Review of KLM flight Amsterdam Bangkok in Business

Airline KLM
Flight KL 875
Class Business
Seat 01A
Aircraft Boeing 747-400ER
Flight time 10:30
Take-off 17 Mar 15, 17:35
Arrival at 18 Mar 15, 10:05
KL   #43 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 1049 reviews
Esteban
By GOLD 9226
Published on 17th March 2015
    Outbound:
  • Euroairport- Amsterdam KL / J E90: HERE
  • Amsterdam - Bangkok KL / J B747-400: Here
  • Bangkok - XXX
  • Inbound:
  • XXX - XXX
  • XXX - XXX
  • XXX - XXX

(Sorry folks for this long overdue FR. New job, new responsabilities, new challenges… you know ^^)

Here I am in Amsterdam, at the fameous Non - Schengen KLM lounge. As there are building work around, the view looks like that:

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Liked this registration, AOM was a french airline that went into bankrupcy in 2001:

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Spotting was not really easy so I gave up after this 773 shoot:

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I was supposed to leave to BKK one day earlier but when I noticed that the Tursday flight was operated by a 744 with full flat beds (and full access for the 01A), I did not hesitate a second. No to lie flat beds ^^

My food selection for that day, just for the sake of this FR:

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Nothing has changed food and beverage wise, it's still the same, the Crémant de Limoux is still there, and the global offer is nothing to write a home about. But something changed: the WiFi access code. See picture below:

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One of the big mystery in the Crown Lounge is the utility of having an encoded WiFi, given that the WiFi is free and unlimited in the whole airport.

Anyway.


A good hour before take off I head to my boarding gate and spot my plane



Boarding was an absolute mess, families with children have been called first, together with Sky Priority, Business and special assistance. Nobody checks any status, so everyone tries to make its way to the plane. I felt sorry for the guys pushing the wheelchairs.

Walking through Y+ to go to J:



That's the seat, seems that it begins to be well known here:



Some people do not like it, some people love it. I am one of the love it. But there is a but: it is one of the longest seat in the industry, the seating is well padded, but it is not wide enough, and it is not full access, unless you have choosen one of the solo seats on the main deck. The privacy screen between seats is non-retractable and the foot rest hasn't the same width on all seats.

WD was either Champagne, Beer or OJ:
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That's the fwd storage bin for larger items:

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Amnety kit:

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And the menu:




The purser comes through the cabin to take the orders and thanks all passagers by names for choosing KLM.


On time push back followed by a never ending taxi (30!!) with a bit of spotting.

First the rear cargo compartment on the 744-Combi:
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737 TK:

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787 Arke:

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744 KLM Asia:

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IFE:

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More spotting:

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Take off video



Once the seatbelt signs off, I went to the bathroom to get other clothes. As I came back to my seat I see that the hot towels have already been handed out and collected. But the purser, seeing me returning to my seat, brings me one. That's a real nice touch.

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Campari and OJ as an aperive drinks with some cheese bites.

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I'll start and end the meal with my usual sweet wine:

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Then comes the starter, a tuna fish mousse, advocado, fennel, spice sauce. I was quite sceptical about it, how would it taste? Well, it was excellent, one of my favorite KLM starter. There was some herring caviar with it, that has nothing to do with regular caviar. Given that I hate caviar, I was about not eating it. But I tried it and it was just lovely, it wasn't as strong as caviar can be. Really liked it.



The grilled quinoa was supposed to go with the starter but I put it in the salad, and it was a great idea. Together with the greens, the fresh cheese and the citrus/wasabi vinaigrette it was a very good pairing.

I took the chickent for the main (as fellow Flight Reporters had had the beef and the salmon in previous flights):
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It was not very good looking, the vegetables were not that good, but the chicken was. A bit spicy, just to my taste.

What I really like on that seat is that you can push your tray table quite a way forward. Very handy.

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It was then dessert time. The steward (a very, very nice guy) insisted of taking a bit of everyting but I was already full so I just took the banana cake and some fruits:

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After eating, I watched Hunger Games III (why the hell do producers like those movies in two parts were you have to wait a year to get the end…) and Foxcatcher. I tried to sleep but it was almost impossible until we passed through rough air. I don't know why but I always sleep like a baby when we fly through turbulences.

90 minutes before arrival breakfast is served, but before it, juice and hot towels are handed out:



I took the cheese thing, but it was nothing to write a home about it. In fact, the whole breakfast was bad. Bread was hot but hard, cheese was tasteless and the fruits bad. Very disapointing.

As we were starting our descent to BKK, the purser came by to bid farewell to each passenger and offered the traditional Deft House. I really like that gift idea.

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On time arrival and a bit of spotting:



Landed at 10:05, thanks to the Fast Lane coupon, I'll avoid three Russian charters and will be in front of the luggage belt at 10:20. The first bag was my bag, I was out by 10:30, in my taxi 5 minutes later and at my hotel at 11:15, absolutely no traffic jam that morning, unbelievable!
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Verdict

KLM

8.4/10
Cabin8.5
Cabin crew10.0
Entertainment/wifi9.0
Meal/catering6.0

KLM Crown Lounge 5 - Non Schengen

5.8/10
Comfort5.0
Meal/catering5.0
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Services5.0

Amsterdam - AMS

10.0/10
Efficiency10.0
Access10.0
Services10.0
Cleanliness10.0

Bangkok - BKK

10.0/10
Efficiency10.0
Access10.0
Services10.0
Cleanliness10.0

Conclusion

I really like that seat and this cabin, the crew was charming and just top. The dinner was great but the breakfast was very poor.

The lounge in AMS is nothing to write a home about.

Stay tuned for the next flights. Promised, it won't take 3 months to publish them.

Information on the route Amsterdam (AMS) Bangkok (BKK)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 16 avis concernant 3 compagnies sur la ligne Amsterdam (AMS) → Bangkok (BKK).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est China Airlines avec 8.2/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 10 heures et 50 minutes.

  More information

5 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 141350 by
    pititom GOLD 11489 Comments
    Thanks for sharing !

    Indeed, the new seats bring a new perspective on this cabin, and it's so cool to still fly the jumbojet. But there is still a lot of work to do on the catering. The appetizer looks fine, but everything else is un-appealing :(

    See you in 3 months for the next episode :)
  • Comment 141363 by
    airtraveladdict 117 Comments
    Thanks for the TR.
    I've never flown KLM but I always thought they had angled beds so I avoided it. Its good to see they are introducing fully flat beds.
    But I think they still room for improvement, the catering is not very upmarket, just looks normal.
    The KLM AF group need to adopt changes, so they can stay competitive, or else they just lag behind other airlines and people won't fly their premium products anymore.
  • Comment 141408 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
    It's good to read one of your FRs again; it's been a while! I don't blame you for changing your flight for the full flat seats for such a long flight. The old seats are just awful. The Appetizer looks good and well presented, and then you get to the main course and it looks like slop like so often on KLM. But aside from that, looks like a great flight on the Queen of the Skies!
  • Comment 587417 by
    ChrisB GOLD 3391 Comments
    Thanks for sharing my dear!
    Yes i miss AOM their liveries were really cool.
    Not a very frugal option at the lounge just these two slices of salami..
    Beautiful shots of KLM Asia.. And the cargo door of the combi

    The apetizer really looks like cheffy but the main as usual seems like a hot soup in Les Miserables lol
    • Comment 587450 by
      Esteban GOLD AUTHOR 19853 Comments
      OMG the cargo door of the combi, that was a sexy thing :)

      Pre-covid KLM was really great for its appetizers, always something special and different. The mains, however, were always bland or just ... strange.

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