Hello from the Netherlands! I flew back home yesterday to visit friends and family back home, and flew KLM’s World Business Class on the Boeing 787-10. In this post I wanted to provide a very brief idea of what it was like, with full reviews to follow of both the Delta One lounge at New York-JFK’s Terminal 4, as well as the KLM business class experience.

In short: The Delta One lounge was impressive, and it is not ‘just’ a lounge – it’s an experience that starts with checkin. Then KLM’s World Business Class was a very pleasant experience. I doubt it will amaze anybody, but a combination of friendly, personable service with a comfortable and practical seat made this a pleasant flight.

1. The Delta One ‘experience’: a lounge that’s not just a lounge
2. My disclaimer on KLM’s service culture
3. KLM World Business Class seat is practical and comfortable
4. KLM World Business Class provides decent meals
5. KLM World Business Class service, amenities and lavatories
6. Summary

The Delta One ‘experience’: a lounge that’s not just a lounge

A little while ago, Delta announced it’s new series of Delta One lounge locations. These were supposed to be high-end lounges specifically for those passengers in Delta One, the name of Delta’s business class cabin on select flights: mostly international but some transcontinental flights would also qualify. You’d need to check when booking your flight that the flight is actually marketed as ‘Delta One’, and if it is, you’d get access to the Delta One lounge. Other than that, it’s also available to business class passengers flying on Air France, KLM, Virgin Atlantic, Korean Air and LATAM, though at JFK, Air France and Korean Air fly out of Terminal 1.

Except I now understand that Delta One is not just a lounge: it’s a whole pre-departure experience, at least at New York-JFK’s Terminal 4, which is where my flight originated. With SkyTeam alliance member airlines, those in premium economy and up receive priority services, dubbed ‘SkyPriority’. At JFK’s Terminal 4, those services all the way on the western edge of the checkin hall. Here, I was quickly shown to a special entramnce for Delta One passengers…

…which led to a special checkin area. This was a delightful experience that felt a lot more like a first class treatment than business class, at least compared to my experiences with SAS and JAL.

After this there was a Delta One security checkpoint. Note that they do observe TSA PreCheck membership here, and will hand you a special card after ID check. After this it’s a quick walk to the Delta One lounge.

The Delta One Lounge at New York-JFK Terminal 4 could be considered delta’s flagship Delta One lounge currently, as it’s by far the biggest at 40,000 square feet. I was impressed by the modern and elegant decor. You will be welcomed by staff that check coats or luggage. As I see it, there are four main areas with matching seating types: the bar area, the restaurant, the ‘Market’ buffet and the wellness area.

You will find various kind of seating in-between, with some spaces also offering phone booths as well as something of a viewing area of the Terminal 4 airside. The lounge also has showers and spacious ‘gender neutral’ restrooms.

I had read beforehand that the lounge can be crowded. I arrived around 6:30PM on Christmas Eve and found that I could walk right in, but it was definitely busy. I took a quick lap of the lounge and then proceeded to the restaurant. Although there was a 15-20 minute wait at the restaurant, I was offered a spot at the chef’s table (kind of a bar area, actually) and was able to be seated immediately.

Now, this is a full-blown, fine dining-esque sit-down restaurant experience, which I really loved. The decor is elegant, with lots of marble and wood, and gold accents. The menu has a variety of intriguing options, but I went for a ‘crispy calamari’ first course, ‘duck a l’orange’ main (pictured below), and the ‘chocolate soufflé’ dessert, paired with a Merlot and followed by a cup of tea. Service was great – friendly, personable, though perhaps not the most proactive. In their defense, it was busy, as the picture above shows. The food was very enjoyable, especially the duck and soufflé. I’d love to come back and try other options on the menu. And to see pictures of the rest of the food, you’ll just have to come back for the full review!

I had also signed up for a massage, which was very good as well. Note that you should really sign up for this first thing when getting into the lounge. My appointment would end up not being until 7:40, over an hour after my arrival into the lounge! However, also note that you can use one of the full-body massage chairs which were easy to book.

