KLM to charge check-in luggage for European flights

Old Feb 13, 2013, 7:33 am
  #61  
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Originally Posted by chrismoose
FB Gold members have lost their economy comfort seats, and now a free bag. What next - lounge access?
That could be in line for the chop, actually.

It's been mentioned upthread that the concept of allowing anyone to buy lounge access is on the cards (and it was mentioned in a few other threads).

Given that the lounges at AMS are often busy enough as it is, one wonders how they will make room for these paying customers...

Perhaps FB Gold will now have to pay, but like the EC seating, they get a 50% discount...
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Old Feb 13, 2013, 7:35 am
  #62  
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Originally Posted by andypandy
so now they try the RYANAIR money-grabbing method of charging you double if you fail to book in advance.
To be fair, I'm not aware of any airline that charges the same at the airport for checked luggage as they do if you pay online in advance. And it's in keeping with KLM's existing excess baggage policy, which grants you a 20% (or more) discount if arranged online in advance.
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Old Feb 13, 2013, 7:41 am
  #63  
 
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Terrible news, both in relation to the hazle you will experience during boarding (everyone trying to get even more carry on luggage on board) as well as the luxury of being able to check in 2 bags as an Elite+. I have used this perk a few times and have always enjoyed the flexibility it gave me.

Further the suggestion to allow paying pax in the lounges is indeed going to make an already overcrowded area even more crowded...

Time to start switching to another carrier.. hopefully a Star Alliance carrier will do a status match campaign soon...
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Old Feb 13, 2013, 7:41 am
  #64  
 
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Originally Posted by irishguy28
Originally Posted by chrismoose
FB Gold members have lost their economy comfort seats, and now a free bag. What next - lounge access?
That could be in line for the chop, actually.

It's been mentioned upthread that the concept of allowing anyone to buy lounge access is on the cards (and it was mentioned in a few other threads).

Given that the lounges at AMS are often busy enough as it is, one wonders how they will make room for these paying customers...

Perhaps FB Gold will now have to pay, but like the EC seating, they get a 50% discount...
That would be totally ridiculous and not conform Skyteam E+ rules.

Chrismoose also mentioned priority boarding. It has been mentioned Skypriority will also be for sale in the future.
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Old Feb 13, 2013, 7:44 am
  #65  
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2013: one bag free for all FB members and bag charge for non-member
2014: no bag is free for Ivory members travelling on EU flights but a cheaper rate compare with non-member
2015: all non-member and Ivory members have the same charges and the fee for first bag increase to 20 online or 45 in airport
2016: KLM can kiss goodbye to its European short haul operation as Ryanair and Easyjet will be evolving to be a full service and all-inclusive airline

*all above statements are armchair speculation only, do not serve the purpose as any factual information at all.
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Old Feb 13, 2013, 7:49 am
  #66  
 
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Originally Posted by irishguy28
With the mentions of Ryanair in this thread, I'd just like to point out that, nothwithstanding the fact that most tickets will now attract a checked luggage fee, comparisons with Ryanair are still somewhat ridiculous.

Flying Ryanair is a completely different experience to flying with KLM. KLM still has several layers of hell to descend through before we can compare them to FR!
I regularly fly Ryanair for business. and they are perfectly OK.
They offer direct flights to a range of destinations at 30% to 50% cheaper than KLM offers the same routes via AMS.
The service is similar to KLM 737, seat pitch, flying times etc. They offer a wider choice of (charged for) food and drink on board and are almost always on time.

The disadvantages for business use are:
- Poor timetabling with routes often not served at regular times or on regular days of the week.
- Frequent last minute schedule changes (usually +/- 1 hour) mean you can't plan connecting transport
- Small cabin bag allowance, randomly, but strictly enforced

And not forgetting the Ryanair service speciality - Mean spirited revenue raising tactics, such as hidden charges: card payment charge, hold bag charge, forgetting to reserve hold bag charge, at-airport check-in charge, online check-in charge, forgetting to on-line checkin charge, wanting to alter passenger name charge, forgetting to print boarding pass charge, overweight handbag charge etc.
Although for the business traveler these charges can be claimed on expenses!

