For the first long-haul leg of our amazing trip across Asia, we flew with KLM in its World Business Class on the Boeing 787-10 from New York to Amsterdam. I was looking forward to this flight because our departure from JFK would also allow us the chance to visit the Delta One Lounge.
In this post:
Booking Our KLM Boeing 787-10 Business Class Flight
The major driver for booking our flights revolved around the airports that offered nonstop flights to Kazakhstan. The two airports that offered the best options were in Dubai and Istanbul. Therefore, I focused my search on those two destinations.
Ultimately, I ended up finding award availability through Flying Blue between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Dubai International Airport (DXB) via Amsterdam. I used 86,500 Flying Blue miles per person, transferred from American Express Membership Rewards, plus $355 in taxes and fees. After booking our award tickets online, I called KLM to add ATX Jr. as a lap infant. I paid roughly $100 to add him to our reservation.
KLM and Delta run multiple flights a day between New York and Amsterdam. Our flight was the last one of the day, departing just after 10:00p local time. While that wouldn’t have been my first choice with an infant, it was the only flight with two award seats available.
Check-In
We arrived at JFK via an American Airlines flight from Dallas-Ft. Worth and made our way to Terminal 4 via the AirTrain. Terminal 4 is the primary home for Delta and most of its partners at JFK. Air France and Korean Air use Terminal 1.
Since we were traveling in KLM World Business Class, we had access to the Delta One Check-In area. This was my first time using a dedicated check-in lounge and you can find a detailed review of that experience here.
Since we added a lap infant to our ticket, KLM wasn’t able to issue boarding passes for ATX Jr. or myself beyond Amsterdam. We were instructed to go to a transfer desk upon arrival for our onward boarding passes. Mrs. ATX was able to get her boarding passes onward to Dubai and our bags were checked all the way through.
From the check-in space, we headed to the private Delta One security checkpoint and then proceeded directly to the lounge.
Lounge
KLM World Business Class passengers have access to the Delta One Lounge at JFK. The space is massive, spanning 40,000 square feet and has seating for more than 500 passengers. Entry requirements are rather strict so, aside from the evening departure bank, the lounge stays fairly calm.
Our experience in the lounge was phenomenal and I can confidently say that it is one of the best Business Class lounges in the world. Since our flight was departing late, we ate a wonderful three course meal in the lounge and both took showers prior to departure.
You can find the full review of the Delta One Lounge experience at New York-JFK here.
Boarding My KLM Boeing 787-10 Business Class Flight
Our flight to Amsterdam was departing from Gate B24, a short walk from the Delta One Lounge. Boarding was scheduled to begin at 9:30p for our 10:20p departure. Preboarding was underway when we arrived at the gate with boarding starting at the scheduled time. Multiple queues of passengers had formed prior to boarding that we had to push through for family preboarding.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
KL 644
JFK-AMS (John F. Kennedy International – Amsterdam Schiphol)
Seat: 1G (Business)
B787-10 (PH-BKK)
Scheduled: 10:20p-10:30a (+1)
Actual: 10:15p-10:09a (+1)
PH-BKK, nicknamed Lily of the Valley, would be our ride over to Amsterdam.
We boarded through door 1L, where a flight attendant took ATX Jr.’s stroller, and turned right into the Business Class cabin.
KLM Boeing 787-10 Business Class Seat
I’ve had the opportunity to fly long haul with KLM many times on the airline’s direct flight between Amsterdam and my home in Austin. Those flights have always been on Boeing 787-9 aircraft so I was excited to see the differences on the 787-10, if any.
Since our flight had such a late departure, the cabin lights were dimmed throughout the boarding process. Some of the photos below were taken prior to arrival in Amsterdam the next morning in order to get some better light.
The Business Class cabin on KLM’s Boeing 787-10s takes up the entire space between the first and second set of doors. Ten rows of Business Class seats are arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration with 38 seats in total.
Since we were travelling with an infant and requested a bassinet, we were assigned seats 1D and 1G. The middle seats located against the bulkhead of the Business Class cabin. A full-size pillow and blanket along with the amenity kit for our flight and menus were waiting at the seat when we arrived. At first glance, the seats are extremely similar to the ones you’ll find on the Boeing 787-9 with a few minor differences.
The bulkhead seats have a shelf directly in front of them which I used to store all of these items, along with a bunch of other junk, while we got ATX Jr. settled in.
The footwell has plenty of space, especially in Row 1, for my 6′ 2″ frame. With the seat upright, there’s also a small cubby underneath the footwell to allow you to spread out a bit.
The seat controls and a storage cubby are located in the center space between the seats. The controls are simple and intuitive to use, though they were easy to inadvertently bump which would cause the seat to shift.
Instead of the large storage compartment that closes and latches on the 787-9, KLM elected to install an open storage area on the 787-10s. A bottle of water and the KLM provided Business Class headphones were waiting here. The IFE remote and a reading light are located next to the storage compartment.
The headphone jack, 110V power outlet and a USB-A outlet are located below the storage area.
Unlike the rest of the Business Class cabin, the IFE screens are mounted in a fixed position. Other seats in the cabin have screens that are mounted at a 45 degree angle which must be stowed during taxi, take-off, and landing.
The tray table is located under the center shelf and popped out with a push of a button. It can be folded in half or opened fully and was adjustable forwards and backwards. Unlike the Boeing 787-9, this tray had a funky shape and isn’t fully flat when folded.
Next to the seat, underneath the seat controls, are two literature pockets. On this flight, one was empty while the other held the safety card, an airsickness bag, and the in-flight magazine.
