Update: Read my full KLM Business Class 777 Singapore To Bali review.
After flying from Los Angeles Taipei on an EVA Air 777, and then from Taipei to Singapore on a special EVA Air Hello Kitty 777, it was time to connect from Singapore to Bali on KLM.
This is a fun fifth freedom route operated by KLM, as the plane goes from Amsterdam to Singapore to Bali. I booked a paid ticket on this flight — the business class ticket cost ~$250, which is a pretty good deal, if you ask me.
The flight was operated by a Boeing 777-300ER. As much as I think KLM’s baby blue color theme is a bit “out there,” it looks really good on the 777, in my opinion.
KLM has B/E Aerospace Diamond seats in business class on the 777, in a 2-2-2 configuration. There are a total of 34 seats — there are 28 seats spread across five rows in the forward cabin, and then a rear cabin with just one row of seats, located behind the second door.
I quite like KLM’s finishes on these seats. As far as forward facing fully flat business class seats go, these are among the more private out there. While I don’t love how small the area for your feet is when in the fully reclined position, I do appreciate that you at least have a bit of privacy from your seatmate. There’s even a decent size privacy shield.
The flight time was just over two hours, so a meal was served shortly after takeoff. Everything was served on one tray, though the food was phenomenal.
Based on the menu I didn’t really know what to expct. The starter consisted of cod pepes with acar salad and micro cress, for the main I had beef Bengkulu with garlic rice and coconut green beans, and for dessert I had bolu srikaya cake. Say what now?
To drink I had KLM’s signature cocktail, The Flying Dutchman (which was a bit sweet for me).
The food was exceptional, and I love KLM’s plating.
I also had a coffee after the meal, which was served on a cool little tray.
After the meal the senior purser came through the cabin with a box of chocolates.
Lastly, before landing the crew came around with KLM’s famous little houses, which Tiffany has explained the history of in a previous post.
While the food was excellent, the service was even better. The crew seemed to be quite senior, but they were so charming and engaging. They couldn’t have been lovelier.
While I didn’t have much time to use the entertainment selection, the choices seemed to be fairly decent. Not as good as what you’ll find on Emirates, but still solid.
This was only my second flight on KLM. I previously flew them from Amsterdam to Chicago, and both of my flights on them have been excellent. While I don’t love KLM’s hard product on the 777 or 747, the food and service are excellent. I guess I should fly KLM’s 787, as they have reverse herringbone seats on that plane.
If you’ve flown KLM business class, was your experience as good as mine?
Hi Lucky! Albeit my being a " tardy reader,"
Your post was fantastic!
Sort of off topic, how was Eva hello kitty?
That is the one airline outside of Sky team is think of flying for the swag
Btw, have any kitty stuff to donate for a charity donation ?
Loved the delft house app share!
I'll be going to Beijing for the first time in Nov--- any suggestions re food, hotel, gifts
Thank you for your wonderful posts !
"the guy in front of me had a piece of paper with the houses he doesn’t yet have"
@Lucky, did you know there is a cool iPhone APP to keep track of the houses?
link : https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/klm-houses/id371664245?ign-mpt=uo%3D2mt%253D8uo%253D2
"Phenomenal": haven't seen that word used in a while.
Credit, about your message on the 13th/Feb at 3:21pm and for other interested fellows, send me an email at [email protected]
I just don't understand why KLM didn't install the same business-class seats as Air France when both airlines overhauled their forward cabin a couple of years back. This isn't isn't a competitive hard product.
$250 for a 2-hr ride in KLM flat-bed biz was a DEAL! I took another 5th Freedom right EZE/SCL on the same B773ER for 2 hrs in economy, and that cost $220. Biz was over $500!
@B As someone who has lived in Bali the past 15 years and regularly jumps over to Singapore I can attest that $40 one way econ fares on the LCC's (AirAsia, Jetstar, Tiger) were occasionally provided, but mostly they were found on Lion Air when they used to fly this route; Lion Air has a terrible reputation and ever worse product so $40 was par for the experience; needless to say they don't service this...
@B As someone who has lived in Bali the past 15 years and regularly jumps over to Singapore I can attest that $40 one way econ fares on the LCC's (AirAsia, Jetstar, Tiger) were occasionally provided, but mostly they were found on Lion Air when they used to fly this route; Lion Air has a terrible reputation and ever worse product so $40 was par for the experience; needless to say they don't service this route any longer. Tiger Airways had a few but they routed through CGK and the flight took 16 hours to SIN. In summary you will not find these fares anymore, so this argument is as outdated as it is disingenuous.