Last edited by andypandy; Feb 13, 2013 at 8:02 am
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Old Feb 13, 2013, 7:49 am
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Originally Posted by chrismoose
priority boarding (which will become essential when ever man and his dog is cramming their worldly possessions into the overheads).
Wait, are you suggesting priority boarding actually works? I have yet to witness it.
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Old Feb 13, 2013, 7:51 am
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Smile

Originally Posted by JPMNLD
What to expect next?

These months I fly to the UK every week. Although I am plat and usually do not travel with more then 1 checked-in suitcase, these measure's make me think about to switching to BA. I also have Priority Pass, so I basically don't need my E+ for lounge access. Around May/ June, I will be doing some intercontinental flights in business, so I would assume that I will get status pretty fast with BA.
Should I start with this now?
Unfortunately the PP card won't help you in T5, but you'll be OK in AMS. The longhaul flights should help you with the status.

You can then be like me and enjoy these threads and the EC fiasco with a feeling of schadenfreude.....
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Old Feb 13, 2013, 8:02 am
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Originally Posted by mfkne
Wait, are you suggesting priority boarding actually works? I have yet to witness it.
I did see it work once!

Just the once mind.
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Old Feb 13, 2013, 8:03 am
  #70  
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Originally Posted by KLflyerRalph
That would be totally ridiculous and not conform Skyteam E+ rules.
Well, if they continue to erode Flying Blue Gold, they may as well just rename it Skyteam Elite....it's heading in that direction anyway!
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Old Feb 13, 2013, 8:04 am
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Originally Posted by MAN Pax
Unfortunately the PP card won't help you in T5, but you'll be OK in AMS. The longhaul flights should help you with the status.

You can then be like me and enjoy these threads and the EC fiasco with a feeling of schadenfreude.....
LOL.. Still it is a shame that they have to resort to this. This takeover by AF (really funny that KLM still insists it was a merger...yeah, right) has not worked at all for KL. So being dressed down as a cheap version of what it used to be will eventually cause KLM to be renamed and -branded AF..
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Old Feb 13, 2013, 8:06 am
  #72  
 
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Originally Posted by mfkne
Wait, are you suggesting priority boarding actually works? I have yet to witness it.
On Ryanair the priority boarding often only gets your first on the transfer bus, then you stand by the door on the bus and hope your side of the bus is the first to open... at the aircraft
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Old Feb 13, 2013, 8:12 am
  #73  
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Originally Posted by andypandy
I regularly fly Ryanair for business. and they are perfectly OK.
I don't fly Ryanair regularly any more. My last FR flight was in 2008. I was a regular in the late 90s/early 2000s, though, and they've become worse since my Ryanair heyday (when you really could travel from Ireland to Luton/Stansted for 1, and then end up paying 20 times that amount just to get into London!!!)

Where Ryanair is better:

- seats don't recline
- (sometimes) cheaper prices. (But prices mount quickly if you check a bag, or break any of their well-publicised cardinal rules!!!)
- buy on board. If you want to eat something, you can actually buy something you might like.

However - you can generally do this anyway yourself, bringing something from home, or from an airport store, and pay less - so that's not much of a plus.

Where Ryanair is worse:

- no seat pocket in the seat in front
- no assigned seating
- constant hard sell. Scratch cards/bus tickets/etc etc
- no customer handling in case of irrops (I know you say they are punctual, but on my last flight, the plane that was due to take us from EIN didn't even arrive until over 2 hours after the scheduled departure time. There was no information, and we were kept crowded in a tiny area with no facilities, though they did allow those who needed to to exit but hey had to go past the border check (if not also security) again.
- far more "gotchas!", particularly for inexperienced flyers (i.e. €60 boarding card issuing fee, if you forget/don't realise you need a properly printed boarding pass before you come to the airport)


Ryanair are fine if you know what you're letting yourself in for, and if they flew from AMS or RTM I might even have flown with them in the past 5 years. But they are not truly comparable with KLM.
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Old Feb 13, 2013, 8:18 am
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Originally Posted by andypandy
On Ryanair the priority boarding often only gets your first on the transfer bus, then you stand by the door on the bus and hope your side of the bus is the first to open... at the aircraft
Same as Cityhopper flights then
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Old Feb 13, 2013, 8:19 am
  #75  
 
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Originally Posted by irishguy28
- constant hard sell. Scratch cards/bus tickets/etc etc
A fair summary. And I forgot the scratchcard adverts. I do hate that.
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