I went to Amsterdam and all you got was this lousy blog post.
I decided to go to The Netherlands during Revenge Travel™ and Airport Meltdown™ season. Here’s what happened.
After traveling for a month just barely pre-post-pandemic travel (????), this will be my first real Revenge Travel trip, and I’m descending right into the eye of the storm: Amsterdam Schiphol.
But let me back up.
First of all, as I always do when I can, I booked on Aer Lingus. People have claimed that Aer Lingus is the worst airline in the world, or close to it. I’ll be honest: I have never had a negative experience with them. Are there better airlines? Yes. Are there worse? UNDOUBTEDLY. I choose Aer Lingus for one simple reason: U.S. customs in Dublin. It cannot be beat. You get everything over with when you’re two or three hours into your trip in a small airport with relatively few flights going to the U.S., and then when you arrive in the U.S., you just wander to your next gate without having to go through passport control or anything… or in my case, out of the airport and into a car and into your bed. So it’s Aer Lingus for me, and haters be damned.
Second of all, why is Schiphol, notorious for being one of the most efficient airports in the world, all of a sudden the eye of the storm? The Pit of Despair? The 9th Circle of Hell? The… I’ve officially run out of ways to say the literal worst? OMFG it’s a journey, ya’ll.
When the pandemic hit, Schiphol and many other airports apparently decided that travel was over forever and no one would ever travel by plane again, so they laid off the majority of their staff. Then when vaccines became readily available, they were SHOCKED, I tell you, SHOCKED to discover that folks wanted to travel again. <eyeroll emoji to space> So they tried to hire everyone back at the same wages they were paying pre-pandemic, and everyone said, “you know what? No.” After an absolute mind-boggling horror show at Schiphol in April, May, and June due to understaffing, which saw passengers waiting up to 5 hours to get through security and lines out into the parking lot, the airport offered people €5 above base pay for airport staff to increase staffing levels, so they were finally able to hire a bunch of people. But then after a relatively normal July and August, the airport claimed that the €5 increase was a “bonus” and was expiring in September. Everyone they hired quit. PREDICTABLY.
The CEO of the airport stepped down. They cut 18% of all flights coming and going to try to manage the lack of staff. So will I make it out of the the Netherlands on my scheduled flight? It is literally up to the old gods and the new at this point.
So, how did it go?
I left Seattle on a Saturday evening, fearing the worst even at SeaTac. How long did it take me? UM ALL OF 10 MINUTES. I got to the airport 3 1/2 hours before my flight and it legit took me 10 minutes to get through security. And afternoons are pretty freaking bad at airports. Not this day, my friends. NOT THIS DAY. So I hung out at a bar and drank and drank and drank, as one does.
My flight was awesome—totally smooth and uneventful. When I landed in Dublin, I’d booked myself a whole 5 1/2 hour layover just in case crowds sucked but reader, there was relatively no one there. So tapping into my deep knowledge of The Amazing Race airport tactics, I ran over to the business class lounge and asked them if there were any earlier flights. There happened to be a flight leaving in an hour and a half, which I was instantly booked on, and I got to the gate as they were boarding. It was a delight.
I was nervous about landing in Schiphol, since I had to do passport control there and based on the handy dandy Schiphol app, arrivals were as busy as it gets. I got to passport control literally in the nick of time, and it took around 20 minutes. When I turned around, the crowds went up the stairs and out into space, apparently, but I got through OK.
A week in Amsterdam ended with a nerve-wracking Uber ride to the airport 4 1/2 hours before my 9:30 AM flight. Again, all that Game of Thrones-level praying to the 7 must have paid off because I was in and out of security in under 1/2 an hour and then I had a loooooong wait at the gate, where the coffee stand NEVER OPENED, and I had to get on my short but early-ass flight to Dublin with zero coffee in my system at all that morning. And I woke up at like, 3 AM! Not cool, man. And I have to say, the people who waited in that security line have partially restored my faith in humanity because they were all DELIGHTFUL. And every single person I could see or hear said good morning to the few security working, chatted with them and complimented them on what a great job they’re doing, and that put security in a great mood, which made the experience actually pleasant. So honestly? No complaints at all and in fact, one of the smoothest European travel experiences on both ends I’ve ever had.
Cool cool, but how was Amsterdam?
Amsterdam was great. It was the first week in October and while I honestly don’t know how packed with tourists it is at that time usually, it didn’t seem all that tourist-heavy when we were there. We got easy reservations to any museum, restaurant, or bar we wanted (and if you don’t go to PRIMI and Rosalie’s Menagerie while you’re in Amsterdam, you will regret it for the rest of your life), the streets weren’t too packed, and there was no wait at all to get into the major museums like Anne Frank and Rijksmuseum. It was a lovely, typically easy week in Amsterdam. If you choose to add Amsterdam onto your itinerary or spend your whole time there, I would love to help you plan your time!
