KLM Praise.........

[baldy1963]

I was recently on an often flown, longhaul, LPL-AMS-CPT flight and, like a twit failed to realise that I'd booked it on the final raceday of the Formula 1 Grand Prix season. Needless to say of course that the F1 championship had gone down to the wire and I would miss the race on TV and wouldn't know the championship results probably until well after the Grand Prix jocs were all tucked up in bed.
No need to worry KLM to the rescue................
About 5 o'clock in the afternoon having bagged my usual spot at the tail of the aircraft I stood talking to a fellow passenger and having sneeky peaks at the female cabin crew, I spied myself a man! A man whom I thought might have a similar interest in petrol propelled machinery. I asked him if he was in touch with the flight deck and he replied to the afirmative and asked me what I wanted. I explained my situation and he prompty picked up the nearest phone and had a conversation in Dutch. After the converstation he turned to me and said he would try to find out.
Anyway shortly afterward the seat belt signs came on and I returned to my seat.
Fast forward to around 8pm (somewhere above Namibia) and I'm back in my usual spot when again I spied my man! I caught his eye and he came over, 'did you manage to find anything out?' I enquired. 'Didn't you see?' he responded, ' I put the results up on the seat back screens for you'.
'No I've been asleep' I replied.
'No worries' he said and promptly pulled out of his pocket an A4 sized print off of all the race and championship results!
So hats off to him and his fellow crew in the cockpit with the posh voices and the printer for taking the effort to make a passenger very happy. :D

(P.S. After all these flights to CPT with KLM & Air France I still haven't figured how to blag an upgrade........answers on a postcard, or maybe I should just ask my man). :rolleyes:

[jetset lady]

Fast forward to around 8pm (somewhere above Namibia) and I'm back in my usual spot when again I spied my man! I caught his eye and he came over, 'did you manage to find anything out?' I enquired. 'Didn't you see?' he responded, ' I put the results up on the seat back screens for you'.

Ooh! This brings back bad memories for me. Just as above, we're also often asked for the results of various sporting events, in particular big international events. On one particular flight where virtually the entire aircraft had asked me, I gave out the results over the PA only to be promptly yelled at by someone who had recorded the event and wanted to watch it later. :ouch:
I now tell people that if they want to know the result, they are welcome to ask me but please don't reveal the result to anyone else! By the way, don't think you need a man to find out the results. Some of us girls also watch motorsports you know and even those that don't are also capable of calling the front! ;)

P.S. After all these flights to CPT with KLM & Air France I still haven't figured how to blag an upgrade........answers on a postcard, or maybe I should just ask my man

I'm afraid you're going about it all the wrong way. Firstly, you need to book with a certain UK airline. Then announce on here that you are ex military and that you are finally taking your much dreamed of round the world trip but can't afford an upgrade for the first very long flight. Before you know it, some kind pilot will be along offering to arrange an upgrade despite the fact they don't actually know you from Adam. They will then bask in the glow of the following posts, all congratulating them for being one of the "really good guys", safe in the knowledge that even if they are on that particular flight, their workload isn't in any way affected by their amazingly generous act of kindness. :hmm: :oh:
(Sorry...that one has been niggling for a while now)

[baldy1963]

JetsetLady

Please be assured there was no sexism intended when I spied my 'man' just mischievousness on my part. My beliefs hark back to pre-current christian times when women were worshiped as the greater sex. Sacred feminine and all that! Anyhow I'm sure the female cabin crew had far more important things to do than be troubled by a middle-aged petrolhead looking for his fix.
As for my upgrade I'll just have to console myself with the fact that KLM & AF offer a better service from UK regional airports to those wanting to fly to the Rainbow Nation than our National 'flag' carrier........Its a pity that there seems to be more small BA liveried(?) aircraft on the stands at CPT & JNB servicing regional airports in SA rather than here!

[Andy_S]

(P.S. After all these flights to CPT with KLM & Air France I still haven't figured how to blag an upgrade........answers on a postcard, or maybe I should just ask my man). :rolleyes:

Like many other airlines, you'll need a) the economy cabin to be full, and b) to be in the frequent flyer scheme, ideally at the highest level. This will give you precedence if the airline need to bump people up.

It's a long time since I've flown with KLM, but I used to be a Royal Wing in pre-AF days and made sure that my FF card details were added when I made a reservation. It was surprising how often it worked; sometimes I had already been upgraded when I checked in, sometimes at the gate. I don't think there's a magic way of 'blagging' an upgrade unless you're a friend or relative of one of the crew.

[MathFox]

(P.S. After all these flights to CPT with KLM & Air France I still haven't figured how to blag an upgrade........answers on a postcard, or maybe I should just ask my man).
If you don't want to spend miles (or money) on upgrades, it's hoping on an overbooked economy class... On one flight (ORD-AMS) I noticed that I could assign myself to a seat in row 4 on a 747 (online checkin) with an economy class ticket. KLM had downgraded the main floor business cabin to economy class service. Certainly appreciated the seat for the red-eye.

[clareprop]

Well, I'm sitting in the Crown Lounge at Amsterdam writing this and I'd like to praise KLM for sorting out my weather delayed connection very efficiently. I'd also like to praise them for the quality of their lounge which, amongst other things, serves a rather nice South African white...:)