Lufthansa747 From Philippines, joined exactly 14 years ago today! , 3174 posts, RR: 47 Posted (5 years 4 months 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 24681 times:
Since KLM was handing out tickets from Helsinki to Asia for next to nothing last weekend, let’s celebrate the 6 tickets I secured for 55-67 EUR+tax with this brief KLM WBC trip report.
I had long planned to try the KLM flight from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta, and finally booked it in May after arriving from another Jakarta trip on CX/EK/FD. Used Thai Airways to get to Kuala Lumpur from Bangkok, those flights involved so much incompetence from TG yet again that they’d really deserve their own report.
08 June 2007
Kuala Lumpur International (KUL/WMKK) – Jakarta Soekarno Hatta (CGK/WIII)
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines KL/KLM 809
Boeing 747-406 Mixed Configuration
PH-BFT “Tokyo”
1555-1655 – On Time
World Business Class, Seat 77A (Exit Row)
Fare: EUR 227.50 (round trip)
128th Boeing 747 flight, 7th on 747-400M, 1st on PH-BFT
After arriving in KUL, I checked with the transfer desk and they confirmed that my online check-in boarding pass was all I needed for the lounge and boarding. KLM uses the Plaza Premium Lounge at KUL – there is a decent selection of food but it feels like it has sat there all day, so I didn’t eat much. Very poor selection of alcoholic drinks – Carlsberg on tap and mystery whisky/vodka/gin in bottles without labels. Decent view of the tarmac and a few computers available.
Boarding pass, note that it says “Europe Select” instead of WBC
The flight was thankfully on time, and I made my way to gate C24 around half an hour before departure.
Gate C24
PH-BFT waiting, arrived on time from Amsterdam
Boarding started around 20 minutes before departure, and I was glad to be in business since it looked like a full load in the back. A friendly purser greeted me at the door and directed me towards the stairs to the upper deck. Row 77 is undoubtedly the best in World Business Class on KLM B747s, plenty of legroom in this exit row.
Legroom in 77A
PH-BFT was fitted with the old WBC seats
Soon after I settled into my seat, drinks were offered by a friendly F/A.
Safety card
I like the idea of posting the registration on the exit door
Menus and amenity kits were handed out for this short flight
Noise-cancelling headset
Poor photo of a MH 747 and some 727 in the background
We were pushed back roughly on time, and obviously took off without delay considering KLIA is more or less a ghost town during most of the day. A powerful takeoff given the short 2-hour flight down to Jakarta Soekarno Hatta.
View after takeoff
Service started with the usual drinks and nuts
Champagne and sparkling water for me
There was a menu for this flight, but I can’t seem to find it. See the return part for menu pictures. I didn’t expect a menu or anything edible to eat, so I was surprised to get a decent 4-course meal on this short flight. One-tray service though.
Meal
Excellent prawn appetizer
Steak-overcooked and dry unfortunately
Dessert with Baileys and coffee
Crew did a good job refilling drinks, definitely no complaints there.
The old seats have a small PTV that I find useless as it’s not AVOD, so I just kept it on the airshow channel. Not long after the meals were cleared away, the classic houses were handed out to WBC passengers. Definitely happy to get it on such a short flight.
Time for another champagne, and after that we were already on descent into Jakarta.
Views on approach
Soekarno Hatta airport
Final approach
A smooth landing, and we arrived at the gate on time which is not always the case with KLM’s heavy utilization of the longhaul fleet. Thanked the crew for a nice flight and headed to visa on arrival and immigration desks – honestly can’t remember if there was a long wait this time or not. Neither do I remember whether I had a Golden Bird waiting or if I took an Express taxi to the JW Marriott, but traffic must have been awful given it was a Friday evening.
10 June 2007
Jakarta Soekarno Hatta (CGK/WIII) – Kuala Lumpur International (KUL/WMKK)
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines KL/KLM 810
Boeing 747-406 Mixed Configuration
PH-BFI “Jakarta”
1845-2150– On Time
World Business Class, Seat 77A (Exit Row)
Fare: EUR 227.50 (round trip)
129th Boeing 747 flight, 8th on 747-400M, 1st on PH-BFI
I arrived on Sriwijaya Air from Surabaya via Semarang in the afternoon. Again, getting confused with all these Jakarta trips, but I guess this time I headed downtown for a lunch with a fellow airliners.netter who lives in Jakarta.
