TravelTalkOnline Forums Trip Reports (Read Only) Trip Report and Photo Archives Stuck in Amsterdam #1

So���� where does one start?

Janet and I are officially stranded in Europe at this time.

This morning, Saturday, we awoke in Den Haag (The Hague) and enjoyed a wonderful cup of coffee and pastry. Then slowly strolled through the Queen�s gardens (she was not home) to the Peace Palace.



That is when the Blackberry vibrated with an unknown number. I answered it to hear a computer voice tell me that our flight for Sunday from AMS to IAD had been cancelled, please call 1-800-United to reschedule. We were not surprised and half expected it. We still had our fingers crossed since rumors were saying by late Saturday the airports may open. But realistically we both knew Sunday was not going to happen.

The prudent and reasonable thing seemed to us was to go to Amsterdam Airport �Schiphol� and talk to a real person vice waiting 162 minutes on hold for the next available agent. No I am not kidding that is what the computer voice said.

So back to the hotel we went grabbed our stuff, and then we caught the Tram to the Train Station - destination Schiphol. As soon as we emerged from the train, which arrives below the airport, I knew things were ungood�



Yep the folks at United were right on top of things



The flight board told the story



Big hand for KLM. Their folks were there in force with smiles, handing out food, and denying all the latest rumors. Folks trying to get train tickets to Spain or Italy had a 5 hour wait in line



So now it was time to get a hotel in Amsterdam and figure out what is going on and what our future brings.

We arrived at the hotel we had started at 7 days ago to welcomes from the concierges. These guys are good! Best of all the concierge gave us the United local number, which cut the phone wait to a reasonable 15 minutes

Then we got the news��������

Drum Roll please������..

The earliest we can get out of here is THURSDAY April 22

Have I said how lovely the Netherlands are this time of year



So you ask, Your are in Europe�. Why not take the train to Spain or Italy?
As I said, the lines for tickets are hours long with no guarantee there will be a flight when you get there. Some in our group did get confirmed seats on a flight out of Madrid, but they cannot get there so they had to cancel.

Rent a cars are no longer available and to top it off the French Railroad workers just went on strike.

The sky is perfectly blue no signs of any ash. The Dutch are some of the nicest people in the world, and hey what can you not do in Amsterdam so we will struggle on. I would like to think that we can catch a standby flight earlier, but honestly that would be very very very optimistic.

More later