Travel question (connection through Schiphol) for the seasoned travelers

[hikermomma04]

This is maybe not a question specific to the Camino, but since I know there are many many well seasoned travelers on this forum who have traveled to and from the Camino, I'm going to ask this here.
I have an option for a very convenient and well priced flight from Porto to Houston, but it has a layover in Amsterdam. My question is this...the layover is only 1 hr 15 minutes. Is it realistic to think I can do this without missing my connecting flight? I've never been through Amsterdam before and don't know the airport. Thank you all in advance.

 

[KJFSophie]

Some of my flights from the US to Europe went rather smoothly, but this last trek I walked in July was hell...all together missing connection after connection because of delays beginning with a British Air flight out of Logan Boston to LHR and spiraling down from there. It took 23 hours to arrive in LaCoruna and then 26 hours to get home from Santiago on return.

My own personal opinion takes into consideration that the airlines simply aren't what they were...lots of weather issues, shortages in staff, tower issues, etc... I will not be making connections in major airports that are under two hours going to Europe. If your flight is to come home and the price is right with no major rush or obligation to meet, that's a different story.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I chatted with Joe about this.
He says Schipol is one of the faster airports for making changes.
He assumes it would be ok.
I'd probably be worried, but depending on how much you're saving, it might be worth taking the chance.

 

[mspath]

If you are flying the same airline from Porto to Amsterdam to Houston and simply changing planes in Amsterdam and not airlines then there should be no problem.

 

[TravellingMan22]

This is maybe not a question specific to the Camino, but since I know there are many many well seasoned travelers on this forum who have traveled to and from the Camino, I'm going to ask this here.
I have an option for a very convenient and well priced flight from Porto to Houston, but it has a layover in Amsterdam. My question is this...the layover is only 1 hr 15 minutes. Is it realistic to think I can do this without missing my connecting flight? I've never been through Amsterdam before and don't know the airport. Thank you all in advance.

Hi there.

First some facts. The vast majority of connecting passengers make their connections globally. Schipol is legendary in Europe for processing connections well. Given the small size of the Dutch market they are well known for offering competitive prices in places like Northern England to take people over Schipol. There is a minimum connecting time which is assessed and monitored regularly. If connections are not made things change, but they are made, most of the time. Customers missing connections is a very expensive business for airlines, and have a huge negative knock on across the days operation.

But of course they can be missed for many reasons. I guess it’s like baggage, everyone has a story. Yet baggage is delivered to the customer as planned >99% of the time .

Simplistically, Frequent travellers, let’s say folks who take a round trip journey once a month, like ‘tighter’ connections. That is one the reason they exist. Less frequent customers tend to like longer connections.

Are you on the KLM flight

OPO 0500 AMS 0835/0950 IAH 1325


I would book it!

 

[Friend from Barquinha]

Hi there.

First some facts. The vast majority of connecting passengers make theor connections globally. Schipol is legendary in Europe for processing connections well. Given the small size of the Dutch market they are well know for offering competitive prices in places like Northern England to take people over Schipol. There is a minimum connecting time which is assessed and monitored regularly. Of connections are made things change, but they are made. Customers missing connections is a very expensive business for airlines.

I've flown through Schiphol, returning home to Canada, many times. Always on KLM and a connection between two of their flights.

I agree with the comments above that discuss how efficient Schiphol is for connections. The airport has four wings and they're very good about whizzing you from one wing to another, by golf cart if necessary, to make a tight connection. Particularly if it's the same airline throughout (that is KLM>KLM or similar).

The one complication in this is that you're heading out of the EU on your second flight; that means you'll have to go through border control and have your passport stamped "out of the EU." That takes a bit more time than just moving gate to gate.

BUT if you let the flight attendants know, before you land from the Porto flight, that you have a tight connection to make, they are great! They will do their damnedest to see you make that connection.

We don't go through Schiphol any more; but it's only because the departures from Lisbon are at 5 am, which I hate. If they got their slots changed, in Lisbon airport, I'd be flying KLM again in a moment. Great staff, and and a very well-run airline!

P.S. If I had a choice of Heathrow or Schiphol, I'd choose Schiphol every time. Especially now after Brexit, since you'd have to do the "into the EU" entry at whatever EU airport you ended up at, if you came via the UK. And Schiphol is much more "flyer-friendly" than Heathrow, in my experience.

 

[hikermomma04]

Hi there.

First some facts. The vast majority of connecting passengers make their connections globally. Schipol is legendary in Europe for processing connections well. Given the small size of the Dutch market they are well known for offering competitive prices in places like Northern England to take people over Schipol. There is a minimum connecting time which is assessed and monitored regularly. If connections are not made things change, but they are made, most of the time. Customers missing connections is a very expensive business for airlines, and have a huge negative knock on across the days operation.

But of course they can be missed for many reasons. I guess it’s like baggage, everyone has a story. Yet baggage is delivered to the customer as planned >99% of the time .

