Whenever I have travelled to the Far East, I have flown British Airways or Air Malaysia but thought that I would try KLM for a change. Each of the four flights, ABZ-AMS,AMS-KUL,KUL-AMS and AMS-ABZ took off late and landed late. In addition, my luggage did not arrive in KUL with me and neither did it arrive on my return to Aberdeen. This was not a good first impression of flying with KLM, the Company achieving a 100% failure record on punctuality and delayed baggage. The one positive point that I could make was that the Cabin Staff on the outbound legs were extremely attentive and provided and excellent service. Unfortunately, that could not be said of the Cabin Staff on the return flight from KUL-AMS who provided a good service in a lacklustre manner. During my trip, I contacted KLM Customer Care to express my disatisfaction with the outbound legs and received a reply inviting me to complete a satisfaction survey with no mention of an apology. Perhaps I have been unfortunate on the occasion; however, for my next trip it will be back to BA, a tried and trusted airline.

Reservation: Made on 29 January 2007 in KLM office Beijing with Ms Lily Liu. She was friendly but not proactive. I paid full fare Business Class tariff inspite I had serious complaints on my last KLM flights (KL 1776/KL 897 FRA-AMS-PEK on 06 August 2006)! After this bad experience I expected KLM to attempt much more to keep a customer. This flight inspection is an answer to my bad experience on my last KLM flight and will be published. At the same time I regard this inspection as a last chance for KLM to proof that they can and should do better. I invested a lot of money so my expectations may be high, of course. Seat Allocation: Request on 18 May 2007 in KLM office Beijing. For KL 898 I asked for 72A (Upper Deck) and for KL 1887 seat 1A was requested. I was told both seat numbers cannot be allocated. But the clerk could not explain me any reason for that. So I decided to take 73A and 2A with an option to change to my requested seats later. Moreover I asked to file my frequent flyer number. Airport Transfer Service: Pick up service is not even available for paying Business Class passengers. Details like this make a high standard airline. Check in: Check in for KL 898 at Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) on 06 August 2007 at 09:05 hrs. The flight was scheduled for 10:55 hrs. Two separate Business Class counters were available. The waiting time was only about five minutes as the occupancy for C was pretty low. The attitude of ground staff, a young lady, was pretty good. She asked me to confirm my Frequent Flyer number. My preferred seat (72A) was not any more available so I kept 73A. In the end of the check in procedure she mentioned the lounge and explained the way. Luggage handling: Priority tagging and handling was done without further request. The weight of my luggage was 34 kg (30 kg allowance). I was asked to pay 30 EUR per kg. Normally I expected to see the four kilogram as regardless. Not worth to mention that with other airlines (CA, SQ, CX etc.) I would have paid nothing. KLM seems to be very correct in luggage weight. So am I in my service demands. The overweight payment was a little bit problematic. I asked to pay cash and in US Dollars. This brought some complications. The KLM cashier gave me a terrible exchange rate of 1 EUR equal 1,50 USD which is unacceptable. Moreover she was only able to give back the change in the Chinese currency. In the beginning she handed out the change in a plenty of Yuan bills. I asked for bigger nominations. The clerk fulfilled this request with an unwilliness. The whole check in procedure took about ten minutes including the overweight payment. This is still acceptable. BGS Lounge PEK: KLM Business Class passengers are supposed to use the BGS Lounge as there are no KLM or Air France facilities in PEK. The Business Lounge offers the standard facilities but is nothing special. The self-service-buffet has an ambiente of a local Chinese 3-star-hotel. The food offered at the buffet is not worth to mention. In the male restroom section only two out of six toilets were in service, the lounge furniture in general was old and not state-of-the-art, the choice of newspapers could be better. At least a BGS staff came inside to inform the passengers about the open gate for my flight. Boarding for KL 898: Priority boarding for Business Class was offered at gate 17 from where flight KL 898 left. Welcoming on board: When I entered the aircraft nobody asked me for my seat number. Fortunately I knew where to go and went directly upstairs to the Upper Deck. The greeting there was acceptable inspite it was not very personal – just a “Good morning”, no “Welcome on board”. I was offered a welcome drink (champagne, water or orange juice). Newspapers were not offered on board, only presented on a table outside the plane door which is just Economy style. In a stand behind the staircase later I found a few magazines. Only one of them was English: a “Newsweek” from last week which obviously had many readers before me. Amenity kit: This set in a small blue bag (labeled both for KLM and SkyTeam alliance partner Northwest) was handed out with the earphones. Inside the kit there are socks, pen, eyeshade, tooth brush and paste as well as lip balm. This is standard for Economy Class on 5-star airlines. For Business Class not outstanding but just enough for a day-flight. Seating procedure: Assistance from FA with cabin luggage was not offered but I could manage myself. I asked to store my jacket in the closet and the FA did it without problems. I could have expected a welcome with usage of my name as a Business Class passenger – at least at a low occupancy like on my flight. Aircraft impression: Boeing 747-400 Mixed Configuration PH-BFV “Vancouver”: The flight was nearly fully booked in Economy but the occupancy in Business was pretty low, probably less than half. There were only seven of 28 seats occupied on the upper deck. Flight attendant: The flight