We have had a lot of good experiences with KLM and I wouldn't resort to writing a bad review just because something went wrong, but after experiencing five cancelled flights with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, we feel it is important to share our experience.
We fully understand that disruptions can occur due to force majeure (in this case, snow at Schiphol), which is beyond an airline’s control. However, what concerned me most was the apparent absence of duty-of-care support, both during the disruption and afterwards.
During the well-known chaos week at Schiphol, our travel home was ultimately delayed by seven days. To keep costs reasonable, we stayed with friends rather than in hotels and minimized expenses wherever possible. The total reimbursement we requested from KLM was less than €300, covering only unavoidable additional parking and rental car extension costs. Despite this, the handling of our claim was disappointing. We asked KLM to reconsider their position, but they declined.
What I find difficult to understand is that if we had gone to the airport and waited in line for customer service, we would almost certainly have been offered accommodation. Instead, we tried to reduce pressure on KLM during an already difficult week and kept our costs to a minimum — yet we were effectively left without support.
While cancellations can happen, passengers should still be able to rely on clear communication and appropriate assistance during extended disruptions. This is particularly important when multiple cancellations (five in total) occur in sequence. Each day we prepared to travel to the airport — or were already on our way — only to learn that our flight had again been cancelled.
I have previously considered KLM a reliable airline, which made this experience especially unexpected. I hope KLM will review how situations like this are handled and ensure that duty-of-care obligations toward passengers are applied more consistently in future cases.
I would welcome a constructive response from KLM regarding this matter.
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