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This Airline's World Business Class Will Make You Feel Like Actual Royalty

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KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Business Class

This Airline's World Business Class Will Make You Feel Like Actual Royalty

3 July, 2016 by Ann-Marie Alcántara

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As a New Yorker who now calls San Francisco home, I fly a lot throughout the year on various airlines. Sometimes, on my six-hour flights from New York to San Francisco, I daydream about international flights and the quality of service you get. That's why when KLM Airlines invited me to test out its world business class on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane, I instantly jumped at it.

The flight from San Francisco to Amsterdam took about nine and a half hours — totally doable in world business class. You get three meals, a personal 17-inch TV, a comfort kit, and a seat that fully reclines into a bed. Ticket prices for such a seat constantly fluctuate, and you might consider only flying a world business class seat if your company has a policy that lets you purchase one for traveling. That being said, it is truly a luxurious experience that makes you reconsider everything about American airline companies.

Ahead, take a peek into what living a life of luxury is like. Warning: it might make you want to try business class someday — no matter the cost.

Before you even begin your journey, you can visit the KLM lounge at SFO with your ticket. The space is currently being remodeled, so it feels very packed. The buffet is full of bite-size snacks and sandwiches and a bar full of wine, liquor, and beer, ready for you to help yourself to.

My seat was one in the center of the aisle, so I didn’t have a window view nor the entire nook to myself. However, the seat offers you such privacy that you don’t really ever interact with the person next to you. When you first arrive, the seat has a compartment full of magazines and newspapers, a blanket, and a pillow. The silver compartment opens up to a small space to store glasses or touch up your makeup.

This is the seat and the nook area. The silver-looking button is actually a reading light, perfect for when the rest of the cabin has its lights dimmed. As you can see, the person by the window seat isn’t really seated to face me and I can’t see him either — you truly get privacy.

If you're someone like me who can't always immediately sleep on a plane or at all, the 17-inch screen is your ultimate reward. It pops out from its storage area and is easily adjustable to suit your seat setting. Watch a variety of movies or TV shows on it, even recent releases like Zootopia. The control to the TV is right next to you and is really easy to use.

Soon after you get settled in, you'll get the KLM amenities bag. Designed by Jan Taminiau, a Dutch designer, it is so small and compact, it can honestly double as an evening bag. They have men's and women's versions of the bag.

Inside the amenities bag, you'll get a comb, toothbrush, toothpaste, earplugs, an eye mask, and socks, all perfect for settling into a long flight. And the bag comes in neutral colors so you can use it again.

Soon after you take off, the flight attendants come by to take your order for your three-course meal. I chose the cauliflower cream soup as my first course, which came with a salad and bread. Prepared by "top Dutch chefs," it was actually really delicious. The salad was a perfect touch, considering some airlines offer more greasy foods for long flights.

For my main course, I chose a butternut squash ravioli. This portion was a bit heavy, but at the end of the long flight, I was grateful I'd had such a big meal.

And then there's dessert! I ordered an apple pie, and it was the best portion size after the main course. It put me in the right mood to continue watching my movie and get ready for bed.

The bathroom also had lovely touches. Airplane bathrooms can sometimes be too small or feel gross, but the added addition of a flower, lotion, and spritzing mist made it nice to use.

Breakfast was a well-rounded meal. I ordered a cinnamon roll that came with yogurt, fresh fruit, and muesli.

I was pretty happy with the entire experience — and then we received our KLM Delft Blue Houses. Given for free in business class, each house is a fun collectible and full of gin! With it, you get a guide to see where your house is in the Netherlands and to make sure you don't collect the same one again. The story behind the gin dates back to the early days of flying, when airlines were prohibited to give customers extravagant gifts. To work around this, KLM would hand out these houses to people and put gin inside, something no one else would assume just by looking at it. KLM adds a new house each year to mark another year of the company's existence. It currently has 96 houses!
Flying KLM business class on the 787 Dreamliner is truly an unforgettable experience. It's something I would do again — if I had to go on business and my company paid for it. The meals, TV, and fully lie-in seat make the price worth it for anyone who has to get up and head into a meeting after arriving. If anything, the entire experience made me think of KLM as a friendly airline that truly wants to create loyal customers.

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