attendants were friendly but not outstanding. My name was actually only used once by the senior purser when she asked for my choice for the main course. The heartly hospitality which is standard especially with some Asian airlines was missing a bit but I felt well treated. In this point the Business Class is a huge difference to Economy. Cleanliness: The general cleanliness was okay however in the storage box besides my seat there were traces of dried orange juice and a rest of a paper tissue probably from the previous passenger. I inspected the toilet after two hours of flight. The toilet may not be used many times due to the low occupancy upstairs so it was quite clean. Every one to two hours I saw a cabin staff entering the lavatories – apparently for a check. Comfort: The seats are reclineable to 150 °. The ambiente in the business class was acceptable but not outstanding (flowers, newspapers etc. were missing). The provided space was enough, also for storage of hand luggage. If you have a seat at the window you have additional storeroom under the windows. The seat configuration for WBC on the 747 Upper Deck is 2-2. Despite the Upper Deck is comparatively narrow the basic space is enough. A nice detail was the massage system in the Business Class seat although it was more a light vibration in the back than a massage. Inflight entertainment: 12 programs, personal screen and power supply for the laptop were available (110V). Anyway, you can recharge the batteries of your computer. The inflight magazine “Holland Herald” was used but not worn out like it was on my last KLM Economy flight. Magazines and newspapers were very rare and not actively offered to the passengers (as mentionned before). A telephone is available at every seat. The service is charged USD 5.90 per 30 seconds with a minimum connection of one minute. Catering quality, quantity: Hot towels were provided before serving the meal as well as a table cloth during the meal. The choice of meals was okay (two Western and one Chinese). The lamb I took was good but not high class. The French cheese selection for dessert was a bit dissapointing: Three kinds of the most common cheeses you get in every supermarket (like Camembert and Edamer). For the second meal I have chosen the Chinese menu (alternatively mushroom ravioli). This meal again was good but not outstanding. The wine selection was interesting but definitely not high-class. One thing which was annoying: if you fly Business Class you might expect you can decide yourself the time you want to eat. Some people are working and don´t like the obligatory meal time. The quantity of the three-courses-meal was average. Punctuality of flight: The arrival time was scheduled for 15:00 hrs local time. We reached Amsterdam at around 14:30 hrs. Welfare procedure: Before approach every Business Class passenger got handed out a small Delft house as a gift. This is a nice idea and one of the very few moments I will remenber KLM in a positive way. The welfare was short and not really heartly. Infact, the flight attendants had a long working day but a passenger pays for that. KLM Crown Lounge AMS: Facilities at the KLM Crown Lounge (number 25) in Amsterdam were quite good. The lounge provided many international magazines and newspapers as well as numerous sitting facilities. However the food offers are better in many lounges around the world. Sandwiches, sausages etc. would make a better impression. The common impression is acceptable. At the toilet I missed refreshment towels, shaving kits and other items a passenger may need after a long flight. Boarding for KL 1887: Priority boarding for Europe Select Class (the name of Business Class of inner-European flights) was not offered as the aircraft was parked on an outside position. The flight which was scheduled to leave Amsterdam at 16:55 hrs did not leave before 17:45 hrs. Welcoming on board: The FA friendliness was not too good. When I entered the aircraft I just heard the sentence “Hello, boarding pass!” This is not acceptable. Newspapers were distributed to Europe Select passengers but there was only “Süddeutsche Zeitung” in German. I missed the “Welt”, for example. Moreover the staff did not offer magazines like “Der Spiegel”. I asked myself if I am really flying to Germany as there was hardly anything provided in German. At least 60% of the passengers were German. Seating procedure: As the aircraft was parked outside and we were transfered by bus the boarding and seating was totally mixed with the booking class, rows etc. Aircraft impression: Fokker 70, KLM Cityhopper, PH-JCH The occupancy on this flight was about 90% in Economy and 20% in Europe Select. I was lucky: the seat next to me (2B) was empty. Flight attendant: The two flight attendants on board, one female and one male were friendly but not outstanding. Later I gave up speaking German. Either they did not want or they just could not speak this language very good. On a connection to Germany you should guarantee German speaking staff. Cleanliness: The cleanliness was not satisfying. The tables were dirty, there were spots on the ceiling and one light bulb was fused above my seat. Apparently these planes are not checked on such details regularly. The toilet was just acceptable regarding the cleanliness. Comfort: The seat configuration on this aircraft type is 2-3. It is acceptable when you sit on the left side as on the right side KLM does not guarantee to keep the middle seat free (like some other airlines do for Business passengers!). However the seat distance both in Economy class and Europe Select Class (a kind of Business Class) is 31 inches. So the leg-room and space and general cannot be used as a reason to pay more and fly Europe Select/Business Class. The section Economy/Business is changing on the booking demand. Inflight entertainment: The inflight entertainment on this short-haul-flight was limited as you might expect. There was no loudspeaker information in German language as flight is destinated to Germany. This is