Thanks for all the updates, Horizons!
And good luck with your coming trip!

Why does that not surprise me Martin?

Checked in on a KLM paper, KLM flight # codeshare to KUL last month here. The cretin manning the FIRST Class desk swatted us away 'as we had "Blue" FD cards'.

This kinda surprised us. Asked why, she replied "because BLUE is the lowest level. Only First Class pax or FD GOLD card holders can check in here".

I mean, only the marketing maniacs at KLM could decide to have Blue, Silver and Blue Elite cards, and you need to wonder what yo-yo thought that idea up. But gee, It'l First Class check in staff should know the basics.

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~ Glen ~

[This message has been edited by ozstamps (edited 07-29-2002).]

Actually, the SilverWing card is blue as well...

It his hard to underestimate (or comprehend) the importance of the color blue to KLM. The company, with its illustrious history, has always been viewed with intense patriotic pride by the Dutch. Even in this modern day such sentiments still prevail, though to a lesser degree. KLM is inextricably linked to and associated with its blue house color.

The KLM esprit de corps is known, even outside the company, as "het blauwe gevoel", the blue feeling. No, this does not mean in Dutch what it does in English

To produce the top tier FF card in any other color than "royal" blue would be unthinkable, the thought would never even have occurred to anybody at the airline.

johan

[edited for typo]



[This message has been edited by johan rebel (edited 07-29-2002).]

I will write to Qantas and make my first million as a consultant. Their Gold Elite fliers need to get a WHITE card next year. And their Platinums a RED card. Makes as much perfect sense given their aviation history as long as KLM's.

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~ Glen ~

Yesterday I received an email from a Sarah Imms, Customer Service Manager in the UK, saying that she has carefully looked into my account and I am unequivocally NOT a Royal Wing member, merely Blue, and that Royal Wing services will therefore not be available to me for today's flights.

Obviously, this distressed me.

This morning I rang the FD Helpdesk and spoke with Veronica, who treated me like an imbecile. She stated firmly that I AM a Royal Wing member, and hinted that I might be making up the Sarah Imms email (yeah, right). Veronica offered to fax me a confirmation of my status, but I think I will go the route of having the check-in desk ring Flying Dutchman for the confirmation.

Cross your fingers, this morning should be very interesting....




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~ Friends don't let friends fly coach ~

Wow. This is like an afternoon soap. Fingers crossed. .

They are really bizarre these folks in many of their communications.

Joh had a delayed bag issue flying KL from AMS to Bergen Norway last month. KL agent there took copious details, and typed for 10 mins into the pnr record. Said she was authorised to spend about (NOK equivalent) $US500 on clothing etc for a meeting she had that afternoon. Joh did. Sent in receipts and KL SYD basically deny it ever happened and offered a third of the sum that was clearly authorisied. This is after 3 detailed letters to get them to offer anything.

[b]WHO at KLM can you actually believe?[b]

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~ Glen ~

Well, folks, interesting doesn't do this experience justice, although I have to concede that it was not really Flying Dutchman's fault.

KLM had informed me at the time of ticket purchase that the LHR-AMS-SFO flight was fully booked, so they would have to route me to San Francisco from London Gatwick Airport on their partner, Northwest, via Minneapolis.

I got to Gatwick a couple of hours before my flight and presented myself at the Business Class counter. The agent looked a little skeptical when I told her I was Royal Wing, though she did notice that I had been upgraded to World Business Class on this very full flight. Hooray! The Flying Dutchman helpdesk certainly had a hand in this.

I went to the gate just as NW was making an announcement that boarding would be delayed about 15 minutes. Well, 15 minutes turned into an hour, into two hours, then three, and after 4 hours they admitted that the DC-10's problems could not be repaired that day.

There was a chaotic dash by 250 nervous passengers to retrieve luggage and reach the KLM/NW sales desk to rebook. Luckily I was among the first half-dozen.

KLM/NW was offering to fly people home the next day via Detroit. A hotel room would be arranged, but there was no further compensation, not even a meal voucher.

Unfortunately, this simply was not an option for me, as I had an afternoon flight the next day from San Francisco to Auckland, NZ (where I am typing from at the moment). It took almost an hour of pleading and negotiation, but finally my ticket was endorsed over to another carrier and I made the last flight to the US out of Heathrow by about 5 minutes.

