indirect flights from UK via Amsterdam

[grannyed]

hello again

I have seen something on a thread about someone who flew to Orlando via Newark and did not have enogh time to make their connection since they only had an hour between planes. can't find the thread now - still finding my way round.

Anyway I believe that this is bacause they have to go through immigration at Newark which takes some time...

We are flying from Leeds Bradford to Amsterdam and then from Amsterdam diretly to Orlando and we have just over an hour in Amsterdam - I am assuming/hoping that, because we should not have to do immigration in Amsterdam (EU citizens) an hour will be enough from one plane to the next -- we have 2 little ones with us.

Anyone able to reassure me ? please?

 

[Goofyish]

Schiphol is a huge airport, but it is quite easy to get around with moving
floorways and clear signs.

The gates are arranged in 'arms' leading from the departure/arrival lounges - the arms are given letters A through to G.
The airport is two areas landside (before security) and airside (after security), so arrivals and departures are a common area.
In my experience most UK flights are on gates in arm D (there are about 87 'D' gates!)
Not sure where Florida flights go from though.

Take a look at the airport website for more info:

Schiphol

 

[disneyholic family]

hello again

I have seen something on a thread about someone who flew to Orlando via Newark and did not have enogh time to make their connection since they only had an hour between planes. can't find the thread now - still finding my way round.

Anyway I believe that this is bacause they have to go through immigration at Newark which takes some time...

We are flying from Leeds Bradford to Amsterdam and then from Amsterdam diretly to Orlando and we have just over an hour in Amsterdam - I am assuming/hoping that, because we should not have to do immigration in Amsterdam (EU citizens) an hour will be enough from one plane to the next -- we have 2 little ones with us.

Anyone able to reassure me ? please?

many years ago (about 8 i think) we flew via Amsterdam.....flying KLM direct to Orlando...
i don't recall having to cross immigration at all......i think we remained on the side of where you are after you've passed immigration....
but as i said, this was 8 years ago (before the change in security measures)..

however my mom flies through amsterdam every month and in one direction only has an hour....it never seems to be a problem..

my only question is, are you traveling on the same airline or changing airlines?....it's possible that with such a short time, your luggage might not make it to the switch over....in which case i'd suggest to you to carry a change of clothes in your carry on bag (or shorts and a tshirt or whatever it is you wear to the parks).....

 

[Amyrlin]

My daughter went though Newark a few weeks ago, was only given a hour for the transfer and missed her flight as it would take more than that.

Part of the problem was the way immigration operates in the US which took her 30 mins. The she had to collect her bags and go through customs, as that was the point of entery as well as immigration, which made this an impossible connection. She was actually travelling to Boston, not orlando, she went down to florida later and has just retruned from palm beach escaping before Wilma hits.

I am failry sure that this wil not be the case in Amsterdam. If you are worried, call the airport cutomers services and they will be able to tell you the time required for a transfer, then you won't worry. Had we known we could do this we would have found out that Newark recommend a min of 2 hours.

 

[Laurafoster]

You should have enough time. The only problem would be if there is a delay in your flight to amsterdam.

 

[jjpenguin]

Most of the US flights (at least the US airways) go from G. It is a huge airport! and the walking times are long. I shouldn't think you have to go through immigration or customs.

 

[Amyrlin]

I don't think you will have to go through customs at Amsterdam as you are remaining within the EU.
The customs issue was an issue as my daughter flew into the US and then took an internal flight,so she had to clear customs and immigration at the point of entry into the US.

 

[Goofyish]

Looking at a little airport guide booklet I picked up last time I was in Schiphol it shows dedicated transfer desks where you pick up your boarding passes. You will need to look at the TV monitor screens when you land to check which transfer desk you need to go to.

 

[gbrchill]

One word of caution. We were speaking to a family whilst waiting for a ride. They had saved heaps of money by coming via AMS. However, upon arriving in the US were selected for "special customs inspection". There were held up for a couple of hours whilst all of their luggage was unpacked and searched really really well.

I don't know if this was linked to travelling through AMS or if they were just unlucky.

Chris

 

[Cochise]

I am a little confused on this matter. I got a price for a fly dive on KLM through one company and they said they flew direct to Orlando Int. So i tried this vis the KLM site and not a single search on any date supported this fact. I got back in touch with the agent and again they said it did. When I called another agent they said KLM dont fly direct from Amsterdam.

??????????

 

[gbrchill]

I am a little confused on this matter. I got a price for a fly dive on KLM through one company and they said they flew direct to Orlando Int. So i tried this vis the KLM site and not a single search on any date supported this fact. I got back in touch with the agent and again they said it did. When I called another agent they said KLM dont fly direct from Amsterdam.

A quick web search would indicate that KLM don't fly directly to MCO, they offer a number of connecting flights (probably code shares with NWA on NWA metal).

So, to make this worth the hassle the price from the UK would have to be pretty outstanding - or good connection from a regional airport to avoid the schlep to London.

Chris.

 

[grannyed]

our problem was that my employers wouldn't confirm my leave dates until about 3 weeks ago so we couldn't book flights. then when they did I could only get 19 nights leave instead of the 21 that we had hoped for, and which everyone else in my family had been able to get, although the girls will miss a few days school - we didn't want to cut down our holiday to 2 weeks so we decided to try for scheduled flights since charter flights can't do odd durations very easily - believe me we tried.

we are going at Easter a very busy time and we found flights very hard to come by, and very expensive - there are 6 of us travelling and the availability just wasn't there.

we were then offered flights via Amsterdam from Leeds/Bradford which is very handy for us - we live in York - and even handier for my son, wife and girls cos they live in Leeds - we took the flights and I have to say that initially the thought of just having a 1 hour 10m minute stay in Amsterdam was okay because there wasn't to be so much hanging around with the girls -
afterwards I discovered the size of the airport and started to be a bit concerned whether we would make the connecting flight - but we've done it now and will just have to hope for the best.........

 

[Cochise]

A quick web search would indicate that KLM don't fly directly to MCO, they offer a number of connecting flights (probably code shares with NWA on NWA metal).

So, to make this worth the hassle the price from the UK would have to be pretty outstanding - or good connection from a regional airport to avoid the schlep to London.

Chris.

Very much agreed on that, this is why I didnt follow this up.

 

[grannyed]

just checked my flights are KLM to Amsterdam and then Martinair to Orlando now I,m going to look up Martinair

 

[March Hare]

Hi

We flew KLM / Martinair from Birmingham last year. There is no check at Amsterdam, and all your luggage and seating is checked through on departure, which was a lot easier than normal, as you are flying on a relatively small plane for the first leg of the journey - I think total check in time for nine of us was around 20mins from joining the queue - not bad for August!

Cost, booked through a company called Florida Freestyle for flights and car hire for 17 days last summer was £520 adult and £420 child, which was very reasonable.

Flights were on time and we had no problems either way.


Mark

 

[grannyed]

thankyou for that March Hare you have cheered me up no end !!!