ocdb8r
Oct 17, 09, 10:47 am
So, I've been posting quite a bit of whining lately, mostly due to the up in the air nature of earning on KLM. Part of the reason I am so frustrated is that I will be doing several long stints in London over the next year (essentially living here) and thus LHR will be my main hop off point for both business and personal travel. While business travel is no issue fare class wise, I take whatever is cheapest on personal trips and earning on BOTH is important to me...
Now on to my POSITIVE rant that I have been meaning to post.
Recently flew LHR-AMS-CAI and back all on KLM metal and was flabbergasted at the absolutely exceptional service. Just to contextualize this, this route is shorter than a SNA-NYC transcon, even with slightly out of the way stop in AMS. We're talking 4500 miles round trip.
LHR-AMS
Before even getting on a plane I was blown away by the new SkyTeam longe at LHR. Absolutely amazing as has been reported many times here. Excellent food options, mini-spa/oxygen bar, not only free wireless but free PRINTING, and attendants that I watched being overly attentive to customers and chatting constantly about the overall service impression being made by the club. TOP NOTCH! The flight itself doesn't offer much time...we're talking a quick 45 minutes and 227 miles or something. However, somehow (in economy) the attendants managed TWO passes with the KLM snack box and one pass with the drink cart....in 45 minutes!!! I was pleasantly surprised given what we are thrown domestically in the US. I was stuffed from the SkyTeam lounge offerings so I pocketed a Twix and Mars bar for later on.
AMS-CAI
Spent about an hour in the Crown Room at AMS before getting on my flight. This is a great lounge but after the LHR lounge it didn't dazzle. I've been here many times before so that likely added to the lack of WOW. As for the flight, I was again VERY impressed with the KLM service. For a 2000 mile flight, there was a full food service (I got the Bertoli Pasta) as well as a snack service. Attendants were incredibly helpful throughout the flight and just seemed to really be enjoying their work. What really floored me was when about 20 minutes after the meal service the lead purser came by and addressed me by name to ask how the flight was going. She mentioned there were a couple of empty rows in the back that they had marked off if I wanted to take a nap (flight was running only 70% full in Y). I had already got myself a row of 3 and thanked her and she proceeded to chat with me for another 5 minutes about my trip, where I was going, what I was doing...etc. before thanking me for my continued loyalty and going about her way. Needless to say, as NW/SM Plat I left the flight with a real feeling of appreciation and genuine DESIRE to remain loyal to skyteam.
CAI-AMS
Cairo is an interesting airport. Scanners and security before you even get to check-in and overall a militant feeling. Once through I moseyed my way over to the Business/Elite Plus check-in and was greeted with a warm smile. After being checked in I received a piece of paper with flight info and my lounge pass stapled to it. Now, the CAI lounge isn't much but it's nice to be secluded. What impressed me here was the detailed information on the sheet of paper that included the name of my pilot, lead purser, as well as specific boarding instructions (that indicated they would board all of us in the lunge at the very last minute so as not to sit on the plane any longer than necessary). Once aboard the plane I settled into my seat, and lamented at the fact it looked like this flight was much fuller than my outbound. Fortunately I still had one empty seat next to me. However, right after the boarding doors closed an attendant (I do no think it was the purser this time) came over and greeted me by name. Said that she had 5 rows in the back held for special passengers and invited me to move back after takeoff should I want to get some rest. Again, my jaw dropped. I can't comment on the rest of the flight b/c I immediately moved back after takeoff and slept the whole 4 hour red-eye. :-D
AMS-LHR
Well, this was the only hiccup on the whole journey. One thing I don't like is that KLM does not pre-assign seats on short-haul flights (or so they say...someone know a trick here?!!?). Somehow I ended up in a middle seat which was not pleasant, however the flight itself was much like the outbound. Double pass of the snack box and drink service. Very efficient on such a short flight.
