KLM Economy?

My wife(F/A) and I are considering booking a ZED on KLM from AMS to CPT soon. When you check KLM's website seat map for the flights in question there are several "classes" of economy(coach). When you buy a ZED fare on KLM are you limited to the lowest class of economy, or will they put you in an economy "premium" seat if they are unfilled? IOW, if the lowest class of economy has no seats will you be left on the jetway while the flight pulls out with economy "premium" seats left open?

Any help on this would be appreciated. Also, what is the best way to check the loads aside from checking KLM's website and attempting to buy a ticket in order to take a look at the seat map.

TIA...

Welcome aboard Jeff. One of the benefits of this Forum is it’s a great way to connect with other non-revs. We do have a couple of KLM members (I’ll send up a flare). :cool:
I’m sure they’ll come up with a few tips.

Well, migflanker...thanks for the "welcome" and thanks in advance for the flare ! There are a few posts here that give some hints but they are quite old and the industry has changed a lot since most of them, especially the Star Alliance vs. OneWorld relationships. My spouse F/A is on the legacy US side of the US-AA merger and does exclusively international and the switch from Star to OneW is not very well liked by the customers she flies. She REALLY wants to get to South Africa for her bestie's 50th so any assistance is really appreciated. They are going on DL from ATL-JNB so no hassling with KLM, but the PHL-AMS-CPT on KLM remains the best for us at this moment.

HI, Jeff. I'll add another welcome. DL here and vet of 6+ trips to JNB/CPT. I hope the wife is not attempting nonrev on DL. DL doesn't upgrade so that is a very long leg. It can be VERY difficult even for high seniority DL emps. CPT is fabulous if you haven't been there. Is AA/KL your goal? Using zeds for SA or Kulula LCC to get down there? If you need guest house--Sun Rock is great--near JNB w/shuttle for good price.
Feel free to ask for anyhting I can add. Cheers!

BA is another option and you would pay ZED LOW fares, although I'm sure they fill up with their own people. That said, in the past when I've nonrevved on BA, the website asks at check in if travelers would be willing to split cabins which implies that if F/J/Premium Y is only available, they will give you those seats as opposed to leaving you behind and going out with seats empty. On the handful of BA flights that I've been on within Europe, the flights either have seats in Y or gone out completely full so I've never been upgraded.

BTW, love the Piedmont avatar!

Love the optimistic view ... unfortunately the party split question is standard regardless of the loads in the cabins.

A zed fare on KLM is for a regular economy seat, but they might put you in economy comfort if there is room. They will not push back with empty seats, however, so it could be any of the three classes. If you post a message here I can try and check the loads for you on the dates you want.

Long Haul, thanks for answering the call and quick too.:cool:

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Originally Posted by isppilot

BA is another option and you would pay ZED LOW fares, although I'm sure they fill up with their own people. That said, in the past when I've nonrevved on BA, the website asks at check in if travelers would be willing to split cabins which implies that if F/J/Premium Y is only available, they will give you those seats as opposed to leaving you behind and going out with seats empty. On the handful of BA flights that I've been on within Europe, the flights either have seats in Y or gone out completely full so I've never been upgraded.

BTW, love the Piedmont avatar!

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Thanks for the compliment and info. My wife(F/A) joined Piedmont from Eastern just before the belly-up and now after several morphs...American...so I just HAD to use the Piedmont livery !

And your suggestion about looking at BA is a good one...I just checked their real website seat maps for LHR-CPT-LHR, 18th-25th and it looks like there are over 100 seats open both directions on a 744. That may be a better chance than KLM, however I hate the U.K. taxes. Getting there for a little tax though is a BIG consideration.

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Originally Posted by long haul

A zed fare on KLM is for a regular economy seat, but they might put you in economy comfort if there is room. They will not push back with empty seats, however, so it could be any of the three classes. If you post a message here I can try and check the loads for you on the dates you want.

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GREAT information !!! Exactly what I was looking for. THANK YOU.

We are trying to ice down the dates today, but the range now is JUL 17, 18 AMS-CPT, and 25, 26 CPT-AMS. We are taking US from PHL-AMS-PHL so we already know those loads look good for us.

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Originally Posted by mrs767er

HI, Jeff. I'll add another welcome. DL here and vet of 6+ trips to JNB/CPT. I hope the wife is not attempting nonrev on DL. DL doesn't upgrade so that is a very long leg. It can be VERY difficult even for high seniority DL emps. CPT is fabulous if you haven't been there. Is AA/KL your goal? Using zeds for SA or Kulula LCC to get down there? If you need guest house--Sun Rock is great--near JNB w/shuttle for good price.
Feel free to ask for anything I can add. Cheers!

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Thanks for the reply. Our friends have already figured out that DL is gonna be very tough, so I think at this time they are considering our route, PHL-AMS-CPT/JNB on the 15th. They are both US F/A's so PHL-AMS is no problem but I think I've gotten some great info on KLM ZEDs...see posts above/below.

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Originally Posted by jeffp

I just checked their real website seat maps for LHR-CPT-LHR, 18th-25th and it looks like there are over 100 seats open both directions on a 744.

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Don't go by seatplans on BA .. they are massively unrepresentative as we preseat only a few of our passengers
The BA 59 on the 18th is in fact overbooked so I wouldn't go that way !!!
Return flights on 25/26th look OK though.


For reference you generally avoid the big UK taxes if you thru ticket through London without a stopover ( >24 hours )

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Originally Posted by BRITSKI99

Don't go by seatplans on BA .. they are massively unrepresentative as we preseat only a few of our passengers
The BA 59 on the 18th is in fact overbooked so I wouldn't go that way !!!
Return flights on 25/26th look OK though.


For reference you generally avoid the big UK taxes if you thru ticket through London without a stopover ( >24 hours )

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Thanks for the heads up...very helpful..and as my wife(F/A) just found out.

She just worked a PHL-MAN and stopped by the BA counter in PHL before she left on Friday and found out the same thing(they were very helpful), so it's back to the PHL-AMS-CPT route.

17th CPT is overbooked by three with 7 stbys
18th CPT is overbooked by one with five stbys
17th JNB is exactly full with 11 stbys
18th JNB is exactly full with 1 stby

send me a pm if you need more info, good luck.