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From Atlanta, GA with Delta Air Lines we will be arriving at Amsterdam airport 10:55 AM on December 26, 2015. We have a second flight to catch leaving AMS at 11:50 AM, on EasyJet going to London, Gatwick airport. We will NOT be checking in bags and will have only carry-on luggage, therefore we can immediately direct ourselves to the next flight without worry of travel transfers. We have already confirmed our bags to meet EasyJet's carry-on requirements.

Will this be enough time, given no delays?

What will be the security checks and transfer checks between these two flights?

Will we be sprinting to catch the next flight or should this be a sufficient amount of time, given no delays of course?

Also, does anyone know if you are able to obtain your boarding pass through EasyJet before arriving at the airport, or must this be done in between transfers?

If so, how long would this take?

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    What is your connecting flight exactly? EZY8874 seems to be 11:45, shaving another 5 minutes from your transfer.
    – Martijn
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 10:23

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It's extremely short and probably impossible, even with no hold luggage. Easyjet has no interline agreement with other airlines, which means not only that they would not take care of any hold luggage for you but also that they don't offer any facilities for transfer whatsoever and that the answers to earlier questions about transfer in Amsterdam do not apply. They will simply treat you as if you came from outside the airport and expect you to be there well in advance for security and boarding formalities.

Easyjet flights depart from the low-cost pier, which is a bit off the way, has long corridors and frequently long lines for security. Delta flights mostly dock at D-gates, in departure hall 2, so you will have to walk to departure hall 3 and then some more to the low-cost pier (but contrary to what I wrote in an earlier version of my answer, you should be able to do that airside and avoid waiting for a passport check).

Because Easyjet only operates point-to-point flights, they also won't help you in any way if you miss your plane. If you have any delay and fail to show up at the gate in time, you will be treated as a no-show and simply forgo the benefit of your ticket. At most, they might allow you to change to a later flight (I had to do this one time that security was particularly bad, and the fee was €50).

On the other hand, boarding passes can be printed 30 days in advance (the default is automatic online check-in, not airport check-in, I am not sure whether the latter is still possible at all) so at least you don't need to worry about that. Otherwise, you would need to queue again at Easyjet departure desks, with all the passengers starting in Amsterdam (no transfer desk either). Because I always check-in online, I don't know how long this typically takes but I have seen long lines there as well.

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    Nit: per FAA standards, arrival times are for arrival at gate, so any lengthy Polderbaan taxi times should already be included in the flight time. I agree that 55 min is highly risky at best.
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 1:11
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    I don't understand why you'd need to enter the Schengen area -- they'll arrive in non-Schengen airside and can go straight to the terminal for the flight if they have boarding passes. As I recall there's security before entering the low-cost wing (and it is a looong way away) but I don't see why they'd have to go through immigration.
    – SpaceDog
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 2:02
  • Although, 55 minutes is pushing it given Easyjet's tendency to close the gate on-time and the security and distance depending what gate you come in at. And that's ignoring delays, etc.
    – SpaceDog
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 2:03
  • @SpaceDog I was under the impression that the low-cost pier wasn't connected to anything airside. I might be wrong but don't assume it's the same than a regular international transfer (which is definitely as you describe).
    – Relaxed
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 5:26
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    The G/H/M gates are directly connected to the rest of non-Schengen airside, albeit at the very end of the terminal. You can see on the map. There is a separate security there and they do try and channel people via the separate departures area but they're all connected (unless that's changed recently). See also this flyertalk thread.
    – SpaceDog
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 5:54
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It may actually work, though I would advise against it:

  • in case of any delay on your arriving flight, Easyjet will not help you.
  • depending on your seat location, it may take quite a while before you can exit the Atl-Ams plane.
  • touchdown may be in time, but if you land on the Polderbaan runway, the plane will have to taxi about 15 mins before reaching the terminal.

But, in contrast to Relaxed's answer, you may actually be able to stay on the transfer side of the airport terminal:

  • have your Easyjet tickets printed beforehand.
  • Gatwick, UK, is not part of Schengen (Britain has opted out of this). As a result, on Ams airport, flights to the UK leave from the same part of the airport as international flights. Same part is a lose description: you may still have to walk quite a long way, but in principle you shouldn't have to cross any passport control, in or out of Schengen. You just stay in the passenger transfer area.

Easyjet flights often leave from a separate terminal (gates H/M)), which in the past has had its own security check, but I think that has changed in recent times and you may not encounter any security check between your arrival and deparate gate. This terminal tends to operate as an international, non-Schengen terminal; you should already be on that side of the airport.
But Schiphol terminal tends to be rather in flux, so that may have changed by the time you fly. tripadvisor has this to say (most recent edit Aug 2015):

From June 2015 new security measures aimed at making transiting Schiphol even easier were introduced. Now there will be no security checks at the gate as was the previous situation. For passengers arriving in the non-Schengen area of the airport from countries that are considered to have carried out a recognised level of security checks such as the USA and all NON Schnegen EU countres (e.g. UK), no further security screening will take place.

