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Really? It seemed fine when I went through on Monday - the worst bit was about half an hour to get through security, but that wasn't anything I'd think of as really bad. Other than that it all seemed fine* - where have the problems been?
*Beyond the fact that I'm not particularly impressed by the airside catering facilities at Schipol but that's always been the case.
At various points this summer the delays at security were so bad that people who joined security queues 4 hours before the scheduled departure would miss their flight; Most airlines would subsequently treat this as a no-show, which means people weren't even due rerouting/alternative flights, but would have to pay for new tickets if still travelling
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They also have been issues with lack of ground crew & more lost luggage than usual
And that is separate of the strikes that have happened, of course
At various points this summer the delays at security were so bad that people who joined security queues 4 hours before the scheduled departure would miss their flight; Most airlines would subsequently treat this as a no-show, which means people weren't even due rerouting/alternative flights, but would have to pay for new tickets if still travelling
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They also have been issues with lack of ground crew & more lost luggage than usual
It doesn't help that usually if you miss one flight then no matter how good your reason was the airline will generally cancel any further flights on the same booking (e.g. return flights).
I believe that this summer Schiphol actually took the unusual step of compensating passengers for missed flights due to the delays in the airport.
It seems to have got better now overall but it was in the news that on the Saturday before last the security queues got to around 3 hours. And of course if you think you might have to queue for 3 hours, then if you want to make sure you catch your flight you have to turn up that early even if when you get there there's no queue.
Incoming passport control at Schiphol can take quite a while at the moment too, at least for non EU citizens.
I would guess (but it's only a guess) that if you turn up at Amsterdam Centraal for a heavily booked Eurostar and they've only got one passport or security lane going rather than two, they'll hold the train until everyone is dealt with rather than just leaving on time and stranding half the passengers. (Which might be tricky anyway, since the queue to get into the "terminal" is on the platform that has to be secured before the train comes in).
Though I think the UK rail strikes have affected Eurostar and there was a day last week with no Amsterdam or Rotterdam service due to the dutch rail strikes.
That's exactly what I meant with the different experience indeed. There have been photos in the newspapers of people queing outside in the pooring rain for security, even after additional tents where placed.
It got so much attention that everyone will know it now and seeks for alternative means of transport. No wonder all international train services from the Netherlands suffered from severe overcrowding this year. (Some ICE services actually skipped 2 or 1 of their three stops in the Netherlands as there was no more space for additional passengers)
That's exactly what I meant with the different experience indeed. There have been photos in the newspapers of people queing outside in the pooring rain for security, even after additional tents where placed.
It got so much attention that everyone will know it now and seeks for alternative means of transport. No wonder all international train services from the Netherlands suffered from severe overcrowding this year. (Some ICE services actually skipped 2 or 1 of their three stops in the Netherlands as there was no more space for additional passengers)