embarrasing! Catering quality, quantity: Europe Select passengers get following additional amenities to Economy flyers: newspapers and a little bit better catering. I got three pralines and a sweet cream for desert. The quantity was just acceptable, the quality was good. Punctuality at destination: The arrival time in Nuremberg was scheduled for 18:05 hrs. We arrived our destination at 18:45 hrs. Welfare procedure: The welfare on this flight when leaving the aircraft in Nuremberg was just like I expected: a normal “bye”. Luggage delivery: My luggage was labeled as priority luggage. So I expected my suitcases to be delivered fast, amongst the first. My luggage (I had two pieces) was complete and no damages were discovered. But priority luggage was not sent out on the belt first like it should be. However, despite \"Priority handling\" 75% of economy passengers left the belt with their luggage before me. Again poor. Miles for the flight: A couple of weeks after this flight I checked my Northwest Airlines World Perks statements. To my big surprise I only got the single amount of miles! Just to make it clear again: I was paying for flying Business Class. So I expect at least 1.5 times or twice the amount of the Economy Class miles. Earning miles might not be the most important thing on a flight but if you publish something from earning more miles by flying Business Class you should keep your promise. Again, this is embarrasing. Verdict: To be honest: KLM just can call itself a 2-star-airline. Infact, the aircraft fleet is not too old and well maintained so at least flying is safe. But if you regard the “software”, the service which is provided for the traveller, there is still a big lack. If you fly with a European airline like KLM you should not expect the service of a prestigious Asian airline. But what is surprising for me: KLM is charging the same, in many cases even more than its competitors. The topic “luggage” is handled with a European accurancy wherever you can make money. In one sentence: the ratio between “paying and getting” is different. The final question: Would I fly with KLM again? And would I recommend the Business Class? I would fly KLM Business Class again if there is a cheap bargain. If I need to pay full fare I just can recommend everybody to use a more service-oriented airline. The KLM Economy is definitely not to recommend. Nowadays nearly all airlines fly modern fleets. So the only difference goes over the service quality, the amenities on board (IFE, distance between the seats etc.) and the price. Paying more to travel in Europe Select does not make any sense for me. The space is the same, you just get a better snack. This is not worth the money. The frequent flyer mileage system was introduced by most airlines worldwide in order to build up a business relationship with the customers and make them coming again. With my experience I will not come again.

The flights themselves were ok. The ground stewardess made me decide that I would never fly KLM again and would never recommend it to anyone. I flew from Miami to Heathrow with once carrier and continued my journey with KLM from Heathrow via Amsterdam to Israel. On weighing my suitcase at Heathrow I was told that my case was 5 pounds over weight and was asked to pay 87 pounds sterling. I was shocked by the huge amount of money for just 5 pounds. I refused to pay telling the stewardess that that was terribly excessive and didn't make sense at all. I was then asked to weigh my hand luggage which was under the allotted weight, but she wouldn't accept that so I was asked to weigh my handbag!!! my handbag?? I have flown for around 30 years to many countries around the world and I have NEVER been asked to weigh my handbag. It's just an ordinary sized handbag with everything in it a woman usually carries including a couple of reading books. She still insisted I pay the money and when I told her that I don't have it and I don't live in the UK that I had just flown in from the US, she didn't care at all. There was no compassion, she was only interested in getting the money. I opted not to pay it but to unload 5 pounds from my suitcase and just leave it there. I watched while a family of 5, parents 2 little girls and a baby, were forced to unload there cases and reassemble them while the kids cried and fretted, again, there was absolutely no compassion from the side of the stewards. I was and am disgusted by their bahaviour. Obviously I WILL NEVER FLY WITH THEM AGAIN, and obviously KLM is only interested in getting as much money as they can from their customers. Dispicable behaviour that's all I can say. Those of you, like me, who bought tickets at a decent price, watch out for any over weight, that's how they get you/ I have never been asked to pay over weight from any other airline if it was only a few pounds over NEVER.

I used the toilet in plane and while I was in cabin staff started servicing with trays. I tried to return my seat but the way back was blocked by the tray. I notified the service staff and kindly asked to move tray a bit back in order to let me use the empty seat just next to me to pass forward. The answer was a rude single "NO!", she didn't let me pass while she could do it easily! I had to wait for 20 mins on foot on the back of plane for them to pull their trays back! Never had such a rudeness before in any country! How kind of behavior is that? Is it special KLM culture?

Our KLM flight was a real trial. It was over an hour late taking off to start with. The 747 was very old and smelled musty and like a toilet. The entertainment was limited to one large screen. Is this the dark ages? The food was very poor quality, and my chicken was chewy and gristly, and the potatoes were like bullets. The drinks service was very patchy, and it seemed to stop altogether after a few hours. The staff were overworked and were constantly battling to get things to work on this obviously ancient aircraft. There was little legroom for me on this flight. I am 1.88m. Not a good experience.