T5 – What are KLM Like?

Became a comical routine for me, every time I got to AMS I’d go to the lost baggage counter and they’d say “give us your hotel and we’ll deliver it tomorrow” and the look when I gave them a co-ordinate in the North Sea and directed them to Den Helder heliport was classic:D I wasn’t that bothered as I carried all my important stuff in a little lap top case with my PC, and had all the essentials,but it’s still not a very good reflection on KLM that it was almost (but not quite) every trip I made at that time.

Despite what I’ve said above, the experience I’ve found of KLM is that you either love them or hate them with very little in between. Fortunately I love them, but a lot of my colleagues who travel more frequently than me, have had some horrible experiences:-

Bags go missing
Fokker feeder services breaking down/going tech/getting cancelled
The poor state of the 747s inside
etc..etc..

These may seem small things and “well these things happen”. But when you fly 3 or 4 times a week with an airline (which some of my colleagues do), these experiences become highlighted and a major frustration. A bag going missing and turning up two weeks later maybe fine ordinarily, but if you need the stuff for your meetings at your destination, or for your next trip if you’re inbound, it gets annoying…particularly as these things aren’t rare occurences.

In my experience of 50 KLM flights in 2 years, I’ve never lost a bag but have had 2 cancellations. Is that normal….who knows, but I still love ’em.

No worries, my attitude is the same, when I buy my own ticket I just go for the cheapest reputable airline. We’re going to Jakarta in February and are using KLM for the same reason, they were cheapest, that and they offer a good service from Newcastle.

I found KLM just about the worst long haul airline I’ve ever flown with. I flew them regularly to Jakarta, also quite a few times to Japan and China and they were terrible compared to BA, Air France (now part of the same company I know), Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and ANA. As well as mediocre in flight service I found their ground handling lagged way behind others, and when I was working in the Dutch offshore sector and using their NCL-AMS service regularly they didn’t deliver my bag on the great majority of my flights. Unless they’re cheap use somebody else is my advice.

Thanks also for your comments. It’s a shame your experiences with the airline haven’t been pleasant.

As you can probably gather from my comments above, KLM was by far the cheapest option. The price of the flight was about 30 pounds cheaper than Qatar Airways (via Shanghai and Doha), although this wouldn’t have gotten me home in time for Christmas. But direct flights with Asiana and Korean Air were costing so much more – 100% more than KLM!

I’m still looking forward to it though. And why wouldn’t I be, especially when I’ve already been assigned my window seat – 24A. :p

I found KLM just about the worst long haul airline I’ve ever flown with. I flew them regularly to Jakarta, also quite a few times to Japan and China and they were terrible compared to BA, Air France (now part of the same company I know), Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and ANA. As well as mediocre in flight service I found their ground handling lagged way behind others, and when I was working in the Dutch offshore sector and using their NCL-AMS service regularly they didn’t deliver my bag on the great majority of my flights. Unless they’re cheap use somebody else is my advice.

I don’t travel too often, but this year has seen me clock up a good few thousand miles.

5 weeks ago, I moved to South Korea, where I’m going to be staying for a year (maybe longer.. let’s see how it goes), so I plan to return home at least twice between now and the end of 2007.

Since I’m paying for the flights for myself, I go for the cheapest available fare.

My flight out here was with Korean Air and my flight home later in 2007 will also be Korean Air, although I found the airline one huge disappointment. Even Asiana’s domestic service was 10 times better than Korean Air’s long-haul product!

I’m using them to YVR in March, so that was very useful for me!

Cheers

well i have flown over a dozen times on KLM and right now am living in Holland so i use the airline often.

I find i have mixed feelings. I feel that the airline itself is good, comfortable and provides satisfactory catering short and long haul, however i feel that the main problem is customer service, especially ground staff.
They do not seem to be eager or try their best to help you on your way, for example i travel with a small dog often to Madrid from AMS and they give me too much hassle both on ground and airbourne which isnt nessesary so i happilly swiched to Transavia when traveliing with pets.

Overall i think its a good airline however it has to improve its customer service.

Do you do a lot of business/leisure travel T5?

You’re lucky that you can sleep on planes. Most I can manage is a periodic doze, which is a nightmare when you have to be alert at the other end.

Who do you usually use to travel then?

Back to the combis, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them reduce in number. I believe one has already been converted to full pax recently. The poor old birds are looking worn and tired, even in the new colours they look wrecked on the inside.

The older models came in around 1989, so they’re one of the first 744s off the line, whilst some of the newer ones are 8-10 years old I think.

KLM come into their own with the 777 and A330. I’ve only had one KLT7 flight and haven’t yet been on their 330s, but the economy product is the best I’ve ever experienced. Add that to the typical homely KLM service, and you have an absolute winner.

Despite this, there is still something special about flying on a 747 – no matter its appearance.

Thanks a lot, Pembo. Your comments are much appreciated. 🙂

To be honest, I am not expecting anything fantastic. As long as the flights are on-time and I make it into Amsterdam in time for my connecting flight to Heathrow, I’ll be happy.

I knew at the time of booking that inflight entertainment on the 747-400s was going to consist of a few 14-inch TVs dotted around the cabin. But it was a case of paying about 530 pounds for the KLM flight (their cheapest economy fare) or 500 pounds extra for the likes of Asiana, Air France or Korean Air.

Entertainment isn’t an issue for me anyway. When I flew out to Korea 5 weeks ago with Korean Air, I managed to sleep for just about all of the 10 hour and 20 minute flight from Heathrow. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to do the same again! It’s definitely the service onboard that makes a flight enjoyable for me. I’ve flown Thai a good few times now, and whilst the inflight entertainment was pretty bad, the crew were perfect and the inflight meals were just as good. For those reasons alone, Thai has become one of my favourites.

Thanks again for the comments, though. I’m glad you rate them so highly. I guess I should just be excited about the thought of flying on a Combi aircraft and the fact that I’m taking 6 flights over 10 days throughout Christmas.