This is not a trip review. It‘s more of a commentary.

Last Thursday I was on my way from Amsterdam to Basel on KLM. After circling over Basel for about twenty minutes, the flight ended up diverting to Strasbourg due to severe winds in Basel. Eventually, we landed in Strasbourg in the pouring rain at around 22h30. After liasing with their ops in Amsterdam, the crew informed passengers that it was too late to organise a bus transfer to Basel or a hotel. Therefore, passengers were asked to make their own arrangements for a hotel or for ground transport.

With not that many options left at that time of night, and a course to give in Switzerland the next morning, I had no other choice but to pay EUR400 for me and another passenger to drive us to Basel, a journey of about ninety minutes. The next day I uploaded the taxi receipt to the Air France KLM claims portal. Although at the time I honestly wondered if I would ever get the taxi reimbursed.

Then this afternoon I received a call from Air France KLM in Geneva. The friendly young man first apologised for the inconvenience and expressed his hope that I had still managed to get a good night‘s rest despite the diversion. He actually seemed genuinely concerned. Next, he asked me if I would like him to take my banking details for the reimbursement. At the end of the call he clearly explained what would happen next and how I would receive the payment from the airline.

I think what impressed me most about this exchange was the ease with which I, as the passenger, interacted with the airline. Instead of trying to give me some senseless drivel about higher power bla bla bla, the agent simply acknowledged that I had incurred an expense because of the diversion that I expected to be compensated for. To me, this is where Air France KLM really shines and stands out from the competition. Sure, their La Première is very nice. But when it comes down to the line, what really matters to me is how the airline assumes responsibility for its actions and handles irregularities that affect its passengers.