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Flying by the seat of our points (7)

2024 Annual Challenge

Tim wins "Flying by the seat of our points"

Stage 1 Recap

Stage 2 Recap

Stage 3 Recap

The Frequent Miler team's 2024 challenge, Flying by the Seat of our Points, was designed to push our award booking skills to the limit with a series of last minute travel challenges.

Stephen and Carrie were the game-masters who delivered last-minute destination challenges, then scored points as Greg, Nick, and Tim set out to meet each challenge before the next assignment, using their skills to achieve the best combination of frugality and luxury possible. (See the scoring criteria here).

In total, each contestant had to visit 3 last-minute destinations: 1 domestic convergence destination where they all met together, separate international divergence destinations where they all parted ways, and 1 international convergence destination where they reconvened together again. At each destination, they were given exploration challenges to force them out of their hotels and into the streets.

Livestreams

The "Flying by the seat of our points" challenge included 4 livestream check-ins where the contestants found out their next destination, and received scores for the travel they'd just accomplished.

Live Reveal of "Domestic Convergence"
Video Link Here
Live Reveal of "International Divergence"
Video Link Here
Live Reveal of "International Convergence"
Video Link Here
Live Reveal of our winner!
Video Link Here

Judging each stage...

Stage 1 Scoring

Judging Stage 1 of the Flying by the Seat of our Points Challenge…

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Update: This post has been updated to incorporate a reader suggestion about how we scored our guessing challenge, ranking it as a single possible...
Stage 2 FINALS

Judging Stage 2 of the Flying by the Seat of our Points Challenge

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Update: This post has been updated to calculate hotel experiences and exploration challenges which had not yet been completed at the time of our...
Calculations

Judging Stage 3 of Flying by the Seat of our Points…and determining a winner!

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Stephen and I have been acting as judges for the incredibly fun and fast-paced Flying by the seat of our Points Challenge, which just...

Final Scores

Calculations

Journals

Greg

Fishing for Points and KLM-ing Home (Greg’s Flying by the Seat of our Points...

91
The Flying by the Seat of our Points challenge is done. What a blast we had! And many, many people have told us how much fun it was to watch the action as it unfolded. That's what we were hoping for! Thanks go to...
Greg Stage 1 Score (revised)
Greg Stage 2 Final Total
Greg Stage 3 Final Total

Nick

A quick LA turnaround turns into a lot of striking out (Nick’s Flying by...

71
Stephen and Carrie shared that my international divergence destination is Morocco! I had to scramble to get out of LA as quickly as I could -- and unfortunately, I haven't had much luck in figuring out this puzzle. Will...
Nick Stage 1 Score (Revised)
Nick Stage 2 Final Total
Nick Stage 2 Final Total

Tim

Flying by the seat of our points (7)

Fine dining with FHR at the Mandarin Oriental (Tim’s Flying by the Seat...

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Selamat malam from Malaysia! The crew is back together again in Kuala Lumpur...and we're ready to party with stinky fruit. June 10th, 2024 (stage 3, final day) When is a sofa bed not a sofa bed? All three of us were originally planning on arriving to our final destination on Sunday for...
Tim Stage 1 Score (Revised)
Tim Stage 2 Final Total
Tim Stage 2 Final Total

Do you love our challenge trucker hats as much as we do?

We've started designing hats for each of our challenges, just because we get a kick out of them. But if you want one too, you can buy one at the link below!