This is a first for a major airport, I think?
In this post:
Schiphol will compensate passengers who missed flights
This has been a rough summer for travel, as many airlines and airports have been unable to cope with the increase in passenger demand. Things have been especially bad in Europe, with three major airports — Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS), Dublin (DUB), and London Heathrow (LHR) — getting the most attention for being unable to handle passenger demand.
In mid-June, Amsterdam Schiphol started capping passenger numbers, which helped somewhat, but didn’t solve the issue entirely. So there’s a positive update for those who were inconvenienced by the mess in Amsterdam — Schiphol Airport has introduced a compensation scheme for passengers who missed their flights due to long wait times at security.
This scheme has been developed in association with Ombudsman MAX and the Dutch Consumers’ Association, and applies to those who traveled through the airport between April 23 and August 11, 2022.
How exactly does this compensation scheme work?
Travelers who would like to request compensation from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport can do so at this link. As a reminder, this scheme applies specifically to the following passengers:
- You booked a flight departing from Schiphol between April 13 and August 11, 2022
- You were at the terminal at the time specified by your airline, and thus well before the stated departure time of your flight
- You missed your flight as a result of the unprecedented waiting times at security
- As a result of the missed flight, you incurred costs that are not being reimbursed by another party
Claims must be submitted by September 30, 2022. The airport aims to respond to claims within six weeks at the latest, and then provide payment to a specified bank account within 14 days.
Compensation can be requested for the following:
- Costs incurred when rebooking your flight for a replacement flight
- Costs incurred for alternative transport, if you chose to travel to your destination by another mode of transport
- Additional travel costs incurred for having to travel to Schiphol again, or to another airport
- Costs incurred for accommodation near Schiphol and other accommodation-related costs
- Costs incurred for transport and activities at your destination that you could no longer cancel
My take on Schiphol’s compensation scheme
It’s nice to see an airport taking accountability for its operational issues, so on the surface this scheme looks really great. Europe has strong protection for air travelers in the form of EU261 compensation, but this applies specifically when airlines delay a flight, and not when you miss your flight because an airport isn’t running as it should.
Am I the only one who thinks this almost seems unrealistically and suspiciously generous, though, at least as published?
- The airport is offering to reimburse everything from ground transportation, to hotels, to the cost of things you missed at your destination due to missing flights, with no published cap
- How will the airport really be able to determine if someone missed their flight by waiting in line at security for hours, rather than from cutting it too close, and then missing their flight?
This is an impressive move on the airport’s part. I hope that the airport is making this offer in good faith and intends to pay out, rather than using this to simply delay public outcry for another six weeks, with lots of claim denials at that point.
Bottom line
In a first of its kind move, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is offering to compensate passengers who missed their flight this spring and summer due to long security lines. This is an extremely impressive gesture, though I can’t help but be surprised by just how open-ended this is.
What do you make of Schiphol’s passenger compensation scheme?
We too missed our flight on April 24 despite arriving more than 4 hours early. We had to rebook for the next day for an additional cost of more than $5,000. We submitted all our proof and were informed that we would be compensated. I sent the SWIFT and IBAN info they required and am still waiting. It is now almost 7 months and no reimbursement in sight. I think we’ve been had and they...
We too missed our flight on April 24 despite arriving more than 4 hours early. We had to rebook for the next day for an additional cost of more than $5,000. We submitted all our proof and were informed that we would be compensated. I sent the SWIFT and IBAN info they required and am still waiting. It is now almost 7 months and no reimbursement in sight. I think we’ve been had and they are most likely overwhelmed by the demand. I was probably naïve to think that they would take any responsibility. The airline certainly didn’t, despite handing out fliers assuring me that all expenses would be covered, while we spent another 10 hours in line to reschedule. I guess I’m not the only one. SIC
Only discovered this item after making a claim on the airport for the 12th Sept disaster. A reply said I would receive a response in 6 weeks.
We left our hotel at 8 am and returned at about 7pm having been on our feet all day. Someone handed us a stroop wavel which we shared and a bottle of water on return into the building. As we are 79/80 years old you can imagine that took some toll. I hope the negatives are behind us.
