What is it like to fly premium Business Class on the world’s largest Dreamliner, the massive 787-10, operated by the Dutch Royal carrier KLM? This was my first trip in the KLM 787-10 Dreamliner Business Class cabin after more than 40 transcontinental flights in KLM Business Class on their 777 and A330 wide-body aircraft.
I was really pleased with KLM’s service and the private cabin experience in the mostly enclosed all-aisle-access pods. I’ll also detail further where there were a few let-downs, and reveal the easy way I managed to save over $3,000 on this intercontinental Business Class Flight.
Pre-boarding and Priority Lounge Access
The departure lounge at my home airport in Canada did not have a dedicated KLM lounge, but it did offer priority access as a Business Class passenger to the Aspire Lounge. The Lounge was crowded and chaotic at the time of my flight, and it was at capacity. However, KLM Business Class passengers were treated with priority access ahead of lounge card and credit card holders. The Aspire Business Class lounge offered a free light meal, liquor, beer and wine, as well as other non-alcoholic beverages that were freely available at the self-serve bar.
Boarding KLM 787-10 Dreamliner Business Class
Boarding went smoothly, and we were told we would even be departing a few minutes early! The captain mentioned that he was trying to depart about 10 minutes early, which is always a welcome treat in this world of flight delays. The jetway ended up indeed pulling back 6 minutes early.
Shortly after getting settled, I was offered a selection of champagne, full cans of Heineken, juice and KLM’s new signature blue mocktail upon boarding. I took no hesitation with the champagne!
At my seat was a rather unique amenities bag, emphasis on ‘bag’ – more on that later! Additionally, a 500ml bottle of Spa still mineral water and a sanitized, sealed noise-cancelling headset were in the small console.
Moments after takeoff, a piping hot towel was provided. It’s really nice to get a truly hot towel, not just one that is lukewarm and mostly dry. Such first-world problems indeed!
Fun fact: all KLM Dreamliner 10s are named after Dutch flowers! Ours was named ‘Viooltje’, which means Violet in Dutch.
Updated KLM Business Class Cabin Experience
The KLM Dreamliner cabins have the newer style KLM pods in a 1-2-1 configuration with all aisle access and a 60″ seat pitch with a 75″ bed. For me, this is truly the best configuration, even if it makes for a slightly narrower footwell. I hate having to miss out on picking a window seat because I don’t want to climb over a sleeping passenger in 2-2-2 layout. See the cabin layout and seats to avoid here at Seatguru.
To date, I’ve only flown KLM business class flights in the 2-2-2 configuration. This was really nice, having the comfy configuration that I am used to on Air Canada’s Signature Business Class and United Polaris Business Class cabins.
This cabin and its seating actually most closely resemble United Polaris business class. The booking tool I used didn’t reflect the 1-2-1 layout, but you can always tell by the seat numbers if it is all aisle seating, the seats are labelled A-D-G-K.
KLM Business Class Seat
The seat had a somewhat unique feature in that it had a shoulder harness for takeoff and landing. I rather like this as some other Business Class seats have airbags in their lap seatbelts, which can be very bulky. With the three-point harness, you can remove it immediately after takeoff.
110V power is available via an easy-to-access multi-country power plug and USB-A type power ports in the console next to the headrest.
KLM’s Business Class Amenities Kit
The amenities kit for the fall of 2025 is comprised of a mesh bag with the standard Business Class items, a sleeping mask, and a tooth care kit with a bamboo toothbrush (which is eco-friendly, I guess). Lightweight socks, hand cream, lip balm from Marie-Stella-Maris and a pen are also in the package.
KLM regularly changes out its amenity bags and has had some very impressive cases in the past. This bag itself was not very inspiring, but it might work well as a sack to carry cables and charges inside a backpack or suitcase.
The in-flight brand of toiletries that KLM has been using since mid-2024 is Marie-Stella-Maris from Amsterdam. These products replace the Rituals brand of cosmetic products they had previously provided. According to KLM. Marie-Stella-Maris products are made in the Netherlands and consist of a minimum of 96% natural ingredients. The scent is nice, and I especially like the facial mist spray in the lavatory, which is very refreshing mid-flight.
