Review of KLM flight from Vienna to Amsterdam in Economy

Hello all,

The day before my flight I received a notification from operations that after finishing my next rotation Gyor-Malta-Gyor, I was allowed to position to home from Gyor, Hungary. Given that Gyor's airport is privately owned and does not have any scheduled flights, It meant that I had to fly either from Vienna or Budapest. On top of that tickets were extremely expensive to Amsterdam with the cheapest fare being 550 EUR. A fare that would bring me to Warsaw with a layover of approximately 12 hours and was basically a no-go for me.

To my luck, I found out that I could get a fairly cheap fare with KLM via one of my credit cards (total fare 251 EUR) and asked whether I was allowed to pay the ticket by myself and get refunded by them as the itinerary was significantly cheaper for what they were finding. They agreed (got it refunded too) and I kindly asked them to buy me a bus ticket from Gyor, Hungary to Vienna Airport.

After sleeping about four hours, I had my breakfast and made my way to Gyor's bus station. The bus was departing around 9 AM and would drop me off in Vienna Airport about 2 hours prior to my departure from Vienna if all went accordingly (it did). The ride itself takes about 1 hour 25 minutes and will cost you approximately 17 euro. 

Flixbus drops you off in front of terminal three and given that KLM was departing out of Terminal 1, I slowly made my way to terminal 1.

Security was pretty crowded with some very long lines for certain security counters, though some were more deserted as not everyone was paying attention. It took me about fifteen minutes to clear and made my way to Vienna Lounge, which I could enter via my priority pass and is located directly after the duty free shop you need to cross when passing security. You all know by now that I'm a huge fan of those duty free shops………

The lounge itself is quite large for a Schengen Lounge, had a spacious atmosphere and was lively.

The lounge had quite a large variety of foods on offer comparing them to the majority of Schengen lounges I'm used to. It also had plenty of drinks and liquor available with a dedicated sector to Austrian beers & Wine.

To my surprise I was able to find myself a perfect spot at the window providing me with an excellent view over the apron with this Boeing 777 of Austrian about to depart to the USA and one of the newly obtained Boeing 787 of Austrian.

As I already had a good breakfast in Gyor, I decided to grab some minor pastries and enjoy one of the Austrian white wines on offer.

The seats near the window are quite comfy, though not facing to the window.

The aircraft that was going to bring me to Amsterdam was pulling into stand. PH-BXI, a 24.2 year old (at time of flying) Boeing 737-800 was going to bring us to Amsterdam. This specific aircraft carries the name ''Herring Gull'' and is able to carry up to 180 passengers in a Euro J/Y Configuration. 

About ten minutes after our aircraft pulled into stand, I decided to proceed to the gate as boarding was about to start.

The gate section was quite lively and quite busy, but most passengers decided to wait in line for our flight already, while not even a single boarding call was made.

Boarding was eventually called on time and was in accordance to zones. Ground staff did monitor your group and boarding went in an orderly pace. Upon embarking our aircraft, we were kindly greeted by one of the flight attendants and made my way to row 14A, which would be my seat for today. Legroom was of no issue to me and the cabin felt well-maintained to me.

The view from my window seat was nothing to complain about!

The view of the cabin.

While KLM notified us in advance of a delay of approximately 30 minutes due to the late arrival of the aircraft, we eventually pushed back from out gate about 12 minutes past our original scheduled departure time. I'd say it was quite an efficient turn-around here in Vienna.

After a quick departure out of Runway 29, it took us no time to reach a safe altitude for the flight attendants to jump into action and for the fasten seat belts to be turned off.

No WiFi was available on this aircraft.

The literature in the seat pocket contained of KLM's magazine Holland Herald and a safety card for their 737-800 fleet. The sick/trash bag, however was missing in my seat. 

The table was comfortable and clean.

The complimentary beverage and food service started about 25 minutes into the flight with two young ladies starting in the back, while two older flight attendants started from the front. The difference in efficiency & speed was notable as the two young ladies who started all the way in the back were already serving the row behind me by the time the two older ladies reached my seat. Unlike my previous flight with KLM, the flight attendants on this flight were more distant, though not rude. 

A cheese sandwich with a mustard spread was handed out and I asked for a cup of coffee with some creamer. The coffee served was freshly brewed and not this instant coffee you will get when you buy a coffee with one of the low cost carriers, though the sandwich wasn't memorable. 

Could have done with a bit more mustard sauce though as it felt very dry.

Flight attendants came by several times for trash collection and after about 70 minutes or so into the flight, the captain announced himself again to inform us that we will be landing in Amsterdam, gave us a weather update and thanked us for flying with KLM.

Eventually we touched down on Runway 18R at 1.57 PM.

While 18R is usually the most distant runway in Amsterdam, taxi went quite quick pulling into stand at 2.08 pm, which meant that we were in Amsterdam about two minutes ahead of schedule.

Disembarking the aircraft went smooth and quick with a long distance to the main terminal. Given that I didn't have any luggage to drop, I was rushing to catch one of the trains (which I managed to board with a spare minute) and did not take more photos anymore.

So thanks for reading and see you on the next journey with a nice scheduled trip to Asia in November/December :).