KLM business class

[Grandad Gaz]

After a bit of googling, it seems I can get from Norwich to NZ for half the price than going from Heathrow!

KLM from Norwich to Amsterdam takes 55 mins. A couple of hours wait and then the flight to Singapore, which is also operated by KLM. The last leg to Auckland is operated by air new Zealand.

So, my question is, what is the difference between business class Singapore airlines and KLM?

I live about half hour from Norwich.

[Andy_290]

I would ask the knowledgeable lot over at www.flyertalk.com/forums

[CraigyMc]

Grandad Gaz said:

After a bit of googling, it seems I can get from Norwich to NZ for half the price than going from Heathrow!

KLM from Norwich to Amsterdam takes 55 mins. A couple of hours wait and then the flight to Singapore, which is also operated by KLM. The last leg to Auckland is operated by air new Zealand.

So, my question is, what is the difference between business class Singapore airlines and KLM?

I live about half hour from Norwich.

UK APD is a tax based on how far you're flying, in this case Norwich to Amsterdam.

It's why flying short haul to Ireland or somewhere else relatively local cab result in big savings compared to flying direct

[ffc]

Grandad Gaz said:

After a bit of googling, it seems I can get from Norwich to NZ for half the price than going from Heathrow!

KLM from Norwich to Amsterdam takes 55 mins. A couple of hours wait and then the flight to Singapore, which is also operated by KLM. The last leg to Auckland is operated by air new Zealand.

So, my question is, what is the difference between business class Singapore airlines and KLM?

I live about half hour from Norwich.

We did KLM business from Schipol to Arusha a couple of years ago, service was good, seats were good and they offer you a pottery figurine as a present. I'd use them again if they suited the route. We wnr to Schipol from Heathrow the evening before and stayed in an airport hotel to reduce connection stress.

We went to NZ on Malaysian in Business earlier this year. They were the cheapest and we took an overnight layover in a KL airport hotel to break it up. I'd do that again too.

IME as long as the seat is lay flat and the airline isn't terrible Business Class will be fine. Have a look at videos on YT to see what they're like.

[random_username]

I would also suggest searching for flights that start in the EU but transit via Heathrow - eg. Dublin -> LHR -> NZ as these can also be significantly cheaper than the LHR -> NZ flights on exactly the same planes.

You'd have to pay for the first flight to Dublin, but normally you can then break the trip up into a mini-break in Dublin, then take the main LHR - NZ flights a few weeks later on. See https://www.turningleftforless.com/beginners-ex-eu...

[DJC76]

Singapore airlines business class is a superior product but KLM will be absolutely fine. The food won’t be as good, the styling won’t be as fancy and the crew won’t be as friendly but you’re doing it to sleep right? Almost all airlines use slightly modified versions of the same seats so much of a muchness for hard product these days.

[shtu]

DJC76 said:

Singapore airlines business class is a superior product but KLM will be absolutely fine..

That's a pretty solid summary, even for economy-plebs like me.

KLM is perfectly good, Singapore are better, but if you're asleep most of the way it barely matters.

[Nicetobenice]

shtu said:

DJC76 said:

Singapore airlines business class is a superior product but KLM will be absolutely fine..

That's a pretty solid summary, even for economy-plebs like me.

KLM is perfectly good, Singapore are better, but if you're asleep most of the way it barely matters.

And it's certainly not worth driving from near Norwich to Heathrow for the improvement

[halfpenny43]

Last year I flew Amsterdam - Shanghai - Auckland with KLM and Air NZ - but fly KLM to Asia quite regularly for work.

As others have said. Singapore or Qatar offer a superior product but KLM with their new(ish) suites in all their 777's and most 787's are quite comfortable and offer decent levels of privacy. Walls are not as tall as Qatar / Singapore but has a little door you can shut and it give good levels of privacy and the flat beds are quite comfortable and if your tall are quite long.

Air NZ on the other hand is terrible. You sit with your back against the window and feet pointing into the aisle - so you face the person opposite you and is not private at all. The flat bed needs to be manually made flat for you and then back into a chair. When in "chair" mode you can recline automatically but not go full flat. First world problems - and better than economy for two 11 hour flights.

[bigmowley]

Another vote for KLM business class. Not the best but perfectly adequate and in my experience efficient service.
I’ve got quite a big collection of those little houses in my downstairs toilet .
No experience of Air NZ.

[Screenwash]

Air NZ have gone downhill rapidly over the past 10 years, but SIN-AKL is one of their flagship routes and as such probably has one of their better planes.

They codeshare with Singapore Airlines so if you fancied a short layover in Singapore the second flight of the day on the route is operated by Singapore.

[captain_cynic]

Grandad Gaz said:

After a bit of googling, it seems I can get from Norwich to NZ for half the price than going from Heathrow!

KLM from Norwich to Amsterdam takes 55 mins. A couple of hours wait and then the flight to Singapore, which is also operated by KLM. The last leg to Auckland is operated by air new Zealand.

