My KLM Premium Comfort Review: Is It Worth the Money?

If you’re a frequent flyer with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines like I am, and if you enjoy trying different classes and new experiences like I do, you might be wondering whether their Premium Comfort Class is really worth the extra money compared to Economy Comfort or standard Economy. I’ll guide you through everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the "premium economy cabin" experience with KLM, and then you can decide for yourself.

I’m going to give you my honest opinion about my own experience with KLM Premium Comfort: boarding, seats, onboard food, service, entertainment, and how it compares to KLM's Economy and Economy Comfort classes. I reviewed my flight aboard a relatively new Boeing 777-300, flying from Cape Town to Amsterdam.

I always focus on value for money in my reviews. I don’t mind spending a bit more, but the experience has to bring value to the table; otherwise, I get pretty frustrated. As I’ve written in many of my other reviews, like those for Air France Premium Economy cabin and Austrian Airlines Premium Economy cabin, upgrading can make a big difference if it’s done right.

Another thing that significantly improves your vacation is staying safe. You might want to read our Safety Hacks for International Travel.

I demand total quality when I travel, whether it's accommodation or airlines

Here are my overall ratings of KLM Premium:

Value for money: 5/10 
Compared to KLM economy: 5/10
Food: 8/10 
Entertainment: 9/10 
Boarding: 7/10 
Service: 2/10 
Seat: 3/10 
Overall: 50% 

Ready for the details? Let’s begin!

What is the value for money? Not that great

The first and main question with these kinds of decisions—whether to buy KLM Premium Comfort or just stick with Economy—is all about value for money. Is it worth spending your hard-earned cash for that upgrade?

The value for money really depends on what kind of deal you can snag. If you’re lucky enough to grab Premium Comfort for, say, an extra USD 300 compared to Economy, I’d say it’s worth it. But if the price difference is more than that? I’d save the extra cash for your vacation—or, if you’re a rich b**ch, I’d upgrade to Business Class without hesitation.

For me, the price gap between Premium Comfort and standard Economy is quite steep, which is different from what other airlines typically offer. Most try to position their premium economy prices reasonably. But with KLM premium, sometimes Premium Comfort prices get as high as Business Class fares on other airlines. They could learn a lot from their sister airline, Air France, which I consider one of the best in Europe.

My girlfriend and I successfully arrived in Cape Town thanks to KLM and enjoyed all the hikes, including Table Mountain as you can see
 

You will get improved seats, power outlets, better food and supposedly better service. As all premium economy passengers deserve.

For my flight to Cape Town, the price difference was about USD 250 for a return ticket, which felt reasonable, so I went for the upgrade.

The name is a bit of a letdown, isn’t it? Why can’t they just call it "Premium Economy" like everyone else? No, they have to go with "Premium Comfort" just to be confusing. I work in marketing, and there's this rule: if you're too different, it usually doesn’t work.

I rate the value for money 5/10.

What is the difference between Premium Comfort Light vs Premium Comfort Flexi?

The price doesn’t differ much but with Flex you’ll get many more benefits. Check for yourself – klm.com
 

For me, it was mainly about what’s included in the fare. The price doesn’t differ much, but the level of perks you get varies a lot. For example, with the Light fare, you don’t get any checked-in baggage, but with Flexi, you get two checked-in bags and the flexibility to change your travel dates.

In all cases, you get Sky Priority, which, to be honest, I don’t find that valuable with legacy carriers because their check-in is usually pretty quick anyway. You might appreciate this perk during boarding, but really? Do you really want to sit on the plane for an extra hour, knowing you’ll already be stuck there for 12–15 hours, depending on your destination?

A major downside is that you can’t choose your seat before check-in, which I hated. This is standard in premium economy with other airlines. You only get this option with the highest Premium Comfort fare, which is called Premium Flex.