I have flown that beautiful fivth freedom flight well over a dozen times and I just love it. The prices are much better than GA and SQ and the new WBC seats are even better than SQ A330 regional business class. The KLM crews out of Singapore are usually greate! Only on a few flights the flight attendants did a minimum service before they disappeared for about 1,5h. I wrote two reviews about that exact...
I have flown that beautiful fivth freedom flight well over a dozen times and I just love it. The prices are much better than GA and SQ and the new WBC seats are even better than SQ A330 regional business class. The KLM crews out of Singapore are usually greate! Only on a few flights the flight attendants did a minimum service before they disappeared for about 1,5h. I wrote two reviews about that exact flight a few weeks ago for my blog ( it's in German sorry for that ;)) the SIN-DPS flight was great and on the DPS-SIN sector the crew did the pure minimum service. So the crew can make a huge difference even on that short flight...
@Frog, no, the last 777 is now in the process of getting the new seats.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/klm-flying-dutchman/1595155-b772-refit-new-wbc-21.html
KLM still has a few 777s with the old angle-flat business class (2-3-2) which is terrible. I fly this route (Ams-Sin-Bali) few times a year and its notorious for last minute aircraft changes. I've flown KLM business in pretty much every aircraft-configuration combination they have. Hard product varies widely, service is almost always very good.
I just flew from Africa to Amsterdam on one of their ancient A330s. Great service, but everything else was as subpar as you'd expect. To fly overnight long haul flights using planes with angle seats is really no longer acceptable. Fine for daytime flights, torture for overnight ones.
Oh, and KLM if you're reading this... any reason you heavily feature Dr Strange on your IFE menus and highlight reel... when it's not actually ab available option?
Next week one ways from SIN to DPS run from $56 - 80. Mostly Air Asia and Jetstar.
https://www.google.com/flights/#search;f=SIN;t=DPS;d=2017-02-21;r=2017-03-05;tt=o
We sat next to two KLM flight attendants at Winkel 43 in Amsterdam and they were both awesome to talk to. I only wish we'd exchanged info so we could keep in touch. Holland is full of some great people.
I think what @B refer is economy class price. $40-50 price is quite common in KLM 5th fifth freedom flight CGK-KUL and DPS-SIN one-way in both direction, but certainly not in business class.
@ Eduardo -- The cheapest economy fare I see on KLM from SIN to DPS is $110+.
I do 20-30 flights with them a year in BC. Most of the time quite ok
@Lucky, B - I agree, $200 for a business class ticket on that route is a good deal, especially when booked last minute!
I lived in Singapore for a while and you can get cheap economy class tickets during sales of the LLCs, often many months ahead of time, but $40 is not the standard fare on that route by a long shot...
Thanks for the report Lucky. I'm flying this exact route in 2 weeks, and I was wondering what to expect. Do you know what lounge in Singapore KLM business pax can use?
@B I think you might be missing the point, mate.
1A downstairs on KLM 747 to Tokyo. Not exactly sure why, but I put it up there with my best flights ever!
I flew in the 747 Combi last fall from IAH to AMS. I had seat 4A which is one of the solo seats in the nose. It was an awesome flight. The fares are pretty good on that route. The crew was senior, but so professional and pleasant. It remains one of my favorite TATL flights.
I flew KLM in their New World Business Class last year (AMS>JFK) and it was an absolute pleasure from start to finish.
Are you sure is Baby blue and not azure or delft? :)
I flew AMS/MEX upper deck a few months ago and service from both FA's and the purser was fantastic; very friendly, fun and proactive service with a comfortable product. The food wasn't all that good (other than the apple pie!) but that didn't take away from the overall experience and I wouldn't hesitate to fly or recommend KLM again.
Not anymore. All of KLM's longhaul Boeing fleet now features full flat seats in World Business Class! https://insideflyer.nl/entire-klm-boeing-fleet-fitted-with-full-flat-seat-wbc/
@turgutbey
Yes, some of them do, but you can crosscheck the configuration on the KLM seat map at booking with the ones on seatguru. I had the same concern also when booking KLM J last summer.
