KLM Coach Vs. NW Coach
 

Good morning all. I just returned from 2 weeks in Europe riding KLM over and NW back. This was my first trip not in WBC as well so I was a bit skittish over what to expect. Here's my observations:

EWR-AMS on KLM's A330-200:

Row 10, decent legroom
AVOD - Outstanding

Service - It's KLM, need I say more. Was not as good as WBC of course but not bad

Food - Pretty good

AMS-MSP on NW's A330-300

Row 10 again - Way more legroom than on KLM's row 10 - Best seat in coach
AVOD - Not as good as KLM's but not bad. Too bad NW edits the content

Service - Lacking from what I had on KLM. FA's served then disappeared in to galley for lengthy chit chat. Not happy when PAX looked in to curtain to ask for something. Purser was an absolute by the book person, short and curt with PAX and crew. Looked like she had worked at NW for 40+ years. The FA's said they hate working with her because she's not friendly at all.

Food - Was way below that of KLM. Food was served in a plastic covered Heinz bowl. I could not get over that! Was not bad, but not nearly as good as KLM.

All and all coach was not bad, was not nearly as nice as WBC of course, but was tolorable. The service and food on KLM was hands down way better than NW.

Just thought I would share.

Thanks all.

I just flew to Europe and back on an NWA 333, 10H and 10B, and I have to agree about the Heinz bowl. They've taken a step down in the food department.

The food situation at Northwest is really getting dire. They might as well serve ramen and be done with it.

I got a Heinz bowl on KLM yesterday (although it was reasonably tasty).

And KLM took away my row 10 seat assignement and stuick me in a regular seat, for no clearly understood reason.

KLM's vegetarian choice in coach is usually the "Asian vegetarian" -- always a nice spicy curry with roti. It's definitely my favourite airline meal outside WBC! :D

EWR-AMS on KLM's A330-200

Is this NW flight 64? I am on this flight this Sat. and I was wondering if it is operated by NW or KLM? I have been trying to wrangle an upgrade from B fare all month without success (using CO onepass miles). There appears to be room upfront so is it possible to score an upgrade using miles on the day of travel or is it just like CO (24 hour embargo). Thanks in advance.

It just changed from KLM to NW. I took it on the 17th of this month and it was KLM but see now that it's NW.

As for the upgrade I would think you could have the ticket reissued before your trip commences, assuming WBC becomes avl, but be advised that I am sure they'll zing ya the $100 change fee to do it.

I just upgraded my wife, day of departure, on a flight from JFK to MSP we were on from coach to FC after I was EUA'ed and they charged me not only the new fare, $150 higher but the change fee too. So total upgrade price was $250. I know, I know most people say NW FC is not worth it but I had to keep "pregnant momma" happy!

If it's operated by KLM you have a chance. If it's operated by NWA, good luck. I've never been able to upgrade on that route with mileage, even as a PE. KLM has, on occasion, allowed me to upgrade--once with mileage and once without mileage. Both were booked in NWA "B" class. I was able to upgrade with mileage at the gate. At the time, I was gold elite and I guess they figured that taking my mileage was better than flying with an empty WBC seat.

Good luck.

Could someone explain what a "Heinz bowl" is? Thanks.

Don't forget about the snack bar KL has in the galley! Mars Bars, pretzels, chocolate malt balls, and tons of drinks (water, soda, juices) all poured out for you. It was great to go back there and take a few snacks before resuming my AVOD movie :). Eh, service is ok though.

Why not just give her your seat and keep the $250? I don't think that one 2.5 hour segment is worth that much... My opinion of course. :)

Heinz Bowl?
 

OK. A Heinz bowl sounds digusting. I have no idea what it is, but perhaps it's somewhere hidden in here: http://www.airlinemeals.net/meals/Northwest221260.htm

I'm going to keep on searching for this so-called "Heinz Bowl" until this putrid-sounding meal shows it's ugly face. :p

I did SEA-AMS RT on NW 330 this January. This November, I finally got long-haul on KLM, AMS-EBB on a 767 (if I recall) and NBO-AMS on a 777. All of those were in coach, and all of them were among my best coach experiences in terms of IFE etc. The KL 777 was particularly impressive in the AVOD department, but it was a red-eye, so I watched a few minutes of a couple movies and slept.

Some members of the cabin crew on the KL 777 were particularly curt, and a colleague who works in The Hague said something about knowing she was "back in f---ing Dutch country" after one FA asked her to "please return to your seat so I can do my job" (instead of just going past her in the aisle, since there was nothing requiring her to be in her seat).

Every flight arrived early, but since all my NW and KL flights have tended to do that, I wasn't surprised...

Generally, I'll take either NW or KL for any flight >5 hours in economy, a lot sooner than I'd take any non-Skyteam US-based carrier, or even BA. The service level, comfort and IFE tend to be on about the same level as the east Asian carriers I've been on (NH, CI) which is pretty darn good.

How is the IFE on NW/KLM 767's?

It is a microwave container type of meal made by the Heinz company.
They look (and probably are) like something you could buy at the supermarket for 90 cents. We had a choice of chicken or pasta, both were tasteless. The pasta was Tortellini but was very inconsistant in texture and taste. The chicken had some sauce we could not identify.
On the other hand the FA's were great. (Trip back AMS-MSP on Thanksgiving)