMS to MAN on June 9th. I am considering taking the train to Brussels and flying out the LCC airport there with Ryanair. My original flight is booked on KLM direct AMS to MAN, but if this mess keeps up, it might be worth the extra train trip.

The LCC, Charleroi, is 1 hour south of Brussels by train to Charleroi South then a bus to the airport.

When flying from Edinbourg you might also be able to connect to Düsseldorf, and catch the relatively fast ICE train to Amsterdam from there. I don't know what the transfer from airport to train looks like.

In general, you can't go really wrong when there is a direct train connection to Amsterdam. Have a good trip!

Are you thinking just overflow problems from other people redirecting
or that if there is a labor dispute at Schiphol, it would be at EIN
too?

Partly. And partly because many airport are having problems with long lines currently. Eindhoven is also partly owned by Schiphol, so I wouldn't be surprised if staff gets sent from Eindhoven to Schiphol if the lines are shorter at Eindhoven.

Are you able to rearrange your time in the UK so that you end in or close to London? That would make it easier. You can also consider the overnight ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam.

I am supposed to fly out of AMS to MAN on June 9th. I am considering
taking the train to Brussels and flying out the LCC airport there with
Ryanair.

It might be easier to just take the train all the way with one change in London.

@stijn
Thank you!

@Badger
Thank you, that is insightful... I did not know some of that. I definitely tried to rework it six ways from Sunday, but the way we were able to do this trip was with bargain tickets flying into London. I don't really want to go straight to Edinburgh while adjusting to jet lag. London is also our most expensive destination accommodations-wise and we got a reasonable airbnb a couple months ago to make sure we'd stay in budget. (Hostels we've found in London don't allow minors and my guy will be a hair under 18.)

Original plan was the ferry. My son is not at all enthusiastic about it and the bottom line is that it's more expensive than a night in our hostel and a plane ride even with a bag charge with Ryan.

I even considered taking the train to London and then the Eurostar to Amsterdam, but it's about 4x the price of flying. It should be at least double the time too, but delays and nonsense often ensue with air travel. So I could spend 10-12 hours getting their by train (I like trains better than flying) and break the bank, or adjust to the idea that we will spend 10-12 hours dealing with air travel and ground transit, but save a lot of money.

Money is just a resource. If we weren't going to spend any, we shouldn't be going on a trip, but I do have a clear and limited budget. Paying more for things one prefers is part of the deal, but in this case, the enjoyment factor of the train compared to the ferry or air travel just doesn't justify the cost if it could make things we are excited about possible.

It's one of those things where sitting in traffic is less preferable to most than driving straight through even if it takes the same amount of time, so I'll have to accept the possibility of frustration ahead of time, I think.

Yes. Yes, I am the president of the local Over-Thinkers Anonymous chapter.

“ Do you feel google maps p2p is pretty darn accurate in the Netherlands then? It didn't do amazingly well in Italy as it doesn't seem to consider water transfer options at all and though it often adds bicycling, it doesn't seem to have large bike rental systems/stations like those in many large cities, integrated yet.”

I wouldn’t recommend you to use Google maps if it wasn’t pretty darn accurate. Please rest assured it is. Also there are no bike rental systems in the Netherlands, other than the OV fiets. OV fiets is rather difficult to use for tourists, since you need an OV chipcard connected to a EU bank account to set it up. Also there are no water transfer options not known to Google. And there certainly aren’t any water transfer options available to get you from Eindhoven Airport to Amsterdam.

To those in this thread that are worried that the problems at Schiphol mean there are issues at Eindhoven Airport too; please rest assured. The issues that are currently troubling Schiphol pale into comparison to any issues that Eindhoven Airport may have. Eindhoven Airport is currently operating as normal.
Schiphol expects the current troubles to last until the summer. Their website has an indicator that tells you how busy the airport is expected to be on any given day, see here; https://www.schiphol.nl/en/my-travel-day/today

I even considered taking the train to London and then the Eurostar to Amsterdam, but it's about 4x the price of flying. It should be at least double the time too,

It is not double the time if you are already in London (as opposed to at the airport). London to Amsterdam is about 4-5 hours on the train. When you consider that if you were flying you would spend an hour getting to the airport, 2 hours waiting at the airport, an hour in the air, and then a half an hour getting from Schipol to the city, the train is usually the same if not faster.

As for price, make sure you add in any airline fees and transportation to/from airport before comparing. If your dates are flexible, check other dates as the Eurostar prices vary.

postnote: I just reread your post and I’m not clear where you are starting from (London or Edinburgh?). My response assumes London.

@Dutch_traveler
Forgive my lack of clarity. I was referring to Amsterdam in general, not suggesting I could ride a bike or boat from Eindhoven.
I was only giving examples from Italy, not suggesting the issues might be the same in Amsterdam. There are most definitely water transfer options not at all acknowledged by google maps in Italy, but happy to hear if that's not the case in the Netherlands.

Our research led me to think that a private rental from a bike shop would be best if we plan to bike. My sister told me her hotel arranged theirs but it cost a pretty penny.

@Laura,
I won't be in London, otherwise, I quite agree with you! Again, I might get over the time, even at 10-12 hours, but the cost is much higher to take the train from Edinburgh back to London and then to Amsterdam than it is to fly in most configurations mentioned.

I've added in transportation to and from the airport to each option in my spreadsheet and I've even added the exact bag fees when they are required. (We will be fine with easyjet, but Ryan will require an upgrade for our backpacks, even though they aren't huge.) It still comes out a good bit higher to take the train, unfortunately. (I overheard my daughter describing a train ride in Italy to her friend tonight and she was talking about a very difficult passenger we were forced to sit with and said, "It's a shame because I really enjoy long train rides." She loves air travel about as much as I do.)

It looks like Transavia flies from Edinburgh to Rotterdam. That might be another option to check. They are a NL based discount airline. I flew them many, many years ago; I don’t know any of their policies.

Thanks, Laura, that flight is one I had in my spreadsheet. It’s not my preferred time of day, but it might be the best bet!

I haven’t heard a ton of people talking about transavia and we were thinking of two different flights with them, so I want to finish checking on time stats and other things.

Here is one anecdote … someone from the forum who flew them last month.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/transportation/transavia-753ec2a9-bd04-4f5f-8af9-aec407fd4a26

I flew them so long ago that I bought the ticket through a Travel Agent while in London.