Mini Flight Review: KLM Boeing 787-10 Premium Comfort (Premium Economy), AMS-JFK (transatlantic day flight)

In early March I departed for Madrid for a few days of vacation. I flew KLM via Amsterdam to Madrid’s Barajas Intl. Airport and reviewed the experience in KLM Premium Economy, but only after first meeting my mother in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. On the way back we flew together from Madrid Barajas, where we visited the nice Puerta del Sol Lounge, back to Amsterdam. From there I flew KLM’s Premium Economy back to New York.

While I originally booked my flights in KLM’s basic economy (and then used my Flying Blue Gold status to get a bunch of perks) I had decided to upgrade to KLM’s Premium Economy cabin, which KLM refers to as Premium Comfort. I already reviewed this experience on the way to Amsterdam, but I want to review the flight back as well, since it’s a bit of a different service flow on the transatlantic day flight.

The flight I’ll be reviewing here is flight KL643, departing Amsterdam AMS at 5:05pm and arriving at New York-JFK at 8:20pm the same day.

Briefly, this was a very pleasant flight. The difference with the redeye flight was quite striking, with a better-paced meal service that included a few extras, such as a pre-dinner drink service and a dessert service afterwards. The food was very enjoyable and was fresh and flavorful. Overall, with a comfortable seat, good food and attentive service, I’d say this is a cost-effective way to cross the Atlantic in a premium cabin.

Why this mini review?

I have already provided a full review of KLM’s Premium Comfort on the flight from New York-JFK to Amsterdam AMS, so why would I write a mini review of the same experience for the return flight? Simple: it wasn’t quite the same experience, and I’d like to highlight how exactly it was different, but without reiterating everything that was the same between the two flights. Hence, this will be a mini review, and for full details you can check out the full review of the redeye JFK-AMS flight in KLM’s Premium Comfort cabin.

Premium Comfort Seats (bulkhead row)

For my flight to JFK I was seated in the bulkhead row, rather than in the second row of the premium Comfort cabin. While the seat overall is the same, there are some subtle differences due to the fact that there is no seat in front. Also, this time I was actually the first to enter the Premium Comfort cabin, so I was able to get some overview shots of the cabin without catching other passengers in the photos.

As a reminder, KLM’s Premium Comfort is in a 2-3-2 configuration and features the Collins Aerospace MiQ seats, with 38″ pitch, 18.5″ width and have a good recline of 8″. For comparison, KLM’s economy seats have 18″ width and a 5″ recline – though the extra-legroom ‘Economy Comfort’ seats have a 7″ recline. With US airlines, these are popular seats for the first class cabin, so it’s worthwhile to make the point that what’s considered ‘first class’ for a domestic configuration, ends up being ‘only’ premium economy on the average long haul flight.

Since I was seated in the bulkhead, that meant I had a substantial amount of legroom. This is why I generally like the bulkhead seat over the other rows. However, that also means there is a little less storage space and the TV screens come from under the middle arm rest. These have to be stowed for taxi, takeoff and landing, meaning you can’t watch anything until after takeoff and ill have to stop early, before landing.

Here’s seats 12A and C, which I was in on the flight to Amsterdam, as a comparison. As you can see, with a seat in front there’s less legroom, but you do have immediate access to the TV screen and there’s a little more space to store things, for example in the pouch right below the TV screen. I definitely missed that extra storage space in the bulkhead seat.

Among the various amenities at my seat, all of which I have reviewed before, there was one standout item I hadn’t seem before: a postcard of one of KLM’s signature Delft Blue houses, normally provided as a parting gift in business class. On the back there was a kind message welcoming me personally on board and thanking me for my loyalty! I was pleasantly surprised and thought this was such a nice gesture. Thank you, KLM!

Between seats 11A (this flight) and 12A (the previous flight), the differences are small. The main ones are in the center armrest, and are related to the fact that there is no seat in front. Number one is that rather than two buttons to control the leg rest and recline, there is a third button to control the footrest. As you can see, on the bulkhead seat it’s attached to the leg rest, rather than being placed on the seat in front (though the button for it didn’t seem to work).

Then, normally there is a small compartment at the front of the armrest that would store a bottle, but here it is absent and replaced by crew call buttons. Normally you’d access these through the entertainment system, but since you have to stow it during taxi, takeoff and landing, you can’t; as such there are physical buttons for these functions.

You’ll also notice there are a USB-A and a USB-C. Again, these would be normally placed by the entertainemnt screen of the seat in front, which are not there at the bulk head.

The rest of the armrest is more or less the same, and includes a storage compartment that, upon boarding, holds noise canceling headphones. On the front side is the plug for the headphones, and in the back is a universal power plug.

The tray table is under the left armrest if you sit by the window. If you sit on the aisle, it will be in the right armrest. This is no different then on the other seats, but I did notice that here there is a little cutlery sign to the left. Pulling on that will release the tray table so you can unfold it – that sign was missing on my flight to Amsterdam.

Boarding overall was very smooth. It started about 50 minutes ahead of departure, and to my surprise it was very calm at the gate. Throughout the boarding process, people trickled in. Indeed, I later saw that the flight was probably half empty. We ended up pushing back at 5:13pm, 8 minutes behind schedule. We had a good view of an AeroMexico Boeing 787 as we pulled out of the gate.

We had a swift taxi and you could tell the pilot was stepping on it, eager to get into the air! We ultimately took off at 5:20pm. The seatbelt sign was then turned off at 5:25pm, and the flight attendants sprung into action, closing the curtains to the galley and between Premium Comfort and Economy cabins.

