Is Flying KLM in Premium Economy to Japan worth it?

In spring 2025, I fulfilled a long dream of mine and visited Japan during cherry blossom season and we were flying KLM in Premium Economy. I wasn’t going to enjoy the beautiful sakura alone – my mom wanted to visit Japan, so with mom in tow, I attempted to upgrade my usually budget- to-midrange trips, starting with a flight upgrade. Read here how that went!

I do not have many pictures from the actual flight, because I was feeling so stressed, so I shall supplement this post with some photos from our trip, which are invariably nicer.

A few facts about KLM

KLM stands for Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij, or Dutch Royal Airline. KLM is the oldest operating airline and is the national carrier of the Netherlands. Geek fact: KLM, Avianca, Qantas, Aeroflot, Czech Airlines and Finnair are the world’s oldest airlines still in operation. KLM gets a full safety rating on Airline Ratings and ranks at No.9 of JACDEC’s ranking of the world’s safest airlines.

So, KLM fulfils this nervous travellers minimum criteria, and having flown them as recent as last year, they are a solid no-nonsense airline with flights that are mostly on time and very nice and caring flight attendants. There are currently up to six daily flights from my home airport to the Amsterdam hub of KLM, more than to some other major German airports, so it’s a recommendation in terms of connectivity.

 KLM Aircraft are a curious mix of Boeing, Airbus and Embraer aircraft with an average age of 13-14 years.

Booking Process, Web Site and Mobile App

Since I was not travelling solo this time, comfort was a bit more of a priority than it normally is for me. For myself, since I had my surgery, I can pretzel into the tightest Economy seat – as long as it’s clean and safe, I don’t care.

This time, I was going to travel with my mother, who prefers to fly Business Class. Since I need to book my leave 9-12 months in advance, we identified a mutually convenient time to travel and decided that we might as well visit Japan during cherry blossom season, which is the busiest travel season. It would probably my mum’s first (and only) visit to Japan, and I had never been to Japan during cherry blossom (too expensive, too busy for my liking) but I also wanted to experience it at least once.

As soon as hotels I liked became available, I booked them – that was in July last year. So at least for hotels, we got a nice deal for what is peak season. Then we set upon booking flights using Skyscanner.

Turned out that Business Class would be out of the question. Looking at the cheapest options that were’t a Chinese Airline flying over Russia, we landed at Lufthansa and ANA; with the long flight operated by Lufthansa, and prices of about 4000Euro per person, with really inconvenient flight times, and zero flexibility. Yes. Zero flexibility on a Business Class ticket. Flexibility would have cost an extra 1000 per ticket. At this point, I noped out and said my mum is welcome to fly Business Class, but I am not paying for that – I would fly on the same flight but in Economy.

So, since I thought KLM was solid, and their connections good, and their prices comparably okay, we looked into KLM and compromised that we would both be flying Premium Economy.

I always book my flight through the airline web site, so KLM’s flights were easy enough to book on their desktop website. Only then did we notice that this was “Economy Light” – no luggage despite booking Premium Economy. Also, the luggage option was only bookable for both legs, not just the return leg, when we’d really need it. So, another 100-ish Euro for that, then 45 Euro each for lounge access. Choice of seat? Another 20-50 Euro per flight. Nah. I really felt a bit milked at that point.

Customer Service through the website pre-flight was okay – it was some automated chat and I had to use it once when we did not receive any lounge passes. The chat confirmed we had paid for lounge access, and kindly emailed me the receipts, but no passes.

Said and done, we paid up and rested assured until it came to check in. Oh, what a mess. The KLM app that I had downloaded, too, was so borked, I was unable to check us in. it repeatedly wanted me to scan my passport (hell, no!) and then borked up altogether. The only thing I was able to do on the app was to request a vegetarian meal.

So, off to my desktop computer I went, about a day before the flight, after receiving several urgent-sounding Emails that I was to check in. So, I did, put in mine and my mothers passport details only to receive a boarding pass for the feeder flight. My seat allocation – gone as well. What??? I was told by the app that I would now need to go to the Check-in desk to receive my boarding pass. What exactly is the point of online Check-In please, if you then have to join the check-in queue for boarding passes as well???

Customer Service post-flight was non-existent. I complained about the treatment we received at AMS through the web site. As of today, two months later, I have not received a response. I actually logged into my user account to check, and it says my requested has been processed and completed, but there is no communication – nothing in my EmaiI, no message on the KLM site.

You can follow your requests/complaint in theory by inputting the reference number, but you cannot see what you have written, and there was no Email- Communications, which makes it extremely difficult to track any communication, and I had to protocol everything separately, and make screenshots of everything. I asked KLM again, through their contact form, to inform me of their decision. I shall update this post if and when I hear anything, but after two months, I am just sick of waiting.

In my case, it was “just” 90 Euro lounge fee. But a lot of stress in the day before our trip, and a big loss of dignity on the flight back – in fact, the lingering flu I was managing broke out so badly after my trip, I was sick in bed for several days. Now, this may have happened even in case of an uneventful journey, but running so bad for the connecting flight and collapsing prior to boarding may have had something to do with it.

I am am contemplating on whether to save my efforts for something more useful and personally, I would not spend a lot of money on anything to do with KLM any more.

