KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

Not Verified | Amsterdam to New York. Our flight got canceled. More than 300 people were lined up to re book the flights. It was a chaotic experience. Not organized for something like that. We could not get our luggage in case we want to fly on our own. Took us 4 hours to wait in line to re book the flight. Finally we got a flight that will be the next day and with transfer. I think KLM is a big company and may stand and help their customers to have better easier experience. Send us to a motel where we were given the worse food ever. And that after waiting for shuttle bus for another 2 hours. I never complain, but here we definitely should have been treated better. Such companies must be better organized. Allow people to choose the options of flying on their own. Be able to get out luggage. Be able to let people have choices. I would leave on my own if my luggage would be available to me. Hopefully someone will read that and help improve for others to have better experience in such situations.

✅ Trip Verified | London to Jakarta via Amsterdam. It’s been a week now since I left the UK. First organising the dogs at Heathrow was a nightmare, four large bags, two large crates and two worried dogs did nothing to help my stress levels and then you add the complete incompetence of KLM that gradually got worse and worse. Iit took 5 hours to get the dogs and myself thru security and check in, had to buy a bigger crate for Bluebell and then the debacle of 'unsure if they can travel now as one crates much bigger than the other one, which only made their first comment of 'oh you have two different sized crates' slightly less irritating, all organised while standing in the middle of Heathrow as the world watched with eager if not a tad annoying interest. I landed at Amsterdam in near hysterics, almost lost it with the KLM staff who gave not one jot of help. I also had nowhere to go as I was told my next flight wouldn't be until the next day at 10am and where’s my dogs? I demanded again and again, finally I heard they were in a pet hotel (which apparently is good, but that didn’t really help my anger. Remember this was business class, I expected something a bit better, no I expected a whole lot better) but that didn’t change my rage. I was then told to 'go out of airport get a shuttle bus to such and such where there is a hotel' - this was when I completely lost it - apparently KLM are supposed to organise all of that rather than leaving this man with four heavy bags in the middle of an airport. I found a hotel in the airport and tried to relax, some hope, then woken at 5am with the phone ringing and a voice telling me, 'that my flight had been cancelled as they didn’t take dogs, next flight 18.00'. Then KLM rang an hour later saying last flight been cancelled and my new flight 20.50. 'How are my dogs, nobody seemed to know or care. So if you are thinking of traveling great distances with your beloved pets, think one hundred times before you make this decision, KLM have offered some apology and some money back, which I find insulting but I will take it. Not the start to this new life that I had so meticulously planned and still angry at the lack of concern throughout this entire journey and to add insult to injury a very valuable collection of my photographs/posters has disappeared and even after waiting for any response as when I might see this valuable collection, there has been no help whatsoever nor have I been paid the offered compensation.

Not Verified | Amsterdam to Buenos Aires. Old seats, old configuration. Choices on the menu incredibly horrible. The food on a long flight like this one was so bad. The crew is very good is not their fault at all. Breakfast not good. Lounge distance from the gate is miles away you can perfectly miss the flight. I would not choose KLM for the route Amsterdam Buenos Aires again.

