A terrific KLM business-class flight with a last-minute mileage deal

Flying KLM is all the time a deal with, and I get particularly excited on the prospect of selecting up one other KLM Delft home, which is a signature perk of flying long-haul enterprise class on the Dutch flag provider.

I just lately had the chance to fly the airline’s Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner on a last-minute reserving utilizing miles. It turned out to be an ideal deal, particularly contemplating I received to take a brief KLM Cityhopper flight in European-style enterprise class, capped off with a go to to the KLM Crown Lounge at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS).

This is how I booked the flight from Slovenia to Amsterdam after which on to New York Metropolis — and how one can e book it, too.

How I scored an ideal deal on a Flying Blue award

Over the summer time, a last-minute schedule change had me looking for a approach again dwelling to New York from Slovenia after I remembered the great thing about Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles.

Whereas I did not discover the bottom saver value of 60,000 Flying Blue miles one-way from Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport (LJU) to New York’s John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport (JFK) by way of Amsterdam, I did discover an award with a flight from Slovenia on KLM’s Cityhopper to Amsterdam after which on to New York aboard a Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner for 84,000 Flying Blue miles plus $346.81 in taxes and charges (ouch).

I put the cost on the Air France-KLM World Elite Mastercard®, issued by Financial institution of America, which earns 3 Flying Blue miles per greenback spent on Air France-KLM purchases.

The data for the Air France-KLM World Elite Mastercard has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.

I in all probability ought to have used The Platinum Card® from American Specific to earn 5 factors per greenback on purchases made immediately with airways (on as much as $500,000 of those purchases per calendar 12 months).

Both approach, I might contemplate this an ideal redemption … particularly on the final minute, contemplating the money value was greater than $4,250.

Utilizing my Flying Blue card for the taxes and charges earned me 1,040 Flying Blue miles, price $13.52 in keeping with TPG’s September 2025 valuations.

One of many nice issues about utilizing Flying Blue miles is that even if you cannot discover the proper deal from one of many two airways’ most important hubs in Amsterdam or Paris, including a connecting metropolis can generally decrease the mileage value, as can being versatile in your dates. Which may not be doable for everybody, however this is among the key methods I exploit.

Often, you will have higher luck with reducing the costs by including a second metropolis in Europe. This is instance of that. I appeared for a last-minute flight from Paris to New York on Sept. 12. If I fly from Paris, the most cost effective business-class redemption is round 92,000 miles, but when I begin in Bordeaux, I can discover the most cost effective saver fare for simply 60,000 miles.

In my case, I wanted to get from Slovenia, so I wasn’t on the lookout for a direct flight from Amsterdam anyway, but it surely in all probability helped decrease my mileage value, and I ended up with what I contemplate deal.

Bear in mind that you may switch factors from a number of financial institution companions to Flying Blue, together with:

So even when you do not fly with Air France, KLM or their companions commonly, you’ve got loads of choices for topping up your account.

Associated: The best way to discover the most cost effective redemption charges utilizing Flying Blue miles

Flying European enterprise class on KLM Cityhopper

I flew from Ljubljana to Amsterdam on KLM Cityhopper, aboard an Embraer E195 with the ship quantity PH-NXG. I used to be in Seat 1C on the aisle. Enterprise class had simply two seats on either side of the aisle.

For a fast flight of about an hour and 50 minutes, I used to be stunned to get a full meal, together with a predeparture bottle of recent juice, water and a boxed lunch. Drinks flowed all through the flight, too.

After a fast on-time flight, we arrived at a distant stand on the bustling Amsterdam airport from which we had been bused to the terminal.

One other enjoyable go to to the KLM Crown Lounge

I’m an enormous fan of KLM’s flagship lounge, the Crown Lounge at Amsterdam. It is labeled as Airline Lounge 52, and you will find it within the non-Schengen space of the airport.

This can be a large area with an higher and a decrease stage linked to the terminal with an escalator and an elevator, but it surely’s usually crowded for a lot of the day. Nonetheless, there’s all the time a spot to plop down and calm down.