The agent I spoke to made it clear that my RoyalWing status, "if true", was of no consequence in KLM/NW's efforts to accommodate. I found this rather disappointing.

My plan now is to contact KLM/NW and ask for them to credit the KLM Service Points that I had to forfeit when the flight was cancelled and I was placed on another carrier. [This was not my idea, but rather was suggested by the KLM/NW sales agent at Gatwick as a standard practice.] Does anyone have any experience with this?

I would hate to miss out on reaching the required 12,000 Service Points for the Elite Guest Plus promotion because Northwest's airplane broke down.

It's coming down to the wire!




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~ Friends don't let friends fly coach ~

Horizons, per FD rule you actually get the number points of the scheduled route, regardless ouf the outcome of reroutings, cancellations or whatever....

So at least some good news....

Greetings

Patrick

Yes, I do.

I once missed a JNB-AMS KL flight because my HDS-JNB SA flight was delayed (weather related). I flew JNB-ZHR-AMS on SR instead. I was not rebooked by KLM (by the time I got to their airport office the staff were ready to go home and advised me to "call reservations tomorrow"), but FD nevertheless credited the points on my request.

Another time my MMX-AMS flight was cancelled and I was rebooked on CPH-AMS. The original flight was operated by Cityhopper and would have earned more points. There was also a double point promotion running at the time. On request I was credited the point difference, including the double points.

In both instances my request was dealt with promptly and efficiently.

johan

Wow! How come? Any special agent and/or phone line? Dealing with KLM is always a big hassle for me as it normally takes numerous calls and letters for a problem to be solved.

BTW- I read on this bord that the "special" RoyalWing Helpdesk has better informed and more helpful agents...
But since I'm RW, I always end up with the same agents as before on the "normal" line...

Threy's note is the GOOD news you need Martin.

My highly paid Pacific police spy tells me he bumped into you at 10pm last night in Queen Street Auckland Horizons. You sure DO get around.

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~ Glen ~

Yes, indeed. Last year I wrote a letter to KLM Customer Relations in the Netherlands concerning boarding procedures at Schiphol. They forwarded the letter to KLM in Stockholm, presumably because I live in Sweden. KLM Sweden, who presumably don't employ experts on Schiphol boarding procedures, then for some inexplicable reason sent my letter to the FD help desk. I was contacted by a helpful agent. Although she could not answer my original questions (they were only indirectly FD related), she did say I was welcome to contact her if I ever experienced problems with FD. Unfortunately, I have had to do so on several occasions. In each instance all issues have been resolved promptly and to my complete satisfaction.

There are some competent and helpful agents out there!

By the way, the re-routing issues mentioned in my previous post were dealt with by the general FD help desk. I just sent a letter by snail mail to their P.O. Box in Amsterdam.

johan

Horizons....welcome to Gatwick Handling, (KLM Gatwick agents) There attitude leaves a lot to be desired. If I were Northwest, I'd fire the lot and let Continental take over.

Mike,

Dealing with the KLM/NW sales staff at Gatwick was a wrenching experience. I have never met such intransigent, stubborn, unimaginative airline staff in my life. The ultimate solution to my problem was entirely my suggestion, although they could have come up with it an hour earlier and spared us both a lot of heartache.

Speaking of Continental, whilst looking for a postbox I stumbled into the Continental President's Club. I was assisted by a marvellous lady named Denise Hedges, who invited me to remain in the club (I am not a member) and repeatedly called the gate on my behalf to determine what was really happening to the doomed aircraft. As NW was less than forthcoming with details, she allowed me to stay more than an hour past closing whilst we looked out the windows (great view of the field) to see whether my plane was coming out of the hangar. Continental is a class act. The KLM/NW "club", by contrast, is a shared contract space with minimal amenities.

Today I faxed & wrote to NW customer service to ask for the missing miles and a refund for the hotel in New York. Luckily I rang first, as the agent informed me that the general address handed out by Gatwick handling is woefully inadequate. She gave me the full address, down to the department number:

NWA Customer Relations
P.O. Box 11875
Dept. C-6590
5101 Northwest Drive
St. Paul, MN 55111-3034


Maybe I will fax Flying Dutchman, too, just to be on the safe side.




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~ Friends don't let friends fly coach ~