Between the seats, there is a sliding divider that can completely close off the other seat. While Mrs. ATX only threatened to close it on me a couple of times, this makes the seat feel very private when traveling next to a stranger.
Finally, though it wasn’t installed until after takeoff, a bassinet was fastened to the bulkhead wall.
Aside from some minor differences, some of which can be attributed to our bulkhead seats, Business Class is essentially the same between KLM’s two Boeing 787 variants. The only real difference is the lack of a storage panel with a door in the center section of the seat and the seat controls.
KLM Business Class Menu & Amenity Kit
As I mentioned earlier, the menus and amenity kit for our flight were waiting at our seats upon boarding. I attributed this to the late departure time with the airline assuming most people would want to maximize sleep. The menu for our flight to Amsterdam read as follows.
The amenity kit on this flight was underwhelming. Everything was packaged in a pouch that unfurled to reveal the amenities. While I don’t keep all of my amenity kits, I’ll usually utilize them for a portion of my travels to hold various items, though this one was left on the plane.
The contents of the amenity kit were fairly basic and included earplugs, lip balm, a pen, eye mask, socks, a toothbrush, and a toothpaste tablet. The pen, socks, and eye mask weren’t in KLM’s traditional blue but rather a burgundy color.
Departure
During boarding, as we settled into our seats, the cabin crew came through offering pre-departure beverages. Water, champagne, and Heineken beer were offered and Mrs. ATX and I both chose the champagne.
We pushed off of the gate five minutes ahead of schedule but, since we were seated in the center of the cabin, I couldn’t tell much about our taxi. Due to the late hour, there was no wait for our departure runway and we were on our way to Amsterdam.
KLM Business Class Dinner Service
Twenty minutes after departure, as we were climbing out of JFK, the meal service began with hot towels being distributed. Roughly half of the cabin was asleep at this point, including Mrs. ATX and ATX Jr., which made the service flow go quickly.
Meal orders were also taken with a choice between cauliflower steak in a Romesco sauce and sous vide prepared beef in a morel sauce. I chose the beef, which I paired with a glass of water.
Forty-five minutes after departure, the meal was served. The appetizer, main, and dessert were served on a single tray along with a roll and crackers.
Maybe it was the late hour but this was one of the best beef meals I’ve ever had on a plane. It ranked right up there along with my British Airways Club Suites experience a couple of years ago.
After my tray was cleared, I decided to order a coffee with Bailey’s. I always struggle to sleep on planes, especially on eastbound transatlantic flights, and have a hard time deciding when I should call it a night.
The coffee was served alongside a chocolate Dutch house, with a choice between white, milk, and dark chocolate.
In-Flight
KLM doesn’t offer pajamas in Business Class but, having flown with the carrier many times before, I brought my own overnight clothes. After dinner, I headed to the lavatory to change.
There are two lavatories in the Business Class Cabin on KLM’s 787-10s and both were a decent size. The first one I visited was a little worse for wear, with the tulip holder having been torn from the wall. However, both were kept clean throughout the flight.
Marie-Stella-Maris toiletries are available in the Business Class lavatory which is a nice touch.
While KLM doesn’t go over the top, it does include little touches of Dutch flair throughout the aircraft. This extends to the lavatories which have wallpaper featuring little Delft houses.
Back at my seat, the exhaustion won out over the coffee and I put my seat into bed mode with 5h 25m remaining in the flight.
I woke up with 1h and 20m remaining until landing just as we were approaching the western coast of Ireland.
Prior to breakfast, I headed back to the lavatory to change back into my street clothes. Fortunately, this one had the tulip!
KLM Business Class Breakfast Service
Back at my seat, I found Mrs. ATX and ATX Jr. wide awake. I played with ATX Jr. while she ate so it was just under an hour before landing when I had breakfast. I ordered the pancakes with strawberry compote and fresh strawberries.
Breakfast was served on a single tray but I found the plating to be odd. The main dish seemed like a side with a protein plate playing the starring role. Ultimately, this was a good thing as I found the pancakes to be entirely too sweet and there wasn’t anything fresh about it.
Coffee, juice, and tea were offered by the crew multiple times during breakfast. I kept it simple with black coffee.
Arrival
With 40 minutes remaining in the flight, the crew began preparing the cabin for arrival. KLM offers ceramic houses filled with Dutch Genever to its Business Class passengers. These were distributed by the crew on trays, allowing us to pick our own.
These houses have become somewhat of a collectors item among KLM frequent flyers and the airline even has an app to track your houses. Mrs. ATX and I both picked a house and were encouraged to pick a third for ATX Jr.
We had a smooth descent into Amsterdam and landed on the Polderbaan runway, which is located in the middle of nowhere, thirty-five minutes before our scheduled arrival time.
We had a 15 minute taxi over to our arrival gate where we blocked in twenty minutes ahead of schedule.
Dual jet-bridges were used for deplaning in Amsterdam which meant we weren’t rushed while deplaning with ATX Jr.
Once we were off the plane, we had a short walk over to the KLM Crown Lounge 52 to relax before our onward flight to Dubai.
Summary
Our KLM Business Class flight to Amsterdam felt like being reunited with an old friend. The 787-10 has roughly the same seats as the 787-9s which we’ve flown many times between Austin and Amsterdam.
The service on this flight was fine, albeit somewhat abbreviated due to the late departure. It may not be the most cutting edge product but the friendly crews coupled with the availability of award space via Flying Blue will keep us coming back to the Dutch flag carrier in the future.
