Ask Lemmy

My worst travel experience was trying to fly out of Amsterdam's Schiphol airport in the summer of 2022. It was a nightmare combination of hot weather, a big event closing out the evening before (lots of outbound folks) and very bad staffing issues.

I got to the airport just before 10 am for my 2 pm flight, and the security line was already stupidly long, looping around a big unused hall and outside under a lousy, partial plastic canopy. I'm talking hours of waiting in either crowded indoor space or sweating under the midday sun. People were skipping the line in desperation and there were half-assed attempts to stop them. I'm a rule-follower so I waited in the queue, inching towards security.

I got to the actual security gate at 1:55 pm, there were like three gates open out of the multiple dozens of gates they have (I don't know exactly how many there are). I was through by 2:03. I saw on the departure board that my flight hadn't left yet due to a small delay, so I booked it to my gate, which was (of course) at the very end of one of the longer "prongs" of the airport. I couldn't run due to a medical condition, and when I finally made it, I was greeted by the ground staff of the airline telling me I missed my flight by a few minutes.

(Cue a break for crying and desperate flight checks through other airlines.)

Due to the sheer amount of delays and people missing their flights, I had another long queue to wait in: airline support desk. Except due to post-covid regulations, there was a vague area with taped-off sections and no actual desk to speak of, with two (2) airline staff trying to manage the 40-50 people crowded around at any given time. I got told to use their mobile app to get rebooked on another flight, but it just did not work. After waiting in line a second time the staff told me again to apply online and tried to shoo me off, but I completed the online form right there and showed them that it wasn't working. I got parked on the other side of the taped-off area and was told to wait.

Some 15 minutes later, I got handed a new ticket to get me home. At this point it was after 5 pm, and my new ticket was for 9 am the next morning. I wasn't willing to go outside of the airport and risk getting stuck in security again, so hotels were out of the question. The lounge services I could find that were open were all daytime only, so no dice getting some sleep there. I ended up sleeping on a waiting bench near my gate, as much as you can call waking up every 10-15 minutes in the span of about six hours "sleep".

I was at my new departure gate at 6 am, not willing to risk anything at this point, and got on the flight with no more issues. Not that we took off on time, it was about 10 am when the wheels of the plane finally picked up off the ground. Those were the longest 24 hours of my life.

(Edit: spelling and grammar)