Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is happening now! Follow us as Greg, Nick, and Stephen compete to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines before November 23rd. Who will complete the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
The madness is over.
When SAS EuroBonus launched a promotion to earn one million miles by flying 15 different SkyTeam airlines by the end of 2024, it felt like it was calling out our name. Given Frequent Miler’s history of past challenges like 40K to Far Away, 3 Cards 3 Continents, and Flying by the Seat of our Points (among others), this SAS promotion is not just in our wheelhouse, it might as well be our wheelhouse. We knew it. Readers knew it.
Similar to our last challenge, Flying by the Seat of our Points, we had three team members travelling and competing for the glory that only a championship can bring (Greg, Nick and Stephen), while two of us stayed behind to hold the fort together and judge the contestant’s every move (Carrie and Tim).
Now that Greg, Nick and Stephen are all back at home, it’s time to take a breath and look back at what happened…and more importantly, decide who won!
How we’re scoring the challenge
Each of the contestants will be placed 1-3 in each of the four categories below and awarded the following points based on where they placed:
- 1st Place – 25
- 2nd Place – 20
- 3rd Place – 15
- Speed: Who completed the challenge the fastest from the moment their first flight departs to the moment it lands.
- Affordability: Who spent the least on flights, accommodation, visas, transfers, etc. Food and activities are not a part of the affordability score for this challenge.
- Style: Fast and cheap is good. Fast, cheap, and in style is better. Carrie and Tim will be judging each contestants trip for the level of “style” that they show us: comfort, creativity, fun, local experiences, enjoying airport lounges, etc.
- Audience Winner: See the poll at the end of this post to weigh in on who did the best job combining all three elements of Million Mile Madness. The result will hold the exact same weight as Carrie and Tim’s.
In addition, there are some additional ways that each contestant can wrack up some points:
- Extra Credit: There are five activities that are worth 2 points, requires video evidence and can be earned by each contestant for a maximum of 10 extra points per person.
- “Best Of” awards: On top of all of those extra credit opportunities, we’ll be passing out 10 “Best of” awards after the challenge during the final livestream. Each on is worth 2 points.
- Personal missions: During our last, pre-challenge Ask Us Anything, we invited each of the contestants to tell us about one aspect of their trip that they were confident would leave the other two trailing in their wake – some might call it “trash talk.” We then turned that confidence into personal missions specific to each person. Each “mission” is worth 3 points.
- Tell us your story: The only way readers, listeners and judges can stay up-to-date on their adventures is if they tell us…or show us! This time around, we expected that each contestant would give us video AND journal updates daily. This is no small feat, and if they could manage it during the whole trip, there would be riches in store. If they fell asleep at the keyboard, the results could be disastrous:
- Perfect (don’t miss a single update) – +5 points.
- Only miss one update – We forgive you.
- Miss 2 updates – 5% reduction in total score.
- Miss 3 updates – 7% reduction in total score.
- Miss 4 updates – 10% reduction in total score.
- Miss 5 or more updates – Automatic 3rd place finish.
Trip Summaries
Greg the Frequent Miler
Greg’s Trip Stats
- Total Time: 9:02:05
- Time it took to complete SAS challenge: 6:22:50
- Total Distance travelled: 31,090 miles
- Total flight legs: 23
- Number of legs in a premium cabin: 7
- Premium Cabin percentage: 30%
- Total Cost (including points and miles): $8,265
- Out of pocket cash cost: $4,230
- Cost of qualifying flights to complete challenge: $3,147
- Points, miles and credits used: $170 Hotel.com GC, 182,500 AA miles, 28,400 Marriott pts, $220 Hilton credit, 95,000 Hilton points, 25,500 Delta SkyMiles, 25K Hyatt points.
- Hotel Nights: 6
- Hotel Nights as percentage of trip: 70%
- Total Hotel Cost (including points and miles): $1,304
- Out of pocket hotel cost: $12
Highlights
Here are some of Greg’s trip updates that caught our attention the most. We’ve reviewed the blog and Instagram reactions to include your thoughts in this assessment too!
- Etihad First Apartments from Paris to Abu Dhabi – You all loved the Armani pajamas, two different wine tastings, and of course the incredibly spacious apartment!
- Blade helicopter ride and free massage in New York City – Greg started his trip with buckets of style. First, he used a $300 Equinox credit from his Amex Platinum to get a free massage treatment before he jumped on his Europe, then rode to the airport in style using a complimentary blade helicopter transfer.
