KLM Kudos & Reservations
Written: Dec 12 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Friendly & efficient.
Cons: No room left in the overhead baggage area.
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| Kallisti's Full Review: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines |
KLM is certainly one of the world's finest airlines, especially if flying from the eastern USA to Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, as I did recently.
I picked up a round trip ticket for $360.00 in US funds (which included tax) and set off for a week in Holland. Overall, the departing flight was excellent, making it from gate to gate in under 6 hours (with a little help from the fast-flowing jet stream).
There were a couple of hassles with the flight, all quite minor.
The first hassle was regarding my carry-on baggage. Since I bought a cheap ticket I was one of the last people to board. By the time I boarded the overhead compartments were all jammed up with other people's coats, sweaters, and assorted detrius. There was no room for one of my two small bags overhead or under the seat. The stewardesses had to check my bigger bag below. I politely asked them if they could ask some of the other passengers to move their sweaters and coats and put these things under the seat, but they didn't think that was a good idea. I guess first come, first serve is their modus operandi in such a situation.
Another testament to Dutch tolerance was the fact that they allowed my seat-mate, an elderly woman from Bangladesh, to knit throughought the takeoff and landing. I was unnerved by my own imaginings of the knitting needles being thrust into the side of my head should a runway collision somehow occur. Otherwise she was a pleasant companion as she read her British romance novel and I made entries into my journal (which sports an image of the Hindu deity Ganeesh).
When I bought the tickets (through the KLM partner, Northwest), I was told that the in-flight movie would be Gladiator. To my dissapointment it was not. Unfortunately the in-flight movie was The Perfect Storm -- a film about an unfortunate vessel awash in a sea of thunder, rain & lightning. I'm a nervous flyer and the film made me more nervous as the TV screens lit up the inside of the cabin with cinematic flashes of lightning and shaky-cam images of nature's fury.
The food was unmemorable, but that's good. Memorable airplane food usually means bad airline food.
Arrival over the Netherlands was quicker than I expected, and I enjoyed watching the broadcast flight data on the monitors. As we made the final descent onto the runway at Schipol, a little girl begain crying -- her ears were popping, as were mine. I smiled at her and poked my finger in my ear to let her know she wasn't alone in her eustachian discomfort.
Suddenly I felt particularly heavy. The plane was no longer decending, but pulling up. The pilot announced that there was a "lack of data" from Schipol. 30 seconds later he made another announcement, apologizing and explaining that the wind speed information was lost for a few seconds, but it was quickly restored. Better safe than sorry.
We made a circle over the North Sea and then arrived at Schipol -- almost two hours earlier than expected.
My bigger bag came down the conveyor belt at the airport in a few short minutes. Then I realized that I had left my bottle of Zyban on the plane.
I ran back to the gate, getting my passport examined quickly by customs, and found a very helpful and pleasant flight attendant who rescued my bottle of serotonin-uptake inhibitors & stop-smoking aids, from the vessel with a smile. "Don't worry, we would have gotten these back to you" she said.
All in all, a nice flight. Kudos to KLM.
Recommended:
Yes
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Kallisti
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Location: Stick a fork in it.
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