Trip Reports - KLM MD-11 World Business: ATL-AMS-GVA

So this is my first trip report - so forgive me if its not very good. Some background information: I'm fifteen years old and I flew from Atlanta to Geneva via Amsterdam alone (without the UM service because I fly alot and am pretty experienced with AMS, GVA, and ZRH) to visit my cousins. I did ATL-AMS-GVA on KLM's World Business and then ZRH-ATL on Delta's BusinessElite. I was not planning on doing a trip report for the flight, and honestly I was pretty tired. I didnt take too many pictures, and the ones I took are pretty terrible (they were taken on my iPhone).

I spend most of my summers and even some winters in Geneva - but usually we just do ATL-ZRH or ATL-EWR-GVA.


Atlanta to Amsterdam
KLM 622
July 5, 2012
MD-11 PH-KCA
Seat 6J
World Business Class

Ready to go
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I got to the airport pretty early - about 6PM (for a 10:40 flight). This was my second time visiting the new Atlanta international terminal, (my first being on a flight to London) - and I like it. No, its not as awesome as Dubai or Singapore or Hong Kong, buts its still nice. The actual terminal is pretty small.

Nice one, Windows
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Boarding

Finally, they call boarding - "KL 622 now boarding its Business Class Passengers Only" - I wished goodbye to my parents and got into line. Once I got to the front the gate agent asked how old I was - I said 15 - and another gate agent came waving her finger and yelling "No, no, no!" She told me that I was too young to fly without the UM service (even though Delta's policy changed to allow 15 and older to be without it). After about 5 minutes of waiting, a Delta manager came and apologized and allowed me to board. Finally.

The Flight
I had never been on a MD-11 before - so this was new to me. When I boarded, I noticed the cool-looking mist coming from the air vents. The plane looked dated - and there was a lot of blue.

The seats
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Seat controls - with the useless 'massage' function
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The menu
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The menu they gave was one of the most confusing in the world - I had the hardest time understanding what the options were.

Breakfast - nice and simple :)
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Quite a big PTV
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The meal
I got the beef. It was a bit chewy, but not too bad.
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Back to Amsterdam!
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I noticed that some of the window shades had DC-10 written on them - were they recycled from an even older plane?

For some reason we landed in Amsterdam about an hour late - making my short connection time even shorter. I had to run to the Schengan immigration and then thru Security - and then had to find my gate. When I got there, boarding had already started. No crown lounge, but atleast I made it to my flight.

Amsterdam to Geneva
KL 1931
July 6, 2012
E195
Seat 1A
Europe Business Class

Made it! Got off the bus and sat at my seat. These European Business Class seats always astonish me - they're basically economy class seats, just separated by a curtain. I picked seat 1A, so I did get a bit of extra legroom.
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The entire Business cabin was empty - I thought I had it to myself - until someone really tall came and sat down right next to me - yes - into seat 1B. We seemed pretty cramped so the FA told us that we could move to wherever we wanted. I decided to keep 1A, and he took 1D.
The same FA yelled at the food bringer (what do you call them?) for not bringing enough bread rolls for the flight.

The beef sandwich
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KLM flies to Pakistan?
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Almost in Geneva
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Ah, finally. Geneva. Baggage claim was literally right in front of our plane - and because of the SkyPriority tag my bag came off first. Now I turn off Airplane mode and give my aunt a call - and she comes into the secure baggage claim area with her Diplomat card (I didn't know you could do that).

Bad rep for Ferrari
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From Geneva we headed to a villa in the South of France that a friend of my uncle had lent to us. That friend's parents had helped France colonize Morocco, so they had a lot of Moroccan art and Royal Air Maroc stuff

The villa in Valbonne, France
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Cool looking Royal Air Maroc plate thing
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Map of Morocco by Royal Air Maroc
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and a spoon that looks like it was stolen from KLM...
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I came back to Atlanta on 7/24/2012 on DL 67 - a 767-3 with the older BusinessElite layout.

Great first report ^

I'm curious, did KLM give you a miniature Dutch house like they do all WBC passengers? They have gin in them, so I'm wondering if they give them to those under 18.

Also, seeing as how all of KLM's lines to Pakistan are via BAH, I'm guessing those are actually Gulf Air codeshares.

Great TR. I flew PH-KCA earlier this year, Its nice to see Tri-Jets in reports ^

Wow! What a fabulous TR!!! Keep it up the good work. I'm glad you had a great flight. Hope you can fly on KLM again.

Nope, KL doesn't fly to Pakistan.

Very nice TR. I envy you! :)

Nice report, well done for your first one. Loved seeing this breakfast card where you had to tick your preference in food. Feels very corporate hotel but very efficient. Love to try KLM after reading your report

cheers

TT

Great first report ^

I'm curious, did KLM give you a miniature Dutch house like they do all WBC passengers? They have gin in them, so I'm wondering if they give them to those under 18.

Also, seeing as how all of KLM's lines to Pakistan are via BAH, I'm guessing those are actually Gulf Air codeshares.

Thanks!

And yes, I did a get a Dutch house. I had no idea it had alcohol in it - the FA just told me that "it was a very bitter drink that [I] probably wouldn't like" but still gave it to me because the house is a collectible.

Thanks for posting! KLM is one of my favorite airlines so I'm always happy to read a report about them and even more so one on the MD-11. You did very well for your first report ^

Thanks!

And yes, I did a get a Dutch house. I had no idea it had alcohol in it - the FA just told me that "it was a very bitter drink that [I] probably wouldn't like" but still gave it to me because the house is a collectible.

:D That's a great FA. And yes, the house is a collectible! I hope you saved it!

Nice report, well done for your first one. Loved seeing this breakfast card where you had to tick your preference in food. Feels very corporate hotel but very efficient. Love to try KLM after reading your report

LAN did the same on my LIM-JFK flight (7h45m flight without time change). I thought it was great idea since I wouldn't have to wait for an FA to take my breakfast order before going to sleep ... I could just fill it out on the ground quickly. It has a corporate feel but it's very efficient for those early morning arrivals ^

Great TR! I do get a kick out of the massage button on KLM and Delta. It more or less just moves around the lumbar support.

Great report! I bet when you get older that you will be happy you managed to fly on one of the last passenger MD-11's.

A very nice report. We don't see too many on md11s any more.

Great to see someone of your age traveling the world on your own.