KLM pricing compared to BA/LH
 

I'm looking at business and leisure travel for the year end and early next year on KLM, most of my flights are LCY - AMS and I'm getting quotes of £150 in Economy and up to £900 in basic Business.

Economy pricing isn't too different when compared to BA, who are £40 cheaper on average, however Business has been £300 on average, a massive discount compared to KLM's offering.

I've also just booked a flight for 2 to Vienna (from LHR) in December in Business class, I paid £500 on BA (LH was also £500) yet KLM would've cost me £1,200.

Is there a reason that KLM is so expensive, I feel like I'm missing something and I'm not sure what it is as European business doesn't look that frilling on KLM, and it certainly isn't on BA/LH, there will most likely still be a pared back catering service and lounge restrictions by the time I start flying, where is the justification for such a staggering difference in price?

KLM J fares within Europe always seem to start at around €/£ 600. I get the feeling they want to keep the J seats free for longhaul connecting pax, as you say there's not a lot you get extra vs Economy. AF Europe J fares are more reasonable starting maybe €/£ 350 and you can include a KL flight in those.

welcome to free market , everyone is able to set their prices in their systems

Considering the changes due to covid19, flying J on medium/short-haul flights is not even worth the amount of money required

Airlines are still in Chaos.
Many have started to offer promotional fares to get some cash. Some like KL have not yet done so.
But which flights will operate by year-end is still unclear.
Buying J from LCY on E90 makes little sense given current service unless they block the adjacent seat.

I posted last year (or the year before) about this very thing and KL fares in J were 2-3 times those of BAs

I'm not sure wanting to keep J seats free for connecting passengers is any sort of reason not to sell for prices closer to BAs especially since the seats are the same pitch and width etc

Don't KL just adust the size of the cabin anyway by just moving the curtain?

I've just been having a nosey around AF and they are indeed half the price and in some instances, I've spotted a KLM fare at £300 too but that didn't show up when looking through the KLM site.
I'm tending to agree that it may not be worth the money, work is paying for most of these flights, the ones I'm paying for will be economy or I'll switch airline entirely.
I'm hoping there will be some promotional deals as at the moment it's a little bit too rich for my liking!

As for J from LCY, I'm lucky enough to not being paying for a significant number of these flights so I don't really mind, by and large, it's the ones I'm paying for myself both to AMS and other destinations within Europe that I'm having a hard time digesting :D
KLM have always been on the pricier side, I'm just astounded at how different it is this time post-COVID as well.

I would tend to agree with Solevita that they're keeping them free for long haul as I did a couple of long haul price checks for next year and pricing went down dramatically, I can understand the reasoning behind having a slightly inflated price on European flights but at nearly £600 more than the most expensive BA J flight cost, pull the other one!

I suppose the idea is, that J needs to be competitively priced in longhaul. And that those few who do buy Euro J are not particularly price sensitive, else they would buy Y at least for the short flights.
I can't find much fault with that, and I have to admit, for those rare cases where I did go for Euro J (for mileage reasons usually), routing via CDG on cheaper AF actually worked for me. Unfortunately, they are also getting a bit stingier with the lower fare classes.

But I do buy euro J and I am price sensitive

But there is no way I will pay £600 for KLM to get to Amsterdam for a long weekend (which I do around 4/5 times a year) when I can get BA for £200-250 depending on the time of year (I have had LGW-AMS for less than £200 on ocassion).

Am visiing AMS in December . BA ex LGW in J is £170 (LHR not much more when I booked) . KL is £660. It's £230 BA in October. KLM still in the £600 range.

I am seeing some good KLM prices ex UK for long haul and I am tempted!


There are many people who are dissatisfied with BA at the moment who won't fly easy jet or in economy. If KL priced closer to BA they would no doubtedly get a chunk of business - including mine - though I;m more likely to fly ex LCY as it's closer to home) . And a good SH experience will result in someone them flying KL long haul.

I've often thought it strange that KLM basically doesn't sell discount business class tickets on short haul. The prices are always incredibly high (well above the £250ish Club Europe fares that I'll happily pay for on BA). They do offer very frequent POUG offers and "silent" upgrade offers (where you can choose a seat in Business Class at OLCI for a reduced fee), but these typically aren't great value as you don't get any additional XP. I will occasionally bite on a long sector such as AMS-LIS, if the price is right.

I find them much more competitive on long haul business class fares.

Honestly, most KLM short haul flights are so short that I'm happy to fly economy within Europe. With status, you already get most of the business class perks and the service is relatively good in the back (they haven't gone BOB - you can still get a free drink and something approximating food). On the Cityhopper flights in particular, J buys you very little - they don't block adjacent seats, so all you get is the infamous "shoebox salad" and your drinks served in glassware instead of plastic. An empty middle seat and a hot meal on a 737 from AMS-MAD or AMS-LIS does make for a more comfortable flight though...