Travel-Experience: A Small Surprise from KLM

Usually, we just write about major events and changes concerning international airlines. Almost 90% of the news is bad news for a majority of our readers. But especially around Christmas, it is nice to share something nice and anecdotal, like this tale from my recent trip to Dubai.

My fondness for the Royal Dutch Airline has been documented through the many reviews I wrote in the past years. Unlike its sister Air France, KLM offers more comfortable seats for frequent flyers, their service is generally very good, and KLM offers small additional details, such as the Delft houses in business class. Generally, I’m always very happy about the entire inflight experience, making KLM my favourite European airline.

The outflight experience (yes, I know, that word doesn’t exist), however, is quite terrible. Schiphol Airport can be a nightmare and very often were my flights cancelled or delayed. Over the past 15 months, however, KLM has found a new way to annoy me. After introducing their new Premium Comfort Class, they have been selling these seats on all flights, despite only a fraction of their planes having received the new seats. That leads to passengers getting an e-mail, a few days before the flight, telling them that they have been downgraded to economy class.

To Houston in October 2022, after spending 5 hours on multiple hotlines, I managed to be rebooked onto a Delta flight with premium economy. In Buenos Aires in February 2023, there was no alternative to flying back in economy class, getting a laughable €156 compensation for spending the 13-hour flight in economy class. To Dubai in September 2023, fed up with KLM’s insane way of doing business, I decided to cancel the booking out of spite for a full refund.

Fast forward to December. KLM-Air France offers economy flights from Germany to Dubai for €334. After having missed out on exploring Dubai in September, I decided to book this flight for a spontaneous 3-day trip with my mom. For the flight back, I decided to take the exit-row seat. The stewardess at that exit was very friendly and we had a little chat before departure, talking about flights, airlines, and my opinion of KLM. Basically, I told her roughly the same thing that I’ve written in the above paragraphs.

Anyway, I fell asleep for the entire flight but the stewardess handed my mom two premium comfort amenity kits. How nice, I thought. At home, I opened it and found the following postcard inside:

On the back, the flight attendant took the time to write some personal words:

It may not be much, but I really loved it – and it’s exactly what I mean when I say that I like KLM’s service. I always feel that the KLM crew is proud of its airline and really does care about the wellbeing of its passengers – something that I don’t always feel when flying e.g. Air France, SWISS, or Lufthansa.

It also shows how such a small gesture can make someone happy. So in the same spirit, we all at Travel-Dealz would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and hope that your next year will be filled with good health and a lot of joy. We’ll do our best to provide you with the best deals for next year’s vacations – as always.

Ditmar, Felix, Miklos & our new colleague Carlos

Did you like reading an anecdote of our personal travel life, or was this a huge waste of your time? Please let us know in the comments.

Cover Picture: Foto von Aron Marinelli auf Unsplash