KLM/Martinair

[ujpest doza]

Has anyone ever used KLM to Amsterdam and then Martinair to Orlando?

I have been looking at prices and this option comes out cheapest and most conveniant for flying from Newcastle in winter ie only 1 change of plane and no UK driving.

Anyway, do you have to collect your luggage in Amsterdam and then check in again seeing as you are changing from KLM to Martinair?

Is 1 hour between flights in Amsterdam too tight? if so is there plenty to keep us occupied for 3.5 hours in Amsterdam Airport?

What is the service like on board eg legroom, comfort, quality of food etc?

All help gratefully appreciated.

[Cooperman]

When we flew 2 years ago to Orlando we did birmingham, amsterdam orlando with klm/martinair. klm/martinair are the same company so check in in the uk for flights straight to orlando. you dont see your baggage again until orlando. Flights were good although due to plane problem creating a back log on our flight we had a long delay in amsterdam until flight to orlando. Planes were not as good as virgin, but ok for the price. service, food and legroom - you pay for what you get. Generally value for money. Home journey no problems. Would do again but flying with virgin this year. Got a bargain with charter travel!

[Kiddie001]

We did KLM/Martinair from Cardiff via Amsterdam last October.
No problem at all with luggage, was transferred and there waiting at Orlando.
Martinair planes (well the ones we were on) seem to be a bit past their sell by date. No Headrest consoles, and we had overhead lights that kept coming on during the night flight home. the stewardesses didnt want to know and told us it "must be our children playing with them".
The food is basic and Dutch, but I found it OK (kids didnt like it at all, even the kids meals - apple sauce with the burger)
Legroom is terrible (but I am six foot two).
Films and entertainment was pretty good (Shrek 2, cartoons, Mr Bean etc) all in English with Dutch subtitles.
Like the previous post said you get what you pay for, I would personally go direct next time.
No problems with transfers etc.
It was a bit galling to see the in flight route map showing we were flying over Cirencester where we live some eight hours after leaving home, still leaving 7 hours of the journey left!

hope this helps

Ian

[Aiminghigh]

We've done it and it was fine.(Although we flew to Miami and home from Orlando) We were supposed to have a transfer time of a couple of hours in Amsterdam, but due to a bad weather delay in the UK we had just 25 minutes from landing to onward flight.We literally had to run through the terminal just like in the Home Alone film[msneek]. We made it just as they were closing the flight-they had held it open for a few extra minutes as they knew passengers were delayed by the connection. The food was ok- I don't remember it being "Dutch". Not an especially memorable flight,apart from the connecion, so that concludes that there were no problems on board. I'd do it again if the price was right.

[wilfy]

I always find it amzing the different levels of service you get to see with the same airline but on different routes. I've flown many many times from stansted onto the middle east with KLM. The stansted - amsterdam link was with air UK before klm took them over, and it was always, and i mean always late on arrival. KLM flights to cairo,kuwait,bahrain, dubai, abu dhabi, from amsterdam were some of the nicest flights i've been on and the cabin crew real freindly.

[KevinT]

We travelled KLM/Martinair last year from Teeside. KLM was a small plane but only one hour to Amsterdam so did not matter too much. Martinair plane was an old 767. Staff were not too pleasant and spoke Dutch all the time. (not surprising as they are Dutch airline - but many of the passengers were English speaking). Amsterdam is a very large airport and we only had an hour to change planes on the way back. We managed ok but as we had to walk the full length of Schipol from one flight to another, time was a little tight. Not really impressed with Martinair and wouldn't go that way again, but it was quite cheap. Martinair are still better IMHO than Excel !
There is plenty to do at Amsterdam airport. We had 6 hours between flights on the outward journey,so we got to have a good look around.
They have lots of shops, restaurants, cafes and even a reaxation area where you can get back , neck and shoulder massages and a casino for losing a few euros !
The outward journey was very long and I fully agree with Kiddie001
about the air map. Eight hours after we set off for Teeside airport
we were flying over Ripon - n. Yorkshire in the Martinair plane and still had 8 hours to go to Orlando.