Review of KLM flight Kuala Lumpur Amsterdam in Economy

Airline KLM
Flight KL 810
Class Economy
Seat 36G
Aircraft Boeing 777-300ER
Flight time 12:35
Take-off 04 Sep 14, 23:20
Arrival at 05 Sep 14, 05:55
KL   #43 out of 95 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 1049 reviews
EK 380
By 10222
Published on 16th May 2015
This will be my first flight report here and please bear with my lousy photo and writing.

This flight was taken back in September 2014 when I was traveling from KUL to EDI via AMS. The journey is broken into:

1) KUL-AMS KL 810 777-300ER PH-BVD
2) AMS-EDI KL 1277 737-700 PH-BGQ

For this report I will focus on the first part of my journey. Sorry for the lack of pictures as I was not really intending to write a FR back then but decided otherwise since this route is so rarely covered.


Let's Start.

Early last year, I have decided to continue my studies and decided to do it in one of the universities in Edinburgh. Having a date that I need to be in EDI for orientation, I was left with not much choice as September is a peak period where many students travel to the UK. I was really hoping to go on QR to Edinburgh because DOH-EDI would be in a 788 and I prefer to split the journey into more equal parts. However in life things don't always goes my way, so I was left to choose KL as other options are way to expensive.

So fast forward to the day I was traveling.

I arrived at KUL approximately 3.5 hours before the flight just in case of traffic. As expected, the check in counters are not open yet, but passengers can printout their boarding pass from the self-service machines. One downside of this is you only get a flimsy thin piece of paper and not a real thick boarding pass like those you were to get it from the check in counter.

photo 20140904_202820

Soon, the check in counter opened and there was quite a queue in front. Oddly the counters are not mend by KL or Malaysian Airport ground staff but by what I presume are MH ground staffs as they had MH staff pass and MH uniform.

After a brief farewell to my family, I head airside. I have access to Plaza Premium lounge from one of my cards and it is nothing to shout about. It is just a good place to spend some time and have some, what I would consider as, light bites before the flight. It was kind of pack when I was there possibly because its dinner time and there are many flights leaving at night. (Sorry for the lack of pictures of the lounge but its nothing spectacular). This is my plane taken from the lounge that just got in from CGK at gate C2.

photo whole plane

The mission today is done by PH-BVD 'Amboseli National Park' which is a little more than 5 years old then. I felt that the blue seats makes the plane looks a bit older than the actual age. This plane has Sky Team livery rather than the usual KL livery.

I did not spend much time plane spotting in KUL because it is not plane spotter friendly at all. Every gate has a holding area where all passengers have to go through security scan before going into a holding area. Despite having glass barriers, it is hard to even see the planes.

So after the second security checks, I was in the holding area looking at the metal that would take me about half way across the globe.

photo 777 300 er

Boarding was first by J and all those with FF status. Then, its the rush by everyone else. Many of the original passengers from CGK continued on to AMS from my observation. The flight is about 95% full in Y.

Finally at my seat and pillows and blankets are laid out on each seat.

photo pillow and blanket

The very old looking entertainment system. I can live with the resolution of the screen but it seriously need revamp of content. The system was off until the fasten seat belt sign turned off. It does not have touch screen capabilities, so I resorted to using the remote.

photo PTV

The seat pitch which was reported to be 31 from Seat Guru but bearable for me.

photo pitch

The content of the seat pocket.

photo seat pocket

And lastly the only amenities on board.

photo earphone

No physical menu was distributed but the selection is on the PTV.



We toke off without much difficulties and the cabin crew can by with hot towel, drinks and a pack of cheese sticks. the FAs works with a smile but was quite impersonal.

photo drinks

Now for the actual food. The choices on board was either beef or chicken. I chose the beef with red wine. The beef was barely acceptable as it is quite tasteless and the red wine is not to my liking. But thinking of the journey ahead I finished it.

photo dinner 1photo dinner 2

The cabin lights was dimmed for passengers to sleep once all the trays are collected. I quickly dosed off and missed the ice cream served 38,000ft above ground. But its no biggie. There is a make shift self-service bar on the right aisle at the back of the plane with mini Mars bars, mini Mentos, some cheese crackers with drinks for anyone who wants a mid movie snack. Only mineral water, coke and juices were on offer.

About 2 hours a way from AMS, breakfast was served. This time there were no choice.

photo breakfast

Final view of the PTV before landing.

photo ptv 2

And I was in the famous Schiphol airport. Interestingly AMS also scans passengers like in KUL just before boarding a plane. But I do not see this happening in places like LGW, EDI, HAM or DXB

The last picture before I end. The relatively mini 737 that will bring me to EDI and the 77W that brought me to AMS at the end of the row of 777s

photo both plane

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Verdict

KLM

6.0/10
Cabin6.5
Cabin crew6.5
Entertainment/wifi5.5
Meal/catering5.5

Plaza Premium Lounge

5.5/10
Comfort5.5
Meal/catering5.5
Entertainment/wifi6.0
Services5.0

Kuala Lumpur - KUL

6.6/10
Efficiency6.5
Access6.5
Services7.0
Cleanliness6.5

Amsterdam - AMS

6.4/10
Efficiency6.0
Access6.5
Services6.5
Cleanliness6.5

Conclusion

This was my first flight that lasted more than 8 hours and first time on KLM. I have heard many bad things about them but I chose to evaluate them myself. I have only traveled with EK (in Y) in the last five years on a full service carrier so naturally I was expecting quite a lot. However, this flight proved to me that KLM is not as bad as many say they are but they are not among the better airlines either. The portions of meals served are quite small. I personally asked the FA for a toothbrush and eye shades but was bluntly turned down. EK was happy to give out items like these even in flights half this length. I am also not a big fan of being on a plane for so long in such situations.