Checked in for the return at around 5pm, or should I say picked up the boarding pass. My friend had secured me the exit row again on online check-in while I was in Surabaya with internet access down in the JW Marriott’s executive lounge.
Deserted WBC check-in
Was also given a fast track immigration pass/information slip for Kuala Lumpur
Outbound immigration was a breeze, and I was soon in the lounge whose name escapes me. KLM.com says it’s the Intimakmur Suburutama lounge… All lounges in Jakarta are somewhat unmemorable; however this was one of the better ones. New looking seating, decent snacks and a full service bar. The bartender thought I would prefer Chivas Regal instead of Johnnie Walker Red and found a bottle somewhere… Smart guy.
Signage on the way to the gate
PH-BFI was waiting as I was earlier told by a reliable source. This aircraft is fitted with the new WBC seats and KLM’s new AVOD system in World Business. Appropriately for this flight, foxtrot india is named Jakarta.
Again, a friendly welcome at the door and upstairs I went
Same routine as on the KUL-CGK flight- drinks were handed out first, followed by menus. However, no amenity kits were given on this flight. Load was close to 100% in World Business. Pushback on time again, and a few minutes later we were on our way to Kuala Lumpur.
After departure
Service started with drinks and nuts, followed by dinner. Here’s the menu:
Dinner
Again, crew did a good job during the meal service, and apologized for the coffee cup since they had ran out of clean porcelain ones in the upper deck galley. The salmon main course was excellent.
I didn’t really get to try the rather controversial new WBC seat on this short flight, however the AVOD is excellent. Now, let’s look at the seat controls and IFE.
New WBC seat controls
KLM AVOD System
Again, the houses were handed out, a nice touch. They didn’t attract any attention from security at KUL or CGK despite having some alcohol inside and these idiotic liquid restrictions in effect.
Some airshow views, it was obviously dark outside so no window shots.
KLIA was very much deserted at this hour, and I would have breezed right through immigration even without the fast track pass. I took the Ekspres to KL Sentral as usual – this turned out to be a mistake. It was raining heavily, and many downtown areas were completely flooded. I waited 45 minutes for a taxi to take me to the Sheraton Imperial, that got me rather pissed off. Had to head out to the nearby Beach Club for some overpriced Carlsberg to calm down…
Overall I was very pleased with the KLM flights on the route, service and meals were much better than Lufthansa’s dismal service and horrible food on their intra-Asia tag-ons. KLM served proper meals and had friendly crews, and the AVOD is excellent if your aircraft happens to have it. The WBC alcohol selection is rather low end though.
Ryanair!!! From Singapore, joined Mar 2002, 4652 posts, RR: 27 Reply 3, posted (5 years 4 months 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 24220 times:
I did almost the exact same journey as you except it was via Singapore some 3 yrs ago. Bad service, bad food on the outbound.
Quoting Lufthansa747 (Thread starter): KLM uses the Plaza Premium Lounge at KUL – there is a decent selection of food but it feels like it has sat there all day, so I didn’t eat much. Very poor selection of alcoholic drinks – Carlsberg on tap and mystery whisky/vodka/gin in bottles without labels.
I agree 100%. I used that lounge once before and it was really a waste of my time. I have a feeling that other than MAS Golden Lounge, the other lounges in KLIA are really quite a sorry excuse.
I took the exact same seat. Awesome legroom though. I chose to do my return trip in the nose of the 747 which was also an experience in its own right.
Quoting Lufthansa747 (Thread starter): I didn’t expect a menu or anything edible to eat, so I was surprised to get a decent 4-course meal on this short flight.
You are lucky, a difference of 20 mins in flight time and you get a multi course meal! All i got was a pathetic one tray serving of a chicken puff and a chocolate walnut cake that was tasteless and uninspiring.