The partitions on the entrance and on the higher ranges are lined with lots of of KLM’s well-known Delft homes, that are crammed with Bols Dutch gin (genever) when given out in flight.

This enjoyable multilevel playground presents a lot to do, see, eat and drink. There are even nap rooms and an outside terrace.

I additionally received to attempt to commerce one in every of my duplicate Delft homes on the alternate bar (actually simply a few carts close to the customer support desks). As a result of mine was lacking its gin, they would not let me alternate it. To commerce it in, you will want a sealed container that also has the gin.

Regardless of getting rejected for a Delft home alternate, I had an ideal go to and extremely advocate checking this lounge out subsequent time you’re passing by means of.

What it was like flying KLM enterprise class on the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner

I used to be on a 5-year-old 787-10 with the tail quantity PH-BKI.

Enterprise class on KLM’s 787-10s consists of 38 seats: 10 rows of single seats on the home windows and 9 rows of two seats every down the center in a reverse-herringbone 1-2-1 format. All seats have direct aisle entry.

I selected Seat 3A alongside the left-side window.

Every seat is 21 inches extensive and reclines to a 78-inch lie-flat mattress. Sadly, there aren’t any particular person air nozzles (that is additionally true of the airline’s 777-300ERs).

The 2 home windows at my seat had digital window shades that you could possibly dim with the contact of a button.

The 18-inch leisure display screen was crammed with loads of content material, together with 28 new releases like “Mickey 17.” The Wi-Fi for the complete flight value about $26 and labored constantly, although not completely. There was additionally an interactive transferring map.

The tray desk was 18 by 14 inches, with loads of room for a laptop computer or a meal tray (however not each).

There have been simply two bathrooms for all of the business-class passengers, however they had been stored clear and there was by no means a lot of a wait. The synthetic tulips within the mounted vases had been a pleasant contact.

Facilities got here in reusable kits by the Dutch agency Envisions with skincare merchandise from Marie-Stella-Maris.

Passengers had been additionally supplied with a pillow and a lightweight quilt.

The primary multicourse meal service kicked off with a sizzling towel and a selection of drinks plus some nibbles like cheese and veggies, all served in bespoke tableware by Dutch designer Marcel Wanders.

The appetizer decisions included scrumptious Thai pink curry soup and a beef tartlet topped by shrimp. For my most important dish, I selected the oven-roasted hen fillet with Indian spices and Punjabi-style chickpeas in a masala sauce.

Dessert was a pear mousse in a candy caramel sauce. The meals was wonderful and really filling.

Whereas the meal service was nice, it lasted till over two hours into the flight, which actually reduce brief the time you could possibly relaxation or work on a transatlantic day flight.

About an hour earlier than descent, there was a prelanding meal served on one tray consisting of smoked salmon and trout roe pasta salad with a facet of cheese and roasted eggplant ravioli. Dessert was described as a forest fruit orange pastry. It was delicious.

Service was wonderful all through the flight. My flight attendant, Howard, was constantly readily available to ask if I wanted something extra and to carry me a number of coffees within the airline’s fanciful Delftware mugs.

Previous to touchdown, flight attendants distributed darkish, milk and white goodies within the form of its darling Delft homes.

After which got here my favourite a part of the flight … I received to decide on my Delft home collectible from a tray introduced round by the flight attendant.

So far as I am involved, that is among the greatest souvenirs in all of journey.

Backside line

I am unable to wait to fly KLM enterprise class once more. Not solely did I add a Delft home to my in depth assortment, however I additionally had nice service and a enjoyable and quick flight on the KLM Dreamliner.

A final-minute redemption that nabbed me two flights and a go to to the KLM Crown Lounge in Amsterdam for simply 84,000 Flying Blue miles made it even higher.

When you’ve got a stash of Flying Blue miles, I strongly encourage you to redeem them on KLM since I am unable to advocate the airline extremely sufficient.

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