KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

Lusaka - Istanbul via Amsterdam. KLM must have the smallest seats granted by law. Flight was on time crew were friendly only one negatives on the flight out the little box proudly claiming Dutch Cheese on the dinner tray was a wedge of processed Melrose. The return flight goes over Lusaka to Harare and then back to Lusaka. While waiting an hour on the plane in Harare the mass cleaning crew come on board you can't use the toilets no drinks are served you feel like you're in the way as you lift your legs for the vacuum cleaner. Emirates also fly the Lusaka / Harare route but at least have the consideration to stop in Lusaka then Harare so the plane is empty for cleaning before setting off again. Premium economy offers little for the extra cost. Service & Meals are the same as economy and so is the seat all you get for your money is 4 inches increased seat pitch.

EDI-AMS-DXB and DXB-AMS-EDI. Both flights with KLM excellent service friendly cabin crew and comfortable seats. Started off from Edinburgh airport for a 1 hour and 15 min flight to Amsterdam nice crew on board that flight but could have been friendlier. 1 hour transfer time in Amsterdam nice and helpful staff there and also very friendly! On the flight Dubai the crew were very friendly indeed the IFE was good and the food was also very nice. On my return flight from Dubai the crew was really friendly and helpful the food was nice and the IFE was even better than the last flight and the flight back to Edinburgh from Amsterdam was really nice once again friendly staff even friendlier than my outbound flight! All flights were on time and it was also very nice of KLM to give every passenger a £30 when you spend £150 on board but I didn't use it though.

I flew the 737-800 from Amsterdam to Venice in economy class. The Dutch airline may not have the latest in product equipment the planes can be rather old however I love their use of technology and pr to create a wonderful flying experience. Checking in in Amsterdam on my flight to Venice was easy and totally automated. No more humanoids to deal with including baggage drop-off. Online check-in is also very efficient clearly outlining the steps with various additional options given including a last minute upgrade for a fee. The service can be jarring the meal rather simple and the seat very tight (although I have to say that I do like the seats recline angle which is not as straight-up as usual in take-off/landing mode) but perhaps KLM makes up for some of this with clever use of technology and marketing.

Manchester-Amsterdam-Beijing. KLM definitely has the friendliest crew of any company that I've flown so far. There seems to be unlimited food and ice cream all served by staff who seem happy. The IFE is good as usual too much unfunny American junk but less than some others. The seat width was quite generous for Economy too. I'd advise paying extra for the premium meal.

I purchased 2 economy return tickets Dubai - Amsterdam - New York for myself and my wife. I found the aircraft comfort relatively good compared to other airlines. Staff are friendly but a bit "stiff" inflexible. When asking for a drink before the food service they said only after food service - still 45 minutes away. In the mean time at least 20 times they walked passed my seat. The main issue we faced was with our baggage. In New York at check- in one bag was 24.5kg and the other was 18kg. They still forced me to unpack the lighter bag and move 1.5kg to the other bag. I found this utterly irritating especially since the tickets where bought together and our combined allowance was higher. The only answer I got was that its the policy. We took a few days break in Schiphol. There we had an even worse baggage experience at the check in. We used one of those self baggage check in machines because the normal desk had a huge queue. We checked our first bag without a problem but the 2nd bag was 24.2kg. The machine refused to accept the overweight bag and pointed us to KLM staff. Looking at the queue we removed 1kg of clothes and put it in our hand baggage. But what a hassle and that despite that we were far below our total baggage quota for 2 persons. It may deter me from flying KLM next time.

I booked 2 seats in economy with KLM - Cape Town to Luxembourg return. I choose certain seats and paid a premium of about R5000 and my tickets reflected the seats in which I wanted to sit. On checking in at Cape Town my wife and I were placed in different seats well apart from each other. I complained and it was rectified. On return the same thing happened and I was told to check at Amsterdam to have the situation corrected. Again we were in different seats and not what we had paid for and apart from each other. The lady at the KLM counter said she was sorry but could not do anything. I had to upgrade at a cost of R25000 so that my wife and I could sit together. They shift you about no matter what you pay for and then say sorry. Thereby spoiling my holiday!

Harare to Amsterdam on A330-200. I paid business class fare expecting to get some sleep during the flight. Business class seats described as 'flat beds' but they were nowhere near that. Just an angular recline which is not comfortable at all. Would have been better off paying for an economy class seat. since I didn't notice any difference.

Very comfortable and direct flights. I was flying from Calgary to Kilimanjaro and return with KLM. Always enjoy the service. Several hour delay in Dar es Salaam though made for the return trip to be a little stressful. I would also say that the "snack meal" or second meal served should be improved the pizza stick was awful! on both flights! I would far sooner have fruits and veggies.

KL 1131 / 1128 AMS-CPH and CPH-AMS. 23/12 and 26/12. Although I'm a Flying Blue member I do travel with other airlines so I think I can assess KLM position to other benchmarks. I am actually quite satisfied with KLM. Service is above average too often it's the passenger being rude. Food is ok not better not worse it's an airplane after all. Personally I think KLM is ahead of many competitors when it comes to online check in and self-service luggage drop-off (at least at their home-base AMS) it's far more advanced and smooth than most airlines. Although my last flight was in a 737 without entertainment I know that their entire long-haul fleet now has proper personal entertainment systems so that's good. They were a bit late on their 747s though. I will use them in the future. It's important to distinguish what you can attribute to an airline and what to an airport or worse your own behavior.

KL0438 19th December. I paid a large premium to travel business class from Abu Dhabi to Luxembourg via Amsterdam in December. Despite being told that beds were flat they were anything but with beds reclining only to an angle that left you slipping down. Plane was old seats uncomfortable food inedible. My wife and kids flew economy a few days earlier and tell me this was an even worse experience. Luggage allowance is also useless. On the way back despite having 5 of of us travelling and only 4 bags we were told we'd have to pay a 75 euro premium for being slightly over on a couple of bags. We were still way below total weight allowance.