KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

BHX-AMS return. Online check in worked perfectly and I was able to upgrade my seat at low cost. Friendly cabin crew. Outbound on Embraer full flight but crew served drinks round and a waffle during the short flight. Arrived exactly on schedule and bussed to terminal quickly. Return on 737 again selected an economy comfort seat plenty of legroom in seat 5a. Sweet or savoury snack offered along with drinks service on 50 minute flight. Aircraft very clean. On time arrival at BHX. Overall could not fault anything on these services.

Business Class FRA via AMS to BKK 17 Jan. This was my first long haul with KLM. Check-in was done by a polite and informative staff member in FRA. The lounge was nothing exceptional but comfortable. The flight to AMS was operated by a Fokker. The middle seat was kept empty for business class. Crew were friendly and polite. The sandwiches and salad offered for this very short flight came in a very funky Dutch designed box. We had 90 min transit in AMS and paid a visit to their lounge. Very large with ample seating but very little choice of food. Flight to BKK was a B777-200 with the old business class seating. Unfortunately no flat beds on this route at the moment. I could not sleep the whole 10hr journey. That said the crew made up for the flaws. Customers were treated with respect. Although the crew were by age older than most flight attendants that you find on airlines these days their many years of experience showed. They obviously enjoyed doing their duties and did not disappear for the entire duration of the flight only to reappear 2 hrs prior to landing but paced up and down the aisles offering refreshments and snacks. Although the food is not elaborate it was simple and very tasty and was presented in fashionable Dutch designed dishes and cutlery.. I honestly enjoyed it more than some of the asian or middle east carriers food. Drinks were topped up constantly. They offered a good selection of films and music programmes. My return flight in Feb. will also be with KLM.

KUL-CGK delayed about 45 minutes because the aircraft was late departing from Amsterdam. No welcome drink the meal was really poor we only got vegetarian sandwich and it was tasteless. The flight attendants were poor but the inflight entertainment was good.

AMS-ALA-AMS. Not only was the plane nicely refurbished and the staff extremely friendly it was the food that did the trick. Having flown mainly American carriers KLM's food was delicious. Especially going to Kazakhstan (so leaving Amsterdam) the food and all the choices there are was magnificent. Furthermore the lavatories were clean there was enough legroom the entertainment system had a good variety of American and non-American shows. and basically unlimited. Altogether a very pleasant experience.

NRT-AMS on 16/1/2014. New World Business Class on 747C (City of Calgary). What an amazing improvement. I was seated in seat 1K amazing window seat with a lot of room and privacy. The new interior is fantastic. The seat is by far the biggest and most comfortable fully flat in Europe at the moment a dramatic improvement from the old World Business Class. The interior is really warm and friendly a huge upgrade. The service was impeccable. FA's are proud of the new product! KLM's new Business is the best in Europe. Hopefully they will complete the upgrade soon!

AMS-SFO. I ceased flying with KLM years ago because AMS is not my nearest international airport and I usually have plenty of airlines to choose from that used to offer better service on board. And I had some inferior experiences with very formal to even rude cabin attendants in the past. On this flight I chose simply because it fitted my schedule best. The check-in and security at AMS were efficient and smooth. Onboard an experienced crew that worked with enthusiasm to a passengers feel comfortable. I had some bad luck with my seat (38J) having some kind of a appliance on the floor limiting my foot space but that is the only negative note that I can think of. The staff service and hospitality were better than in business class of some airlines.

SFO-AMS. My check in at SFO was very smooth and friendly with a smile handled by Air France. Onboard it was a very warm welcome. And it was not just I. All the passengers surrounding me were served in the same professional and cordial way. Every request was met with a smile and professionally taken care of and everything was complimentary. I booked a seat with extra leg space because I planned to sleep. There was good interaction between crew and the passengers. Cockpit announcements were clear and relevant. I am starting to believe that something has fundamentally changed at KLM of course I can only judge from my last two flights. In my opinion KLM gives “Welcome on Board” its true meaning back. I will certainly look very closely at KLM’s schedule when planning my next travel.

KL862 NRT-AMS Duration: 12 hrs day flight 16/1/14 Seat 1A. Most probably the best business class product of any European carrier right now. The new KLM business class on the 747 is a totally new generation product and completely in the other end of the scale compared to the outdated old product. Great privacy (especially in the single seats 1A and 4A) with fully flat beds stylish colors and designs. Wide chairs with lots of support in all directions matching pillows and blankets. Service is typically European with a certain Dutch touch which is great. Flight attendants were clearly proud of their new product and for very good reasons. Long haul flying suddenly became fun again.

Flew AMS-KL with KLM as I was code sharing with Malaysian Airlines. As I'm Dutch I've flown KLM very frequently for the past 20 years but this was the first time I had a claustrophobic feeling when sitting down. It was a 777-300 and the aisle has been made extremely narrow in these models. The trolley's are constantly bumping into seats all economy passengers are very close to each other and to top it off the high cabin temperature prevented passengers from falling asleep. No-one used blankets which rarely happens. Despite that the Dutch are among the tallest people in the world KLM's seats will never suit us and knees are fixed in the seat in front. My earlier flight from KL to AMS was with an old MH airplane but at least there the seats were wide enough and ample leg space.

Luxembourg - Stockholm - Luxembourg (via AMS). Truly a textbook excellent customer service experience. Web for tickets and check-in worked well. Phone service to change return flights and confirm Economy Comfort seats was very good (clear instructions service-minded call centre staff etc.). Ground staff at AMS were fantastic (KL 1115 AMS-ARN on 30th Dec). Economy seats on Fokker 70 and Economy Comfort seats on 737 were both very comfortable. All cabin personnel were pleasant and helpful (travelling with an infant). Particularly on KL 1110 ARN-AMS 14th Jan. Communication from flight deck (Captain) during severe turbulence on KL 1745 AMS - LUX was clear explicative and reassuring. After web check-in glitch (assigned wrong seats after flight rebooking) phone contact solved problem immediately.