StefanPAD From Germany, joined Dec 2005, 282 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (5 years 4 months 1 day 17 hours ago) and read 23866 times:
Good report!
The fare is really cheap for a business class ticket. I saw some similar offers from LH and LX for flights going on to a second destination in asia. Maybe I'll check it out some day. Good seats and a decent meal make it really worth.
Quote: Lufthansa747: Used Thai Airways to get to Kuala Lumpur from Bangkok, those flights involved so much incompetence from TG yet again that they’d really deserve their own report.
Airbuseric From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 4015 posts, RR: 52 Reply 5, posted (5 years 4 months 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 23773 times:
Good report, and nice to see KL serving their passengers well on such a short route.
Although your class being 'Europe Select', probably because of the short distance of your flight, I wonder that you got the Delft-Blue house.
On European 'Europe Select' services, passengers won't get these houses. It's a very nice 'extra' when flying KLM in C.
Good pics too! Thanks for sharing.
Eric
"The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going"
Quoting Lufthansa747 (Thread starter): Soon after I settled into my seat, drinks were offered by a friendly F/A.
GREAT trip-report, nice to read... Would you like to share your TG-trauma with ous?
Luckily, , non of my old supervisors are reading this trip-report. Pre-departure drinks without napkin and shabby trolleys for service- I would have reported to HQ immediately...
Quoting Lufthansa747 (Thread starter): I didn’t expect a menu or anything edible to eat, so I was surprised to get a decent 4-course meal on this short flight. One-tray service though.
Meal
- I'm actually quite impressed by this and the return meal, quite decent for the flight length.
Quoting Lufthansa747 (Thread starter): and apologized for the coffee cup since they had ran out of clean porcelain ones in the upper deck galley
ThaiA345 From Indonesia, joined Oct 2006, 814 posts, RR: 17 Reply 9, posted (5 years 4 months 12 hours ago) and read 22312 times:
Quoting Munichpictures (Reply 1): Overall I was very pleased with the KLM flights on the route, service and meals were much better than Lufthansa’s dismal service and horrible food on their intra-Asia tag-ons. KLM served proper meals and had friendly crews, and the AVOD is excellent if your aircraft happens to have it. The WBC alcohol selection is rather low end though.
Hi Lari!
Nice to see you had another good trip! I just also got back from LAX a week ago. Anyway, how was the new WBC seats? On all my previous KLM hops to KUL, I was always stuck on the older config a/c. I would much like to fly KLM more often to KUL, but usually I have to take MH as I need the flexibility in the schedule!
B747forever From United States of America, joined May 2007, 16574 posts, RR: 11 Reply 10, posted (5 years 3 months 4 weeks 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 21797 times:
Kj76 From Finland, joined Aug 2001, 188 posts, RR: 0 Reply 11, posted (5 years 3 months 4 weeks 15 hours ago) and read 21391 times:
Nice report. One morning as I drove to work these KLM prices were mentioned in the radio news here in Finland...some lucky/fast got some cheap tickets alright !
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 6183 posts, RR: 79 Reply 12, posted (5 years 3 months 4 weeks 15 hours ago) and read 21368 times:
Great report, well-illustrated. Amazing meals for such a short flight - everything looks very tasty. Once again friendly KLM crews - you hardly read anything else about them.
Feroze From India, joined Dec 2004, 794 posts, RR: 3 Reply 13, posted (5 years 3 months 4 weeks 14 hours ago) and read 21335 times:
Quoting N104UA (Reply 2): Quoting Lufthansa747 (Thread starter):
the classic houses were handed out to WBC passengers.
I have seen these in a few TR's and what are they?
From Wikipedia entry on KLM:
KLM Delft Blue houses
Selection of KLM Delft Blue HousesSince 1952, KLM has presented its first-class passengers - as well as its business-class passengers in 1993 - with small Delftware, blue-and-white porcelain reproductions of old Dutch canal houses, filled with Bols jenever liquor.There are 87 different houses, each numbered and representing the number of years KLM has been in operation. Each year, a new house receives the next consecutive number. All houses are reproductions of actual historic houses in the Netherlands or its former colonies
Lufthansa747 From Philippines, joined exactly 14 years ago today! , 3174 posts, RR: 47 Reply 14, posted (5 years 3 months 3 weeks 5 days 14 hours ago) and read 20850 times:
Thanks for the comments!
