Jun 04, 2012 05:11 PM
34914 Views
(Updated Jun 05, 2012 10:50 AM)
This review is based on my trip to Schiphol(AMS) from KUL on Malaysia Airlines 747. It was one of those silly times when a bunch of friends complain about not being able to go on trips they planned months ago and decide to turn off their brains and follow the impulse of the moment that I ended up booking a return trip to Amsterdam for a thousand euros. Should mention that lack of communication resulted in 4 guys and a girl booking the tickets on 4 different airlines.
I booked the tickets through KLM for an extended weekend trip to Amsterdam, but the outbound journey was on a Malaysia Airline flight codeshared with KLM and the return was on a KLM. I have been on numerous short hauls with Malaysia Airlines before and even now, but KUL - AMS was the only long haul with them.
Checkin:
Kuala Lumpur International Airport is one of the most efficient airports I have set foot in so checkin was really fast. Took less than 3 minutes and waiting for 5 minutes in queue. Polite exchanges of questions and answers as usual, no checked in baggage. (seriously who travels with 20kg for a weekend trip unless it's an expedition to the arctics). Got my boarding pass and onward to immigration and security.
Boarding:
Boarding started at 11:30 PM for the scheduled 11:55 PM flight. Efficiently handled by the ground staff. They actually requested the "race to the plane" kinda people to not rush too much and they have enough time. Glad they talked some sense into these flying rabbits. I was a little disappointed that MAS was using a 747 for this trip, but wouldn't make a huge difference with a 777 either. boarded the plane and I had an aisle seat at the perfect location. The seats are average on a 747 nothing too impressive. Had enough leg room to be not uncomfortable so no complains. I was lucky to have two seats between myself and the lady sitting at the window empty. I noticed that the stewardesses were quite helpful with passengers traveling with babies and who couldn't lift their hand baggage up to stow away. You look so skinny yet you help the needy with heavy lifting. Such a nice thing to do ladies.
The Journey:
The plane started taxiing on time and took to the air in 10 minutes after that. 30 minutes into the flight dinner service started. Dinner was as usual, one Malaysian meal and the other dutch. I took the Dutch and was reasonably good for airline food. Got a juicy chicken breast with 2 pieces of bitterballen. Lovely combination I should say. Is there any other way to start a trip to Amsterdam without a nice cold Heineken? of course not! so had a couple of Heinekens (I still love you Tiger. It's not you, it's me) and planning to catch some sleep on this 13 hour journey. 747s are a bit noisy , but not as bad as A330s or 737s used on domestic and short hauls. You could always hear the engine buzz in the background no matter where you are seated so it took a while for my brain to ignore the buzz. The stewards and the stewardess were very polite, always with a smile and very accommodating to most of the requests. Inflight entertainment was pretty much like other long haul flights. Had a dozen movies, 5 or 6 music albums, a couple of episodes of famous TV series, bunch or games for the little ones and ofcourse the flight path. Personally I am not into watching movies on a tiny screen on a plane so I gave it a pass. After the dinner and drinks service lights were out and crew made an announcement that they won't be serving anything till 4 AM and we are free to walk to the pantry areas close to our seat and grab a snack and a drink. That's just perfect! Nobody would annoy me turning on the lights frequently and waking me up from my slumber. Even with the engine buzz had a decent 4 hours of sleep, woke up and found my way towards the pantry area. They had a good selection of drinks on a tray and snacks in a basket. Drinks on the menu included beer, orange juice, water, coffee, tea and a pink drink which might be guava juice. On the snacks menu were lays, peanuts (I guess no airline misses that from the menu), apples, leftover dinner boxes (that's very nice of you guys) and biscuits. I truly love the variety you guys have. Can I have a beer, water and an apple please? After my mid flight snack tried to catch a little more sleep and dozed of for another 3 hours and woke up to all the lights turned on. It was almost breakfast time and since more than half of the passengers were awake they turned on all the lights. I don't mind, but thanks for waking me up. I was pleasantly surprised to see a plastic bag with a tiny tooth brush, paste, soap and a tiny towel stuffed in the front seat pouch. How thoughtful of you guys to provide me all the toiletries. Too bad the toilet isn't big enough for a shower, but nevertheless brushed my teeth, freshened up and came back to see breakfast service starting. I wanted to have breakfast in Amsterdam so I skipped it and got a couple of orange juices and warm water to keep myself hydrated. Surprisingly they never stopped the hot drinks service until 30 minutes before landing. That's very nice to keep everybody warm and hydrated. They had hot chocolate and too bad I missed it. The plane started descending towards Schiphol 15 minutes ahead of Schedule and was parked at the jet bridge 10 minutes ahead at 5:50 AM (Amsterdam time).
Got off the plane onto the freezing jet bridge, immigration was pretty straightforward, money change, a hot cup of chinese tea to bring back some feeling to my fingers and out of the airport into the freezing morning breeze to wait for my buddies who would be landing in an hour.
Overall, the journey was very comfortable and politeness and hospitality was more than what I normally ask for. Thanks again for all the creature comforts and the lovely smiles. Would I take MAS again? yes I would. Loved the variety of food and the comforting smiles all through the flight. Would I recommend MAS? yes I would, 500 euro for a 13 hour flight is cheap and the services provided on board are simply wonderful. The genuine smiles of the flight crew were hearty and probably would make you feel at ease as much as it did to me.