We just completed a failed attempt to go from Georgia to Georgia via Amsterdam; and instead went from Georgia to Georgia via Amsterdam.
Please allow me to explain what I mean.
Failed Attempt to Go From Georgia to Georgia Via Amsterdam.
Your intrepid reporter and the entire team at The Gate With Brian Cohen went to Amsterdam to see and experience for ourselves just how miserable was the weather there and why it was causing so many delays and cancellations of flights.
Actually, no: this trip was planned for months and simply fell apart.
We purchased tickets from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines to travel from Atlanta to Tbilisi via Amsterdam. The first segment of the trip from Atlanta to Amsterdam was operated by Delta Air Lines. Although we did receive warnings prior to our flight to Amsterdam pertaining to the severe winter weather that Schiphol Airport was experiencing, the flight itself was not canceled.
After arriving at the airport in Atlanta, we asked at the ticket counter of Delta Air Lines about the flights from Atlanta to Amsterdam and then from Amsterdam to Tbilisi. No indications were given that either flight was delayed or canceled; so we were given the boarding passes for the flight from Atlanta to Tbilisi via Amsterdam — but not from Amsterdam to Tbilisi — went through the security checkpoint and then spent some time in the airport lounge before arriving at the departure gate. The boarding process began on time; and the airplane was only a few minutes late in leaving the gate.
The airplane arrived 20 minutes early at a snowy Schiphol Airport. The snow plows had to clear an area before the airplane could arrive at the gate.
That is the point at which what was otherwise a smooth journey ended.
When Things Went Wrong
We went through the customs area and arrived at Airport Lounge 25, which is the Schengen area lounge of the KLM Crown Lounge. I have been to this lounge multiple times in the past; but this time, the lounge was almost empty. The person at the front desk checked the next flight segment of our itinerary, which is from Amsterdam to Tbilisi and operated by Georgian Airways.
“That flight has been canceled”, he announced to us several minutes later.
“Okay”, I replied. “What do we do?”
“Head back through the customs area and over to Gate D28, which is the gate from which your flight was scheduled to depart; and see if an agent from Georgian Airways is there. Afterwards, go to Airport Lounge 52, which is the international lounge.”
If you know Schiphol Airport, the Schengen area lounge of the KLM Crown Lounge are not exactly near each other. I predicted that no representative of Georgian Airways would be at gate D28; so we schlepped all the way back to Airport Lounge 52, which is the KLM Crown Lounge that serves passengers of flights to countries that are not within the Schengen area.
After going up the escalator past the Delft houses that adorned the walls, we arrived at the lounge. We explained our situation and that we did not have boarding passes for the flight from Amsterdam to Tbilisi, which was canceled.
“You cannot enter the lounge”, a woman at the entrance said.
“Why not?” I asked. “I am an elite member of SkyTeam who is traveling on a ticket that was issued by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.”
“Because your next flight is operated by Georgian Airways”, she replied tersely. “Delta Air Lines does not pay to have its members use our lounges when traveling on a flight that is operated by Georgian Airways.”
“So why did the person at the other lounge advise us to come here?” I asked.
After calling the man at the other lounge via telephone and conferring with him, she said that he did not pay careful enough attention to our tickets to tell us that we were not eligible to enter any KLM Crown Lounge.
“So what do we do?” I asked.
“Go to Transfer Desk 6”, she replied.
Fortunately, Transfer Desk 6 was not all that far away from the lounge. Unfortunately, it was mobbed with people, who waiting in a long line to have their itineraries sorted out. Most of the flights were canceled, with many of the few remaining flights substantially delayed.
While we were in line, a gentleman came over and asked us about what we needed. We related our story to him, as we admittedly were not in the best of moods as we tried to figure out our options while the snow kept falling outside. He replied that he is only a volunteer that day to assist customers and that he needed to confer with the other employees of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines to find out what were the next steps for us. He then revealed that he is actually a captain who flies Boeing “Dreamliner” 787-8 airplanes and he just flew in yesterday from Kuala Lumpur.
“Wow”, I said. “Thank you for volunteering and being here to help out. We truly appreciate it.”
He acknowledged that we were welcome. The conversation then turned to weather, in which he said that Amsterdam is not used to this much winter weather. He estimated that approximately 19 centimeters of snow had already fallen, which is unusual; and that Amsterdam is not well equipped to handle this type of storm. He also acknowledged that at one point, deicing fluid was low and that he had heard that additional supplies had to be brought in from Germany.
At this point, one of the employees from KLM Royal Dutch Airlines escorted us to the long queue. Because no options had been offered — in fact, I never received any official notification that the flight from Amsterdam to Tbilisi was canceled — I asked about the next flight back to Atlanta, as this became a trip in vain for us. If we could not get to Tbilisi by the next day, the trip would basically not be salvageable for a number of reasons.
“There is a flight that is leaving at 9:55; but you will not make that one”, she said as we took our place in the queue, which moved very slowly. Employees of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines were giving out complimentary bottles of water and sandwiches to anyone in line who wanted them, which I thought was a nice touch.
Approximately one hour later, one employee stepped out and asked, “Is anyone wanting to go to Atlanta and only to Atlanta?” Only two of us raised our hands. She escorted us to the front of the line and at the transfer desk, where which one of the employees happily accommodated us after understanding our situation. We were given our boarding passes and told to go to gate E19, where the airplane — which was operated by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and was already delayed — awaited us.
We boarded the airplane and took our seats, with ample room for our baggage in the overhead storage unit above us. After approximately 30 minutes, we finally left the gate and headed over to the deicing area — but after the airplane was deiced, the pilot announced that one of the deicing trucks could not move forward or backward; so we had to wait until the truck was moved out of the way of the airplane before we could proceed to the runway.
Final Boarding Call
This experience earlier today, Wednesday, January 7, 2026 was the reason why I was not able to experience the new policy of the country of Georgia requiring proof of valid health and accident insurance coverage from visitors, which became effective as of Thursday, January 1, 2026. I should be in Tbilisi right now — but I am not.
I must say that I was happy to be heading back to the United States rather than being stranded in Amsterdam. We could not access any of the KLM Crown Lounges. No trains were running at the time. We had no idea how long we would have to wait until our next flight to Tbilisi. Many people needed accommodations for the night; so we had no idea about vacancies at hotel properties or where we would stay if one was found for us. We had no idea what to do about meals, as we did not know what restaurants were open for business during that severe winter weather, which was forecast to continue for the next few days and potentially could affect some of the countries were were scheduled to visit.
With all of the aforementioned uncertainty, I viewed the fact that the employee specifically calling out for people who wanted to travel to Atlanta as a final destination as a sign that perhaps the trip should be abandoned. I did not see any upside to continue to try to have this trip work, as the domino effect of too many variables already impeded on the success of the trip…
…so I am now back in the greater Atlanta metropolitan area with a lot of work to do. I already began to cancel reservations. Whatever is not refundable needs to be covered by the trip cancellation insurance policies of the two credit cards which I used to cover the trip. A third credit card was used to pay for parking at the airport, which I need to figure out how to recover what I spent — if that is even possible.
Although I basically have a plan as to what I will do to recoup most — if not all — of my expenses, any assistance or advice is welcome…
…but at this point, I did something I never did before: I traveled from the United States to Europe and back in fewer than 22 hours, as I spent approximately four hours at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam…
All photographs ©2026 by Brian Cohen.