- The Conrad Tokyo Hotel – Once again, you all seem to love sleepwear because the Conrad pajamas really caught your attention, as well as the beautiful room tour.
- Using points and miles – While Greg’s trip came in at by far the highest total cost, his out of pocket cash outlay was right in the same ballpark as Stephen and Nick’s trip, as was his cost of flights to complete the challenge. How did that happen? He used a ton of points and miles to make his trip more luxurious. Maybe he should start a blog sometime!
- Sushi-making classes with a real Sushi Master and hedgehog petting at Harry’s Hedgehog Shop – These two outings in Tokyo had you all equally excited, and maybe a little jealous too. Hedgehogs may be prickly, but when you bribe them with little worms, they’re quite cuddly and cute too!<
View this post on Instagram - The JAL First Class experience, including 100th Anniversary Edition Hibiki – When Greg successfully made it onto a flight that is brag-worthy in its own right, but also gave him access to a very exclusive whiskey that happens to have sentimental value for the team (from our Party of 5 ANA first class suites experience together), you were all suddenly trying to find an application for working at Frequent Miler.
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Lowlights
Using your feedback from Instagram to help assess Greg’s highs and lows, here are some of Greg’s trip lowlights:
- Isn’t this trip expensive? – Some of you couldn’t help but notice Greg’s more relaxed approach to the budget.
- Did Greg get out enough? – Greg slayed it in New York, Copenhagen and Tokyo with his on the ground activities. In between it was a little sparse, although part of that was the weather in Hangzhou not cooperating with his plans.
- Hangzhou busts – Greg was a little too late for the night markets in Hangzhou, and then the weather didn’t cooperate for his boat ride goals the next morning.
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Nick Reyes
Nick’s Trip Stats
- Total Time: 12:19:45
- Time it took to complete SAS challenge: 12:19:45
- Total Distance travelled: 33,317
- Total flight legs: 22 + 2 ground transit legs between cities
- Number of legs in a premium cabin: 3
- Premium Cabin percentage: 14%
- Total Cost (including points and miles): $6,199
- Out of pocket cash cost: $4,592
- Cost of flights needed to complete challenge: $2,763
- Points, miles and credits used: Amex airline incidental fee credit ($200), 102,500 AA miles, 8,000 United miles
- Hotel Nights: 10
- Hotel Nights as percentage of trip: 78%
- Total Hotel Cost (including points and miles): $1,070
- Out of pocket hotel cost: $1,070
Highlights
Here’s what got us the most excited during Nick’s trip:
- Therme Bucharest – Everyone was excited to see Nick’s visit to a water-park-meets-spa, Therme Bucharest. This was in the middle of a stretch of several days where this was the only real on-the-ground activity we saw from any of our competitors!
View this post on Instagram - Taipei food and language outing with Nick’s local friend – As it turns out, there are a number of Xiao Long Bao fans in our audience! You were excited to see Nick trying local delicacies like these.
- Gulangyu and the Terra Cotta Warriors – Some of you were excited to learn about a new off-the-beaten-path destination with the Gulangyu “piano island” visit, and even more of you were thrilled to see Nick visiting the terra cotta warriors in Xi’an. Either way, you loved seeing Nick take advantage of his 10-year China visa with some worthy destinations.
View this post on InstagramView this post on Instagram - Etihad First Class Apartments – Then of course, you were all super excited to see Nick going after those style points with the exact reverse of Greg’s Etihad First Class Apartments itinerary.
Lowlights
According to your own feedback, here are some of Nick’s trip lowlights:
- What about speed? – Nick was intentional. Verrrry intentional. Traveling at least ~50% longer than either of his competitors, some of us felt like Nick forgot that speed was even a part of this challenge.
- Missed flight – Nick was the only competitor to actually miss a flight…and he did it before he left.
- What, you don’t like animals? Nick was the only one of our competitors to not take the time to relax with a furry friend…which was what we thought the easiest extra credit assignment would be.
- No breakfast for Nick – At least a few of us were amused by how impossible it was for Nick to score free breakfast in the many Priority Pass lounges of Incheon Airport before his long Air Asia flight.
