I have friends that are going to be spending next week in Maastricht and since I recomended Maastricht they have bombarded me with an array of questions.They do have one that I am not certain about and therefore I felt the urge to post on the "all knowing" board.It seems that they have a 9:35 am flight out of Amsterdam.The first train from Maastricht to Schipol leaves Maastricht and arrives Schipol at 8:11.My past experiance tells me that this will give them enough time to check in and get to the gate,however they are accustomed to US airports and arriving several hours early for a flight.Can someone enlighten me on whether this is cutting it too close or is this indeed going to be early enough at Schipol.What do most airlines do when they have a passenger that misses an international flight?

Block.. others might be able to give more info, from my experiences security when leaving is not that bad. It's not the greatest though. I usually give myself about 2 hours total just to be sure. If time is a issue, have them take a cab. I used to take the train from central station to the airport, but I was always cutting it close. I've taken a cab that last 3 times and never had a problem with time.

good luck!

90 minutes should be fine if they can use the automated check-in. If they have to stop at a counter for some reason (too many bags, overweight....) add at least another 45 minutes.

Weasel

For a flight within Yurp, I'd be happy with those timings: carry-on luggage, online checkin, privium card to by-pass immigration. For a flight to the US it sounds a bit tight, especially without the above mentioned ways to speed them through there's a chance it could all go horribly wrong.

I did miss a UK-US flight once - fortunately the airline had another flight an hour later and I had a flexible ticket so no real problem (apart from my luggage not making it) - but if your friends are travelling real cheap they could have problems.

Safest approach would be to travel up to Schiphol the previous evening - there's plenty of relatively cheap hotels with shuttle services to the airport - and reduce stress levels all around, it's a holiday not an olympic event.