So, some of us U.S. tech savvy travelers may think we got it pretty good in term of great service and facility at our bigger airports. I think you need to read what our fellow world traveler, techforworldtravel, has to say about Amsterdam-Schipol Airport.

This is what techforworldtravel say:

God bless the Dutch - they know how to build an airport that caters to the tech traveler in style! If you’re connecting through Amsterdam-Schipol (IATA: AMS) with more than an hour or so between flights be sure to go upstairs in the main Lounge 2 (see PDF map) to the KPN Communication Centre. The only bad thing I have to say about it is that it doesn’t open until 6:00am. If you arrive as I did before that, you’ll have to login wirelessly on your own.

But if you do wait until the Communication Centre opens (as several travelers did, like puppy dogs needing to pee) you’ll be rewarded. The atrium-side PCs have 9-in-1 card readers, all have widescreen LCD monitors, and the software is very elegant though a little tricky if your webmail opens messages in a new window.

Purchase a code from the counter, and you can log on in seconds. As with most public computing, be sure to practice safe computing and log off when you’re done. When your session expires, the software automatically reboots windows , which should clear any cached passwords. All the standard applications are available.

workstations at SchipolIf you want to plug in your own machine, they’ve got power outlets with both North American and European connectors, as well as wired Ethernet (didn’t check whether it was gigabit or not). All of this comes in an aesthetic - furniture, lighting and view - that makes you feel like you’re at a cool coffee shop in a hip part of town, not some cubicle den that’s been hastily erected at the back of the airport. Hats off to Amsterdam Schipol and KPN for setting the standard. Other airport operations please take notice.

There was one niggle - on my PDA (a Windows Mobile 5-equipped machine) their WiFi login page wouldn’t load in Internet Explorer. Most airport portals manage to avoid javascript or other web nasties that don’t work in mobile-formatted browsers.

The rates aren’t posted on their site, so I’m listing them below. They’re fairly reasonable:

WiFi

(Hotspots run by KPN, but supported roaming partners include: Xs4all, Boingo, iPass.)

€6=30mins
€12=90mins
€16=Day connection

Wired

€6=30 mins
€0.20/add min

Desktop PCs

€3=15 mins
€6=30mins
€9=60mins

Mini-office (ms office, tel, fax, printer, copier, scanner)

€16=30 mins
€0.45/add’l min

Enjoy!

Your tech world traveler…

Thank you for sharing your Dutch Airport WiFi experience with us. We here at AirportWiFiGuide.com have yet to have a chance to visit the Dutch and enjoy their well equipped airport. Share your Airport WiFi experience like this post with other Airport WiFi users here at AirportWiFiGuide.com

Click Here to visit www.techforworldtravel.wordpress.com

  • Share/Bookmark

RSS feed for comments on this post · TrackBack URI

Share your comment for this AirportWiFiGuide.com post

Top WiFi airports / WiFi posts rated by our users