So – I got stranded in Amsterdam. There are worse places to be stranded that’s for sure, but stranded I was.
Here’s How I Got Stranded In Amsterdam:
Firstly, I probably got up later than I should have. Secondly, my flight changed from 7:55am to 7:30am at some point, which I never found out about! Thirdly, I hadn’t checked in. In my head, I thought I would do that at Schiphol…
So anyway, I began my journey to Schiphol Airport at 6:05am. After walking to Muiderpoort station, I bought a train ticket to take the 6:22am train. It never came. It turns out, Amsterdam’s trains were having a bit of a meltdown on Monday morning.
I got on the train at 6:38am finally, but after finding out at Muiderpoort station that my flight changed to a 7:30am departure, I was a little worried!
I then got off the train at Duivendrecht to wait 5 minutes for the train taking us to Schiphol Airport. The train came late, but it came.
Once getting onto the train, I sat down and realised I was not going to make my flight. However my father texted me telling me my flight was delayed so I had hope I’d be able to make the flight!
And then I had some drama. The trains electricity had some kind of issue and the train shut off. The problem then was that we all became prisoners of the train! Unable to get off the train, myself and the other passengers were all in a state of confusion, trying to work out what to do.
Water began pouring out of my face when I was faced with the prospect that I was again going to miss my flight. This in turn created a situation where a gentleman traveler took pity on me and took me under his wing.
Eventually after 15-20 minutes, we got off the train. The task then became – “but how do we get to Schiphol?”.
The male traveller (who I’d seen on previous Easyjet flights between Amsterdam and London before… this was my usual Monday morning flight) told me to follow him as he discussed with people at the station what to do. We had been promised a train in the next 5 minutes.
Once the train that had been promised to us did not come, the helpful man told me we will go by taxi and asked if I wanted to ride to Schiphol with him – my response? “Let’s Do This.”
As we were running down the escalator to the taxi, we added another girl to our posse who was also frantically trying to work out how to get to Schiphol.
As we got to the bottom of the escalator, a message rang out over the P.A. in Dutch, which I couldn’t understand. Helpful Guy yelled out to us “The train comes now – Come on!”
We sprinted back up the escalator and made it to the platform just in time for the train to arrive. We jumped on board together, puffing and panting but pleased we were finally on our way to the airport.
As we pulled into Schiphol we all wished each other luck and then we all bolted off the train. It was 7:20am – my flight was scheduled to depart at 7:30am, though delayed until almost 8:50am.
I ran directly to the check-in desk of the airline and told them I had been stuck on a broken train and am meant to be on the 7:30am flight, which is delayed. Her response was “YOU ARE LATE! I cannot help you – go buy a new ticket!” And she pointed to the ticket desk.
I walked over to the ticket desk with my tail between my legs and all hope gone. Two weeks previous my hunk had missed his flight to London and had to pay a hefty sum to fly to visit me the following day, so I was not looking forward to having to do that myself.
After an eternity of waiting (maybe 3 minutes, but the suspense was a killer) it was my turn. I told the girl a short version of my morning dramas and asked her if there was any way I could get on another flight that day. She told me that more than half of the flights for the day were cancelled due to fog so in actual fact, they had been re-booking people all morning, including for my flight which was now cancelled!
Never have I been so happy a flight was cancelled! This meant the airline now had to re-book me at their expense!
The lady offered the first available seat on any flight to London, which was not until the next day at 10:25am. “I’ll take it!”. So… My fate was sealed. I had another 24 hours in one of my favourite places. But, did I have somewhere to stay for the night?
As I was staying with friends in Amsterdam, I luckily had somewhere to stay for one extra night and had no hotel expense.
After all of that drama, I spent the day walking around cold foggy Amsterdam before making sure I was 110% checked in for my flight the next morning.
Making The News
The Fog problem in Amsterdam and London made the news around the world so luckily my employer was able to see that I was definitely telling the truth!
The flight the next morning was on a full-size long-haul 767 plane which had been filled with people who were unable to fly the previous day, due to cancellations.
Apart from having to take 1.5 days off work for the fog, it was pretty nice having a surprise long weekend. My work week became 2.5 days too… Which, let’s face it, is more than enough! 🙂
Have a great week!
Australian expat, married to a Dutch guy, living in Amsterdam. Previously lived in London for 3 years, too! Lover of travel, coffee, brunch, beaches, fresh flowers, and family. Now a new mum, navigating life with a baby!
0 thoughts on “Stranded In Amsterdam”
Wow! I had no idea it was so bad!!! What a frustrating experience it is being delayed… but as you said, worse places you could be stuck 😉
Yeah I was shocked that fog could ground so many planes..!
You poor thing – I know that flight/airport stress and it’s never fun! At least your rescheduled flight was free x
Absolutely! 🙂 I had a good time once the stress was over!!
Glad it all worked out for you!