[Anonymous]

[kempinski]

This flight that I took is the short haul leg on the return journey to AMS (Schiphol) from CGK (Jakarta) via KUL (Kuala Lumpur). The crew, normally changed in KUL and thus, is the same crew that is flying KUL-CGK leg before.

Check-in – I arrived at the airport 2 hours before scheduled departure of 6.50pm. I didn’t have internet access whilst in Jakarta so I had to queue at economy check-in line (those who did web check-in can use World Business Class lane to drop their bag).

KLM does not provide check-in kiosks at CGK which is surprising as in KUL, KLM ground staff forced every passenger who had not checked-in online to check-in at the kiosks as they only open counter for baggage drop-off. Fortunately, the economy class queue line was not that long.

I paid Jakarta airport tax Rp150,000 at check-in counter and proceed to immigration.

Boarding>> From the boarding lounge, the KLM plane was already at the gate.

It was a Boeing B777-200ER Nahanni National Park with registration PH-BQN. Boarding was done in orderly fashion and Jakarta airport has efficient boarding lounge where two gates used for boarding was located on the opposite site of the room, and thus no pushing or squeezing when the boarding by row number for economy class was being announced.

I was seated in 15C, one row behind economy comfort class in the middle cabin. Wide selection of newspaper is available in English, Dutch, and Indonesian. I was impressed by the available choice.

The Seat>> Economy cabin (as well as Economy Comfort) was configured in 3-3-3 abreast seating. The seat is featuring AVOD PTV with smaller screen than KLM’s B777-300ER which is using the newer and wider screen.

TV console is located at the armrest instead on the back seat as those at B777-300ER. However, those wish to be seated on the third seat in every section must be careful: KLM placed the IFE box under the third seat (i.e. seats with label “C”, “F” and “J”). This reduce the space to put your feet or extra luggage that you can put under the seat in front of you. It is ok for short haul, but definitely an obstruction for long haul flight especially for standard built man or bigger.

Seat pitch is adequate at 31-inch and those at economy comfort enjoy 35-inch seat pitch.

The service>> As usual, service before take off including distribution of earphones. I like the practice at KLM where they handed out the new earphones to every passenger in a sealed bag which later can be brought back by the passengers in economy.

It is not noise cancelling, but the size is perfect to bring out of the plane and can be used widely in any gadget (it has 2-pin jack, but you can store 1-pin and it’s compatible to be plugged to any 1-pin gadget).

Purser was also announced that he would start inflight shopping after takeoff before the meal. I was very impressed with the efficiency and work from the whole crew on this KLM flight as it was TOTALLY OPPOSITE experience from my inbound flight on the same flight where the crew are grumpy, rude, slow, and totally unapologetic.

The purser especially, a Dutch man, was extremely efficient and make sure that everything was done efficiently. He browse through the cabin several time, attending to every passenger needs, including doing hands-on job to offer inflight shopping. I gladly bought few items from the inflight shopping.

Meal service>> I ordered a special meal, so my meal arrives first before everybody else. The meal cart rolled short after and everyone was handed out the meal tray too. It is impressive that KLM do serve hot meal on short haul flight as competitor who also using stopover on intercontinental flight only serves snack.

Drink service was offered and feature wide range of beverages; beer to wine, juice to sodas. Coffee/tea service followed shortly after cabin crew clear the meal tray.

We still have plenty of time before landing while on the other KLM flight, the crew was just barely have enough time to clear coffee cups by the time of landing yo give you the comparison on how efficient the crew on this flight performed.

IFE>> KLM has sufficient selection of movies, music, and short films on the IFE system. It was not overly as wide as Emirates, but it is sufficient to keep someone entertained for a 14-hour journey.

I particularly like the music selection with ample collection of Dutch and English songs. The TV screen was not touch-screen as in B777-300ER, but the console is responsive enough and easy to use.

Arrival>> We arrived at KUL on time at 9.50pm. The airport is pretty relaxed at this hour as there is only few intercontinental flight departures scheduled to leave.

Shops are getting ready to close at 10pm. Immigration was deserted so one can get through within minutes.

However, baggage claim is a totally different story, it tool another 30mins before the first bag arrived and due to loads of passengers who disembarked at KUL, I have to wait another 40mins before my bag appeared. I’m not impressed with the work of KUL baggage handlers this time.

Verdict>> Flying KLM was like a gambling. On this flight, I had a wonderful flight experience as the crew performed to the extreme beyond excellent: where else you can get full hot meal, inflight shopping, and good selection of IFE for only 2 hour journey with a service that is on par with Ritz Carlton legendary standard? Even LCC can’t do that!

I would like to thank the crew on this flight as they make me looking forward to fly KLM again and hopefully served by them again!

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