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Stephen “the Sultan of Savings” Pepper
Stephen’s Trip Stats
- Total Time: 10:05:28
- Time it took to complete SAS challenge: 10:05:28
- Total Distance travelled: 34,620
- Total flight legs: 24
- Number of legs in a premium cabin: 4
- Premium Cabin percentage: 17%
- Total Cost (including points and miles): $5,106
- Out of pocket cash cost: $3,720
- Cost of flights needed to complete challenge: $3,201
- Points, miles and credits used: 21,500 AA miles, IHG fixed 40K cert, 12,500 Aeroplan points, 56,000 Flying Blue miles.
- Hotel Nights: 5
- Hotel Nights as percentage of trip: 49%
- Total Hotel Cost (including points and miles): $587
- Out of pocket hotel cost: $377
Highlights
For Stephen, there were quite a few things that got us excited:
- Hotel upgrades, including InterContinental Athenee Palace Bucharest – Our viewers noticed that, especially in the first half, Stephen’s travels included some very restful accommodations, often with upgrades. The InterContinental Athenee Palace Bucharest seemed especially nice.
- Last-minute Garuda Business Class – Many of you were very grateful to see Stephen switch up his plans to avoid a 10-hour economy flight on Saudia, opting for a Garuda Business class flight instead.
View this post on Instagram - Cheap, Cheap – Stephen Pepper prides himself on being a cheap date, and he showed it by coming in first in affordability.
- 15 Priority Pass Lounges! – Our viewers appreciated the extra-credit task Stephen gave himself, making sure to visit 15 different Priority Pass lounges during his journey, even if it meant visiting one in Vegas when he landed!
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Lowlights
According to your own feedback, here are some of Stephen’s trip lowlights:
- Show us more! – Our viewers love Stephen and they always want to see more of him.
- Not much local interaction – Stephen was the only competitor to not take advantage of the extra credit for learning something from a local. In fact, we didn’t get to see a ton of him in exotic, non-airport locales at all.
- Rained out in Bucharest – Just like Greg in Hangzhou, Stephen got rained out of his planned activities in Bucharest.
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“Best of” Award Nominees
Carrie and Tim were kind enough to give the fellas a ton of opportunities to earn extra points: extra credit, personal mission and “Best Of” awards. They had ten different categories that they could win…some of them where quantitative, others are up to the judges to decide who won. Below you’ll find our nominees for Best Flight, Best Hotel, Best Video Update, Best Local Food Experience, Best Selfie with an FM hat on and Best Airport Activity.
We’ll announce the winners during the final livestream next Tuesday night…in the meantime, let us know in the comments who we should pick for each category!
Best hotel
Greg – Conrad Tokyo
We often hear about the Conrad Tokyo as being one of the best “luxury values” on points in Tokyo. Greg celebrated completing his 15 carrier challenge by turning on Ritz in a beautiful room with view over Tokyo Bay.
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Nick – Canopy Xi’an
Easily the most eye-catching hotel in Nick’s travels was a brand that we don’t see a ton about – Canopy by Hilton. Nick was looking to brush up on some hand-to-hand combat skills before his encounter with the Terracotta Warriors and found the perfect place at the hotel…boxing ring?
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Stephen – Intercontinental Athenee Bucharest
Stephen stayed in some nice hotels in Europe, but this Intercontinental in Bucharest, Romania was our favorite. He scored a sweet suite upgrade (see what we did there) and took a well-stocked club lounge for all he could.
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Best flight
Greg – Etihad Apartments Paris – Abu Dhabi
Greg had a pretty spectacular trip from Europe to Asia, stack up Etihad First Apartments and Qatar business class for hours upon hours of food and good sleep. While on Etihad, he decided that only thing better than trying one wine off of the stellar wine list would be to try all of them! The flight attendants were game and took him on a multi-course food and wine odyssey.
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Nick – Etihad Apartments Abu Dhabi – Paris
Nick had a great idea: fly one of the best First Class products in the air. He took advantage of a great sweet spot, booking the fabulous Etihad Apartments between Abu Dhabi and Paris – which Nick will tell you is waaay better than going from Paris to Abu Dhabi like Greg did.
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Stephen – Garuda Business Class Riyadh – Jakarta
Stephen was the only person that held to his economy roots when transiting between Europe and Asia…until he realized that meant spending 10+ hours in the back of a Saudia plane. Luckily, a cooler Pepper prevailed and he diverted at the last minute to a business class flight on Garuda.