Anyone have American swu expiring end of this month that they would like to monetize for a small price? Please post here with price and contact.
Do some 777s still have the old angle lie flat in business? I thought I saw that on seatguru for SFO-AMS flight I am considering. Thanks.
Not sure what Beef Bengkulu is - but Bengkulu is a province in Indonesia, and each province usually have their traditional dish. Bolu srikaya cake is a sugar-apple cake.
You can get a SIN-DPS ticket for like $40, and likely lower if you're looking for a deal. Extra legroom purchase in other airlines is very cheap also if you're tall or fat.
Its fine if you're doing it for your business, but for the average traveller paying 6-7 times over that is a pretty good deal? At some point you have to question if $200 is worth what is just a short hop transportation....
You can get a SIN-DPS ticket for like $40, and likely lower if you're looking for a deal. Extra legroom purchase in other airlines is very cheap also if you're tall or fat.
Its fine if you're doing it for your business, but for the average traveller paying 6-7 times over that is a pretty good deal? At some point you have to question if $200 is worth what is just a short hop transportation. Its not a "good deal". Its an expensive way to take one of the most crowded routes where you can get a cheaper flight easily.
Calling it a good deal is like saying "oh just take a private limo to the airport, even though uber exists at 1/6th the cost, the limo is a very good deal!". No, its an expensive way to go which is luxurious. Its not a good deal and anyone who calls it so has completely lost touch with how much alternatives cost.
@ B -- I'm not sure where you're seeing $40 tickets? Looking at ITA Matrix the absolute cheapest I see is $104, and that's when booking in advance. I booked my ticket a few days in advance and KLM's business class was cheaper than economy on Singapore or Garuda Indonesia. So yes, I do think it's a good deal.
KLM 787 is great. AMS-AUH is a nice route for it, which I find tends to be fairly easy to upgrade with Delta miles or GUCs.
KLM is a very classy airline. Everything has some style and distinction, even in Y+/Y. It might not include the latest features - but maintains good service throughout.
Flew 747 upper deck, SFO-AMS two years ago. Service was spectacular. Hard product and food both really good. Would absolutely fly it again, but do want to try the 787.
Sounds excellent, and looks like a great cabin. Such a shame they don't do single aisle seats though.
What are their plans for replacing the 747s?
I took that flight a couple of years ago on the old style 777 with 2-3-2 angled seats. But for such a short flight it was fine, especially since there were only 5 or 6 pax in C. I had the same experience with the crew. The purser was great. Before we took off she took the time to chat with each of us and ask us about our travels. It was very nice. And...
I took that flight a couple of years ago on the old style 777 with 2-3-2 angled seats. But for such a short flight it was fine, especially since there were only 5 or 6 pax in C. I had the same experience with the crew. The purser was great. Before we took off she took the time to chat with each of us and ask us about our travels. It was very nice. And as you say she seemed quite senior.
Yes, they do hand out the houses on this short flight. They come around with a tray and you can pick whichever one you want. I picked a small one since I didn't have a lot of free luggage space.
@Jason,
Yes you get two houses if you fly business from Amsterdam to Bali. All passengers have to get off the plane for one hour in Singapore. The plane will be cleaned and there will be a new crew for the flight to Bali.
Wait, you get the Dutch house even though you are only flying the short segment? Do you get two if you fly all the way from Amsterdam to Bali then?
@ Jason -- You sure do! It was cute -- the guy in front of me had a piece of paper with the houses he doesn't yet have, so he and the flight attendant went through the list, and they found one he didn't have.
flew them in coach (Economy Comfort) long haul, twice. Once on the A330 from IAD-AMS, once on the 777 form AMS-JFK (Super tight config, also EC though)
Service- Amazing on both legs
Food - well above coach standard and presented nicely.
Their Bulkheads of TONS of space!
Lucky, it is great that you fly so many different business class products recently! Much appreciated!
Flew that route a few weeks ago with my friend. We both asked for the "Flying Dutchman" cocktail, the signature one they tout. The FA, albeit politely, dissuadingly tried to get us to change our mind as she would "have to go back and make it."
Not to mention the veggie meal I was served in biz was the exact same polenta/ratatouille that silkair served me in economy that morning. (May not be a reflection of KL--Changi catering is just unimaginative?)