Technically now they are a FRENCH company and you should nothing more...

-Vincent

Suitcasejockey,

before posting your rant, maybe you should take some time, calm down and most importantly do some research…

First of all, if my airline decides to pay the operator of a certain lounge/club I can use every lounge on this planet, it has nothing to do with being nice or so. In addition to that I cannot use any Sky Team domestic lounge in the US, if I am not on an international same day itenary, which sucks big time ( NW clubs are excluded, Thanks to smart NW/KLM coop.)

Why is KLM violating Sky Team rules by not offering you a shower or free internet access ??

The Mercure will charge KLM quite a hefty fee, so if CO does not reimburse KLM for that, I do not see why KLM should pick up the tab. AFAIK you will get a shower / health club voucher from CO, when you fly Biz First across the pond, so CO indeed takes care of its premium pax. Why they do not give out a pass to their own Plat Elite customers should be addressed to Continental Corporate…

On a related side note, KLM is refurbishing the massive Schengen Crown Room Club, so there is hope that this club will have showers….

As pointed out by others, there are rules how much bags are allowed on particular flights and as a Sky Team Elite you are allowed add. pounds, piece concept flights are excluded. Same on all airlines worldwide..

Calling the airline to get a seat pre assigned is a table stake for a frequent flyer, if you fail to do so, you are left with what is leftover at the airport. I was seated in a middle seat on my last CO flight, because I thought I do not need a seat reservation on my MSY-IAH flight, which was stupid. To blame KLM BKK for putting you in a bad seat is a long shot without any seat reservations.

KLM is historically known as the airline with the highest intercontinental load factors, those flights are full ( tough to imagine for US customers these days, but European airlines tend to make money… ) and especially flights to/from BKK are full, so if you fly KL make sure to call ahead and get Select Seating seats pre assigned with your Sky Elite Plus status…

Pre domestic upgrades are offered by NW ( and theoretically CO ) because they decide they need it to get revenue from KL flyers, not because CO or NW is so nice to us and KLM is not nice to you guys. Smartly European airlines do not give out free upgrades and make people pay for it, probably a factor why they make money…

IMO, not one single point of your rant is a valid one, one can definitely blame KLM for a lot of things, but not for the issues described in your original post…

And the bottom line is still the one that KLM is making money, so critisizing a business that is making money in an industry that lost more than $ 30 billion since Sep.11 in the US alone, is a very long shot…

On the AMS shower front... If you go upstairs near the big communication center (in the int'l part of the terminal) and follow the signs on that level toward the KL lounge that's nearest the F/G gates, you'll pass by a public restroom in the corridor--near the BA lounge IIRC. There are showers inside those restrooms. No amenities are provided (you need your own towel, etc.), but they are free to all, very clean, and usually deserted.

First, load factors have nothing to do with whether an airline makes any money. You can fill a plane full of low-fares that don't cover the cost of transporting a pax, have 100% load-factor, and lose money...

I happen to agree with the original posters's points (though not his tone/emotion). Since both CO and KL plat-level flyers have access to lounges on international itineraries, and since KL was giving vouchers to their own elites for showers, why not to other SkyTeam elites, since their own showers are kaput? One would think that if someone was entitled to use the lounge, they would get all the benefits, no? Basically, if CO had to close all their shower rooms at the IAH E lounge, and gave vouchers ONLY to CO plats on international itins (and CO P'club members), I'd think we'd get the same complaints from NW/KL plats....

I'm not sure about the free internet access codes given only to KL plats (I don't know how its advertised, aSkyTeam Elite Plus perk or a KL Plat perk...). However, given that CO has free wireless, which doesn't cost much to provide to begin with (gee, all those cafes with free wireless must be losing money :rolleyes: ), one would expect that if KL can give it to their own plats, they wouldn't have too much of a problem extending it to SkyTeam Elite+ flyers as well, IMHO.

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french military victories

Huh, certainly you can have really good load factors and still loose money, a perfect example is the US aviation industry, despite solid loads no legacy carrier is making money.

But an airline with high load factors should have a solid yield management in place, so one can assume that KLM makes money on its daily flight to BKK with their average load factors...

HA HA HA


-Vincent

Offtopic:
its in my sig in other forums, but I haven't had a chance to put it in my profile here yet. I figure its a good time to put it in since we got some snotty euro attitude in this thread. :eek: :D

Going way OT:
Threy, its great that KL can make money on its BKK run, but one wonders if KL is doing so well on its own that it had to merge with a french company in the first place... :rolleyes:

1. I see nothing wrong with snotty European Attitude :p LOL

2. They "Merged" with AF because consolidation in european aviation was bound to happen, like it is state side. Look at SWISS and LH, they are now one... It's going to keep happening, the days of "Proud Flag Carriers" are long fading. That andthe combined cost structure of Air France-KLM in theroy is great...

-Vincent

Agree completely. I have found the personnel in the KLM lounge to be so "helpful" I stopped using their lounge despite lifetime PC and BF tickets and instead use my Diners Club for the Menzies lounge.