Drink and Dinner Service

Service started in earnest at 5:38pm, when the flight attendants passed through with bottles of water, as well as packaged wet towels. I took the time to have a look at the menu and make some decisions about the dinner I’d wanted. This is where the first difference from the redeye flight became apparent, in that there were three dinner options on this flight, rather than two.

Before dinner was brought out, there was a pre-dinner drink service, which was accompanied by a KLM-branded bag of mixed nuts. This was the second change from the redeye flight, and something I was quite happy about. I do like to have a true drink service to settle in and hydrate a little before the dinner starts in earnest. As you can see, I took KLM’s signature mocktail, which is very refreshing.

For dinner, I chose the Gada Gado chicken with cashew satay sauce. This is an Indonesian dish (Indonesia used to be a Dutch colony, and Indonesian dishes feature prominently in the cuisines you can find in the Netherlands), which was filling and flavorful. Also, I love any kind of satay or peanut sauce… I paired this with KLM’s Cape Wine shiraz, which was surprisingly delicious.

For the appetizer, there was a spicy chilli shrimp salad, which was very tasty, and not particularly spicy. As a side dish with some Dutch cheese with grapes, and while I had the grapes, the cheese wasn’t really my thing.

You may have noticed the lack of a dessert. While the main meal was cleared around 6:20pm, a dessert course of cie cream was brought quite a bit later, around 7:08pm. This was accompanied by a warm drink. Note that drink refills were provided throughout the meal service as well, and I did ask for more of the KLM mocktail. At dessert I switched to a cup of tea, which was unfortunately served in a paper cup, rather than a proper earthen mug.

I thought it turned out to be a great meal. I liked the pre-dinner drink service, the additional choice in main course, and the dessert served as a separate course. The food tased very well, and I particularly liked the shrimp and Gado Gado chicken. throughout, I thought the flight attendants were attentive and kind, and happy to provide more drinks and such.

Pre-Landing Meal Service

The flight proceeded without incident, and I spent most of the time watching movies. I briefly took a nap as well. Here and there a flight attendant came through offering water and snacks, which I thought was a nice touch to keep people from getting to bored.

Around 11:34pm we were perhaps 1.5hrs away from New York, and this was when the pre-landing meal was served. This included an appetizer, main dish and a dessert all on one tray, and a hot bun and drinks were also provided.

For the appetizer I got a falafel with a tangy sauce, which tasted pretty good. For the main there was no choice, and consisted of a couscous salad with mango and various vegetables, which tasted great, and I enjoyed it very much. I thought this was a particularly nice pre-landing dish, given how refreshing it was, between the sweet mango and crisp lettuce and tomato. Finally, for the dessert I got an apple pie, which I enjoyed very much as well.

The food didn’t last long and after about half an hour the flight attendants came around to clean up. I thought it was a very nice meal, though you may have noticed this was a similar setup and flow as on the redeye flight – though I thought that qualitatively this was a much better pre-landing meal than the breakfast-type meal provided on the redeye flight.

Arrival in New York-JFK

Not long after we were already flying over Long Island and the pilot got onto the PA to announce we’d be descending in a bit. Given how dark it was, there wasn’t all that much to see, except for the lights of Long Island.

We made made a straight-in approach into JFK, and touched down fairly hard around 8pm EST. Unfortunately we were stuck crossing a runway so it took about 20 minutes before we pulled into one of the B gates at JFK’s Terminal 4.

So came to an end the flight in KLM’s Premium Comfort cabin on this transatlantic day flight from Amsterdam. It was a comfrotbale flight and like on the flight from JFK to Amsterdam a few days before, I much enjoyed Premium Comfort. I do think that for a flight of this length, Premium Economy strikes a great balance between cost and quality, providing a significantly more comfortable seat, expanded service and food options, for a price that’s still reasonable.

Differences between KLM’s Premium Comfort redeye and day flight services

I have highlighted most differences between the redeye and day flights, but just to put it all in one place: there was a pre-dinner drink service, an extra main at dinner, and a separate dessert course. There were also additional drinks and snacks brought out during the flight.

So the service is definitely expanded in the day flight, but I also wouldn’t say the service is significantly more extensive, given my summary above. I will say this, though: the pacing of the service is more relaxed, since nobody is looking to maximize rest. That allows the crew to take their time with each passenger and provide a more complete experience, and that is ultimately the difference between the redeye and day flights.

To be clear though, I thought that the level of service, the efficiency and performance of the crew, combined with the expanded food options and comfortable seat strike a perfect balance for the redeye flight for the price I paid, and I actually think it’s a more satisfying experience than business class because of that. The day flight is similar in all respects, except that the crew has more time to interact with every passenger and provide a more personalized service experience.

Was this a surprise? Not really: after all, it was the same in business class. The redeye maximized sleep, and thus combined all courses onto a single tray and there was no pre-dinner drink service, while the day flight had a fully coursed meal, additional drinks throughout the flight, and more relaxed, slower-paced service flow. It stands to reason it would be similar in Premium Comfort.

Summary

The day flight in KLM’s Premium Comfort cabin from Amsterdam to New York was a very nice experience that strikes a nice balance between cost and expanded quality of the seat, food and service that you experience on board. The day flight has a slower-paced service flow that I think is enjoyable, since the flight attendants try to provide a more personalized service to every passenger, given they have more time to do so (the redeye flight prioritizes rest). I’d be happy to fly with KLM’s Premium Economy cabin again on my next flights to Amsterdam, and givven the reduced cost comapred to business class, may actually prefer it.