Anyone flown with KLM?

arnie&caseysma!

We are also flying with KLM this year. There will be a party of 49 of us that are flying Glasgow-Amsterdam-Toronto and return.
I have never heard any complaints from anyone I know that has used KLM and even though we were not originally flying with them to start with (Icelandair took their Toronto flights off and left us stranded - never to book with them again!) we have not had any probs so far other than they said they gave us a special deal which incidentally is £180 more per person than the cheapest flights on their website!

We have vowed to drink the plane dry!!!!

We also have only a short lay over in Amsterdam on our outbound journey but due to the size of the party we are in negotiations with KLM to see if they will assist us with an escort to our next departure gate.

The last time we travelled out to Toronto in such a large group we were with Lufthansa and I will say NEVER AGAIN WILL I TRAVEL WITH THEM for the following reasons:

1. They did not have a big enough plane for the first leg of the journey so that many of our parties luggage was left in Edinburgh - the baggage allowance was from Edinburgh to Toronto not Frankfurt to Toronto

2. On arrival at Toronto they closed their "customer service" desk (if I ever get any customer service from them I will be surprised) so that we could not complain that less than half our tour had baggage arrive and we were told we had to go back next day to collect it even though by that point we would be 200 miles away, if it were not for a Police officer listening to our plight and staying on after his duty time to help us then we would still be waiting 4 days later

3. unless you were German, or spoke German, you were treated like dirt. We were told that bags well within the hand baggage size and weight allowance had to go checked and we were sitting with Germans who brought 35l rucksacks on as hand? How does that work?
We also saw this first hand when the cabin crew attitudes changed somewhat towards a member of our party who was seated behind me when he started speaking German.

4. return journey - same problem with baggage as outbound. I had to wait 2 days on my luggage to arrive home. They broke many security issues with baggage as it is not meant to travel without the owner - and it was all badly damaged on arrival.

I could go on....but I won't! I can only hope that KLM are better than Lufthansa and come out the better airline!

Incidentally - some of our party wanted to fly with Zoom! I am glad being the person to organise flights that I put my foot down at the start or we wouldn't be going at all!

Sorry.....rant over!

arnie&caseysma!

Sorry folks, I just realised how long my last post was when I saw it up there!!!

Tojo_Ralph

arnie&caseysma! wrote: »

We also have only a short lay over in Amsterdam on our outbound journey but due to the size of the party we are in negotiations with KLM to see if they will assist us with an escort to our next departure gate.

As much as I might lambast KLM for the standard of their inflight service, I choose schiphol over Heathrow, Gatwick, Charles De Gaulle, etc, everytime and bearing in mind that it doesn't take any longer for one person to walk between two gates than it does for 49 folk to walk between two gates, so I really would not worry about needing a guide between gates.

arnie&caseysma!

Thanks Ralph - it is more from the point of view that we don't have 49 people arguing over which way to go as the staff will know the way (hopefully!). I am very good with directions and can follow instructions easily, so much so that my dad (who is also in the group) has stopped arguing with me a long time ago and actually listens to me now when it comes to directions! But 47 other people might not be so good!!

JenC

Skippycat wrote: »

I can't really think of anything else much. We never had any problems with baggage getting lost or anything. Obviously things like that are just luck though really.... They give you a pillow and blanket so that makes getting some sleep a little easier. Also meant to mention, Amsterdam and Hong Kong airports are both huge so make sure you leave plenty of time to find departure gates and get through security etc.

Have you been to Hong Kong before? When are you going? I can recommend some nice places to visit if you need any further info.

I'm happy to recommend a couple of places too

paulboy83

dmg24 wrote: »

Would you care to respond in a way that does not make you sound like such an a*se?

I thought about it but no The point is if someone posts a one line 'never again' without any supporting information then thats as much use as a chocolate tea pot. Negative posts with reasoning are good those without are a waste of time.

FWIW TRs post was one of said useful posts mentioned....... but this is kinda pointless so i'm done.

lozkate

I flew by myself from Amsterdam to Hong Kong a couple of years ago with an 8 and 5 year old and the cabin crew with KLM were fantastic. I fell asleep at one point and woke up to find that the boys had been given some extra snacks and more games.

cookie_monster

Many thanks for your replies, flying in November and will report on the flights when we get back.