KLM has this week opened its newly renovated lounge at Houston Airport, which is one of only four KLM lounges in the world (the airline has two lounges in Amsterdam, one in Toronto, and one in Houston).
In this post:
A look at the refurbished KLM Lounge Houston
The KLM Crown Lounge at Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) has undergone a renovation, and is once again open to guests. The lounge is located in Terminal D near gate D7, and is open daily from 6AM until 9PM. The lounge is 3,962 square feet, with seating for 100 guests.
With the renovation, the lounge has new flooring, wallpaper, fixtures, furniture, and upgrades to the bathroom. The lounge also also now has a signature KLM Delft Blue house display, showcasing various miniature houses from over the years.
The lounge serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner from a self-service buffet, with hot and cold food options, salads, and daily hot soups. Cold and hot drinks are also available, including soda, juice, wine, beer, and spirits.
KLM operates daily flights from Amsterdam to Houston. For the summer season, the route is operated by an Airbus A330, while for the winter season it’s operated by a Boeing 787.
Interestingly Air France also operates a lounge at Houston Airport, even though the two airlines are part of the same airline group. I’ve never fully understood the airline group’s lounge strategy, and why they don’t just brand all outstation lounges that both carriers serve as Air France-KLM.
Here’s how Marleen van de Pol, KLM’s VP of Customer Experience, describes the new lounge:
“Investment in signature lounges at international stations are the cornerstone of elevating the premium customer experience, aligning perfectly with our commitment to investing in our new World Business Class and our recently introduced Premium Comfort cabin. Branded lounges add to the connection with our customers in delivering our brand promise of creating memorable experiences.”
Meanwhile here’s how Eric Caron, Air France-KLM’s General Manager of North America, describes the new lounge:
“Houston is one of our top markets in the US, and this upgraded lounge is a wonderful new offer, reaffirming our dedication to providing travelers with the utmost comfort and convenience. We look forward to welcoming our valued passengers in soon, providing an experience that will make their time at the airport as memorable as the destination itself.”
Below you can find some pictures that KLM has shared of the new lounge.
Who has access to the KLM Lounge Houston?
Who can access the KLM Lounge Houston? This lounge follows standard SkyTeam lounge access policies:
- It’s intended primarily for premium passengers on KLM, including business class passengers, as well as SkyTeam Elite Plus members traveling in other cabins
- SkyTeam business class passengers and SkyTeam Elite Plus members traveling internationally same day on other SkyTeam airlines (like Air France) should also get access to the lounge
On top of that, the lounge belongs to Priority Pass. While Priority Pass members can technically visit any time the lounge is open, don’t be surprised if you get turned away in the afternoons and evenings, before the Air France and KLM flights. You can also expect that the food and drink selection will probably be a bit better in the hours leading up to the transatlantic departures.
Bottom line
The new KLM Crown Lounge Houston has just opened. It looks like a significant improvement over the old one, though it’s still on the small side, and the food and drink selection probably won’t blow anyone away. Still, it’s much better than before, and is a good option for Priority Pass members.
What do you make of the KLM Lounge Houston?
Don’t forget the Petroleum Club!! AF and KLM have always had special perks for this industry and why I always assumed they both had IAH clubs…
Looks fresh, but in essence it stays quite similar. It's alright, but nothing special.
I do have a question, if KLM says Houston is an important market.... why do they fly the A330 for the majority of the year these days? Business class is a pretty outdated product and seats are narrow. I know they fly the 787 in winter season, but would expect them to offer a premium product year-round if the market is...
Looks fresh, but in essence it stays quite similar. It's alright, but nothing special.
I do have a question, if KLM says Houston is an important market.... why do they fly the A330 for the majority of the year these days? Business class is a pretty outdated product and seats are narrow. I know they fly the 787 in winter season, but would expect them to offer a premium product year-round if the market is really that important?
I fly the route pretty regularly but may switch back to United as their seats and lounge are just a lot better (compared to the a330).
Interesting move. Doesn't make sense at present. A precursor of things to come?
The new chairs seem more comfortable than the metal ones they used to have.
Surprised that they decided to build a new lounge in Terminal D as they are supposed to be building a brand-new international terminal for IAH.
It’s just an expansion of the international terminal. All of the existing D gates will still be used.
Note to author — D gates were recently renumbered, so the lounge is actually close to D14.
The KLM lounge has been there for many years.
Everything I've been there the KLM lounge had a counter sign telling Priority Pass flyers to use the AF lounge. Other than a free bag of chips and bottle of water we were better off sitting outside the lounges
It basically looks the same. I miss when it was all self-serve
It makes sense because there are more Air France lounges worldwide.
Bad timing. Shell already moved its corporate headquarters to the UK. I imagine that the high amount of Shell business traffic is a big reason why KLM has had strong service to Houston for a long time. (They flew the 747 there for a while.)
“Houston is one of our top markets in the US”
Very surprised to learn this
KLM had, until fairly recently, an effectively high-level status called "Petroleum" (as I recall, you had to work for an oil company and travel to a set of specified destinations; this was on top of normal Flying Dutchman/Flying Blue elite qualification), if that gives you an idea of an industry they have a long history of super-serving. If there's oil and gas there, there's a pretty good chance KLM will fly there from AMS.
(You might call it a "Shell game"...)
Oil industry. In addition to the Netherlands being the former headquarters of Shell, they have some of Europe's largest natural gas reserves. I'm sure other cities like New York and LA have higher passenger numbers but it wouldn't surprise me if Houston was KLM's most profitable route.
Also despite the large size of Houston, there is lower competition with international air carriers since so few fly to IAH compared to other major cities. So those international air carriers that do serve IAH get away with higher fares.
Never heard anyone call this place “Houston Airport”
doesn't qatar also use this lounge for its business class passengers?
Not the prettiest sight outside of that window!
For any visitors to Amsterdam, visit the Bols distillery/"House of Bols." They have a neat room with every single KLM house.
It doesn’t hardly look any different than before. What changed?
Yeah I was thinking the same. Not really worth an article.