✅ Trip Verified | Overall this is a bit of a disappointment I have to say. I upgraded with SkyTeam miles (89,900 miles to be precise) from Buenos Aires to Amsterdam (my full itinerary was Santiago de Chile-Edinburgh, but only the previous segment got upgraded). I have been a customer of AF/KLM for well over 10 years, and have never been offered an upgrade or anything, which I believe says a lot about how they value their loyal customers. For this upgrade, I had to repeatedly ask the purser on Santiago-Buenos, then ground staff, before finally getting an answer! Which is still better than when you ask on Messenger or WhatsApp, and they just say 'no' without any kind of explanation--this also needs improving. Anyway, preamble over and onto the product itself. I was in seat 1 C, which had a not very charming view of a corridor leading to the flight deck, past the kitchen etc. There was also some foot traffic around here. There are only 2 toilets for the whole of Biz class on this plane, this is too little as there were queues, and also the toilets are no different from Economy, I believe they should have special touch to justify the increased cost. The seat had some pros, one being turning into lie-flat bed and various other comfy positions; there was a 17 inch IFE screen, but I didn't use it. The blanket was warm enough, and the pillow of good size. I did find the seat a bit dirty (lots of crumbs on the side) and scuffed in some areas. There was also too little storage space (I like having phone, tablets, headphones etc. in easy reach and there was barely enough space for that). The most annoying is the absence of direct aisle access, meaning the person next to you has to step over you or wake you up to get to bathroom etc. This is a big minus in terms of convenience/privacy. The staff were generally helpful, friendly and efficient, though they should come by more often to offer drinks etc. I got extremely dehydrated at one point. The food I'd say was average: a starter of prawns was tasty (though very few prawns!), while the beef mains was chewy and bland; the dessert was dry, and the cheese selection was very limited and not that tasty. There were some good wines (though a limited range), a very tasty cocktail (but awful, dry and not fresh nuts!). The breakfast was certainly better than in economy but a bit so-so too. Coffee was tasty enough. Good touch in terms of cutlery and crockery design, especially the Delft porcelain-style mugs and bowls, very pretty. The little present a Dutch house model filled with Gin, to take home and collect (there are 99 in total) is a sweet touch. Overall, I would keep my miles and spend them on a better business class. I slept poorly due to heavy turbulence (not their fault of course!) and an overheated cabin. The seating lacked privacy and convenience, and the business cabin decor, and food, are lacklustre.

✅ Trip Verified | Amsterdam to Lima flight was a daytime flight. Shortly after departure, lunch service commenced. A choice of 3 main courses was available served in Delft porcelain crockery and using cutlery designed by Dutch designer Marcel Wanders. Before landing in Lima, a light snack was served. I had the Angus hamburger which was quite ordinary. Overall the cabin crew were efficient and friendly throughout the flight. As it was a daytime flight, I managed to watch a movie and listen to some misic before taking a short nap before landing. The choice of entertainment onboard was adequate although I would have liked a wider and more eclectic selection from the classical music section.

Not Verified | Taipei to London City via Amsterdam in World Business Class. Check in at Taipei airport was very easy. Terminal 2 was empty late at night and there was no queue for both business and economy class check in. Check in process was smooth and the ground agent was friendly and helpful. Immigration and security was also straight forward. In both terminals in Taipei there was no priority security lane for business class passengers. KLM uses an older China Airlines lounge in T2. Its basic but comfortable enough and I even prefer it to the flagship T1 lounge. Boarding had commenced when I reached the gate but there was a “Sky Priority” lane for all business class passengers. Once onboard a hot towel and selection of drinks (inc champagne) were offered. We were served two meals – dinner right after taking off and breakfast before landing. Dinner service was efficient so that passengers can catch up some sleep. The crew walked around often to refill champagne and wine which was appreciated. Breakfast was standard quality but after breakfast the crew came out with champagne and it was a nice touch. Overall the service was efficient and faultless although not as personal. Seat on KLM was actually very comfortable. I had a window seat and luckily the seat next to me was not occupied otherwise it would have been a task to step over the neighbour to go to the toilet. The second lag of the journey (AMS – LCY) was carried out by an E-175. The plane was new but the seat was tight. Service was really friendly, and the new catering concept worked well. Landed at LCY on time but the priority luggage didn’t come out first.

✅ Trip Verified | Amsterdam to Singapore. The business class cabin is laid out in a 2-2-2 configuration. It was full in business class. Shortly after take off, dinner service commenced with the senior purser coming around to take orders. She was friendly and chatty. When I told her that I had just flown in from Rio, she remarked that South America is very different culturally from Singapore and that it must have been a fulfilling experience which indeed it was. Dinner was served over the next 2 hours and I finally got to sleep for 6 full hours on this red eye 12- hour flight. With fully reclining flat bed and retractable arm rest, the seat was comfortable for a good night’s sleep. As always before landing, a flight attendant came around to hand out the Delft porcelain houses as souvenirs for business class passengers.