Quoting Ryanair!!! (Reply 3): I did almost the exact same journey as you except it was via Singapore some 3 yrs ago. Bad service, bad food on the outbound.
Yeah I remember reading those reports... LH also has shameful food on SIN-CGK, i might post a report later.
Quoting Ryanair!!! (Reply 3): I have a feeling that other than MAS Golden Lounge, the other lounges in KLIA are really quite a sorry excuse.
The new EK lounge is superb. I need to post that EK KUL-CGK report...
Quoting StefanPAD (Reply 4): I saw some similar offers from LH and LX for flights going on to a second destination in asia. Maybe I'll check it out some day. Good seats and a decent meal make it really worth.
Good fares, but don't expect real C class food on LH/LX intra-asia. LH especially is disgusting, worse than their Asian partners serve in Y on same routes!
Quoting StefanPAD (Reply 4): Will you share your TG experiences with us?
Quoting Debonair (Reply 6): Would you like to share your TG-trauma with ous?
Perhaps... Got many reports to do, and thanks to that KLM error fare quite some upcoming trips as well.
Quoting CA228 (Reply 8): Are all the FA's on the intra-asia leg all Dutch or Europeans?
Usual KLM crews, they work AMS-KUL, KUL-CGK-KUL and KUL-AMS with two overnights in KUL I believe.
Quoting ThaiA345 (Reply 9): Anyway, how was the new WBC seats?
Too short flight to really try them... I don'tparticularly like these sloped seats, and these seemed no exception. Didn't find them totally awful either, maybe because it was 2-2 on the upper deck instead of 2-3-2 on the 777. Anyway, the 777-300ER seems to be getting AF NEV3 C seats instead of this controversial WBC product I read somewhere.
Quoting Kj76 (Reply 11): Nice report. One morning as I drove to work these KLM prices were mentioned in the radio news here in Finland...some lucky/fast got some cheap tickets alright !
Finally got my paper tickets for these as well... all 6 of them!
KL808 From United States of America, joined May 1999, 1573 posts, RR: 2 Reply 15, posted (5 years 3 months 3 weeks 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 20780 times:
Excellent Report Lari.
Quoting Lufthansa747 (Thread starter): Crew did a good job refilling drinks, definitely no complaints there.
Wow im glad it worked out for you. I know how it feels when you don't get any refills.
Quoting Lufthansa747 (Thread starter): the classic houses were handed out to WBC passengers. Definitely happy to get it on such a short flight.
I didn't know they give em out on short flights neither. Nice
Quoting Lufthansa747 (Thread starter): Overall I was very pleased with the KLM flights on the route, service and meals were much better than Lufthansa's dismal service and horrible food on their intra-Asia tag-ons. KLM served proper meals and had friendly crews, and the AVOD is excellent if your aircraft happens to have it. The WBC alcohol selection is rather low end though.
I'm glad you liked it because I was really expecting this one to be dismal.
NWASkyking From United States of America, joined Jan 2008, 73 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (5 years 3 months 3 weeks 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 20244 times:
I really enjoy flying on KL. The service is always perfect. I love the blue colors. Trip looked very fun!
Sponsor Message: 
From Philippines, joined exactly 14 years ago today! 
, 3174 posts, 
From Germany, joined Jun 2006, 49 posts, 
From United States of America, joined Dec 2007, 889 posts, 
From Singapore, joined Mar 2002, 4652 posts, 
From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 4015 posts, 
, non of my old supervisors are reading this trip-report. Pre-departure drinks without napkin and shabby trolleys for service- I would have reported to HQ immediately... 
From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2001, 8258 posts, 
From Canada, joined Mar 2005, 91 posts, 
From Indonesia, joined Oct 2006, 814 posts, 
From Finland, joined Aug 2001, 188 posts, 
From India, joined Dec 2004, 794 posts, 
Sponsor Message: 
Printer friendly format