Dining experience on KLM Premium Comfort—It’s great

I was on a daytime flight, so we were served lunch and a light dinner as our meal service. The food in Premium Comfort on both KLM flights was really good. I appreciated the serving style with those Dutch-inspired bowls, plates, and cutlery. The service was quick and efficient, which is always a plus.

After about 1 hour and 30 minutes, we were offered a choice of two meals from the paper menu they handed out. I chose the fish as my first meal service, which was served with steel cutlery and in real ceramic dishes—a nice touch that many legacy carriers are adopting in Premium Economy. I also liked the other little Dutch touches, such as the cheese selection and napkin design.

As for the food itself, you get what feels like a three-course meal, and the quality was decent. I especially enjoyed the vegetables, which many airlines seem to struggle with. The buns were served hot, which was nice, especially with the melting butter. I say that even though I’m not a fan of airline buns in general, and the KLM ones didn’t really stand out in the world of bread rolls.

Oh, and we were given complimentary water and a welcome drink at the start of the flight—though we didn’t get this on the second flight. Did someone forget? Aside from that, they were consistent across both flights, so I’m giving the food a solid 8/10.

I give to the food of KLM Premium Comfort solid 8/10

In-flight entertainment: One of the best!

I consider in-flight entertainment one of the most important aspects of long-haul flights. Once I’m in my seat, I go through my usual routine of selecting about 10 movies and marking them as "save for later," though I typically end up watching 2–3 of them before either falling asleep or getting bored and moving on to something else.

On KLM flights, the in-flight entertainment options are excellent, and the selection doesn’t vary between classes. You have a great variety of the latest movies, numbering in the hundreds, and almost all the movies come with English audio or subtitles.

The system includes a fast, responsive 13" touchscreen, which is pretty standard for Premium Comfort class. Additionally, KLM provides a variety of power outlets for your phone or laptop in Premium Comfort, which is super useful—unless, like me, you tend to leave your adapters out of reach, making it quite useless.

You also get noise cancelling headphones, which are nice, but I prefer to use my own because the ones provided are bulky and heavy. After about 30 minutes into a movie, your ears will start hurting, which is the only real downside for me.

Overall, the entertainment on KLM flights hit the mark for me, and I can’t imagine needing much more when flying.

For me, the entertainment easily scores a solid 9/10.

The KLM Premium Comfort Class entertainment offer is absolutely great!

Service with a frown

How do I review the service on my KLM flight? If you’ve read any of my other articles, you know I like to focus on the quality of service, like I did in my Air France Business Class review. Unfortunately for KLM, I consistently rank KLM’s service as one of the worst in the airline industry. Even in Premium Comfort Class, it’s no better.

I’ve flown with KLM multiple times, and at best, the service has been mediocre—which I find laughable compared to the level of service on Air France or Austrian Airlines. Even Economy Class feels more special on those airlines than KLM’s Premium Comfort.

Lately, I’ve sworn not to use KLM unless absolutely necessary because I don’t like supporting poor business practices.

Why so harsh? First, there’s SkyPriority. As mentioned earlier, it doesn’t really add much value with legacy carriers, since their check-in and boarding processes are already decent. It certainly doesn’t justify the extra cost. Then there’s the in-flight service, which is just outright bad. The crew is consistently arrogant—it’s not an isolated incident. They barely attend to passengers and seem to do the bare minimum just to avoid getting fired. They’re clearly not happy with their jobs.

Quality customer service is essential to me and I'm sorry to say KLM Premium Comfort did not meet my standards
 

I typically fly wearing business casual, so there’s no reason for them to feel superior or dismissive. It’s not like I arrive in flip-flops and a questionably clean T-shirt. Here are just a few examples of what I’ve experienced:

• They don’t greet you when you board. It’s like they’re trying to be invisible while passengers are settling in.
• If you raise a complaint, flight attendants will shut you down with, “We can’t do anything here. You can contact customer service on the ground,” which they know won’t resolve anything.
• On one flight, my power outlet wasn’t working, and the screen was unresponsive. I asked the flight attendant if I could switch seats, as there were other empty seats in Premium Comfort, but they refused to even discuss it. I’ve had similar issues with other airlines, and they’ve always accommodated such requests without hesitation.

