KLM Boeing 777-300ER Economy Class Review (Bali-Singapore)

KLM, the Dutch national carrier and a Qantas partner airline, offers a unique fifth-freedom route between Bali and Singapore which continues on to Amsterdam.

The SkyTeam alliance member uses a Boeing 777-300ER, its flagship long-haul aircraft, for this relatively short flight. It’s a handy option for travelling two of Asia’s most popular destinations for Aussie travellers. Plus, you can often find cheap airfares on this route… or book KLM flights using Qantas Points or a SkyTeam program like Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

This review covers KLM’s Boeing 777-300ER Economy Class on its unique route from Bali to Singapore. This is the same product that you would also find on KLM’s long-haul routes, including from Asia to Europe.

Flight Details

Flight number	KL836
Route	Bali/Denpasar (DPS) – Singapore (SIN)
Aircraft type	Boeing 777-300ER
Class of travel	Economy Class
Seat number	62D
On-time performance	We arrived 10 minutes early
Star rating

The route

Flight Cost

This was the second flight I took on this particular day, after flying in from Sydney to Bali on Garuda Indonesia. I booked both flights on the same reward ticket using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points.

As a standalone ticket, the KLM flight from Bali to Singapore would cost 7,500 Virgin points + USD14.50 (~$AU23) in Economy. That’s a great deal! However, beware that seat selection isn’t included on KLM award tickets booked via Virgin Atlantic Flying Club.

In my case, I paid 23,000 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points and ~AU$180 in taxes for the full itinerary from Sydney to Singapore via Bali in Economy Class.

The KLM flight from Bali to Singapore is also available for 14,000 Qantas points + taxes and fees. At the moment, you can only use Qantas points for Economy and Business Class rewards on KLM, but Premium Economy redemptions are coming soon.

Airport Experience

As I was connecting from Australia, I didn’t check in for this flight at Bali. But I can say that transiting between international flights at Ngurah Rai International Airport was extremely fast. In fact, the security staff mentioned that I was only the second person to transfer that day!

Lounge access isn’t included with a KLM Economy Class ticket, unless you have SkyTeam Elite Plus status. However, there are several options that you could access with Priority Pass, including the Concordia Lounge.

The lounge available to KLM Business Class and SkyTeam Elite Plus members is the Garuda Indonesia Business Lounge. You can also pay a very reasonable IDR44,000,000 (~$AU42) for access when flying any airline, although access might be restricted during the busy evening period. I chose to do this while waiting for my KLM flight.

The Garuda Indonesia Business Lounge is small, but it does have showers and a good buffet, including a noodle bar.

Boarding was done by groups, with people lining up well in advance. It began slightly late, with elite members and Business Class invited to board first.

As it happened, the KLM Boeing 777-300ER taking me to Singapore today was in a unique orange livery.

The Hard Product

The KLM Boeing 777-300ER has 322 Economy Class seats, as well as 35 Business Class and 24 “Premium Comfort” (Premium Economy) seats. Economy Class is in an efficient 3-4-3 configuration, with five rows of extra-legroom Economy Comfort seats at the front.

I was in seat 62D, an aisle seat in the second last row of Economy Class. Here, the Boeing 777’s fuselage narrows, so that the middle section becomes a row of only three seats.

Unfortunately, the seat is quite thin. The seats aren’t any wider in this rear section. Legroom was okay, although I can’t imagine this is quite enough for the average Dutch person!

The seats are modern and thus are very lightweight. It does feel that this comes at the expense of seat padding, as the seats were very rigid. This is fine for a two-hour flight, but a 14-hour journey would be pretty rough.

I also found that the tray table was quite low to eat from.

The entertainment system had plenty of great content, but the screen itself was pretty small. It was responsive at least, with a modern UI.

There was Wi-Fi available for EUR22 (~$AU38) for the full flight, or EUR10 (~$AU17) for one hour. There’s also a free “Message Pass” option that lets you send text messages through apps such as WhatsApp and Messenger.

The Soft Product

The flight pushed back right on time, climbing quickly to begin the two-hour flight to Singapore.

There were no amenities at the seat, although the crew distributed earbuds after takeoff.

There was a hot meal service about an hour into the flight, with a one-size-fits-all vegetarian rice available.

A salad and lemon cake accompanied the meal. The crew also offered a full range of complimentary drinks, including alcohol. The wine service was simply one mini-bottle, so no need to worry about small pours!

The meal itself tasted pretty good and was surprisingly substantial for such a short flight. When you consider that the many passengers continuing to Amsterdam would also be getting a full meal service only a few hours later, this was a great offering.

I had minimal interaction with the crew on this short flight. Despite being a short fifth-freedom route, the flight was completely full. The crew were kept busy, yet were extremely professional and helpful when required.

My tray table was cleared about 30 minutes after receiving my meal, and almost immediately after that the crew began landing preparations.

We landed in Singapore early, with a short taxi. Most people were flying beyond Singapore, which meant a very quiet baggage claim!

Wilson McTaggart

Wilson's love of travel started from a young age, but his love for points developed after figuring out ways to travel on a gap year for less - leading naturally towards Australian Frequent Flyer! Wilson's hobbies include skiing, cricket and planning trips, both with and without points.

Wilson posts on the AFF forum as @WilsonM.