A grand day with KLM

Shortly before 2 pm, Anna and I boarded our KLM flight under blue skies at Arlanda. After a 2011 volcano on Java and a war in Europe (the latter in combination with that my parents came down with Covid) had foiled our two previous attempts to try the Dutch flag carrier, we were thus finally underway. To our surprise, we were served an entirely edible sandwich and a full drink service during our one-and-a-half-hour long hop in the air.

Once on the ground at Schiphol, we made it over to the non-Schengen gates and the brand-new KLM’s Crown Lounge which we had unexpected access to thanks to a last-minute €60 upgrade to business class for the second leg of the day. Originally, we had of course planned to go into the city for our six-hour long layover but given the recent airport chaos with its day-long queues, we decided to play it safe and stay at the airport. Spanning two floors and one outdoor terrace, the lounge has different seating areas or “themes” like Polder, sea and sky. In addition, there is the Blue Bar with its extensive cocktail menu.

 

Even if I am a Star Alliance fanboy, this was a great change of scenes and while it may not be up there with TK’s Istanbul lounge or United’s Polaris Lounge at SFO, it has a good chance of ending up on this year’s Gold List.