Huge wait times at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport have some people claiming this is why it really pays to have status with an airline.
All around the world we are seeing wild scenes of delays, lost baggage (with, in some cases, passengers tracking it with airtags), frustration and ultra-long airport queues. These kinds of issues have plagued airports and airlines everywhere from Bristol to Sydney. Another recent case in point is Amsterdam. Footage emerged late last week of crazy lines outside Schiphol airport, and travellers on Twitter have been taking to the airwaves to warn others to stay away.
Whatever you have to do to avoid the hell that is Amsterdam airport, do it. 7 connecting flights through countries you’ve never heard of to avoid Schiphol? Do it. Renting a donkey cart from Sixt to avoid Schiphol? Do it. @Schiphol @KLM pic.twitter.com/lqB2U7l5OO
— Jim Waller (@JimWallerKSC) July 2, 2022
One wrote: “Whatever you have to do to avoid the hell that is Amsterdam airport, do it.” Another, who posted a video of the airport, said: “Wow. Line for security @Schiphol in Amsterdam. Tents built outside cannot accommodate lines. You are seeing 60% of line.”
Another video of these wild queues was posted to Instagram by The Points Guy UK, with the website claiming one of the ways to be less impacted by this sort of chaos is to get status with an airline.
Now it goes without saying that The Points Guy UK probably has a good reason to promote things like building points and getting status. So you should take the following claims with a grain of salt. But in any case: here are the claims the video makes (and despite being conveniently made, they’re not, in our view, wrong).
Watch the wild scenes at Schiphol airport in the video below.
The video starts off by showing the, as The Points Guy UK puts it, “outrageously long queues” at Schiphol. A caption then reads: “Makeshift tents were built to accommodate those outside as the three-hour-long queues started far away from the actual entrance to the airport.”
“Travellers are experiencing airport chaos all over Europe now, but don’t panic. Here are three ways to make your journey smoother if you have upcoming travel,” read another caption.
The video then recommends status as the first way to make your travel experience smoother, claiming: “If you already have status, now is the time more than ever to use it. The dedicated check in desks and priority security lines have never been more valuable.”
The next tip was to upgrade, with the advice being: “If you are flying on a flight with premium cabins, check with the airline how much it costs to upgrade.”
The final tip was: “pay your way,” which was followed up by: “Many airports offer priority security lane usage in return for a small fee. Some airports charge as little as £5 for this privilege.”
Some people in the comments were stoked on the advice, others metaphorically shook their heads and realised the so-called solution was basically just ‘to be rich.’ Whether or not you really need to be rich to get good at points hacking we’ll leave up to you to decide, but if you are interested, check out some of the articles below.
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