My Longest Redemption: 19,277 Miles in KLM Business Class for ₹14,000
Mumbai to Colombia and back. Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner. KLM business class. Open jaw into Bogota, out of Cartagena. 1,98,000 SAS points + ₹14,000 taxes per person.
As the year comes to a close, I sat down to look back at everything Shruti and I did in 2025. The trips we took, the flights we booked, the points we burned. And one redemption stood out above everything else.
This isn't a detailed flight review. I'll do that separately. But when I think about the single best use of points this year, this is it.
Mumbai to Bogota on the way in, Cartagena to Mumbai on the way back. Business class all the way on KLM's Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner.
The Numbers
We flew 19,277 miles in business class and paid ₹14,000 in taxes per person.
| Leg | Distance |
|---|---|
| Mumbai → Amsterdam | 4,267 miles |
| Amsterdam → Bogota | 5,499 miles |
| Cartagena → Amsterdam | 5,244 miles |
| Amsterdam → Mumbai | 4,267 miles |
| Total | 19,277 miles |
Each direction was roughly 23 hours of travel, which sounds exhausting until you remember you're in a lie-flat seat with proper meals and can actually sleep. A cash ticket on this route in business class would cost ₹4-5 lakhs per person easily. We paid 1,98,000 SAS EuroBonus points plus ₹14,000 in taxes.
Why We Chose Open Jaw
One thing that made this trip possible was that SAS EuroBonus allows open jaw itineraries, meaning you can fly into one city and out of another without paying extra.
We flew into Bogota and out of Cartagena, which is perfect for how Shruti and I like to travel. We don't plan much in advance. For this Colombia trip, we had just two nights booked in Bogota when we landed, and figured out everything else as we went along. If we like a city, we stay longer. If we don't, we move to the next one. This is how we typically travel, and open jaw makes it possible.
We did the same thing for our Japan trip back in 2024, landing in Osaka and flying home from Tokyo. Whenever possible, we try to book open jaw because it just makes more sense for the way we explore a country.
The beauty of open jaw is that we didn't have to rush back to Bogota just to catch our flight home. Wherever we ended up in Colombia, we just needed to make Cartagena our last stop. From there, we could fly home without any backtracking or extra domestic flights. If you travel flexibly and hate rigid itineraries, always check if your points program allows open jaw because it completely changes how you can plan a trip.
The Aircraft and Seats
KLM operates their 787-10 Dreamliner on this route, which is their newest long-haul aircraft. The business class cabin is excellent with lie-flat seats, solid food, and that Dreamliner cabin pressure that leaves you feeling less destroyed after a long flight.
We experimented with different seating strategies across the legs. On the Mumbai to Amsterdam flight, we took middle seats so we could sit next to each other. The Amsterdam to Bogota flight was early morning, so we switched to window seats to maximize sleep time. On the return legs, we both went with window seats again.
Here's a useful tip if you're flying KLM business class: they charge for advance seat selection even in business, but if you wait until online check-in opens, you can select seats for free. We did this and had plenty of good options to choose from, so there was no need to pay anything extra.
There's also an advantage for connecting passengers that most people don't know about. When the Mumbai to Amsterdam leg opened for check-in, we could also select seats for the Amsterdam to Bogota segment at the same time. Someone flying only the second leg would have to wait for that flight's check-in window to open. This meant we got first pick of the seats on both flights.
The Dutch Houses
If you've ever flown KLM business class, you know about the Dutch houses. They're these miniature Delft Blue ceramic houses filled with genever, which is Dutch gin, and they give one to every business class passenger. The houses are numbered, and collecting them is a thing among frequent KLM flyers.
Between our four flights, Shruti and I collected 8 of them. They look great on a shelf and each one is a memory of a trip.
The Layover Experience
Our return layover in Amsterdam was only 1 hour 10 minutes, and honestly we were a bit skeptical about whether we would make it or not. We had never experienced such a tight layover before.
Even though both flights were on the same terminal, the walk was crazy long. We rushed through security and made our way to the gate as fast as we could. Thankfully, all flights were on time that day, and when we reached the gate, boarding hadn't even started yet. So all good in the end.
The rush meant we couldn't check out the KLM lounge in Amsterdam, which we were looking forward to. Maybe some other day. But honestly, making a tight connection like that has its own thrill, and it's now part of the story we tell about this trip.
Where The Points Came From
Last year, SAS ran a challenge where if you flew 15 out of 17 SkyTeam airlines and credited those flights to SAS EuroBonus, they would give you 1 million points. Shruti and I both completed it, so between us we had 2 million SAS points sitting in our accounts.
We used about 4 lakh of those points for this Colombia trip. When I do the math, this single redemption pretty much covered the cost of all 15 flights I took to complete that challenge last year. Everything we redeem from here is pure bonus.
Why SAS Points Work So Well
SAS is a SkyTeam partner, and so is KLM. SAS EuroBonus allows you to book partner airlines like KLM, Air France, and others using their points. For Indians, this is one of the best redemption options out there because KLM flies directly from Mumbai, and SAS points price these awards very competitively. If you have SAS EuroBonus points, exploring their partner availability is absolutely worth it.
What This Redemption Taught Me
This was my longest redemption ever in terms of distance, and easily one of the best in terms of value.
Open jaw routing is incredibly valuable if you like traveling without a fixed plan. Flying into one city and out of another gives you flexibility that a round trip booking simply cannot match.
Sometimes the best redemptions aren't just about the destination or the points you save. It's about the entire experience, the journey there, and who you're sharing it with. This trip to Colombia with Shruti, flying business class on points we won in a challenge, is something we'll remember for a long time.
