Review of KLM flight New York Amsterdam in Premium Eco

Airline KLM
Flight KL644
Class Premium Eco
Seat 14A
Aircraft Boeing 747-400
Flight time 06:35
Take-off 06 Apr 15, 22:55
Arrival at 07 Apr 15, 11:30
KL   #44 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 1049 reviews
danny_89
By 6583
Published on 22nd May 2015
AMS-JFK-AMS

31/03/2015 STD 13.30 - STA 15.30 KL641 PH-BQF –> Can be found HERE!
06/04/2015 STD 22.50 - STA 07/04/2015 12.05 KL644 PH-BFD –> This report!

After a really wonderful week in one of the prettiest cities I have been, time had arrived to leave the city of New York. After some delay caused by the subway (maintanance work I guess) I arrived on-time at Jamaica Station, from where I took the AirTrain to Terminal 4, a 10-minute ride.

photo IMG_6600photo IMG_6601_FR
Jamaica AirTrain Station, every 5 minutes an AirTrain leaves here for JFK's Terminals.

A short walk down and up the stairways brought me in the departure hall of terminal 4, which was really quiet at the time I arrived (around 20.30, 2.15 hours before my flight would actually depart).

photo IMG_6602
Departure hall of terminal 4.

Since I already checked in online, I only needed to drop-off my suitcase, and at KLM/Delta's check-in counter I obtained my boarding pass, dropped my suitcase, went straight to the security checkpoint, and within 10 minutes I was standing 'airside' already! Americans can work sufficiently… ;)

Time to explore the airport behind the security checkpoint then, since I still had 1,5 hour before boarding.

photo IMG_6603_FR
First checking out my flight on the monitors, my flight would depart from gate B22.

Terminal 4 offers a lot of bars and restaurant, some shops but not quite a lot. After a short walk I decided to sit down somewhere, and spend my last Dollars to a Belgian beer (which costed me by the way $12, but I enjoyed it while watching a baseball game and a chat with some Dutch passengers that were on the same flight as me).

photo IMG_6609_FR
An expensive but nice Belgian Stella Artois beer as last drink on American ground.

Time to head to the gate, B22, where the 'Queen of the Skies' already had arrived.

photo IMG_6610_FR

At the desk, upgrades to the World Business Class (WBC) where sold for 'only' $849, I thankfully rejected the offer since I already had obtained an Economy Comfort seat and the legroom should be sufficient enough to have a few hours of sleep during this night flight.

The beautiful Boeing 747-400 PH-BFD (Mixed Configuration, so both Passengers and Cargo), nick-named City of Dubai, would fly me back this night towards Amsterdam.

photo IMG_6608
'City of Dubai', PH-BFD, would bring me back to Amsterdam.

I managed to select a window-seat in Economy Comfort, and I chose seat 14A.
photo IMG_6615_FR
Seats 14 ABC.

photo IMG_6616_FR
View on seats 14BC and 14DE, the last ones next to the kitchen, but did not hear any sound from there during the entire flight!

photo IMG_6617
The obligatory legroom-shot, plenty of legroom for a 6,5 hr flight.

After a fast boarding process, everyone had been boarded 22.30, 20 minutes before actual departure. The aircraft was pushed-back round 22.35, but it took 20 minutes to arrive at the departure runway and we got airborne around 22.56.

photo IMG_6618
A check on FlightRadar24 to see if the aircraft already got visible ;)

photo IMG_6623_FR
Final view over Queens, New York.

Twenty minutes into flight, the crew came by with some drinks and a small bite.

photo IMG_6625_FR
I chose a beer, and the well-known nuts.

Approximately half an hour later, dinner service started, again the choice between pasta and chicken. Since I already had the pasta on the way towards New York I decided to pick the chicken this time.

photo IMG_6626
Chicken as 'dinner', accomplished with bread, salad, and a sweet cake-like desert, it all tasted pretty nice!

Before lights were dimmed, coffee/tea and a liquor were offered for the ones that were not already sleeping.

photo IMG_6628
Coffee and Amarula liquor before getting a short sleep.

photo IMG_6627
At the moment flying over Canada we where flying quite fast ;)

After this last view on my screen I switched it off, went to the bathroom, after which the lights were dimmed (around 2 hours into flight) and I tried to have a sleep.
I managed to have a (light) sleep for 3 hours! :)
Shortly after I woke up, crew started breakfast service, nicely timed I would say. :)

photo IMG_6633_FR
Woke up with the view, really loved it!

photo IMG_6629_FR
Breakfast service.