✅ Trip Verified | Zurich to Gdansk via Amsterdam. Because we wanted to marry in a different country than we live in, I needed to transport my wedding dress on the plane. We bought the flight tickets for us both 8 months before the wedding and immediately asked KLM customer service if we could transport the wedding dress with us on board (it couldn't be sent as a luggage, because a) it would be destroyed and b) it could go missing because we had to change planes on our way). Customer service answered that yes, it's not a problem, we just need to send the exact dimensions of the dress a few days before the flight. We sent this information 3 weeks before our flight - and then it turned out that our request to take the dress has been denied because it was "too big". Of course before no one informed us that they would accept it just if it fits to a given sizes! Very upset and angry, we decided to buy an extra seat for the dress (which, because the flight was so already so close, turned out to be more expensive than the tickets for both of us together!) And then our request was denied once more. The reason: the dress is TOO FRAGILE. They suggested we put it into the luggage. You see, it was too fragile for onboard but apparently not too fragile to be sent with the luggage even though everyone knows how the airlines treat your luggage! Then we told them it's ridiculous and sent the request for buying the extra seat again, and again we were denied! This time they said that the dress is "too big" (even though it was smaller and much lighter than e.g. musical instruments, which KLM allows to transport!) We have requested again and again have been denied that it's too big and then we requested again, promising that we gonna bend it three times, so it will be smaller (which of course we were not going to do, because then the dress would be completely destroyed!) - and then finally we were allowed to buy our overpriced seat. Of course, when we were actually flying, the crew was surprised that we had been forced to buy an extra seat - because they were immediately offering us space in the storage closet, which we had requested at the very beginning! And of course no one was trying to force us to bend the dress and of course the dress fit the seat perfectly and wasn't disturbing anyone. What I do not understand, is: what do the people who make such decisions at KLM have against weddings? Why did they force us to go through all that unnecessary stress just before our wedding? The crews and the people from the customer service were really nice - why some decision making clerk, hiding behind the firewall of the customer service, was trying to make our life so unnecessarily miserable? Really, KLM, you should rethink the attitude of some of your managers - who have no direct contact with the customers, yet are doing their best to make the experience as unpleasant as possible!

✅ Trip Verified | Trondheim to Florence via Amsterdam. The flight was canceled so we were re-scheduled and arrived 10 hours late. The problem is that the company has made a mess with the expenses for delayed arrival. Three months after, they have not initiated the transfer of money yet despite asking me for the same receipts over 5 times. Now they claim it is due to technical error. The whole situation seems like a completely disorganized mess. This has made me never want to fly with KLM again. I get the impression that they do not care at all about customer support.

✅ Trip Verified | Rio de Janeiro to Amsterdam. The business class on KLM’s B787 Dreamliner is configured in a 1-2-1 arrangement in reverse herringbone layout. I had the window seat 2A. As the seat is angled facing the window, there is a lot of privacy in the window seat. Even in upright mode, a person of average height like myself at 178 cm is able to rest my legs on the ottoman. There is a small storage compartment at the side with a vanity mirror which comes in useful when you want to style your hair after waking up from sleep. A 3-course dinner was served shortly after takeoff from GIG. I opted for the cream of sweet potato soup which was delicious. For the main course, I had the grilled chicken with quail risotto. It was something unusual but nevertheless tasty. Courses were served course by course and the entire dinner service took almost 2.5 hours before I was able to recline into bed mode for a restful 6-hour sleep before breakfast. It was a very pleasant experience and do hope that KLM will have more aircraft with the reverse herringbone configuration in business class. This aircraft was wifi enabled. However it was rather costly at €10 per 50MB and speed was just about adequate. Somehow this data tends to be used up very quickly after making a few Facebook posts and uploads and you will have to purchase another voucher to continue.