Neil Williams wrote:

Schiphol is the exception to the rule in that the ticket machines *do*
accept credit cards. They do ask for a PIN, but I believe they don't
verify it (as the Dutch don't use Chip & PIN yet - they use a much more
rudimentary "strip and PIN" system, and sign for credit card
transactions).

Interesting. So I could have entered anything I felt like entering?

Come to think of it, I think I also tried my ATM card, which requires a
PIN even here. I used my PIN, but it didn't work.

Yes, there is a surcharge, and you should have been given a separate
ticket to represent that charge.

I definitely did not get a separate ticket. All I got was a receipt.

I hope I offend anyone with my observations, but I've never seen such a
crowded supermarket. Customers were frantically stocking up, as though
they had a half hour to buy all the groceries they'd need for the next
three months. I was going to buy a souvenir (perhaps the Kroger-brand
instant oatmeal that dominated the American food section), but I changed
my mind when I saw the immensely long lines to pay.

Sounds like a lot of Tesco Metros, smaller city stores where there is
less room for tills. (IMX most Tesco superstores have more than
sufficient even at busy times).

No, this was nothing like a Tesco Metro. The overall store was much
larger, and there were lots and lots of registers (er, tills). And the
lines (er, queues) were much, much, much longer than I ever saw at the
Tesco Metro I used several times last year on Notting Hill Gate, or for
that matter at any of the even smaller Tesco Expresses I've used.

Oh, and there was a clothing store upstairs. Also Tesco.

Common in the UK - they, and Asda, are getting a significant part of
the cheaper (but still decent quality) end of the market.

Oh, I didn't know that Tesco had clothing stores in the UK. Asda, of
course, is owned by our Wal-Mart.
--
David of Broadway
New York, NY, USA