Breakfast this time consisted of orange juice, strawberry yoghurt and a sweet-tasting apple bread-cake thingie (hard to describe this :P), accomplished with a cup of coffee. I enjoyed it at least, since I don't at a lot for breakfast usually and this was definitely enough for me. While having breakfast we passed the UK, offering nice views.

photo IMG_6641_FR
View on the eastcoast of the UK before heading to the Netherlands.

photo IMG_6642
Approaching the Dutch coast, a last view on the flighttracker on my screen.

photo IMG_6647_FR
Shortly before a smooth touch-down on one of Amsterdam's runways.

photo IMG_6648_FR
Last view on the tower of Schiphol's famous Polderbaan.

We touched down at 11.27 LT, 40 minutes ahead of schedule on Schiphol's famous Polderbaan, after which it usually takes a 20 minute ride to the gate. Because the 747 is large aircraft and has a higher speed we arrived at the gate after some 10/12 minutes luckily.

photo IMG_6649
Tracking the flight on my phone via FlightRadar24 after being landed.

Finally back in town, and since I only had a short sleep I decided to sleep for some more hours when I arrived at home :)

Thanks for reading this report, comments are always welcome and appreciated!
See more

Verdict

KLM

7.9/10
Cabin8.0
Cabin crew8.0
Entertainment/wifi7.5
Meal/catering8.0

New York - JFK

8.1/10
Efficiency9.0
Access8.0
Services7.5
Cleanliness8.0

Amsterdam - AMS

7.8/10
Efficiency8.5
Access7.5
Services7.5
Cleanliness7.5

Conclusion

Overall a nice flight again back to town with KLM. I appreciate the crew's friendly attitude towards passengers and they work hard to please everyone on board. On this night flight I also liked it that light were dimmed to give everyone the opportunity to have a sleep, but I believe that is a common thing during night flights. The entertainment system is a bit old compared to the newly installed IFE I used on my flight towards JFK a week before on the newly refitted B772. The IFE on this B747 does not offer a touch-screen, but has a 'controller' in the arm of the chair, and the screen is not that bright compared with the new ones. However for a night flight, you can survive with such a screen, but if you would have a day flight I would recommend a B777 over this B747 then ;).

Information on the route New York (JFK) Amsterdam (AMS)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 10 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne New York (JFK) → Amsterdam (AMS).


Useful

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

La durée moyenne des vols est de 7 heures et 2 minutes.

  More information

4 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 137213 by
    NGO85 SILVER 1963 Comments
    Thanks for sharing this FR aboard the Queen!

    and within 10 minutes I was standing 'airside' already! Americans can work sufficiently... ;)
    - At JFK, 10 minutes through TSA? I don't believe you :)

    upgrades to the World Business Class (WBC) where sold for 'only' $849
    - That is definitely not worth it for an old angle-lie flat on a 6.5-hour flight, highway robbery. Shame you had a Combi that hasn't been retrofitted yet (My parents said the one they took from IAH last month had the new product). Seat pitch looks great in Y+, but I don't like how these seats are jammed into that small area next to the galley on the Combis. You said there was no noise, but it just feels like a narrow-body when you only have a 3-2 configuration! Not to mention, who wants that seat right next to a wall with no windows :)

    Beautiful night shot of NYC on departure. You also had the perfect seat to take those wing/engine shots. The first one looks amazing with that bright blue sky.

    Your dinner or late night snack looks good. Maybe it's an optical allusion because of the shape, but the size of the main doesn't look very big on KL. The free alcoholic drinks makes up for that deficiency with proper drink services.

    Start each day like it's your birthday
    - I hope I get a better breakfast than that on my birthday, but the offering is very good for TATL standards since it contains a yogurt along with the cake. Most carriers are serving a pastry only.

    Thanks for sharing these reports with us, hope there are more to come in the future.
  • Comment 137390 by
    Chibcha SILVER 540 Comments
    The 744 looks awesome in blue, I'm excited to see it here in Bogotá next semester!

    The seats sure look old, but are they less comfortable than the new ones on the 777? The IFE is something one can work around....hell, we've managed with AFs on the A343s!

    Thanks for sharing!
  • Comment 137491 by
    KL651 TEAM 4534 Comments
    Thanks for this FR.

    I also flew on PH-BFD and did FR.

    Did anybody purchase the 849$ upgrade?

    Usual good KLM flight with decent catering and friendly crew.

Login to post a comment.