I am traveling from Austria to the US and need to change planes but not airlines in Amsterdam. I only have 70 minutes. Will I need to go through passport control after landing from Austria before getting on my connecting flight to the US since I will be traveling from a Schengen country? On the way over, Passport control into Amsterdam from the US connecting to Frankfurt took well over an hour and I'm concerned about missing my connection if I have a long wait on the return since I have less time. Thank you!
Posted by
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
20500 posts
AMS is one of the easier airports in my opinion. I go through it maybe 3 times a year on average. But, when I passed through it on the way to Atlanta a few weeks back it was pure chaos. Yes, you will go through passport gontrol to get "stamped out" then you will go through security; and if it is like the day I went through there might be two further security checks.
To be fair, I was on Delta and Delta culled out their passengers after security to a separate gate area that was more organized, but the other hundreds and hundreds were in some sort of massive crunch of a line, 10 wide and 50 deep. Looked miserable.
With Delta all the passengers were sent to one gate despite the flight. At that gate we were interrogated and then sent to the proper gate where certain passengers had their luggage searched.
How many minutes do you have? The big international planes begin boarding 45 to 60 minutes prior to flight time, your flight in will be 10 minutes late, it will take you another 10 to 20 minutes to actually set foot in the terminal (20 if you don't get a gate and you have to ride a bus - common at AMS), then 30 to 45 minutes for passport and security and to the next gate.
On the other hand I have made 60 minute connections at Amsterdam and Frankfurt and while it was no fun I did succeed.
Posted by
Royaume-Uni nul points, pas plus
2600 posts
Yes there will be a passport control on exit from Schengen. However, Schipol is a large efficient airport so you should make your connection in time. Just make your way promptly to the next gate.
Posted by
Seattle
4637 posts
I change planes in Schiphol every year, sometimes twice. So far I was lucky and never missed my flight. Few times I had only 50 minutes and made it. Based on my experience 70 minutes should be enough in Amsterdam. It would not be enough in De Gaulle or Heathrow.
Posted by
OP
Portland, Oregon
15 posts
Thanks so much for your input. Very helpful.
Posted by
22 posts
70 minutes should be sufficient...just don't waste time getting to your gate. Once you're there then use the restroom or buy a coffee/snack.
Posted by
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
20500 posts
MrsEB I was in transit from Budapest. I had a layover of about 2 hours. I suspect everyone made their flights as there was staff trying to push the people with tight connections to the front of the line. My flight was DELTA 73 AMS to ATL at 10:30am on 5 September.