While travelling directly from Amsterdam to Bangkok with KLM was very hefty in price, I found out that travelling from Brussels via Amsterdam to Bangkok on the exact same flight would reduce the price by approx. 400 euros. It only meant my flight time would be increased by another 2.5 hours + an extra 30 minutes of driving, which is no big deal for me as Amsterdam is a pleasant airport to spend 2.5 hours waiting. The first flight I took was KL1726, which was operated by Carpatair's Fokker 100. You could read that report by clicking here. So no information would be given for check-in here.
Continuation of the Journey
While my flight was on-time and the bus that brought me to the terminal was on-time, I had about 2.5 hours to clear border control and spend some of my time enjoying myself prior to depart to Bangkok on flight KL875. I decided to head directly to border control, which took just a minute or two to clear as a group of travelers were not really paying attention (could have been faster).
Once clear of that, I decided to grab a quick easy bite with a beer. I am definitely not a fan of Heineken, but it was the only option at the cafe.
While sorted out my food, I found a nice spot to eat with a splendid view over the apron. KLM and it's subsidiary Transavia were definitely strong here with only a single Boeing 767-300ER of Tuifly Belgium parked among them.
While spending my time around there, I decided to walk around and do some spotting.
I definitely love the KLM's new livery on their Boeing 787.
A Kenyan Airways B787 bound for Nairobi, while an Aermexico 787 and KLM 747 were parked behind.
A Boeing 747-400 of KLM bound for Toronto as KL695
Another 787 of KLM. Just loving them!
And here is my ride. PH-BVP, a 2.7 year old Boeing 777-300ER named Nationaal Park Jasper (Jasper National Park) at Gate E22.
While boarding was not even started, lots of people were already lined up. I decided to walk around till boarding was almost done as I was not in a mood to add an extra 45 minutes of sitting on top of that 10 hour sit to Bangkok. While eventually boarding my aircraft, I would strongly suggest you guys to not take a window seat in Row 18 of KLM's B777 like I did. You will indeed have a window, but this one is behind you and in case you want to lay down your head against the wall, the outer sides of the windows are making it more uncomfortable, though the view was excellent for taking photos.
The legroom you have on KLM's longhaul in Economy is decent to good and definitely better than some other Skyteam members like Aeroflot. The only annoying thing was that my right foot was not able to move freely due to the iron bar from the seat in front of me.
The PTV in front of you is large and touchscreen and works flawless and has an usb port to charge your phone or any other electric device.
The flight pushed back approximately a quarter late to taxi to RWY 24.
After lining up we did hold for a minute as an EasyJet A319 was departing prior to us, but once airborne the flight took an early left turn to proceed easterly bound for Bangkok, Thailand.
About 30 minutes into flight, the sun was quickly disappearing while a round of drinks was being served with some salty nuts. I opted for a beer… yet again an heineken….
A hour later, the friendly flight attendants who did joke around in a polite manner and were very helpful starting to serve some hot towels prior to the first round of food being served. The option was Chicken with Rice or Mushrooms with Pasta. I opted for a Chicken with Rice, but the pasta one was very popular among the passengers as they ran out of them a row behind me. I asked the flight attendant for a Red wine, but I received a Coke instead. She immediately noticed her mistake after giving me the coke and delivered me the red wine too.
While another round was coming up to clean our tables and to provide us with a coffee or tea and a spirit, I decided to have a coffee with a baileys as side drink.
After the last round of clean up, I decided to head quickly to the bathroom before all nights were snoozed off, so people could have a nap. This is about 3 to 4 hours into flight and it was yet clean.
While lights were turned off for people to snooze, about 3.5 hour prior to arriving, they were turned back on to serve us breakfast. No choice was given for breakfast and the meal were some potatoes, eggs and some sort of peppersauce (couldn't really tell), but it was decent to good I must say. I ate it together with an orange juice.
After a round of cleanup, the coffee/tea round was started once again and the cabin was cleaned once again about 40 minutes prior to landing. The approach into Bangkok was quite bumpy. The landing itself was nicely performed. A quick taxi to our gate for a quick disembarkation. Luckily enough it was very quiet at border control and it took only 15 minutes from disembarkation to belt. Luggage was 5 minutes later on belt.
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Verdict
KLM
8.5/10
Cabin7.5
Cabin crew10.0
Entertainment/wifi9.0
Meal/catering7.5
Amsterdam - AMS
8.0/10
Efficiency8.0
Access7.5
Services8.5
Cleanliness8.0
Bangkok - BKK
7.5/10
Efficiency7.5
Access7.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness8.5
Conclusion
While I personally prefer to fly with a Southeastern Carrier, I think that KLM is definitely a very strong competitor to them to Southeast Asia as they offer an excellent service. The legroom they offer in economy class is decent to good, the cabin crew is friendly and very helpful and the entertainment on board their ptv is excellent offering a wide variety of films, series & games. Though internet is not available in most of their longhaul fleet. (A very few 777 and their 787s are only equipped with it as of to date).
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Thanks for this FR. Catering is pretty good IMO, better than on Chinese airlines or CX. The strong point of KL is the crew which as you mentioned are both friendly and professional.
Economy is usually not really nice for longhaul in my opinion, but KLM is definitely one of the most comfortable one among European carriers for long haul, though I definitely would give priority to Garuda, Thai, Eva or any other Asian legacy customer.
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4 Comments
Catering is pretty good IMO, better than on Chinese airlines or CX.
The strong point of KL is the crew which as you mentioned are both friendly and professional.
My first trip with KLM was with the same aircraft, PH-BVP (National Park Jasper).
Is the seat comfortable for the long-haul flights? I've only tried KLM for CGK-KUL route.
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