Simplistically, Frequent travellers, let’s say folks who take a round trip journey once a month, like ‘tighter’ connections. That is one the reason they exist. Less frequent customers tend to like longer connections.

Are you on the KLM flight

OPO 0500 AMS 0835/0950 IAH 1325


I would book it!

Yes, that's the flight I'm on. Thanks for the advice - I think I'm going to chance it. I'm not checking bags, so that should help.

 

[hikermomma04]

I've flown through Schiphol, returning home to Canada, many times. Always on KLM and a connection between two of their flights.

I agree with the comments above that discuss how efficient Schiphol is for connections. The airport has four wings and they're very good about whizzing you from one wing to another, by golf cart if necessary, to make a tight connection. Particularly if it's the same airline throughout (that is KLM>KLM or similar).

The one complication in this is that you're heading out of the EU on your second flight; that means you'll have to go through border control and have your passport stamped "out of the EU." That takes a bit more time than just moving gate to gate.

BUT if you let the flight attendants know, before you land from the Porto flight, that you have a tight connection to make, they are great! They will do their damnedest to see you make that connection.

We don't go through Schiphol any more; but it's only because the departures from Lisbon are at 5 am, which I hate. If they got their slots changed, in Lisbon airport, I'd be flying KLM again in a moment. Great staff, and and a very well-run airline!

Good advice! I'll be letting the flight attendants know about the connection. Thank you!

 

[trecile]

Yes, that's the flight I'm on. Thanks for the advice - I think I'm going to chance it. I'm not checking bags, so that should help.

Checked bags are not an issue with a connection like this - you wouldn't have to deal with checked bags until your first stop in the US.

 

[AnneO]

I had this same connection time back in May and I had no trouble. The only concern would be if your flight to Amsterdam was at all delayed. But that connection time itself shouldn’t be a problem.

 

[TravellingMan22]

Yes, that's the flight I'm on. Thanks for the advice - I think I'm going to chance it. I'm not checking bags, so that should help.

Early morning flights tend to be good news. The aircraft you will fly on will arrive in OPO the night before so little chance of a delay due late inbound aircraft!

Also the taxi time at OPO airport is quite quick. Whilst we all talk about departure times, what matters is airborne times. The big airports tend to have average taxi tiles of 30 mins, but smaller ones less.

 

[Friend from Barquinha]

Early morning flights tend to be good news. The aircraft you will fly on will arrive in OPO the night before so little chance of a delay due late inbound aircraft!

Also the taxi time at OPO airport is quite quick. Whilst we all talk about departure times, what matters is airborne times. The big airports tend to have average taxi tiles of 30 mins, but smaller ones less.

Slight detour:

A newly discovered tip re Porto--if you need to stay in a hotel near the airport because of an early morning flight, this one is great. On the airport metro with good connections from the main bus station/Campagna rail station. Walking distance from the airport; very quiet in spite of that; serves breakfast from 4 am!

We will definitely use it again.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[henrythedog]

On what I assume is the first flight out of Porto you’re less likely to be delayed by the aircraft not being there. (Late in the day they may be on their third or fourth flight).

Schiphol is very efficient; but it’s huge. Do you know which wing you’re arriving at and departing from?

If it’s all on one ticket; I’d take it.

 

[hikermomma04]

Thanks for the timesaving tip - I just booked a room there !

 

[LTfit]

If it were last year I'd say forget it! Due to understaffing of security and baggage workers delays were horrendous, I had to wait for hours before going through security.

This summer the improvement has been enormous, during my last two flights from Schiphol (I live in the Netherlands), there were no problems with lines, delays or people missing flights but... Schiphol though efficient is not small. If you just have a carry on you shouldn't have a problem but one never knows, your incoming flight might be delayed.

Good luck!

 

[TaijiPilgrim]

Slight detour:

A newly discovered tip re Porto--if you need to stay in a hotel near the airport because of an early morning flight, this one is great. On the airport metro with good connections from the main bus station/Campagna rail station. Walking distance from the airport; very quiet in spite of that; serves breakfast from 4 am!

We will definitely use it again.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

I have also stayed at Opohotel and would recommend

 

[An Tincéir]

This is maybe not a question specific to the Camino, but since I know there are many many well seasoned travelers on this forum who have traveled to and from the Camino, I'm going to ask this here.
I have an option for a very convenient and well priced flight from Porto to Houston, but it has a layover in Amsterdam. My question is this...the layover is only 1 hr 15 minutes. Is it realistic to think I can do this without missing my connecting flight? I've never been through Amsterdam before and don't know the airport. Thank you all in advance.

Check this out https://www.schiphol.nl/en/blog/find-your-way-quickly-and-easily-at-schiphol/

 

[JerryStroebele]

Passport control at Schiphol this past March took over an hour on our flight back to the US. There were over 300 people in our snaking line. Hmm, 2 days later I was down with Covid, after two shots and 3 boosters. I just booked my next Camino flight for October and avoided all the good deals with plane changes in Schiphol. Glad to hear it is better now but that was about my third or fourth very crowded long wait at Schiphol passport control. Never again. Buen Camino

 

[jabrown]

This is maybe not a question specific to the Camino, but since I know there are many many well seasoned travelers on this forum who have traveled to and from the Camino, I'm going to ask this here.
I have an option for a very convenient and well priced flight from Porto to Houston, but it has a layover in Amsterdam. My question is this...the layover is only 1 hr 15 minutes. Is it realistic to think I can do this without missing my connecting flight? I've never been through Amsterdam before and don't know the airport. Thank you all in advance.

