As part of a flight deal and a recent trip to Dubai on KLM, I tried the carrier’s 787-10 business class cabin frim Amsterdam and my experience was significantly better than from Houston to Amsterdam.
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Ground Experience/Crown Lounge 52
I posted about the lacking experience I had as my first impression of KLM’s business class product at the Crown Lounge in Houston. For those who are not continuing on to another KLM flight and do not experience the remodeled lounges in Amsterdam, they would feel the customer experience was not important to the carrier.
However, if they did visit the lounges in Amsterdam, they’d realize just how amazing the Crown lounges that KLM offers can be. Matthew did a great job (some 100+ images) of the Crown Lounge 52 in Amsterdam. I wanted to write that post, but there’s no way I could match his effort. That said, the lounge is key to connecting passengers so it’s too good not to include a few shots here.
The lounge has a paid restaurant on a mezzanine level overlooking some innovative mixed-use space in the middle of the lounge. While I am sure the food is impeccable, I think the notion of a paid restaurant for this portion is a little odd when United offers this in Polaris for free.
The lounge got excessively busy as the flights from the Americas arrived before connecting onward to the east and throughout Europe. I took the opportunity to refresh with a shower and the system was efficient (QR codes, self-check-in, and text messaging when the room was prepared and assigned). However, I found an odd stain in my shower stall (appeared to be permanent but I didn’t investigate other than avoiding it) and thought it was peculiar that there was no toilet in the shower stall. It’s the first such lounge that hasn’t had a toilet in it.
The food was far better in this lounge and as I stayed from breakfast through lunch, I am happy to report that the food offerings were top-notch throughout my experience. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport has set the bar high for major international gateways if the rest of the experience is as premium as my encounter.
One of the clever aspects of flying KLM in business class on long-haul flights is that each passenger is offered a KLM little house (ceramic and filled with a small amount of Dutch liquor) with each featuring a unique design and number. In the lounge, attendants will help guests swap out one KLM house for another, allowing passengers to expand their collection. It’s a small touch, but left a lasting impression.
Seat
Unlike the 2-2-2 configuration of my previous KLM flight from Houston (777-300), this aircraft offered a modern 1-2-1 layout. I have been looking forward to writing this KLM 787-10 business class review because the products were so very different and in the future I would see this aircraft out.
As with my prior flight, the remote offered the ability to not only control the screen but also to display flight information that didn’t interfere with the entertainment screens.
Business class offered a fully lie-flat experience. Comfortable seats offer direct aisle access for every passenger. An international plug with a separate USB outlet kept my devices charged and ready upon arrival in Dubai.
The amenity kit on this route was materially different from my prior kit on the preceding flight. These miniature magnetic clasp amenity kits made a great souvenir for my 8-year-old daughter who promptly used it as a purse upon my return. Included inside were standard amenity kit contents like an eye mask, socks, a pen, a facial moisturizer (which she loved), and lip balm.
One thing I loved about the KLM experience from Amsterdam onward was the small details they seemed to care about. Even the lavatory on the plane featured the design of its signature little houses and premium soaps and sanitizers.
Food and Beverage
After boarding, a pre-departure beverage was available: water, orange juice, or sparkling wine for those interested in such things.
Though I wasn’t collecting Flying Blue miles for this trip, I am a Delta Diamond this year and my status in KLM’s partner loyalty program was recognized. I was offered my first choice of the menu but yielded to my flight attendant as I had just eaten in the lounge.
She recommended the vegetable stew following a mezze plate starter. While I appreciate her opinion, the vegetable stew was inedible as were many of the starters. Eat in the lounge or order something else on the menu.
Conclusion
In stark contrast to my inbound experience, Amsterdam to Dubai on KLM was an excellent journey. The aircraft was first-rate, the attention to detail was superb, and the ground experience was exceptional. While I won’t be ordering the vegetable stew again, the little touches here and there helped KLM stand out. As the airline updates its business class product across the fleet, I could see why some might choose KLM or Air France for all of their applicable long-haul flights.
What do you think? Have you flown this aircraft or route? How was your experience?
That stew looks disgusting. In general, the food on KLM has always been substandard.
Your comparison with the Polaris lounge is again off. As a SkyTeam Elite Plus member, you would have access to this lounge on a €39 UX special to Madrid. I would wager that the long haul business class pax are a minority among lounge users.
@PM – That’s fair, but why not offer the restaurant only to premium long-haul customers? Boarding Pass gets you in or waives your bill?
So in my mind Polaris is the odd ball out, AA has their Flagship Lounge which offers food, but not a restaurant.
