KLM
 

Has anyone had recent experience flying KLM from San Francisco to Amsterdam? I thought KLM would be a good option (it's nonstop), but I'm seeing some mixed reviews regarding other flights it operates.

I have flown KLM twice from AMS to Nairobi and found it is just a normal European airline, not worse and not better than others.

Reviews always tend to be mixed, because negative experiences are always over-represented.

It all depends what is important to you.

In economy - no IFE. Overhead, communal screens only

31" seat pitch - little tight

other than that, the service, food is ok,

and it is non-stop. For many, that's a blessing.

Main problem with KLM in the last 2 years is that they publish a longhaul schedule that's totally unrealistic, based on the aircrafts they have. No reserve, and some aircrafts like the MD-11, aren't the most reliable.

As a result, lots of longhauls are cancelled. You can see the report on this thread:

flyertalk.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9478324

I wouldn't recommend them if you need to get to somewhere reliably.

Oh, and a couple days ago, when Hyderabad, India opened a new airport, KLM didn't load the new airport info onto the flight computers before departure. The flight had to divert to Mumbai as a result.

KLM just doesn't seem to me as well-run airline at this time.

Hmmm. That's not too encouraging. What do they do with passengers when they cancel flights? I guess the problem is no other nonstops to Amsterdam. We could reverse the continent part of our trip and go from Paris up to Amsterdam and Brussels, but I don't know if that gives us any better options. We need to end up in England for the second leg of our trip. We were going to take trains once we landed in Europe.

Any suggestions Rkwan or others?

I've flown Vancouver to Amsterdam return several times via KLM, and like it because 1. I'm not flying into London, and 2. I'm not flying into London. I find the attendants friendly and responsive.

Last May the return flight was cancelled for one day due to mechanical difficulties, then a lack of crew. KLM put us up overnight in a good hotel with free dinner and breakfast the next morning.

I also flew from Vancouver to Amsterdam on KLM...and found them to be much better - and a much nice plane then Luftahnsa (?!) which I flew Vancouver to Frankfurt another time.

KLM doesn't have IFE except for the big screens - no big deal b/c it was a night flight...the food was WAY better than Luft and the seats more comfortable. The flight attendants were very nice - and attentive when they needed to be, and left you alone when it was "quiet time".

Also...the Amsterdam airport is a head over heels way better than Frankfurt.

If I had a choice, I would definitely fly KLM again.

Hope that helps!

How often are KLM flights cancelled compared to other airlines? It seems you can find tales of woe for just about any airline. I also flew Vancouver to Amsterdam on KLM and found it fine. Of course it's not very spacious. They have relatively decent airline food, but that's not a deciding factor for me.

They cancel longhaul flights way more than most other major airlines.

Check out how many times they've canceled ICN or PVG or YYZ in the last year in that thread. I'll say around 20 times each for those. Yes, that's like 20/365, but you won't be happy if it's your flight.

Or maybe I'm just spoiled by airlines like Continental, that almost never cancel any longhaul unless EWR is shut down.

To me, the rate of KL canceling longhaul flights is unacceptable, period.

I spent 5 years living in the Netherlands and flew back to North America 4-6 times per year on KLM. My opinion on service and performance is that it is just as traveller1959 described it...not worse and not better than others. I wouldn't hesitate to fly KLM again

Quality of food, onboard service and inflight entertainment are the least criteria which I would take into consideration when I select an airline.

It is the same as if you select a hospital by the quality of food they serve.

Most important are safety, reliability and flexibility in case of unusual events.

And again, with regard to these aspects, I find the big European airlines pretty equal.

P.S. Although I am German, I fly KLM (and not Lufthansa) to Nairobi, because they are cheaper and have schedules which are more convenient for me. Into the USA, I usually fly Lufthansa, because they offer more options. (I have once flown KLM to Atlanta and found nothing wrong with it.)

If you're stopping at Schipol that's fine. But Schipol has a parallel universe where all baggage in transit ends up.

How many times did they cancel SFO to AMS? I'm having trouble figuring out that info. And I'm actually not quite sure what ICN, PVG and YYZ are....

ICN = Seoul

PVG = Shanghai

YYZ = Toronto

The best part of having a KLM flight cancelled is that they will put you on an Air France flight as a replacement if at all possible, since they are the same company now.

Well, that leads to a new thought. We could fly SFO to Paris on Air France. I thought that AF had a questionable safety record years ago. (We are going to fly back to SFO from London.)

We could reverse our movement--land in Paris, end up in Amsterdam and Brussels and take the Eurostar from Brussels.

www.airsafe.com

Just returned from a series of flights with KLM; Toronto to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Paris, Barcelona to Amsterdam and Amsterdam to Toronto. No problems. We were delayed on the last leg, but they held the flight to Toronto for 45 minutes for us.

Life is a crap shoot sometimes and while there may be differences among airlines - they all offer pretty much the same product.They get you where you want to go via the fastest means possible.

KLM is considered by many to be a top notch airline.

We did KLM Toronto-Amsterdam last Spring. I t was a 747 outbound and a 777 return and no complaints in either direction.