My bank doesn't do IBAN numbers and the form won't allow you to just put in an account number and SWIFT number. Total loophole for them to ignore USA customers i guess?
We arrived on the 10th sept 17.00 pm for a19.30 flight to luton and missed our flight. EasyJet had advised us to arrive 2.30min before flights. I don’t think we will be compensated. We had to sleep on a bench surrounded by mice, my husband has Parkinson’s and it gets worse with stress.
Here says that the compansation will be only for flights departed from the airport. What about flights arriving?
Our connecting flight out of Schipol was cancelled (before we arrived in Amsterdam) because of the chaos at the airport, and we were left in the city for 24 hours with no compensation or assistance. We were told EU 261 won't cover us because it was "operational problems at the airport" and this new compensation rule won't cover us either!
I was also affected by the AMS meltdown, luckily I took an Uber and have proof of arriving more than 4 hours early.
The form for submission requires an IBAN for the wire transfer of compensation, also requests a BIC. These are not typical for US bank accounts. I am unsure how I will be able to overcome this obstacle. I've messaged Schiphol on Twitter, I'll report back.
If anyone has overcome this issue please share.
I was able to set up a Wise bank account to get paid in Euros, that provided me with IBAN and BIC numbers.
We shall see how this plays out.
did it work and how did you do that?
What about compensation for long haul business flights booked and paid for online then issuing economy tickets? We have been told to sort it at Check in next month? Pigs might fly!! What other business could extort money in this manner and get away with it? We were offered business seats 2 months later having eventually got a reply after 4 months.
I was at Schiphol Airport on the 1st August on a return flight to the UK. It took us over 3 HOURS to get to security after check-in! There were hundreds of passengers waiting to go through. When we eventually arrived at security most of the desks were closed! Why an earth does the airport not employ more personnel to ease the problem. It was unbelievable. No more Schiphol airport for me!!
I think it should also include lost and damaged baggage. The baggage handlers companies are also responsible. This includes the baggage handlers companies such as Swissport, who contract to airlines and have contributed to the current mess at Schiphol Airport.
airlines already are responsible for that under international conventions and even stronger protections from the EU
Fully supported and it would the honest thing for Swissport to do. Missing my bag since 9 June which should have been transferred to my next flight at Schiphol. Can't get KLM to find it.
Taking a step further: how does airport know one actually missed the flight? Especially if it was not KLM?
You could use your Google location history. In 2016 I got a rather odd contact from an insurance company claiming I had hit someone's car and drove off. I sent them my location history showing me in a different town at the time and a picture of my undamaged car. They were happy with this and left me alone.
As appropriately raised by @Daniel, proof of timing will be difficult for many to produce but I do wonder if airlines are able to provide evidence as to the details and times of bag drops and check-ins? This in no way assists those who have checked-in online or with carry-on bags only but it may provide a reasonable form of evidence if available. I suspect that many affected passengers will need to rely on digital...
As appropriately raised by @Daniel, proof of timing will be difficult for many to produce but I do wonder if airlines are able to provide evidence as to the details and times of bag drops and check-ins? This in no way assists those who have checked-in online or with carry-on bags only but it may provide a reasonable form of evidence if available. I suspect that many affected passengers will need to rely on digital records and timestamps but this will require a diligence which the cynical observer may regard as working in the airport's favour.
A cynical person would say this is a calculated move to get out ahead of a class action lawsuit being filed against them and to keep the EU from moving forward with any plans to force compensation payments.
Now they can say that they've elected to take steps themselves at least nuetering any of the above.
You'd have to be very cynical to think such things though
Another PR disaster in the making for Schiphol. When they see the number of claims coming in they are going to try and avoid paying, which will lead to much more public outcry.
Bingo.
They wildly underestimate how many people will make claims, and as pointed out, there seem to be no limits or caps, and incredibly broad criteria for things that can be claimed. This appears ripe for abuse (...understatement of the decade). I'm sure the same creeps who game every part of the miles & points trade will be all over this immediately...it could bankrupt the country and all of he EU!
