Day. 25 - Thursday, May 22, 2025 - Amsterdam to Phoenix

 The day started at 7:30 with a ride from the hotel to the airport. NOTE to myself:  always order.rhe taxi for 1/2 hour earlier than you need it.. it showed up at about 7:35 am and traffic was heavy on the way to Schipol airport.  We had plenty of time, but regardless, it's better to be there early.

The flight boarded a little late, but there's so many checks for international gates.  Immigration to leave the country, security for baggage.  We made it to the gate about an hour in advance.  

I flew first class home.  There's nothing like it.  The seats are sooo much better.  And if my flight had been an evening flight, I know I would have slept.  God bless lay down seats.  I paid for the first class upgrade and what happens, Wayne gets an upgrade at the airport for free.  He didn't even know he had been upgraded until we were at the gate

We arrived 25 minutes late but still had two hours to get to our new gate.  It took about an hour and 15 minutes.

We have global entry, but we had to wait for luggage to come down the carousel.  And then drop them again at baggage drop.  So global entry is great but if baggage is slow, you can really lose some time

Then there's the walk, walk, walk, to get to security, TSA pre-check.  Wait time at TSA was 18 minutes.  So it all takes time.  Two and a half hours is a minimum for changing planes!

I snagged an electric cart to get to our domestic gate.  That was a real plus!  The walk was estimated at 15 minutes.  Wayne doesn't walk at a 15 minute pace.

So here we are, boarded and on the last leg of the journey home.  Right now it's 11:30 pm in Amsterdam so that makes it a 23 hour travel day by the time we land in Phoenix.