If you love business class reviews, check out these recent articles:
Flying in Lufthansa’s 747-400 Business Class; A look at one of my favourite carriers KLM 777 Business Class Review; a detailed look at Delta A330 Business Class and Qatar Airways A380 Upperdeck Business Class Experience Reviews (check out the upper deck bar!). Also, compare United Polaris Business Class and Air Canada Signature Business Class reviews.
Food and Drinks On Board the KLM Dreamliner
For dinner, I started with the cauliflower soup, which was ok. It had a very subtle flavour and was served nice and hot from a vacuum flask tableside. I chose “The taste of delicacies” for my entrée, which was the only beef option.
I’ve had this meal before on KLM, and it was a bit odd, once again. The beef short rib was really delicious, but it was only a tiny portion. The gravy surrounding the rib was really good, and the meat was succulent, like it had been slow-cooked for 12 hours. The carrots were fine, but the potatoes were quite undercooked.
I don’t quite get how you can describe these side dishes as delicacies, though, as they were just veggie sides. The cinnamon apple side dish was tasty, but seemed out of place to me.
For dessert, I went with a lemon tart with candied nuts. It was really delicious – slightly bittersweet and refreshing, and well presented! It was really nice paired with a side of Lemoncello for a great end to the meal.
Overall, there was a bit of a long wait between courses. The 787-10 is a big plane with 38 Business Class passengers, so it is understandable.
This large Dreamliner also seemed to be skimpy on toilets, with no lavatory behind business class like the 777 has. Only the two upfront toilets were available, and it was a bit hard to navigate around service personnel in the aisles.
KLM’s in-flight Entertainment and technology on the 787-10
In-flight entertainment was decent and included a small selection of TV shows on the updated Dreamliner interface. There were a few interesting shows, but many only had one episode, which was too bad. The regular first-run movies were there in addition to a selection of older movies, some interesting documentaries, and games to choose from.
There were a good number of current Dutch movies too, which I really have come to enjoy when on KLM. If you can manage subtitles (or speak Dutch, of course), I highly recommend.
Return Flight on the 777-200 Vs. Dreamliner 787-10
On my way home, the route was served by the 777-200, which had the newer cabin updates. The planes are similar, with the notable exception of fully enclosed Pods on the 777. The pods are functionally the same, but have a lightweight sliding door to fully enclose the pod. This is not quite Emirates Business Class as the door is only as high as the TV – so people can easily look over – but the extra privacy is nice.
I liked the addition of the mirrored vanity door, which was nice in the dark. In-seat wireless charging was also available, which was not on the Dreamliner.
Seated in seat 8k right next to the starboard engine, it was quite noisy, especially on takeoff and the start of cruise. Galley noise was also notable in this seat, as the 777’s configuration had a little rear section with 8 seats starting at row 8, with the economy galley in front of us.
It is very nice to have the port side rear lavatory on the 777, which was only steps away from my seat in the galley in front of me.
On my return flight, Business Class passengers had access to the beautiful KLM lounge 52 at Amsterdam Schiphol airport. This massive KLM flagship multi-level lounge has a lot to explore with many food stations, multiple bars, and quirky areas to explore.
Delft Blue House
I was also happy to get the newly released collectible Delft Blue house #106, which was available on this flight. It was only released the week I was travelling, so I was quite happy to be able to select this for my growing collection! The Delft Blue houses are given as a gift at the end of each flight to Business Class passengers.
What This Flight Cost and How I Saved Over $3000!
This direct YYC to AMS Business Class flight was selling for an astonishing $9990 to $14,000 CAD, depending on departure date at the time I was booking. I was able to buy a codeshare ticket from Delta in the exact seat for $7400 CAD just by purchasing a Delta ticket. Same seat, same flight, but the purchase was paid to Delta Airlines, KLM’s Skyteam partner.
Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Would I fly KLM Business Class again? Of course, I really enjoy flying on KLM. It has its quirks, like somewhat odd food choices, but I’ve always had very comfortable and enjoyable Business Class flights with them. I especially enjoy KLM as I know I am flying to Amsterdam, a city and region I really love to visit!