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Best local food experience
Greg – Sushi Making in Tokyo
When in Tokyo, roll sushi! Greg didn’t waste the opportunity by learning how to make sushi from a Michelin-starred sushi master during his day exploring Tokyo. Greg, by his own admission, is usually terrible at cooking…but he found out that he was a natural with rice and raw fish.
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Nick – Bubble Tea and Dim Sum in Taipei
Nick combined learning something from a local AND a food experience in one terrific day where gave it his best go to learn how to order bubble tea and dim sum in Taipei.
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Stephen – Pho in Vietnam
Stephen took some time away from the non-stop travel to enjoy a hot stone massage, followed by a steaming-hot bowl of pho in Vietnam.
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Best video update
Greg – Mystery animal at Harry’s Hedgehogs
Greg took his extra-credit mission of finding an animal to pet very seriously, visiting a Hedgehog shop which also had another little mystery animal to visit…ever heard of a “Mia Cat?”
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Nick – Hotel laundry how-to!
It seems a lot of you either found Nick’s laundry hotel hack useful or fascinating, but this video got more likes than almost any other video of the challenge!
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Stephen – Reunion with Truffles
Who does heartwarming better than Stephen’s adorable dog Truffles. Their long-awaited reunion was a classic!
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Best selfie with a Frequent Miler hat on
Greg – Fine wine tasting at 35,000 feet in Etihad First Class Apartments
Nick – Enjoying the Christmas Markets in Vienna
Stephen – With a Thomas Dambo troll
Best airport activity
Greg – Japan Airlines First Class Lounge Haneda
This lounge included several different areas with different ambiances and Greg visited/reviewed them all! The Red Suite seemed to impress him the most with its speakeasy-type vibe!
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Nick – Etihad First Lounge Abu Dhabi
Nick got himself a complimentary massage in the Etihad First Class Lounge in Abu Dhabi, and despite not liking massages much (…what???) he actually enjoyed this one!
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Stephen – Butterfly Gardens Singapore
Stephen always finds a way to explore the many interesting exhibits at the Singapore airport, including this beautiful and unique butterfly garden!
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Vote for the winner of Million Mile Madness
Before we get to the audience vote, we gave each of our competitors one, final chance to give their pitch to as to why they’re the obvious winner.
Why Greg thinks that he should win
I had three goals for this trip, and I crushed them all…
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Do it fast. I wanted to get back to my family as quickly as possible. And, indeed I did. It took me only 9 days from start to finish.
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Do it in style. I wanted to fly in luxury as much as was feasible. And, indeed, I did. All of my longest flights were in peak luxury: Etihad First Apartments (~7 hours); Qatar business class (~10 hours); and JAL first class (~12 hours). And all were booked with AA miles at incredibly reasonably prices. Other luxuries included two first class lounges (along with countless other lounges); 7 nights in luxury and high-end hotels; a full body Equinox massage; and a helicopter ride to JFK. Sightseeing was not one of my objectives for this trip, but I still managed to explore Copenhagen, experience Bucharest’s night life in Old Town, enjoy an invigorating run through Jeddah’s airport, explore West Lake China, take a Sushi Master’s sushi making class in Tokyo, and hold hedgehogs and pet a meerkat at a hedgehog cafe.
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My secret mission was to acquire Hibiki’s 100th Anniversary Suntory Whiskey, which is only available to JAL and ANA first class passengers for a limited time! Following our Party of 5 adventure in 2023 where the entire team enjoyed a whiskey tasting aboard ANA first class and declared Hibiki the undisputed winner, I knew Hibiki’s 100th anniversary whiskey would make the perfect nightcap to this trip around the world. The problem was that first class award space wasn’t available when I started the trip. It wasn’t even available once I finished all 15 SkyTeam flights. But an award seat finally appeared on the day I was set to go home whiskey-less. I cancelled those backup plans and booked JAL first class (which was fantastic!) and bought the Hibiki on that flight. I can’t wait to share it with the team at our next in-person meet!
Why Nick thinks that he should win
The Million Mile Madness challenge pushed us to complete flying 15 qualifying SkyTeam carriers with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style. I was the slowest of the three of us, so why should readers vote for me?
I think it’s pretty simple: I completed the challenge in a reasonably quick amount of time (~13 days to fly 15 qualifying airlines!), I did it without wasting too many dimes, and I had a great time.
