KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

KLM from Heathrow to Amsterdam on Boeing 737-800, with just two rows of business class which is honestly economy class, except the middle seats have a tray to give a division. Flight was packed so no room for cabin luggage and had to place underneath the seat. Snack was a fluffy slice of packed cake which I declined as it looked very average. I was served a chilled Heineken can and carton of water. Flight was done by the time I had finished my drink and cleverly they announced they were ahead of schedule - when in fact all they had just over extended the flight time on the ticket information. I would only choose this flight for the price and fact it flies from Heathrow.

Cape Town to Berlin via Amsterdam. My first experience in the new KLM Boeing 777-200 economy class layout. Where in the past there were nine people sitting in the row, there were now ten. While sitting straight my shoulders touched the shoulders of my neighbour. That is not comfortable. To find some sleep in this narrow situation is difficult. The legroom in the extra legroom economy is fine and the recline of the seat helps. In my opinion this is worth the money. The new entertainment system in the 777-200 was fine and they had a nice collection of films and shows. The flight attendants were friendly and nice. Boarding in Cape Town as complicated and inefficient. There is so much space in the hall but they have to do it right in the smallest corner. The passengers are getting pushed around like cattle and nobody knows what is going on. The flight from Amsterdam to Berlin was fine - not special, just a flight between two cities. However, the cramped economy seats on the Boeing 777-200 makes it difficult to recommend KLM.

Amsterdam to Shanghai with KLM. Nothing to complain about. Food acceptable, wines very nice. Flight left on time and arrived on the dot. Cabin crew nice and being a Platinum Flying Blue member I was greeted by name - first time I experienced this! Economy comfort seats do give you a bit more legroom and is nice on a long flight.

Jakarta to Manchester, via Kuala Lumpur and Amsterdam. Boarded on time, cabin crew welcomed us nicely. Tasty food from Jakarta to KUL. We got Christmas gifts from the airline during transit. Flew again and only slept until 3am because seat was slightly uncomfortable. Had breakfast a few hours later. When we landed, the captain said that a flight attendant had completed her last flight after serving with the airline for 38 years! We congratulated her and then deplaned. Waited for 3 hours for the flight to MAN and good legroom on that flight as we sat at the emergency exit.

Flew KLM on Christmas day from Atlanta to Accra via Amsterdam on Boeing 777-200s. Flight one hour late leaving ATL due to late arrival of inbound and baggage issues. Supper served leaving ATL (drinks, main tray with two choices, salad, dessert and hot breakfast prior to arrival). Crew efficient, pleasant and hard working as departure from ATL. Slightly better and longer meal service on 6 hour flight AMS-ACC flight. Crew helpful and attentive. Business class seats quite comfortable and I think better than Skyteam partner Delta. Returning 777-200 leaving Accra at 10.00pm had same supper choices and hot breakfast for 6hr 30 min flight to AMS. Again the crew was delightful and very friendly. AMS to ATL on A330-200 which I did not like - IFE did not work well, seats not nearly as comfortable as 777. Crew first rate but same menu as AMS-ACC in business. Overall I was quite surprised and happy.

VIE-AMS and three other short flights in Economy on Boeing 737-800, with three out of four flights delayed. Although I left ample transfer time of 90 minutes to catch my connection flights in AMS, the inbound delays resulted in mad run through the terminal to catch my connection both times, as Schipol has very long distances between gates. On the way out I had just carry-on luggage and made my connection at the last minute. On the way back I managed to reach my connection, but my check luggage did not, which was not really surprising. It was delivered the next day. Used Web check-in which working fine and KLM allows to pre-select seats during the reservation process at no extra cost. Checked luggage is charged extra, but prices are reasonable (EUR 10 per flight). FA´s friendly and attentive. Seats were comfortable for the length of the flights. Drinks served including beer and wine, with additional drinks on request. A cheese sandwich with no alternatives served on the inbound flights to AMS and biscuits/crisps on outbound legs. Forget the food, but the drink service was okay. Not a bad inflight product for European standards. However, room for improvement operational wise (delays and lost luggage). I had pretty much stopped flying KLM 10 years ago when service quality decreased and their previously good frequent flyer program became rubbish. While Flying Blue is still bad, KLM inflight service has improved. Recommended if delays do not become standard.

Amsterdam to Bangkok with KLM. The outbound flight to Bangkok was great. The check-in process at Schiphol is easy. The economy cabin fits 10 seats abreast, which makes the aisles narrow. The seats are alright to sit and snooze, after about 7 hours we couldn't really find a good position to sit comfortably, but that happens when flying long haul economy I guess. Inflight entertainment is very extensive and offers a wide variety of films, series and games. The cabin staff was friendly. The return flight we had a better experience because we booked a pair of seats in the rear of the plane, so we could sit next to each other as a couple. Again friendly staff. Good value for a reliable journey.

The boarding was as slow as usual. Everything else was fine except for the snack. This consisted of a tasty wrap - raw falafel in a half raw pancake. It tasted horrible. Upon examining the list of ingredients I discovered it contained, anong other things, milk, no good for the lactose intolerant. The spring water came from Turkey! I had originally planned to travel on 24th December but had to change my booking after discovering that no trains run from Oslo Gardamoen after 17:03 that day. Christmas eve Norway comes to a standstill.

I flew from Calí to Amsterdam in Comfort seats at the front of the Economy Class, KLM charged 100€ in addition to the Y-fare which I consider good value for money. The seat is reclinable, with enough legroom and relatively good for sleeping. Meals and service were good and the friendly steward was generously offering wines and a brandy after the meal. So all in all I was highly satisfied with this KLM flight.

Bangkok to Barcelona via Amsterdam. The flight Amsterdam to Bangkok was delayed 2 hours due to a technical problem but we proceeded to Bangkok because it was not dangerous and we arrived to Bangkok just 1 hour later. From Bangkok to Amsterdam an arrogant staff forced me to move 2 kilos of overweight from my baggage to my hand luggage in front of the rest of passengers at the checking-in desk. No problems with the same baggage/weight flying the low-cost airline Thai Smile (Thai Airways), in a domestic flight, and the ticket costs around 1500 baht (38 euros). My KLM ticket was almost 900 euros but it seems that KLM became a Ryanair partner. It seems that some KLM passengers flying to Bangkok are not an example of politeness and discipline. Impossible to sleep or relax, some passengers are noisy and unable to sit down for a while, and most cabin lights are switched on all time. Nobody is able to sleep. Seats are very uncomfortable, especially for long distance flights, and there is no legroom. Food is OK.