(Sidenote: the actual recommended transfer time given for international to EU flights in Ams is 40 minutes, though I only find unofficial quotes: the schiphol.nl website appears not very practical for finding the kind of information you need. Note that "EU flights" here is not the same as a Schengen flight: UK flights are EU flights and in general have shorter boarding times compared to e.g. USA flights from Ams, hence the 40 mins transfer time.)

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  • I don't think any of your points about Schengen checks and security hold for the low-cost pier (gates H/M).
    – Relaxed
    Commented Aug 17, 2015 at 23:22
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    @Relaxed last time I arrived with on the H/M pier, I could walk straight through to non-Schengen international flights. And, though longer ago, on outbound Easyjet flights to the UK, I was waiting in the same terminal as passengers waiting for e.g. US flights. So I think international transfer via Amsterdam does not require someone entering Schengen.
    – user19738
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 0:44
  • Actually, I now realize it's the other way around: if you have a flight departing from H/M to a Schengen destination, you still go through the international part of the airport. So the H/M gates are treated differently, but only to a disadvantage if you're transferring from a Schengen flight (not arriving at H/M) to another Schengen flight, the second one leaving from the H/M gates: you'll get another passport control.
    – user19738
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 1:13
  • I am positive that low-cost flights to Schengen destinations do not leave from either the international or regular Schengen part of the airport, it's just an entirely separate lounge/entrance, at the very end of the departure 3 area with no passport control whatsoever. But thinking about it, it's possible that non-Schengen flights are different and somehow connected to the lounge for G gates (not specifically US-bound flights but non-Schengen non-KLM/Skyteam flights).
    – Relaxed
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 5:23
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    Just to clarify my last comment: Schiphol is split by airline/alliance. Departure hall 1 is mostly KLM (including Transavia I think), departure hall 2 is Skyteam and departure hall 3 is for everybody, including non-SkyTeam members, some SkyTeam flights, A380 flights and low-cost carriers. (Nearly?) all flights are international and there are both Schengen and non-Schengen flights from all parts of the airport. And the D-gates in departure hall 2 are already quite far away from the H gate.
    – Relaxed
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 6:56
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I cannot tell the exact answer but there is some information that may help you.

  1. 55 mins is quite tight for transit, and you may have to wait longer for transit check on the last day of Christmas holiday.

  2. Easyjet won't help you if you miss the flight.

  3. Base on information I guess you first leg is DL(Delta) 74. Although the flight route is MIA-ATL-AMS , two legs are operated by different planes. MIA-ATL leg delay will not affect you flight; however, the leg ATL-AMS sometimes delay more than 30mins.

  4. The 2nd leg U2(easyjet) 8874 usually delays more than 30mins , the delay is usually result of longer boarding time or delay of earlier flight.

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  • Given that the OP has no bags, and is staying airside, why would they be going anywhere near customs?
    – Gagravarr
    Commented Aug 17, 2015 at 22:55
  • I didn't get the Boxing Day part. Boxing Day this year falls on a Saturday so UK travellers would return on Sunday or early Monday. How does Boxing Day affect queueing time in A'dam?
    – Gayot Fow
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 0:04
  • @GayotFow: Perhaps that people who wanted to be somewhere on Christmas Day will be returning home on Boxing Day?
    – Nate Eldredge
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 4:27
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    @NateEldredge, there may be a few, but for Brits, the data points the opposite way. If anything the queues would be reduced overall in December.
    – Gayot Fow
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 10:00
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I'd advice against it.

Schiphol airport is a fairly large airport, and walking times between different gates can be quite long. EasyJet generally departs from the H/M gates, which are quite a bit out of the way. International flights quite often arrive at the Polderbaan, which is quite the taxi distance from the pier proper.

If you arrive at the polderbaan, 15 minutes of taxing to the gate is no exception

If you depart from Gate M, 15 minutes of walking to the gate is no exception

If you are lucky, you might make it, but it's not something I would advice anyone to do.

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    @pnuts somewhat. There can be many reasons why your landing strip may be changed at the fairly last minute, and while scheduled arrival is usually based on time at the gate, if you were scheduled to arrive at a different landing strip, but are routed to the Polderbaan, your actual arrival at the gate will be delayed by quite a bit.
    – Martijn
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 10:18
  • @pnuts I wonder how airlines determine the schedule and what sense this FAA standard could possibly have in the context of a transatlantic flight. With what precision can such a long flight be timed in advance? Do they use a worse-case scenario? Is there some sort of tolerance? Amsterdam taxi time does in any case introduce quite a lot of variance, which could work to the OP's advantage if the plane usually lands earlier.
    – Relaxed
    Commented Aug 18, 2015 at 10:36

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