One thought on the crowding issue: when I got out of dinner, around 7:10pm, the lounge had noticeable quieted down, and that even further so around 7:50pm, after my spa appointment. I imagine that the bulk of flights that offer Delta One departed between 7 and 7:30pm, so that if you’d have a late flight (post-10pm) and arrived around 8pm, you’d find the Delta One lounge with all of its great amenities but without the crowds. The lounge is open until 11:30pm, though some amenities may close before that time.

Truly, this is a great way to start your journey and I commend Delta on this experience!

My disclaimer on KLM’s service culture

I proceeded to gate B26 through a private elevator that the lounge offered, followed by a brisk walk through the duty-free areas on the lower level together with all Christmas Eve travelers. Boarding seemed a little messy, but I got on the plane and was greeted by two friendly flight attendants.

Now, here’s the thing with KLM. I’m obviously a little biased, since they are the Dutch flag carrier and I’m Dutch, so I have an inherent familiarity with the uniquely Dutch mannerisms of many of the flight attendants. I’ll do my best to be objective here, but I do say to you in advance: I really enjoy the familiarity and personable manner of handling passengers that KLM cabin crew put on display – but clearly not all may enjoy it.

Case in point: The flight attendants greeting passengers saw a passenger with a big bag of duty free and wrapped presents and said:

“Oh I see you did Christmas shopping? And it’s all for the crew, right?” He laughs and adds: “I’m joking of course, welcome aboard!” 🙂

Clearly not everybody may like that, though I noticed the people in front of me enjoy the comment and smile. I feel this familiar approach is typical for KLM cabin crew, and it’s something I like and lean into. I do believe it breaks the ice and puts people at ease. So with that said, let’s continue the quick look.

KLM World Business Class seat is practical and comfortable

I was guided into the further aisle and to the left. I had selected seat 3K, the window seat on the right side of the plane. KLM uses reverse herringbone seats by JAMCO that turn into a full-flat bed, with a 18″ media screen. There are no individual air nozzles. The version on the Boeing 787 is a slightly earlier model then what’s available on the Boeing 777, which have a privacy door and upgraded tech. However, by and large the form factor and comfort level should be about the same.

As you can see from the above pictures, it’s not a terribly spacious seat, however, I found it to be comfortable and practical. There was ample legroom, and the footwell was roomy enough to be comfortable. I was initially worried there wouldn’t be enough storage space, but I found that this wasn’t a problem. Between the fairly large console to the right, the open storage area just to the right of the seat (pictured below), a plank underneath the TV and a very handy pouch below the stowage point of the meal tray, I found more than enough (kinds of) places to store different kinds of objects.

The padding of the seat was pretty good and the headrest could extend, as well as go up and down, which helps to get comfortable. Although the TV screen is toucscreen, there is also a handheld controller.

For the most part it mirrors whatever on the main screen. I found this to be practical because when the seat is in upright mode, the TV screen is a little too far away for comfortable touch. Either screen were responsive and the interface easy to navigate.

There are three buttons along the seat’s right armrest that control seat position, and they are basically upright, lounge and full flat. You can stop anywhere in-between those positions, but you can’t seem to control the separate parts of the seat independently (e.g. just the footrest). After dinner I went into bed mode to catch some shuteye, which was easy to setup, and was actually rather comfortable, also thanks to the surprisingly substantial pillow that KLM provides.

One more thought, and I know this is a hot take: I kind of liked that the privacy panel was on the smaller side and there was no door. Don’t get me wrong: for long flights such as on JAL’s A350, I find that privacy is important to allow for a good night’s sleep. However, on this short flight, the added flexibility that not having a door allows becomes a boon. Why? Because with this particular seat design, it’s easy to slide out from under the tray table during dinner to go to the lavatory. It’s also easy to scoot out in bed mode, or to setup the bed. At the same time, the privacy panel that is available is enough to allow for privacy around your head when you want to sleep. Again, flight length is an important factor, and long flights, such as Amsterrdam to Johannesburg, may not be as nice, if you want to sleep for longer periods of time.

So overall, I quite liked this seat. It’s certainly not the most spacious or most private seat, but for the transatlantic flight I think it is absolutely sufficient. Flights of 10+ hours in length may be less comfortable though.

KLM World Business Class provides decent meals

Duting this meal, both dinner and breakfast were served. Keep in mind: this flight only lasted 6 hours and 15 minutes, so the focus here is on efficiency. It took a little bit of time for the flight attendants to come out, but when they did it was to provide the full meal service in a single round. On a single tray was the full menu, and they also provided drinks.