So, my question is, what is the difference between business class Singapore airlines and KLM?

I live about half hour from Norwich.

The two are not even comparable.

However that is because the Singapore product is amongst the best in the world. The KLM product will be fine.

My concern will be what class are you in on the Air NZ flight. Make sure that is in business as well (or that you're OK with a different class).

[Grandad Gaz]

Some excellent advice there, thank you.

One more thing, if I book it as a through ticket from Norwich, am I right in thinking it's the airlines responsibility if I miss my connecting flight due to a delayed departure from Norwich?

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Grandad Gaz said:

Some excellent advice there, thank you.

One more thing, if I book it as a through ticket from Norwich, am I right in thinking it's the airlines responsibility if I miss my connecting flight due to a delayed departure from Norwich?

Yes if it all one PNR you shouldn’t have any problems.

[Collectingbrass]

Grandad Gaz said:

Some excellent advice there, thank you.

One more thing, if I book it as a through ticket from Norwich, am I right in thinking it's the airlines responsibility if I miss my connecting flight due to a delayed departure from Norwich?

I would put air tags in your luggage. By far the greatest proportion of luggage that doesn't arrive with the self loading freight passenger misses its connection at the transit airport.

[captain_cynic]

Collectingbrass said:

I would put air tags in your luggage. By far the greatest proportion of luggage that doesn't arrive with the self loading freight passenger misses its connection at the transit airport.

I wouldn't bother.

Airports are pretty good at making sure luggage gets where it's meant to. Worst case scenario is that you're waiting a day for.your bag to be delivered to your hotel and the best defence against that is to carry a change of clothes in your carry on. Just a shirt, fresh pair of socks and clean undies.

The two airports you've mentioned, AMS and SIN are pretty damned good.

[happytobealive]

Collectingbrass said:

I would put air tags in your luggage....

That can be a life-saving tip.

One time coming back through Heathrow, at shift change over time, quite a few passengers (including me) were waiting over an hour for their cases to arrive. We went to speak to Customer Services, who checked the baggage tags, and we were told the missing bags hadn't been loaded onto the plane at origin, and we needed to fill in some forms, and they would be forwarded onto us at a later date.

Except my wife had put an air-tag into each of our bags, and when they eventually pinged, we could 'see' their location was some random point on the ramp at Heathrow. Clearly a baggage trailer had been forgotten about and left.

As I could show the customer services person the map where the bags were located, she was able to send someone to retrieve them, and 15 mins later we all had our missing bags.

We now always ensure every bag has its own airtag.

[Grandad Gaz]

To give you an idea of the saving. Business Class.

Norwich to NZ, via Amsterdam and Singapore in November, (KLM an Air New Zealand), £3,794. Return

Heathrow to NZ, (Singapore Airlines), £6,951. Return

That is some difference!

[StevieBee]

I've done exactly that same trip in much the same way - only difference was I flew from London City to Amsterdam and via Kuala Lumpur.

The KLM operated flights were with Malaysia Airways. Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, the Business Class was superb - Kuala Lumpur to Auckland, less so but still good. The KLM accessible lounges are excellent. Pack a change of clothes in your carry on bags and grab a shower if you have the time - makes a world of difference.

Singapore Airlines business class is up there with the best of them You won't be disappointed. Have no experience of NZ airlines.

Providing you buy everything on the same ticket, you shouldn't have to worry about luggage. From memory, I got all my boarding passes for the three legs at City Airport. If that's the same for you then your bags will go straight through. If they do miss a connection an AirTag isn't going to make them magically appear - just tell you where they are.

NZ is a very long way away - fly any further and you're flying home. Doing the trip at the front of the plane is the way to do it!

When I went, someone here suggested I pack my slippers for the flight. I did and was well worth it!

Enjoy

[shtu]

Grandad Gaz said:

To give you an idea of the saving. Business Class.

Norwich to NZ, via Amsterdam and Singapore in November, (KLM an Air New Zealand), £3,794. Return

Heathrow to NZ, (Singapore Airlines), £6,951. Return

That is some difference!

For that difference I'd be buying the Norwich ticket, as long as the cheaper one is somewhere close on overall time - the cheapest ones (2600ish) were almost 36 hours, with sub-30 costing another thousand. (factor in your travel from Norwich to Heathrow and I'll bet there's little in it.)

At random I looked at a flight for a few weeks from now, which gave Norwich -> Amsterdam -> Shanghai -> Auckland. It was the last leg that was an AirNZ plane. 4-5 hour layovers in each stage, which isn't too bad if you have lounge access, eg, the lounges KLM use in Shanghai have some shower facilities, so a shower and some decent food will consume a good chunk of that wait.

Google flights gives you the flight numbers and aircraft type, so you can see what you're getting.

Edited by shtu on Thursday 2nd July 13:46