Making popcorn now...
Too little, too late. This mess went on entirely too long without correction. Nothing could incentivize me to go through there again.
Regarding your question how they will be able to determine the reason why you missed the flight, this part of the reimbursement form (https://www.schiphol.nl/en/missed-flight-compensation) might clear things up a bit:
> Upload proof that shows that you were at Schiphol Airport well before the original time of departure of your flight
> For example: a parking ticket with time of entry, proof of check-out at the train station, photo with time stamp, WhatsApp message,...
Regarding your question how they will be able to determine the reason why you missed the flight, this part of the reimbursement form (https://www.schiphol.nl/en/missed-flight-compensation) might clear things up a bit:
> Upload proof that shows that you were at Schiphol Airport well before the original time of departure of your flight
> For example: a parking ticket with time of entry, proof of check-out at the train station, photo with time stamp, WhatsApp message, etc.
So you need to be lucky to have any kind of proof. If you don't have anything (for example because you just went there using a monthly ticket for public transport), it might be hard to get any compensation.
Will be interesting to see how long it takes until some people offer matching parking tickets for sale...
Regarding the "monthly pass": If you're using something like the flex pass, then it should be linked to your ov chipkaart, and you can use the Mijn NS to view your travel history and get the times. If you didn't connect to Mijn NS, they still have the data and you'd just need to contact them to request it.
Why don't they just allow passengers to enter security more than 4 hrs before their flights? I'd happily get there earlier due to crowds, go through security, have a meal and sit and read my book until time to board my flight. We will be going to Schiphol in September (Amsterdam to Oslo). I hope they get it straightened out before then.
I have yet to see a place online where a traveler can file said claim - seems odd that isn't made clear
AMS and other airports were on the verge of permanently harming their brand and future business but might also have faced class action lawsuits - to the extent such a thing is permissible in the NL.
As much as the Netherlands is moving to be a smaller hub, they still have alot of local traffic that is at risk if they don't get their operation in order and make up for the damage that...
AMS and other airports were on the verge of permanently harming their brand and future business but might also have faced class action lawsuits - to the extent such a thing is permissible in the NL.
As much as the Netherlands is moving to be a smaller hub, they still have alot of local traffic that is at risk if they don't get their operation in order and make up for the damage that their operation created.
LHR's scheme of capping capacity might have been the better route - it was just announced way too late to be reasonable for airlines.
Unfortunately, this only helps a subset of passengers affected by the mess. What about those who got there early, had their flight delayed because the airline code to wait for those stuck in security and then had to wait further because there weren't enough ground crew to push back once we missed our window. Ultimately after 8 hours of sitting on the plane the flight had to cancel due to crew timeouts.
I know...
Unfortunately, this only helps a subset of passengers affected by the mess. What about those who got there early, had their flight delayed because the airline code to wait for those stuck in security and then had to wait further because there weren't enough ground crew to push back once we missed our window. Ultimately after 8 hours of sitting on the plane the flight had to cancel due to crew timeouts.
I know of at least 2 United flights this happened to on Memorial day alone. One was mine. Thank God Brussels is close enough I could rebook through there for the next and avoid the hell.
It took 3 messages to CS but I got my hotel, meals and a $100 flight credit.
In theory, you should be entitled to EU261 compensation. The problem will probably be that airlines will call it an instance of "force majeure" and try to get away with it.
I'd swear that DUB were compensating for this since late June, so do not think AMS is a world first
My sis was supposed to fly from AMS to Istanbul in late May and missed her flight due to long lines at security and passport control. So she had to buy a new ticket on site on a later flight (which trashed the beginning of our Aegean vacation a she arrived at 3.30 am instead of 8.00 pm). So she would fill in a claim with Schiphol now, would be nice to have at least a monetary compensation of out of pocket costs. I'll report back.
The airport advised passengers may only arrive from 4 hours before departure, and prohibited them even to go airside +4h before departure.
Apparently, many passengers that arrived exactly 4 hours before departure still missed their flight due to the excessive waiting times at security.
Not surprising the airport takes (some) accountability for this situation.
To go airside?