For all the pictures that go with this report,
please click here!A friend of mine checking in for this flight noticed she was able to select seats in business class for an extra €47. I had already checked in and quite frankly hadn't checked anything like that as I presumed I would get an e-mail about an upgrade offer. Going back in to the KLM app, I could also select a seat up front, so I did just that and paid my €47. Nice that KLM let you do this after check-in as well, that impressed me. The total upgrade was €59, but as we'd already paid for Comfort Seats, the cost of those comes off the upgrade price.
After landing in Amsterdam from Dublin, I had a 45 minute connection. This meant walking from one end of the D gates to the other end via Passport Control, as I was going non-Schengen to Schengen. I arrived at my new gate just as boarding was called. Tiring!
KL1301 – Amsterdam to Toulouse (AMS-TLS)
22 October 2021
Boeing 737-800 – PH-BXA – Zwaan / Swan
Seat: Business Class 1C
Departure: 09:20 Arrival: 11:05Handing over my boarding pass resulted in a beep and I was told my seat had changed. I had to go to see another lady, who fixed up my ticket and I boarded normally. They had thought I wasn’t going to make my connection, so that had been flagged in their system. Most airlines in Europe use the same seats throughout the aircraft and KLM business class is no exception. The premium rows have more legroom and you get the middle seat free. The light blue headrests denote standard legroom seats.
As I was in row one with nothing in front of me, I had tons of room. Pleasingly there are coat hooks located in the bulkhead wall, which proved to be quite handy. Bulkheads are in KLM blue with the airline name depicted in white.
Due to my seat hiccup, I boarded after everyone in business was seated, meaning I had no overhead space. I put my bag above the first row of economy, much to the surprise of the person sitting there. Once everyone was seated, it was time for the safety demonstration. This was announced to be in English for the benefit of the passengers who were a mixture of Dutch and French, among others.
When done, it was time to head off to the runway, which didn’t seem to take all that long. I was chatting to my friend, so I didn’t notice the time. Once flying, it was time to eat. Drinks are offered first and we went straight for the Champagne. Of course, we found out it was Cava upon delivery, but it tasted just fine. The meal boxes arrived next.
On the menu today was a Fresh Start, which comprised of fruit salad, yoghurt, crunchy granola and butter, presumably for the wheat bun. For your second course there were Cold Cuts, featuring jam, cream cheese, smoked salmon, boiled egg and a lemon.
The meal proved to be fairly substantial, as even the yoghurt and granola proved to be a decent feed. Highlights for me were the jam for the bun, the cream cheese and salmon, plus the lovely egg. All round, very good indeed! Naturally we had another round of drinks as well.
Sitting in the first row meant easy access to the facilities. The business class toilet is located on the left beside the cockpit door at the front of the plane. It’s often located here!
Happily everything was nice and clean, so no surprises there. By now the meal box had been collected and after one more drink, we landed in Toulouse on time. KLM business class is very good value, especially when you’ve paid €47/€59 to upgrade. Actually, I see that it was €59 to upgrade my Dublin to Amsterdam flight back in 2017, so not much has changed there.
On board, I found the continental breakfast to be quite filling, not to mention tasty. While they only do Cava, that is no show stopper. Service from the crew was quite fine and so I was satisfied with the experience.
Have you flown KLM business class before? What do you think of it? Thank you for reading, remember,
if you want to see all the pictures, click here - and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.