When it comes to style, I matched several of Greg’s top elements: Qatar business class from the Middle East to Asia; Etihad Apartments first class between the Middle East and Europe; a complimentary massage (albeit a shorter one!) in the Etihad first class lounge (although you could make the argument that Stephen’s inexpensive massage beats both of our massage elements). But I also added my own “style” by taking advantage of layovers along the way to spend extra time in Copenhagen (and get a great dinner at Slurp Ramen Joint!), spend a day relaxing at the largest wellness center in Europe at Therme Bucharest, visit a friend in Taipei for dinner and learn some Chinese words, visit Gulangyu Island (the “Piano Island), a UNESCO World Heritage site in Xiamen, visit another UNESCO World Heritage site in the Terracotta Army in Xi’an, and spend a day wandering the Christmas Markets of Vienna before capping things off with delicious tapas and sangria in Barcelona — and at far, far less total cost than Greg!
No, I didn’t beat Stephen on affordability, but I gave him a fair run for his money (and I might have been able to beat him without the Etihad first class award!). When it comes to bang for your buck, I think my trip was hard to beat. Did I visit more Priority Pass lounges than Stephen? No, probably not. Could I have done more if I spent more? Sure. Did Greg have a killer finish with the special edition Hibiki that I know he genuinely looks forward to sharing with the team and that I can’t wait to taste? Absolutely. But did anyone combine Speed, Affordability, and Style better than I did? If you think so, then by all means vote for the person who did.
Why Stephen thinks that he should win
If you’re going to fly all around the world to earn one million miles, it seemed to me that the most important factor would be to do it as cheaply as possible – especially when you’re doing it on your boss’s dime! Affordability was therefore what I regarded as the most important of the three main categories and I managed to complete the challenge while spending the least of all three of us.
There was a fairly significant difference in affordability too. Nick spent an extra 20% than I did, while Greg spent a whopping 62% more than me. Despite that, I was still extremely competitive with my speed against Greg considering he was able to spend more to obtain optimal flight timings, while it took Nick 2.5 more days to complete his journey than I did – a pretty big difference on speed. Despite all that, I managed to fly the most miles of us all at a much lower cost than the other contestants.
Despite spending the least of all three of us, I still managed to travel in style. I got excellent value from my American Airlines positioning flights, flew business class or first class four times, had numerous rows to myself or empty middle seats when flying in economy and visited 15 different Priority Pass lounges to match the 15 different SkyTeam airlines that I flew.
I’m also proud of the fact that I had a 100% success rate getting a suite upgrade at hotels where it was possible to get a suite. That didn’t even include any Hyatt stays where I would’ve been eligible for a suite upgrade thanks to my Globalist status; instead, I received those suite upgrades with IHG, Marriott and Hilton. The Marriott upgrade was courtesy of redeeming a Nightly Upgrade Award which most people struggle to get any success with, so that’s probably worth a win in its own right 😉
I was therefore able to complete the challenge most affordably by a large margin, in a speedy way and in far more style than might’ve been expected considering how much less I spent than Greg and Nick. If you agree, then vote for me!
Million Mile Madness Reader / Viewer Poll
Ok, now it’s your turn. Each of our competitors has finished their Million Mile Madness and, like they say in sports, “the tape doesn’t lie.” Now that you’ve seen what each of them did to obtain their SAS glory, it’s time for the audience to weigh in. Like the other three categories, the “people’s choice” winner will get 25 points, 2nd place with get 20 and 3rd will have a sort of respectable 15 points.
Who do you think combined speed, affordability and style the best?
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I am going to vote for Tim because I did not care about this contest, only about day to day Points/Miles news.
I completely disagree. The Million Mile Madness challenge provided entertaining and highly useful content. Please keep doing these challenges regularly!”
Nick is hands down the winner for me. It wasn’t just about doing the challenge but Nick was the only one whose travel was truly enjoyable to follow for all the awesome experiences he had. Flying fancy/staying fancy is just one aspect of travel that is enabled by points and miles. The other important aspect is all the experiences one gets to have while visiting all these destinations! And for all those that talk about Nick being the slowest – he finished the challenge well in time to earn the 1 million miles and that’s all matters. Visiting Gulangyu and Terra Cotta warriors really stood out for me.
I agree with the comments that non-qualifying flights shouldn’t qualify for style points so that didn’t pull any weight for me, Greg.
I voted for Stephen because while Nick’s trip was enjoyable, he finished much later than everyone else (I stopped remembering to watch the IG updates after the final check-in).
