irishguy28

KLM should be aware that when they present their customers this opportunity to "adapt their travel to suit their personal needs", some of those customers may decide that changing airline now suits their personal needs.

johan rebel

Johan

Aviatrix

Well, let's look at this a bit more closely...

Those who are already not checking bags will continue to not check bags... so that's revenue-neutral.

Holders of FB cards (of any colour) will continue to not pay for the first bag... again, revenue-neutral.

Long-haul travellers, travellers ticketed by other airlines, travellers to KLM's select little list of "chosen countries" will all continue to be able to check their first bag for free... again, revenue-neutral.

Savvy travellers not in possession of FB cards will get FB cards, and will continue to not pay for the first bag. Someone said that every new member costs about 10 Euro just for the card and membership pack, so that's minus 10 Euro for every savvy traveller. (I appreciate FB is a separate company, but the money will have to come from somewhere!).

That leaves...

- the not-so-savvy travellers travelling with checked baggage, or those who realise too late that they need to join FB to avoid the charge. KLM will make some money from them. Whether this is "a lot" or "a little" depends on how fast word gets round... but my guess is it'll probably be nearer to "a little".

- FB members who need to check a second bag. How many people regularly travel with two bags? Probably not many, and the savvy ones will probably try to get round the charge by cramming as much as they can into one checked bag, and carrying on the rest

Which leads me to... the carry-on issue! Not being able to stow their carry-ons, or having to fight for space in the overhead bin, could just prove to be the last straw for many, and convince them that it's time to change airlines.

Time will tell... but my guess is that the cost of membership packs, and the loss of revenue from those who are going to jump ship, is going to be greater than the income generated from the checked bag fees. As Gajan says... "a good way for the airline to increase ancillary revenue". Not.

MAN Pax

There's going to be a lot of trouble at the gate.

Many carry-ons are 14"-15" in width, and many now will be > 12Kg

Compare this to the competition:

Both allow a Laptop size bag in addition.

I wonder what's going to be happening to all the "See, Buy, Fly" bags at the Gates?

Then again, if the same rigorous enforcement of the Priority Boarding process is applied to the baggage issue, maybe all will be well!

Gajan

As you suggest, I doubt there are many cases intra-EU where people travel with two pieces (my first time was last month, but my second piece was ski-gear).

In current cut-back situation I can understand that extra money is needed. My personal displeasure with this situation is not as such the changes but the way it was communicated.

It would have been friendlier if they would have maintained Elite passengers to bring two pieces - even if a significant proportion travels with hand luggage only and may never bring a second piece of luggage. This way people would have seen the positive side rather than the possible negative side: I can still bring 2 pieces in stead of only 1 (which I probably may not use anyway).

Furthermore, comparing it to Delta I find the policy to be quite strict as Elite members there still get to carry 2 pieces of luggage free of charge.

Aviatrix

But I doubt they're going to get that extra money. At best the exercise will end up being revenue-neutral. But my guess is it will lose them money.

Aviatrix

When did that change?

I thought KLM's allowance was the standard IATA allowance... which this isn't!

MAN Pax

KLM Baggage Link

Looking at the web time machine, it's been there since at least 2010.

But never before enforced........

HauptmannFuchs

Unfortunately I did not take the article with me, but the paper edition of the Telegraaf of Saturday 16 February had an article quoting the Dutch TUI boss Steven van der Heijden: 'Every holiday maker will accept KLM's offer to leave their personal details. This opportunity also exists at Schiphol. Among these are of course also our customers.' (my translation, and from memory)

Van der Heijden is also worried these passengers will now be approached directly by KLM and therefore will no longer book through travel agents. The article also mentions that Flying Blue currently has 800.000 members in the Netherlands and it is aimed to reach double that through this campaign.

So it might be not about increasing direct revenue, but taking away business from travel agents, which I believe KLM has been trying to do for a long time.

rwSEA

If KLM wanted us to buy from them instead of agents, there's a few fixes that would accomplish this. First, get rid of the credit card fee. I usually book on Expedia or elsewhere to avoid this stupid fee. Second, have a website that actually works on a regular basis and isn't full of bugs. Finally, commit to your own website having the best possible price. Often times it isn't.

Then again, KLM is one of the most penny-wise, pound-foolish companies I've ever seen.

johan rebel

"Already in Europe 35% of the KLM European passengers travel ‘light’ with hand baggage only."

With hand baggage maybe, but 'light'? Half of 'm look like overloaded Bactrian camels en route to Bokhara.

And how do the KLM non-European passengers travel in Europe?

Johan

irishguy28

I think KLM considers all its short-haul passengers to be European as long as they are not connecting to/from a long-haul flight on the same ticket.

Xandrios

After confirming credit card details on Expedia.com, I always get repriced for an additional 7.50 euro fee. Perhaps this doesn't happen with a non-eu credit card, but the Dutch Amex does for sure.

Fully agree on the other points by the way, their website could be improved a lot to make booking through them directly easier.

andypandy

yes, yes! they couldn't have written it better if they tried.

andypandy

WOW! they really have pissed me off!
OK, guys! I am leaving.
I am going to Emirates to enjoy flat beds and middle-of-the night layovers in DXB. It was nice knowing you all. Bye