As I said, I really finished the trip with a strong commitment to make sure all my travel out of here goes to KLM even if it requires the AMS stop. The crew and service was so pleasant it really made me long for the good old days of domestic travel.
Thumbs up to KLM on this trip...^^^
Now on to my POSITIVE rant that I have been meaning to post.
Recently flew LHR-AMS-CAI and back all on KLM metal and was flabbergasted at the absolutely exceptional service. Just to contextualize this, this route is shorter than a SNA-NYC transcon, even with slightly out of the way stop in AMS. We're talking 4500 miles round trip.
LHR-AMS
Before even getting on a plane I was blown away by the new SkyTeam longe at LHR. Absolutely amazing as has been reported many times here. Excellent food options, mini-spa/oxygen bar, not only free wireless but free PRINTING, and attendants that I watched being overly attentive to customers and chatting constantly about the overall service impression being made by the club. TOP NOTCH! The flight itself doesn't offer much time...we're talking a quick 45 minutes and 227 miles or something. However, somehow (in economy) the attendants managed TWO passes with the KLM snack box and one pass with the drink cart....in 45 minutes!!! I was pleasantly surprised given what we are thrown domestically in the US. I was stuffed from the SkyTeam lounge offerings so I pocketed a Twix and Mars bar for later on.
AMS-CAI
Spent about an hour in the Crown Room at AMS before getting on my flight. This is a great lounge but after the LHR lounge it didn't dazzle. I've been here many times before so that likely added to the lack of WOW. As for the flight, I was again VERY impressed with the KLM service. For a 2000 mile flight, there was a full food service (I got the Bertoli Pasta) as well as a snack service. Attendants were incredibly helpful throughout the flight and just seemed to really be enjoying their work. What really floored me was when about 20 minutes after the meal service the lead purser came by and addressed me by name to ask how the flight was going. She mentioned there were a couple of empty rows in the back that they had marked off if I wanted to take a nap (flight was running only 70% full in Y). I had already got myself a row of 3 and thanked her and she proceeded to chat with me for another 5 minutes about my trip, where I was going, what I was doing...etc. before thanking me for my continued loyalty and going about her way. Needless to say, as NW/SM Plat I left the flight with a real feeling of appreciation and genuine DESIRE to remain loyal to skyteam.
CAI-AMS
Cairo is an interesting airport. Scanners and security before you even get to check-in and overall a militant feeling. Once through I moseyed my way over to the Business/Elite Plus check-in and was greeted with a warm smile. After being checked in I received a piece of paper with flight info and my lounge pass stapled to it. Now, the CAI lounge isn't much but it's nice to be secluded. What impressed me here was the detailed information on the sheet of paper that included the name of my pilot, lead purser, as well as specific boarding instructions (that indicated they would board all of us in the lunge at the very last minute so as not to sit on the plane any longer than necessary). Once aboard the plane I settled into my seat, and lamented at the fact it looked like this flight was much fuller than my outbound. Fortunately I still had one empty seat next to me. However, right after the boarding doors closed an attendant (I do no think it was the purser this time) came over and greeted me by name. Said that she had 5 rows in the back held for special passengers and invited me to move back after takeoff should I want to get some rest. Again, my jaw dropped. I can't comment on the rest of the flight b/c I immediately moved back after takeoff and slept the whole 4 hour red-eye. :-D
AMS-LHR
Well, this was the only hiccup on the whole journey. One thing I don't like is that KLM does not pre-assign seats on short-haul flights (or so they say...someone know a trick here?!!?). Somehow I ended up in a middle seat which was not pleasant, however the flight itself was much like the outbound. Double pass of the snack box and drink service. Very efficient on such a short flight.
As I said, I really finished the trip with a strong commitment to make sure all my travel out of here goes to KLM even if it requires the AMS stop. The crew and service was so pleasant it really made me long for the good old days of domestic travel.
Thumbs up to KLM on this trip...^^^