Then, when you try to contact customer service after landing, you’re stuck with a chatbot that offers no real option to speak with a human being. KLM’s service is consistently one of the worst in the industry, and it’s like they’re actively trying to be bad.

The only positive thing I can say is that they’re usually punctual. I’ve had only a few minor delays with KLM, which were just a matter of minutes.

So, sure, if you want more space and better food, go ahead and book Premium Comfort. But don’t expect the premium service you’d get from other legacy carriers.

I’d rate their service 2/10 at best.

Do you have wifi aboard KLM Premium comfort cabin?

The answer is mostly yes, but it depends on whether it’s available and functioning on your particular flight. KLM promotes wifi across its fleet, but in my experience, it doesn’t always work. When it does, though, it’s a game-changer and makes the flight feel significantly faster.

As for pricing, inflight wifi is pretty steep. KLM offers different tiers—basic messaging apps like WhatsApp and Messenger work for free, but if you want to browse the web or stream movies, the prices rise quickly. It can cost up to EUR 30 per flight, or you can opt to pay by the hour, which was EUR 7 per hour on my flight.

While wifi is great when it works, keep in mind that it’s not always reliable, so plan accordingly.

When the wifi works, it works great. Read the wifi instructions on the KLM website

What are KLM Premium Comfort seats like? Good

How about the thing you're actually paying for—the seats? Do they deliver? I’ve flown KLM’s Premium Comfort on multiple occasions, even when they first launched the class, and I have to admit their seats have significantly improved and are now on par with their competition.

On our flight aboard the Boeing 777-300, there was a 2-4-2 seating arrangement, which I love since I usually travel as part of a couple. Booking two seats next to each other makes long-haul flights much more enjoyable, especially for someone like me who isn’t a fan of getting too close to strangers.

KLM likes to advertise that the cabin is "separate," but it’s really just divided by a curtain. Not a big deal, though, since even Business Class isn’t fully separated on most airlines.

The seat itself has this semi-shell design, and the armrests are all yours, which is huge. I absolutely hate sharing armrests. I even have a strategy for winning the armrest war: Just touch them gently long enough, and their OCD will eventually kick in—they’ll give up the armrest. Works 100% of the time.

Another big perk is the legroom. At 186 cm (6'1"), Economy is a no-go for me. I feel comfortable in most Premium Economy classes, and KLM’s Premium Comfort cabin is no different.

Seats in Premium Comfort Class
 

Here are the key seat specs:

• Up to 17 cm (6.7 in) more legroom than standard Economy
• Up to 20 cm (7.9 in) recline
• 48 to 50 cm (18.9–19.6 in) seat width
• Movable leg- and footrest

The recline, though, is just meh for me. It stops in the most uncomfortable position, but that’s the case with most airlines in this class. Unless you can fully recline like in Business Class, it’s not even worth evaluating.

One perk I haven’t mentioned is the overhead storage. Since Premium Comfort has a semi-separate cabin, you’ll get much more overhead space for your luggage compared to Economy. Ever feel like you're in The Hunger Games while fighting for overhead space in Economy? You won’t have that problem in Premium Comfort or with a Business Class ticket.

Expect wide seats, more legroom, and greater recline overall.

I’d rate the seats 8/10. They’re very good.

What is the difference between KLM Economy vs KLM Premium Comfort?

The price difference is usually huge, and it doesn’t justify the small improvements in food and the bigger difference in seats. The price difference for a return ticket can easily be up to USD 1,000, which is closer to a Business Class ticket fare. Entertainment is exactly the same as in Economy, and so is the service. They’re not really trying to offer anything better in Premium Comfort than in Economy.