Information on the route Kuala Lumpur (KUL) Amsterdam (AMS)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 7 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Kuala Lumpur (KUL) → Amsterdam (AMS).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est KLM avec 7.4/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 13 heures et 15 minutes.

  More information

8 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 136635 by
    KL651 TEAM 4534 Comments
    Thanks for this FR.
    I agree that airline should have eyeshades available for Y passenger who ask for them on long haul flight.

    Maybe KL is not up to EK in terms of service, however compared to other European airlines, they have some of the nicer service with AF compared to LH or IB.
  • Comment 136717 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
    Hi There thanks for sharing your first report with us! That's cool that you got the 77W in SkyTeam livery.
    Where do you hear bad things about KLM? Here in the US and in Europe, KLM has a pretty good reputation overall. They are especially known for friendly crews. One bad thing I can think about KLM is a very old Business class product on most of their planes, but new seats are being installed slowly but surely. Also the 3-4-3 configuration on 777s is tight, but EK and many other airlines have this same configuration. Sadly, it's becoming the norm.

    Thanks for sharing and I hope you've enjoyed your year at University in Scotland!

    Welcome to Flight-Report!

    KevinDC - Community Manager
    • Comment 316268 by
      EK 380 AUTHOR 3 Comments
      Try to Google KLM review on SKYTRAX. I took the comments with a pinch of salt. Overall I feel that KL actually provides acceptable product in their flights. like i say. its not the best but certainly not the worst.
  • Comment 136741 by
    NGO85 SILVER 1963 Comments
    Welcome to the site and thanks for sharing this report with us.

    Maybe KL is not as good as EK or MH/GA (which would be a more direct comparison on this type of route), but for European standards it has one of the better service reputations.

    If you thought this older cabin was bad, just be thankful you didn't get the new KL cabin with the 10-abreast configuration that Kevin mentioned. The IFE does look old, which is a big drawback on a long flight. Seat pitch looked alright for you.

    The meals trays look fairly full, so it sounds like the problem was quality over quantity.

    asked the FA for a toothbrush and eye shades but was bluntly turned down
    - That's a little bit rough, she could have at least 'tried' to look.
    • Comment 316269 by
      EK 380 AUTHOR 3 Comments
      I was in a 3-4-3 config and there is an entertainment box on my row. Possibly due to my size, I find it bearable.

      Please don't get me wrong. The cabin is quite new for a plane this age. Its just that the blue theme makes its looks much older than it is.

      I agree that the IFE need upgrading to compete with other carriers even in Y.

      I may be wrong but I thought eye shades and toothbrush would be available on request on most if not all full service airline. This matter really gave me a quite negative image on them.
    • Comment 316270 by
      NGO85 SILVER 1963 Comments
      Sorry, didn't notice this was the new cabin, hard to tell at night.

      I may be wrong but I thought eye shades and toothbrush would be available on request on most if not all full service airline.
      - On a long flight like this, I would think that would be available (then again, US carriers don't offer any comfort kits for Y, other than maybe DL now). Even if it isn't, I'm sure not too many people will directly ask for them, which means the FA could have just grabbed eye shades out of an extra J amenity kit, or a toothbrush out of the bathrooms in J (there are almost always a bunch laying around). That just shows the crew really could care less and weren't up to normal KL standards. If I've asked politely for something, I've never been turned down.
  • Comment 137023 by
    BombieFlyer 93 Comments
    Thanks for the flight report!

    I have flown this exact routes twice while i was studying in the Netherlands. 2 out of 4 flights, i was lucky that no one sat next to me so not only did i get my favourite window seat, i also had the other two seats for me. I was able to create my own 'lie flat' business class seat hahaha.. I've tried the 772ER with 3-3-3 configuration (which was nice as you don't bump with each others when you walk down the aisle) and the 77W with 3-4-3 configuration. Yes, it is a disaster. I detest this configuration very much! it's so tight and I am not even a big person!

    I agree with other members that when you compare KLM's flight attendants with other asian airlines, they are quite pale in comparison. They are neither friendly nor rude, they are professional. period. However, when you compared them with the likes Air France, United, American, Iberia, Alitalia, etc, at least based on my own experiences, KLM's flight attendants are actually quite nice. I personally always find the flight attendants to be nice to me. I fly with them once each year (between PVG and AMS) and I always have good experience with them. Often I receive extra free goodies from them but that's probably because they are surprise I am able to speak Dutch.

    I also think KLM is still one of very few airlines that makes sure its economy class passengers are well-fed however bare and simple the offerings are.

    Anyway, thanks once again for this flight report as it brings back memories of good old days as a university student ;)

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