Europe 2024 Trip Report So Far: Back from 18-day Europe Trip, Review: Iberia Business Class DFW to MAD, Hits and Misses from my First MSC Cruise, DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Centraal Station Review, Two Days in Amsterdam, Visiting Efteling the Dutch Fairytale Theme Park, Hilton Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Ok, the title “slumming it” is purely in jest, since the flight was perfectly fine. Economy flight reviews are not too popular in the miles and points blogging/social media community. But the reality is that you can afford more trips if you conserve miles to fly in economy. While my family mostly flies in economy, we have splurged on business and premium economy seats on international flights during recent trips. This was my first regular economy seat experience home from Europe in the past 3 years.
Booking KLM Economy AMS to IAH
I booked this flight almost a year in advance using Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles. The price was 20,000 miles and included a short hop from Hamburg to Amsterdam. At the time, Capital One had a transfer bonus to Flying Blue, so the actual price was 17,000 miles per ticket plus taxes of $207.
Our Economy Seats
The flight time was 10 hours and took off at 9:40 a.m.
The plane for our flight was an Airbus A330-300. One of the main reasons I booked this particular flight is because of the seat configuration. The economy section has a 2-4-2 layout.
I paid an extra $132 for us to sit in our own row of two seats in the economy comfort rows up front. We sat in 14A and 14B.
While these seats are not any wider (17.5 inches), they have a few extra inches of legroom (35 inches of pitch vs. 31). Since it was just me and my daughter on this trip, having our own row of two was great. I didn’t have to worry about falling asleep on a stranger.
We had a pillow and blanket waiting for us on our seats. The flight attendants passed out headphones to watch movies and tv shows on the seatback screens.
The overhead bins were not full, so I was able to put my backpack up top and stretch out my legs under the seat in front of me. I had plenty of room.
Food and Service
About 90 minutes after takeoff, flight attendants served lunch. I’m not a huge fan of airplane food, and this lunch was no exception. I chose a chicken dish:
The chicken was mixed with gravy and green beans with a potato dish on the side. The meal also came with a roll, cheese, olives, tomato sauce and tomatoes.
Dessert was a fruit pie:
A few hours later, flight attendants handed out these cheese sandwiches. How very Dutch! The sandwich was good.
Before landing, flight attendants served this final meal of pizza, couscous, and dessert. I enjoyed this meal better than lunch.
Overall, the food wasn’t as bad as I’ve tasted on other flights.
Flight attendants were friendly and came around often with drinks. No complaints.
Final Thoughts
If I had unlimited cash or miles/points, of course I would fly up front every time. But that’s not my reality. Flying home from Europe on KLM in economy was a perfectly fine end to our European trip. The flight was during daylight hours, so I didn’t have to focus on sleeping. I loaded up my phone with Netflix shows to keep entertained. For me, paying the extra $132 for the extra inches of pitch and the row of 2 was worth it. My least favorite part about the entire flight was how many people sat in close proximity in the economy cabin. But for 10 hours during the day, I can deal with that. No regrets!
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
I did this same flight just over a week ago in business class (also with miles!), but I’ve done it a couple of times in economy as well over the last year. Not sure what you thought about the seats in the A330, but I found them pretty uncomfortable compared to the newer seats KLM has on the 777 and 787. The IFE screens were also not great. I’m going to avoid economy on the A330 in the future and it looks like it is scheduled on the IAH route through the rest of the year at least! I do generally enjoy traveling on KLM and connecting through AMS.
@Mike I haven’t been on any other KLM flights so I can’t compare the seat comfort. But, I didn’t think it was too bad. I hope the 2-4-2 economy configuration continues.
Paying for extra legroom on long-haul flights can be a great deal as your experience clearly shows. For tall folks like me and my husband it can be a game changer, and a bargain compared to redeeming miles on business class.
I agree on economy-class meals, to me they almost always look like dog food. That said, I was pleasantly surprised by our meals on British Airways. I’m not joking when I say that I actually enjoyed the food, and will do a review at some point. I had low expectations, but BA greatly exceeded them.
@Leana I’m glad you enjoyed the food on BA!
“Slumming it in economy…”
Hahaha… I know this was said tongue-in-cheek, but I’ve heard folks in this hobby say this and be dead serious. Because, you know, flying across the planet has so much in common with poverty (eye roll).
Your food reminds me of a funny experience. We were flying home from Europe in economy plus (OH THE HORROR!) when FAs offered the choice between “chicken or pasta”. Guy in front of me asked which one is better, and without skipping a beat the FA said “they taste the same.” ROFL!
@projectx Yes, I hear that phrase for real in this hobby. Chicken or pasta tasting the same?? ha ha!