The food, however, is significantly better. I really enjoyed the real porcelain dishes and stainless steel cutlery—definitely a step up. But, in my opinion, the food isn’t better enough to justify the price difference.

The seating is where you see the biggest improvement. The 2-3-2 layout is much better than the Economy 3-4-3 configuration. The seat itself offers a big upgrade in legroom, with up to 17 cm (6.7 in) more space, which is huge on a plane. You also get your own power outlets, which makes a big difference in making the flight more comfortable.

To sum it all up

KLM, work on your customer service, please!
 

Nowadays, KLM seems to be hovering somewhere between a legacy carrier and a low-cost airline, especially when it comes to service. You pay extra for checked baggage, even in higher classes, and there are four different fare options just for Premium Comfort. Why? I want just three straightforward classes: Economy class, Premium Economy class, and Business. Most people I’ve spoken to hate these confusing options too.

KLM tries to compete with other airlines in terms of class structure, but with their lackluster service, they fail spectacularly.

However, if you can overlook the service (which I can’t), the planes are relatively new, the seating is good, and they are generally punctual. For me, the overall value falls somewhere in the middle—which is rare, as I’m usually a huge advocate for Premium Economy since it makes long-haul flights significantly more bearable. That said, I’ve rated other Premium Economy ticket offerings much higher.

Overall rating: 50%

Premium Comfort: Additional FAQs

This is how comfortable I like to be

FAQ 1: What is Premium Comfort class? KLM premium economy

KLM’s Premium Comfort Class is essentially their version of Premium Economy, just branded differently. You’ll get upgraded perks like improved and larger seats with more legroom, priority boarding, and extra overhead bin space. The food is also different—better than in Economy, with meals served on real porcelain with steel cutlery, adding a touch of class to the dining experience. It's a step up in comfort without hitting the Business Class price tag.

FAQ 2: Does Premium comfort mean better food?

Yes, absolutely. In KLM Premium Comfort, you’re given a paper menu and a choice between two meal options, served on real porcelain with stainless steel cutlery, offering a significantly better dining experience than Economy. While Economy feels more like a fast-food experience, Premium Comfort is comparable to a regular restaurant. Business Class, on the other hand, offers a fine dining experience.

Another bonus is that you’re served food much earlier, as KLM starts with Business Class and then moves to Premium Comfort. This means you’re enjoying your meal while Economy passengers are still waiting.

FAQ 3: Do you get lounge access with KLM Premium Comfort?

No, KLM reserves KLM crown lounge access for Business Class passengers or those with Flying Blue or SkyTeam elite status. While you can purchase lounge access if you want, I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s often not worth the extra money, especially when you can access other lounges for free if your credit card includes LoungeKey or Priority Pass features. That way, you can enjoy similar amenities without the additional cost.

Check-in and take off into the world

FAQ 4: Can I upgrade to KLM Premium Comfort after booking?

Yes, you can upgrade to KLM Premium Comfort after booking, but it largely depends on availability. I wouldn’t recommend relying on this, as Premium Comfort has been selling out quickly lately. Additionally, you’re likely to get a worse price than if you had purchased Premium Comfort upfront.

However, you might get lucky and receive an email with a special offer for a discounted upgrade after booking Economy, but it’s not something you can count on. If you’re set on flying Premium Comfort, it’s best to book it in advance to avoid disappointment.

FAQ 5: Does KLM have Premium Economy cabin?

Yes, KLM’s Premium Comfort Class is just their version of Premium Economy, though it’s branded differently. You typically have three fare options—Light, Standard, and Flexi—each offering varying levels of benefits. The main differences lie in seat selection, checked-in luggage allowance, and flexibility regarding cancellations or changes. Flexi offers the most perks, including seat selection and more generous baggage and cancellation policies.

Where to go next? I recommend further reading for air travel.

• How to survive long-haul flights
• Tips for First-time Flyers
• Facts about travel documents
• How to pack Carry-ons
• Various Cabin Classes Explained

 

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