I connect there often by preference and often have a short layover. Haven’t missed a connecting yet.

 

[TravellingMan22]

Good advice! I'll be letting the flight attendants know about the connection. Thank you!

There will probably be quite a few folks on your flight with shorter connex than you and most crew see 75 mins as a breeze! But worth asking. In fact if you are unable to online check to a seat near the front, then always ask at the desk at the airport. Things move around with regard to seat allocation (for example some seats blocked for certain passenger types who may not materialise) and may be a chance to sit nearer the front. Of course assuming the OPO to AMS does not deplane from front and rear, which I think is unlikely!!

 

[judydaisy]

Passport control at Schiphol this past March took over an hour on our flight back to the US. There were over 300 people in our snaking line. Hmm, 2 days later I was down with Covid, after two shots and 3 boosters. I just booked my next Camino flight for October and avoided all the good deals with plane changes in Schiphol. Glad to hear it is better now but that was about my third or fourth very crowded long wait at Schiphol passport control. Never again. Buen Camino

Likewise, probably just bad luck on my part but flight into Schipol arrived a tad late and despite my legging it with cabin bag only I arrived half way down the another “wing” of the airport to meet 2 air hostesses asking if I was heading to the departing flight further down. I just about managed to gasp out a yes when they told me stop running! The flight, my flight was already taxi-ing out for take off. I did get a flight the next day but…
No more, Schipol is just a bit too big if time is tight.

 

[John Sikora]

No one has mentioned this, but if you are on the same airline for the entire passage (or one of their partners) and you miss the flight but there are one or more later flights, that adds to the confidence. 75 minutes should be enough but the luck of the draw always comes into play. It's just an issue of what happens if you miss the flight (just a delay or a real pain in the ....

 

[jlamont808]

This is maybe not a question specific to the Camino, but since I know there are many many well seasoned travelers on this forum who have traveled to and from the Camino, I'm going to ask this here.
I have an option for a very convenient and well priced flight from Porto to Houston, but it has a layover in Amsterdam. My question is this...the layover is only 1 hr 15 minutes. Is it realistic to think I can do this without missing my connecting flight? I've never been through Amsterdam before and don't know the airport. Thank you all in advance.

Schiphol is huge, it depends on passport control as well as where your connecting gate is. Also, where you are seated on your plane from OPO. They don't hold planes for people from connecting flights, I speak from experience on that one and had to spend the night in AMS.

 

[hikermomma04]

Thanks for the timesaving tip - I just booked a room there !

Schiphol is huge, it depends on passport control as well as where your connecting gate is. Also, where you are seated on your plane from OPO. They don't hold planes for people from connecting flights, I speak from experience on that one and had to spend the night i

 

[hikermomma04]

Thanks to all for the advice. After more searching around today, I ended up booking a direct flight with TAP Air. I’ve never flown with them before, so hoping it’s a good experience

 

[SFHoneybee]

This is maybe not a question specific to the Camino, but since I know there are many many well seasoned travelers on this forum who have traveled to and from the Camino, I'm going to ask this here.
I have an option for a very convenient and well priced flight from Porto to Houston, but it has a layover in Amsterdam. My question is this...the layover is only 1 hr 15 minutes. Is it realistic to think I can do this without missing my connecting flight? I've never been through Amsterdam before and don't know the airport. Thank you all in advance.

@hikermomma04

I was actually looking at some flights going thru Schiphol also---- I actually reached out to Schiphol's Direct Customer Service Department. And they were so EFFICIENT-- that two Different people responded to my query.

They said- YES--- you will make your connection. They have it all timed out very well. And if you are feeling short of time-- You can bring it to the attention to airport Staff and there are apparently some good shortcuts too they will let you use.

Here is their two reply to me:

#1- lots of details-
Thank you for your email regarding the transfer time on Schiphol.

This is hard to say because sometimes it can be busy at the airport and sometimes it may not. It depends on the day. If your connection flight is less than 60 minutes, you may use the Short Connection Unit that you can find on the E terminal on the second floor near E4. You may also find one at the beginning of the F terminal near the toilets. You have to scan your boaringpass at the connection unit. If the connection flight is less than 60 minutes you receive a Short Connection Pass, which you can show to the Passenger Assistant at the security and you will receive access to the short connection lane.

#2- supporting information
As my colleague stated, if your connection flight is under 1 hour, you are able to use the Short Connection Pass, to help you go through security and customs quicker. This has to be checked upon arrival of your transfer, this can not be booked in advance.
I hope that helps alleviate some stress.

Buen Camino