On my tray were a crab salad in the upper left as appetizer, in the lower left the grilled chicken with morel sauce, and then the chocolate banana mouse dome just to the right of the crab salad. Further there was a choice of bread and drinks, and I opted for a glass of Grüner Veltliner and a glass of water.

Truth be told, I had read some rather sad reviews about KLM’s food, so I was not expecting much. So it was with much rejoicing that I ate the crab salad. It was a delicious surprise! With mango, avocado and some other things I couldn’t identify, the meal was of to a great start. The main dish, however, was not so interesting. It was decent, but not something to get excited about. The dessert, however, was once again very nice.

Now, this service style is not very elegant or impressive, but by an hour and a half after takeoff, my tray had been cleared and I could go to sleep. So, in the context of a short flight, this service style is very practical. Looking back at my flight with SAS, the service was certainly more elevated, with a course-by-course meal that was very pleasant and at a slower pace. But the downside was that on a 7-hour flight, the dinner lasted 2.5-3 hours – maybe not what’d most important on a transatlantic flight.

Breakfast was served about an hour and a half before landing and was also served on a single tray. In the upper left are a chia coconut oatmeal, which was surprisingly tasty, then in the bottom left pancakes with pineapple compote, which was hot and satisfying, and finally the big plate in the middle was described as a ‘cold plate’. In the Dutch version of the menu, it was actually called ‘broodbeleg’, which is ‘sandwich spreads’. While I liked the chia oatmeal and pancakes, the cold plate was a little strange – though decent.

Overall, I don’t think anybody will fall off their chair due to these meals, but I also didn’t think it was as bad as some reviewers made KLM meals out to be. I thought the meals were decent with some notable highlights. Clearly KLM will not provide JAL-level meals, but they don’t pretend to do so either. Expect a decent, filling meal.

KLM World Business Class service, amenities and lavatories

In terms of amenities, when you get to your seat you’ll find the menu, a bottle of water, noise-canceling headphones, and an amenity kit. To start with the latter, I thought it was actually cute. It unravels to become a reusable bag with some side pockets, and holds lip balm, face cream, toothpaste, a tooth brush, socks and an eye mask. So, a little basic but nice nonetheless and adequate for this transatlantic flight.

The bottle of water speaks for itself, and the noise-canceling headphones were absolutely fine for me. They are the on-ear variety, which I do find a little less comfortable than the over-ear types.

In terms of Wifi, there does not appear to be a special business class pass, rather you have to buy access, which I thought was a little disappointing. That is, messaging is free, while the surf or stream pass are paid, costing up to 38 Euros for the full flight. I’d had hoped that KLM would provide the surf pass free of charge for business class passengers.

Business class passengers had access to seemingly two lavatories to the front of the cabin, and two towards the back. The one I visited stayed very clean throughout the flight. The lavatory is a little small but not too tight, with typical Dutch motifs throughout. Dutch Delft blue houses on the left wall, and (fake) tulips on the right, which was a nice touch. Several lotions and face mist from Marie Stella Maris were also available:

Summary

Ironically, the best thing about flying KLM business class from JFK to Amsterdam is the Delta One pre-departure experience. I loved that the entire process was seperated from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the terminal, and provided a seamless experience to the lounge, where you can enjoy a full sit-down dining experience.

KLM is an airline I have flown with many, many times, though this was my first time in business class. I very much like KLM cabin crew’s service style – it’s one of the main reasons for me to fly with them (one could argue that I could also fly Delta for direct flights to Amsterdam). My biases towards KLM’s service style aside, I do think that KLM business class, on the whole, is a solid experience. That is to say, it won’t knock your socks off, but the cabin crew is genuinely friendly and helpful, the seat is comfortable and practical, the food is generally decent, and the amenities are as well. It provides for a pleasant experience that is absolutely adequate for the 6-7 hour transatlantic flight. Would I choose to fly KLM business class through Amsterdam to Asia, for example? Almost certainly not. But to fly it either direct to Amsterdam, or to other destinations in Europe with a stopover in Amsterdam? Highly likely!