AA Flagship Dinning is only offered to INTL First Class and maybe Concierge Key.
I found the Crown Lounge to be nice and perfectly fine for a layover.
Having eaten several times in the paid restaurant in the KLM lounge I can confirm that the food level is not comparible even to a la carte options in other lounges. It is prepared by a Michelin starred chef and is a comprehensive service. I agree a dedicated business class offering by KLM would be good however as a frequent euro business traveller going between UK and Amsterdam, I appreciated the access to the paid restaurant especially on later flights. I hold Platinum with KLM and cannot fault their lounge as a regular commuter when compared to US lounges. As I said though, KLM would do well introducing a dedicated business class lounge for long haul flights, similar to Air Canadas signature suite lounge in YYZ
Just to add, I appreciated the access to the restaurant on a late flight where I could get a full proper meal in a restaurant which isn’t overcrowded with a certain class of people who frequent Amsterdam for alternative reasons
I guess is that they are unable to convince their alliance partners to pay for the additional service. To use another UX analogy, if you had paid them €3k to fly you to EZE or Brazil via MAD, they would give KLM nothing for your meal (I mean, they don’t even operate a lounge at their home airport!), you would have been asked to pay and end up leaving annoyed at UX, KL, and SkyTeam as a whole. So they’re sticking to an approach that mirrors the facility for some pax to pay to access the P lounge at CDG- if you want first class service on a business class ticket, you just pay for it as an add-on.
Having said that, I think that it would be a good idea to make complimentary pre-flight dining available to those flying on certain short overnight flights [like DXB] in order to help pax go to sleep sooner and also make onboard service easier for FAs.
Your remark doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, maybe my misunderstanding but either way your analogy isn’t correct, the restaurant isn’t a paid lounge but rather an extension of services within the lounge, a bit like you have to pay for premium spirits in many lounges this is an elevated food option, one which I will continue to argue is a higher standard than most if not all business class lounge offerings.
However, as my earlier comment KLM should offer a business/first class lounge offering. If anything it would free up a lot of space in the 52 lounge as a large proportion of the travellers are premium pax.
Sorry one last comment, just to address PM remark of ” would wager that the long haul business class pax are a minority among lounge users.”. Again I think you are wrong with this, you can’t compare the 52 lounge to domestic US lounges where the majority of lounge visitors are status holders. The 52 lounge is the opposite, it is primarily J class travellers. Again speaking from experience here, I used to be in the 52 lounge once a week pre-covid.
@Dan, you are right. I mixed the numbers up in my mind and thought the 52 was the Schengen one. Even with the huge number of UK flights, long haul pax must outnumber those travelling to non-Schengen destinations in Europe, and, because you have fewer people commuting regularly on the longer routes, they’re less likely to be status holders.
Yes i think you are right and many of the people who may be status holders travelling from the US connecting east or into Europe are are likely travelling J class anyway. The exception is UK based travellers but from my experience large majority of UK travellers (over 97% I would wager) are non status holders and therefore don’t use the lounge. I flew most weeks from LBA to AMS and I was often the only FB Platinum holder that I observed. I also often went from Manchester and even then there was only ever a couple of top tier status holders in the lounge pre departure.
Heh, I flew this exact same route as you about 10 days ago, with the same flight number though my flight to DXB was on a 77W. Also had the exact same beef meal on your IAH-AMS flight on my flight to AMS and I found it bland. For the starter on the AMS-DXB flight, I had the exact same thing (no choices offered), and found it better if you treat it as “bread and dip.” The white garlic cheese thing was quite strong. The same vegetarian main course was offered on my flight as well but I chose the chicken which was excellent. KLM seems to have a knack for serving main courses that just look very messy or unattractive.
I noticed the same sort of stain in the shower stall when I was there, and wish there was some sort of washcloth provided as well. KLM’s lounge just felt like it offered a lot, and was quirky and interesting, but they seemed to have gone for quantity over quality in offering everything (terrace, lots of space, lots of seating, food, shower, sleeping spaces) but making it look good but having it feel slightly cheap.
Still, enjoyed my flights, would take KLM again (the service was what won me over).
What is a flight deal? Thanks.
An unusually good price on a flight. For example, this one was the SkyTeam (Air France/KLM) version of this deal: https://liveandletsfly.com/dubai-business-class-star-alliance/
Normally, this route would be $4,000-5,000 in business class, so it’s a deal at $1,700, and it would be a mistake fare at around $800 unless otherwise clearly an error.
Air France/KLM recently posted deeply disconnected tickets for j/z in Feb- I also purchased round trip from YVR to AMS for $1400 cad –