florin

Now that the trick has been posted here, I suspect the loophole to be closed soon.

MasterGeek

As I don't plan to fly KLM in the near future, I thought I may as well let a few fellow FTers take advantage of it before it dies.

Xandrios

The EC fee is definitely not based on length of the flight. I was just offered AMS-ATH, one of the longest routes within Europe, for 5 euro.

Actually took it as well - the first 10 'normal' rows were totally full and I'll need to exit the aircraft quickly to catch my connection. So being more to the front will be of advantage.

[edit]
Actually this is the first time I could say that an EC upgrade was worth it. Low fee and in this case:
- Economy was 100% full, yet all of EC had the middle seats empty
- Seating in row 4 instead of ~10, while allowed me to catch my connecting bus. I arrived at the bus stop the moment the bus was leaving - so being more to the front of the cabin saved me.

ninjalad

Have just tried Mastergeeks trick, not sure if it has worked yet. However the charge for EC for AMS-TXL is now €3.75 , that is half of what it was last week !

johan rebel

In the March issue of Zakenreis, KL COO Pieter Elbers describes shorthaul EC as a "resounding success". In the same issue, Camiel Eurlings says that longhaul EC revenue was €65m last year, whereas shorthaul EC revenue was €4m.

€4m is about €11,000 per day. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that KL flogs the seats for an average of €15. That would equal 730 pax buying shorthaul EC every day. Ripping off 730 suckers day in day out is no mean feat, but a resounding success? Does anybody know how many shorthaul seats KL offers on an average day?

Eurlings also says that KL is actively looking for more ways to extort ancillary fees from its pax, but refuses to confirm that Ivory FB members will soon have to pay for the 1st checked bag. He does admit that this is being considered, adding that "perhaps they won't have to pay as long as they fly KL every now and then".

Johan

Xandrios

KLM and Cityhopper operate about 100 short haul aircraft. Assuming the average flight and turnaround within Europe is 3 hours - that means about 5 flights per day per aircraft. Which is in total 500 flights per day.

So, continuing on your number of 750: each flight would have on average 1 to 2 sold EC seats. Which is less than a single percent of the short haul economy pax.

mfkne

While checking in for my AMS-NUE flight tomorrow afternoon I was offered an EC seat (as FB Gold) for 2.10 GBP. I'm not sure whether to cry or laugh. KLM seem to think that they need to earn some money, but 2.10 GBP? Why not ask for 10 GBP, that'd be more honest.

johan rebel

How about showing some understanding marketing psychology and offering it for £1.99?

Johan

Xandrios

On the other hand, we have been complaining (pretty much from the start) that this short haul EC concept does not work. Now that some time has passed it seems that KLM has realised the same. I do not find it strange that they are experimenting with different prices to see if this would yield better results.

MasterGeek

Yeah, KLM is researching how hard it can nickel and dime customers before they start feeling screwed

kevinflyaway

edit

Grouchy

Got the same message when i book a KLM flight and call KLM & ask to put me into a EC/EER seat for free (since I'm a Delta DM).
For the last 10 months (as long as there isn't an equipment change ) the seats did stick.

KrnGrs

They seem to have stuck in my reservation - without the extra comment. Will have to wait 6 weeks to see what happens when I actually fly. Thanks for sharing, wish I had known before my flights to South America

MasterGeek

Please report back after you trip whether the EC seats sticked all the way

altitude75k

Flew KLM Economy Comfort NRT-AMS-NRT.
NOT impressed. 32" waist and still felt so cramped.
Dreadful seating, service same as Y class and no extras.
REAL Economy Comfort I have flown have been TK and AF.
NO more KLM for me -- not worth it and told my company based in AMS that I would even pay that little extra to fly on non-KLM. Felt the economy part but not the comfort!