Introduction

I’m finally on my way home. As I wasn’t going to be staying for very long, I booked the CitizenM at Schiphol airport to stay during this visit to Amsterdam. I leave the hotel at around 06h40 in the morning and make my way to the terminal building, which is about five minutes on foot at a leisurely pace.

Check-in

I already checked in for my flight the day before. Basically, as soon as I had retrieved my bag off the belt arriving from Zürich yesterday, I did a bit of rearranging to make sure I had everything I needed for my stay in The Netherlands in my backpack, then went straight upstairs and checked my suitcase in again for the flight to Basel. Although I’ve since been informed that, apparently, you’re only supposed to check in suitcases in Amsterdam on the actual day of departure. Perhaps one of the readers of the blog can clarify, because the self-service machines didn’t give any warning, so I’m not fully sure what the situation is.

In any case, on the day of departure I make my way directly to the KLM precinct to go through security and airside. The priority lane is very quiet.

The KLM Schengen Crown Lounge

By the time I’m through, I still have about an hour to kill, so I make my way to the lounge. They’ve done quite a few changes to the KLM lounge recently, and now that it’s done, I think it’s quite an improvement.

In most cases, the changes are mostly cosmetic – things like changing the upholstery on the sofas. So really, it’s more of a refresh than a refurbishment that they’ve done. But it obviously worked, and this is still one of my favourite airline lounges. It feels like home.

They’ve also reopened the second bar and food station. For a while only the main buffet was in operation, so things tended to get a bit busy and crowded during peak periods. But with the second buffet open again, passengers seem to distribute more evenly. And I love the fresh fruit you can just help yourself to and that is replenished regularly.

Boarding

Boarding is from gate B05, which is a bus gate at ground level of the B pier and about a ten minutes’ walk from the lounge. The gate area looks quite busy, with several other flights getting ready for boarding. Once our flight is called for boarding, I walk up to the automatic gates with passengers in boarding group 1 to scan my boarding pass. And it looks like I’ve been upgraded yet again from my original seat on 4D in Economy to 2D in Business Class. Hartelijk Dank, KLM!

The Cabin & Seat

The flight is operated by another German Airways aircraft. The seat pitch on row 2 is great. Once boarding is completed, the cabin crew up front comes up to me and tells me that, “Mr. A., row 1 is completely empty. If you like you can move forward to 1D or F for some more space”. Blimey! So, I do that and move forward to 1F. This is nice.

There are five passengers in total in Business Class this morning spread out over four rows.

The Service & Crew

Once I’m in my new seat, the flight attendant hands out bottles of still water. There are two crew on this flight, and both of them are friendly and professional. We taxi out for departure from runway 36L. That’s the remote one in the middle of nowhere. The flight time is one hour. After take-off we make a wide right hand 180 degree turn that takes us right over the centre of the old town of Amsterdam.

The Meal – Breakfast

As soon as the crew is released, the breakfast service begins with the distribution of the breakfast boxes.

In my usual eagerness to eat, I actually forget to take photos of the meal. But at least you can consult the menu to see what I had. Today I try something new, and instead of mixing the joghurt with the müsli, I smear the joghurt all over the pancakes, and I think we have a wining combination because the taste is great! With the meal, the crew serve an avocado, mango and coconut shot, which is not bad. And I’m delighted to see that the warm bread rolls and butter are back. To drink, I have a coffee with milk, which is served in a cute little mug. With the coffee, the flight attendant brings me three different types of cookies. But I have a studly, god-like physique to maintain, so I decline.

Arrival in Basel

The weather in Basel is gorgeous. I already miss Australia, but I must admit that it’s still nice to be back.

Today, FlyDubai launches a four times weekly service between Dubai and Basel. I check to see if I can spot the aircraft anywhere. But it turns out we’re still a bit too early. The Dubai flight doesn’t arrive until lunchtime.

Conclusion

This was another stellar performance by KLM and its German partner. They’ve obviously briefed the crews at German Airways well, because their service is very consistent and hardly different to what you would get from a KLM crew. What always amazes me about KLM is their high level of professionalism and customer service, and this was another great example of that. And admittedly, the upgrades are always nice, especially those like today!