I’m gonna go with Greg on this one. He completed his trip the fastest and took some absolutely aspirational flights as well. I can forgive him for the spending considering how fast and luxurious his travel was. Close second to Stephen for showing the way to do this challenge economically.
It was fun to follow everyone. And then the commotion was over. Audience that had come to the proverbial stadium to watch left and went home. The stadium staff turned off the lights and they too went home. But Nick was still in the field running… Like he wasn’t even trying. I guess technically still within the rules.
Very fun and interesting challenge to watch. Greg started off super strong, and at first I thought no one is going to catch him. He was faster and flying in business and first class more than the other 2. Greg was also spending more and I realized most of Greg’s style points came from (in my eyes) him just spending way more for better flights.
Nick on the other hand who started off with a missed flight, finished super strong. Nick’s style wasn’t all about just spending points on business or first class, which he did in top-notch fashion, but he also blended it very nicely with so many other very cool and interesting activities that I think most of the viewers and readers would want to do themselves.
Nick not only completed the challenge, but he did it in a way that truly looked enjoyable. If SAS had this challenge next year I think people would look at Nick’s adventure as the blueprint to follow. Although he wasn’t the fastest, he had the most style for what I would consider the least cost given how much longer he was traveling. And out of all the contestants, his trip actually looked really fun and not an exhausting chore that needs to be done. I think Nick deserves the Win!
Ps: I didn’t forget about Stephen. He looked very happy to be home with his dog.
Could you embed the trip stats into a table, allowing us to see all 3 in the same pc screenview?
On principle, Greg shouldn’t win because he’s the boss and, you know, noblesse oblige. Staff morale. If he wins, it could “give the appearance”.
There were 13 comments below when I wrote this and I found them thought-provoking, including this, which I totally agree with: a non-qualifying flight (Etihad! BLADE!) shouldn’t earn Style points. I don’t agree with Stephen’s rationale for valuing affordability above the other 2 criteria. Stephen flew cheaper because it’s in his nature. Nick’s trip was very Nick-esque too. And Greg’s, well… If I didn’t know which of the three flew each trip and if all 3 trip reports were anonymous, and Carrie challenged us to guesss who flew which trip, I’d guess easily. We all would LOL
This challenge was very entertaining and I look forward with curiosity and mischief to the flights all posting without drama LOL.
Nick won on style and readers/Instagram viewers appreciation. He always had something new to share, new places including a live check in a train to arrive to the airport. Also showing that is not about a race, is how you enjoy a challenge.
Greg won in speed and Stephen in affordability.
It’s pretty clear to me that each won on a category: Greg -speed, Nick-style, Stephen-affordability. Can you do a 3 way tie? Great job all!!!
As a tie-breaker, they should see who can fly all the Star Alliance carriers in the least amount of time. . .
Greg for the Speed, Nick for the Style, Stephen for the Affordability.
This should be the one Stephen finally wins. Aside from the scoring model (lol), the way he completed this with his hotel strategy is probably most helpful to readers here. Anyone can string together qualifying flights & spend Conservation AA miles for style points. His mix of hotels & leveraging status should see him on the top podium.
I just want to say, what an awesome challenge. No matter who wins, I have thoroughly enjoyed following all of you jet around the world!
Of the three judging criteria speed and affordability are seemingly objectively quantitative and style is purely subjective.
I say “seemingly” because there’s another way to look at affordability — not total spent but rather amount spent per day of travel. Under that metric Nick wins the category.
Also, in calculating the value of miles used I’m not sure I agree with the methodology of valuing the AA miles. If I recall you measure this based on average domestic miles vs cash price but you pretty much never redeem then that way. I think their relative value is understated.
Under the stated judging categories Greg wins speed and Stephen wins affordability, while style is a toss up between Greg and Nick. I’m going to give it to Nick because, in my book, seeing cool places is what it’s all about and he did more of that. In addition, I’m promoting him to a tie for affordability because even though he spent a bit more than Stephen he stayed out much longer.
So, Nick is my choice.
However, it’s close enough that I think you guys should consider: a do-over.
If I were doing this challenge, I probably would do it like Stephen had, going after the objective to get the miles cheap and fast. He excelled at that so he gets my vote. But it was much more entertaining to have the 3 different takes on approaching this. Great job by all, thank you. I expected many more mishaps!