Departure, Arrival and Transfer in Amsterdam

And so… the saga continues. We were travelling with hand luggage, but had to arrive at the airport extra early in order to go to the Check-In Desk to be told “You are on Standby!”

What on Earth???

We booked nine months ago, we bought a regular full-price ticket, in fact, we paid a good deal of money for Premium Economy, surely you are joking, Sir? The Check-In Agent was sympathetic but confirmed that we would need to visit a transfer desk in Amsterdam and no one at this stage would be able to tell us whether we would actually get on our flight or Whether we would be stranded in Amsterdam. No “YOu will definitely be on a flight to Kansai today, they may upgrade or downgrade you, but you will get in that flight.” We got a short “this happens every day, do not worry”, but what the heck, I worried! This was travelling with my elderly mother which has mobility issues.

So, after arriving in Amsterdam, we went to the self-transfer desk, got an error message, then went to a manned transfer desk. Same answer – we are on Standby. We had paid to use the Royal Coron Lounge, so at least they issued some boarding passes so that we could use the lounge… but they could not find us, so I had to dig out the receipts for the lounge payment which I had wisely printed out…

The KLM Crown Lounge was a big disappointment. Scruffy, worn, loads of dirty dishes standing around, nisy, no privacy, fairly substandard food.

There was a small transfer desk – they told me the same. So, we only spent about 20 minutes in the lounge, then we had to go to our departure gate and try to get an actual boarding pass and a seat allocation. The only thing I regret about the lounge is paying the 50 Euro per person to use it.

Routing

After this, we definitely had enough excitement for the day and I was ready to drink a beer and a Bailey’s and lie down. Which I did. We flew a route across Asia on the way in and the polar route back.

We encountered some fairly frightening turbulence over China on the way in, when, all of a sudden, there was an announcement that we ought to fasten our seatbelts as a plane flying inf front of us had encountered turbulence and the flight attendants went through the cabin saying that we were expecting SEVERE turbulence. It was not so bad n the end, more like moderate turbulence, but I was frightened, of course.

Aircraft

The long flight from AMS to Osaka was operated on a Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” . According to this website, KLM has over 20 787 in operation with an age between 1- 10 years. I think originally we were to fly in a Boeing 777, which generally have more capacity than the 787, so I don’t get the overbooking, i really don’t.

The short hop to and from Amsterdam was done in an Airbus A320, I think – it was such an unremarkable flight, I cannot really remember.

 Flying KLM in Premium Economy

The aircraft for the long Amsterdam to Osaka Route was going to be an older Boeing 777, but had been switched to Boeing 787-9 “Dreamliner” with 279 seats, at the last minute. This KLM 787-9 had a relatively new “Premium Comfort” cabin fitted, just three rows of eight seats across, instead of ten seats in Economy Class, offering minimally more seat width. Which meant one less seat across in “Premium Economy” . Seats were 19 inch wide, with a generous 38 inch foot well but only 8 degrees recline… which felt like a comfy TV chair.

And that was it – it was a comfy seat, not comfy enough to sleep. The screens were medium size, the headphones decent, the In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) rather underwhelming and I would definitely rank it low compared to all flights I have been on in recent year. Not a lot of films, but it worked.

We had two meal services in Premium Economy, and plenty of small snacks on offer, and gt a small amenity bag that doubles as a laundry net. Not stylish but useful. Compare that to the Eco Etihad Shopping bag (livery colours actually useful) and the Eco Turkish Airlines toiletry bags, it was rather underwhelming but hey, I am not flying for the amenity kit, otherwise I would never fly Finnair!

Food and Drink

Shortly after take-off, we were handed menus and some drinks with pretty good nuts and crackers. I had pre-ordered a vegetarian meal, which was good, and drink menu was nice, too – a couple soft drink, beer (only Dutch beer no Japanese beer), and Bailey’s liqueur.

I am not expecting gourmet food on the plane, especially when your taste is somewhat altered in the airplane cabin, and it was fine. There were decent snacks between meals, too, and I cannot remember the breakfast well – which means it was probably adequate.

KLM Premium Economy to Japan: Yay or Nay?

After this experience, KLM is a big resounding NO for me. The issue with being put on Standby until literally the last minute, the lacklustre Premium Economy product and the abysmal treatment we received in Schiphol Airport on the way back have convinced me that KLM is not an airline I would like to fly again. A short hop to Amsterdam without connecting, maybe. But longhaul with a connection at AMS; I do not recommend.

Was there anything good? Yes. The flight attendants on the actual flights were friendly and caring. Both when we encountered turbulence the attendant working nearest to us had some reassuring words, and when we were worried about our connection on the way back, the flight attendants did their best to assess the situation and advised us how to transfer smoothly (didn’t happen but wasn’t their fault)

 The Small Print

I booked this trip on the KLM website, paying full price for all services, and I have no affiliation with KLM (or any other airline). This trip on KLM reflects my personal experience. It is not in my interest to say anything bad about KLM, but in times of fake reviews, reviews being deleted – I consider it fair play to share an experience, even when it’s less than perfect.

So, without wanting to generalize, this is my personal experience. I hope it helps you in your decision with airline to give your business to. There are no affiliate links in this post. I do have lots of Japan blog posts, especially on Kansai and Kyoto in particular, so please feel free to browse for Japan travel inspiration.

Also, I haven’t made a pin for this post, as I have no airline photos, really, but you can pin the regular photos instead.