The Schiphol VIP Centre is Schiphol's private terminal for travellers who book the airport's VIP Service: check-in, security and passport control take place away from the public halls, and a car takes you between the centre and the aircraft. SilverDrive, which drives to the VIP Centre regularly and knows its procedures, takes care of the rest of the journey: a fixed-price car with a screened chauffeur from your door to the VIP Centre entrance, or from the VIP Centre to your hotel, home or meeting.
What the Schiphol VIP Centre is
The VIP Centre is a separate building on Jan Plezierweg, apart from the main terminals. It is not a lounge you walk into with a boarding pass or a membership card. You reserve the VIP Service for a specific flight, and Schiphol's team then handles the airport formalities while you wait in a lounge inside the centre.
According to Schiphol, VIP service at Schiphol includes:
- a (private) lounge, with food and drink
- help with check-in, and baggage handling
- a private security check
- passport formalities inside the VIP Centre
- transport by luxury car between the VIP Centre and the aircraft
Schiphol gives the centre's opening hours as 06:00 to 23:00, with the departure service available from 06:30. Our Schiphol VIP Centre guide and our article on the VIP lounge at Schiphol go further into the facilities.
Who uses VIP Schiphol
Schiphol's VIP Service is open to passengers of every airline and every ticket class, on arrival, on departure and on a connecting flight. In practice it is booked by:
- Passengers on commercial flights who want privacy or a very short airport process: senior executives, public figures, diplomatic delegations, and families who want a calm start to a long journey.
- Private aviation clients connecting to or from a scheduled flight. A private flight on its own is usually handled at the business aviation terminal instead. For those flights, see our Jet Aviation Amsterdam transfers and our guide to private jet ground transportation.
- Assistants, travel managers and hosts who arrange the VIP Service and the car on behalf of a guest.
How to book the VIP Service and the car
There are two bookings, with two providers.
- The VIP Service, with Schiphol. Reservations go through Schiphol's online MyVIP portal; Schiphol does not accept booking requests by phone or e-mail. It confirms within two working days whether the reservation can go ahead. Each flight is a separate booking, so an outbound and a return journey are two VIP Service reservations.
- The car, with SilverDrive. Book online or send us the flight number, the date, the number of passengers and the address. We quote one fixed price for the car and coordinate the handover time with the VIP Centre.
Schiphol's VIP Service fee and our fare are separate. Schiphol publishes its own VIP Service rates, charged per passenger and per flight, and changes or cancellations within 36 hours of the flight carry a surcharge there. Our price covers the car and the chauffeur.
Arriving at the VIP Centre with a chauffeur, step by step
- You reserve the VIP Service for your arrival and book the car with us, sharing the flight number.
- We track the flight and have the car at the VIP Centre before you land. As with our other Schiphol pickups, 60 minutes of waiting from the booked pickup time is included.
- The VIP team meets you at the aircraft and drives you to the centre, where passport control and baggage are handled while you wait in the lounge.
- Your chauffeur is at the VIP Centre entrance, loads the luggage and drives you to your hotel, home or meeting. You never pass through the public arrivals hall.
Departing from the VIP Centre, step by step
- Schiphol asks VIP Service guests to arrive at least 1.5 hours before departure, and 2 hours for some airlines. We plan your pickup time around that and the drive from your address.
- Your chauffeur collects you at home, at your hotel or at the office, and drives to the VIP Centre entrance on Jan Plezierweg rather than to the departures hall.
- A host welcomes you at the door. The VIP team takes care of check-in, baggage and passport control while you wait in the lounge.
- When the flight is ready, you pass the private security check and are driven to the aircraft.
VIP Centre, lounge, Privium or meet and greet
These four are often mixed up. They solve different problems.
- Schiphol VIP Centre: replaces the whole terminal process. Private check-in, its own security lane, passport control inside the centre and a car to or from the aircraft. Booked per flight, with Schiphol's VIP Service fee per passenger.
- Airline or paid lounge: somewhere to wait inside the terminal once you have been through the regular check-in, security and passport control. You share it with other passengers.
- Privium: Schiphol's membership for frequent travellers, with priority at security, border passage by iris scan on non-Schengen flights, Privium lounges and parking benefits. You still walk through the terminal yourself.
- Meet and greet: your chauffeur waits in the arrivals hall with a name board, takes your luggage and walks you to the car. There is no VIP Service fee, and for most trips it is all you need. See our meet and greet service or read how airport meet and greet works.
The VIP Centre is worth booking when privacy, security or a very short airport process matters more than the extra cost. For most journeys a Schiphol airport transfer or a Schiphol taxi at a fixed price with meet and greet is enough.
Where the VIP Centre is: Jan Plezierweg
The Schiphol VIP Centre is on Jan Plezierweg at Schiphol, away from the public departure and arrival halls. By car you pass the back of the citizenM hotel and Excellence Parking; Schiphol's route page has the exact turns. You do not need to find it yourself: your chauffeur knows the entrance, sets you down at the door for departures and waits there on arrival. Schiphol charges no VIP fee for a driver who only drops off or collects guests.
What SilverDrive adds to the VIP Service
The VIP Centre handles everything between the aircraft and its door. We handle everything between its door and yours, so the journey is one chain: planeside, through the private facility, into the car.
- Coordination with the centre, so arrival and departure times line up.
- Flight tracking included, so the car follows the aircraft, not the timetable.
- A vehicle from our own fleet and a screened, English-speaking chauffeur who knows the entrance.
- Discretion as standard: unmarked cars, no name board unless you want one, and no discussion of who was carried, where or when.
- One fixed price for the car, agreed at booking.
Vehicles for VIP Centre transfers
Most VIP Centre passengers travel in the Mercedes-Benz S-Class or the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class. The EQS and BMW i7 offer an electric alternative, and the 7-seat V-Class suits a family or a delegation with luggage. Larger parties can add a Sprinter or a second car under one dispatcher.
