KLM service LPL-AMS

[Maddog]

I'm a little concerned about stories of lost luggage and have a couple of questions - your help would be appreciated.

I'm flying out of Liverpool with KLM mid-August via AMS to Atlanta (4pax).

What is the latest check-in time (I'm on the 10:20)? Connecting flight is 12:40.

Will my luggage be shipped through onto the connecting flight to Atlanta or will I have to collect and check back in? (Will LPL check-in satisfy security requirements for transatlantic flights)

On another note, is the Halewood Lounge any good/worth it, bearing in mind we have two younger travelers with us (12 & 13)?

Thanks in advance

[beecactus]

Maddog.

you can check in for your flight 30hrs before departure through klm.com choose seating for your group etc for both flights. bag drop opens 2hrs before and check in closure is 30mins.. if you choose not to check online you are still able to check as normal 2hrs prior.. yes your baggage is through checked to your final dest.. with your flight not being a direct transatlantic flight the only thing you'll be expected off when checking in at lpl is your ESTA confirmation for entry into the states.. expect the rest at amsterdam. the lounge is not operated by KLM therefore you would need to prebook this through servisair who operate the lounge, unless !!! your booked in business class or are a higher tier flying blue member were free entry should be granted... hope this helps have a great trip ! ;D

[panelman]

I flew Liverpool - Montreal in Feb, and at that time there was no online check-in available at Liverpool, so it was the normal check-in desk, but I was able to pre- book my seats online on the Montreal MD11, (crack'in flight the MD11 cabin had had an upgrade and was like brand new) service, and at the same time was able to pre-book my return seats on the Toronto 747 service, ( the 747 was old and not a patch on the MD11). Baggage we had no problems all in all very happy with KLM.

[eitlean]

I flew Liverpool-Amsterdam-Istanbul with KLM, out last Sunday 6 June, back on Tuesday 8 June. No problem with an old-style check-in at LPL, although I was slightly irked not to be offered a preference for seats (I always like to have a window seat). But then, I never function properly at 5am. By chance, I was allocated a window seat for the AMS-IST leg, but not for the LPL-AMS leg, even though the flight was less than half full.

Flight back was more full, about two-thirds. As a transit airport, Amsterdam is better than many others. It certainly knocks spots off Heathrow, which has always been a disaster for me any time I've flown through it. The main thing is how close your two gates are - though all UK regional flights seem to use gate D6, which is a general holding area for UK-bound passengers. This is lousy for spotting, but is fairly central to all other KLM gates. Even so, if you're unlucky, your connecting gate might be a good 10-15 minute walk away.

Off topic, Istanbul was a fantastic airport - I'm not a photographer, but I'll try to put up a plain log of the aircraft I saw there on the overseas moveemnt page on the site, in case anyone is interested.

Michael

[LPL]

I thought you can pick your seat ober the internet on either LPL legs with KLM.

[ps]

A question for you knowledgable chaps out there.

When we have an f100 on the Amsterdam run instead of an f70, is it for operational reasons, i.e. simply no f70 available, or is it that the the number of seats sold requires the larger aircraft ?

Not really looked into it to see if there are certain rotations that always have the larger plane.

Thanks..............Phil

[northbynorthwest]

It is actually a bit of both. Often, high advanced bookings for one, or both legs of a rotation will lead to a predetermined upgrade to a F-100. This has often happened on LPL-AMS flights, and it is relatively easy for KLM to swap aircraft routings to allow this without causing any delays. Other times, a broken F-70 may be substituted by an F-100 in order to keep the integrity of the operation. With crews being common-rated on the two aircraft, this is an easy option, particularly as KLM would typically keep a spare F-100 as a back-up. With the hub-and-spoke operation in AMS, it is easy to substitute aircraft on an ad-hoc basis.

However, as the F-100s get retired, this upgrade to larger aircraft will become less frequent due to the crewing issues. KLM has the luxury of being able to reroute passengers through MAN if they need to.

[ps]

Hi NorthbyNorthwest

Thanks for the info.
Wonder how long before we'll see the odd appearance from an EMB190 ?

[conradmueller]

Came in on Jul 17th from DUS via AMS and returned there on Sunday, Jul 25th.
Both planes were quite full with load factors of 70-80%.

[Maddog]

I went out on Mon 16th August on the 10:20. Rammed - in fact it was overbooked!

Wasn't happy sitting with quite a lot of Dutch Kopites! Still, it all helps with the local economy, helps swell their numbers and gives my two arl mates Hicks and Gillette a few more quid!

[Deleted]

flew with KLM recenltly LPL-AMS-YVR and back...good loads each way lpl-ams-lpl

[eye2eye5]

Out on the 10.20 on Monday, economy full and two in the business section. Returned on the 16.20 on Thursday, circa 50 on board including one in business. Significant transfer passenger numbers evident. Great handling on return, UK border was fully staffed and bags on the carousel within minutes.

[LPL]

Due to the success of the Liverpool/Amsterdam route KLM is putting on the fourth rotation throughout the slack winter period of January to March.

The airline is now carrying double the amount of passengers that they did when they started the route.

www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/09/20/klm-keeps-four-daily-liverpool-flights-as-passenger-growth-doubles-92534-27301455/

[Deleted]

Travellled last Friday on 17.20 flight to AMS with KL...full in economy, a few in business. Returned last night on 20.45 out of AMS, again more or less full in economy. Delayed on return home, due to tech prob, as was last Thurs morning flight (was picking someone up). Wonder if the fokker70s are showing their age

[northbynorthwest]

Flew into LPL on KL 1041 on Tuesday, November 9th - flight had 60 pax onboard with one business class. Several pax were business travellers, which is a good sign. Flew back out on KL 1034 on Friday, November 19th. 45 or so pax onboard, two in business. Only a couple of businessmen - but as it was a Friday morning, this was hardly surprising. Last time I flew out on KLM - same flight, same day of the week about 18 months ago, there were around 15 of us onboard. Nice to see the overall growth into a fairly successful route for KLM.

Arrivals were speedy - but we arrived just before two Ryanair flights disgorged their pax. Would have been pretty miserable waiting outside in the cold and rain. The whole arrivals area is pretty grim. I hope that this is dealt with in the next stage of the redevelopment - SOON.

Stayed at the Hampton Inn for four nights total - two at each end of my stay. Was very impressed with the hotel. Clean, friendly staff, very convenient, great breakfast. Seemed to have decent amount of people there every night.

Rented a car for a week and made the mistaken assumption that, because the rental car check-in is now in the multi-storey carpark, they had moved the actual rental car pick-up into the multi-storey carpark. This would have been tremendously convenient rather than having to walk the the present pick-up area. It was a cold, wet, windy day, and this walk was miserable. As the multi-storey carpark was deserted on the 3rd and 4th floors, to me this might make great sense to have the rental cars in the multi-storey.

Found the terminal outside of security to be looking quite tatty and worn. Really could do with some serious deep-cleaning. The floors in particular looked scuffed and dirty. Last time I was here, the place sparkled in comparison to this.

With regard to the new security area - the escalator up from the main floor was not working, so several of us had to wait for the elevator. Don't know if this was a short outage but there was no sight of anyone doing any maintenance on it. If the escalator was to be inoperative for the early morning rush in the summer, there will be some serious delays for passengers. The new security area was actually quite efficient. They had 3 security lines up and running and from what I could observe, the staff were generally efficient and friendly. When the summer flight schedule starts, they will definitely need all of them working for the early morning flights.