Million Mile Madness really will be madness. And I’m probably mad for wanting to take part in this new Frequent Miler challenge.
If you haven’t had a chance to check it out already, be sure to read this challenge launch post which explains in greater detail what we’re up to. As a quick recap, Greg, Nick, and I are jetting off around the world on a quest to each earn 1 million miles courtesy of the EuroBonus Millionaire promo being run by SAS. To earn those 1 million miles, we have to fly 15 different SkyTeam airlines before the end of the year, but the self-imposed time constraints are even more severe than that (more about that shortly).
Seeing as this million mile promotion is being run by SAS (Scandinavian Airlines), we contestants will be judged on SAS – Speed, Affordability, and Style.
This challenge isn’t just about us though. In fact, you – the readers – will have a massive role in our journeys, with the opportunity to win prizes. The three of us will each pick a reader who helped us the most and they’ll win a prize, with the reader who helped the eventual winner winning a Grand Prize (stay tuned for more about what those prizes will be).
I’ll gratefully accept all the help I can get, so here’s how you can help me – and you! – win.
Constraints
- Departure airport: My wife and I are due to be spending most of November in Las Vegas, so that’s the airport that I’ll be flying out of. Seeing as Delta is one of the eligible airlines, taking a cheap flight from Vegas to somewhere like Los Angeles, Seattle or San Francisco to then head to Asia might make sense. However, perhaps there’ll be a cheap flight from Las Vegas to New York and from there I can get a cheap flight to Europe on Virgin Atlantic, KLM or Air France. Or maybe fly from Vegas to Mexico City on Delta or Aeromexico and then back up from there to a different US city and onwards.
- Departure date:
- Earliest departure date – November 4 (Monday) after midday
- Ideal departure date – November 5-7 (Tuesday-Thursday), but can leave later than November 7 with the right itinerary
- Return date: I need to be back in Vegas by November 20.
- Passport: Unlike Greg and Nick, I don’t have a US passport – I have a UK passport as I’m a Permanent Resident here in the US. I don’t think there are many differences in terms of where they’re accepted around the world, but it’s something to be aware of, especially with countries where I won’t just be transiting through the airport.
Potentially Useful Stuff (Or Lack Thereof)
Unlike Greg, I don’t have any flight credits, upgrade certificates, etc. that will be applicable to this challenge. However, that could potentially be a blessing in disguise because it means I won’t have the temptation to book sub-optimal flights in order to take advantage of those other types of benefits.
Qualifying Airlines
Here are the 16 airlines available for the promotion. Since I need to fly 15 of them, I can only leave 1 off the list:
- Qualifying airlines based in North America
- Aeromexico
- Delta
- Qualifying airlines based in Europe (primary hubs shown in parentheses)
- Air Europa (Madrid MAD)
- Air France (Paris CDG)
- KLM (Amsterdam AMS): KLM also has several 5th Freedom Flights entirely in Asia: KUL to Jakarta (CGK); SIN to Denpasar DPS; Taipei (TPE) to Manila (MNL)
- SAS (Copenhagen CPH, Stockholm ARN, Oslo OSL)
- TAROM (Bucharest OTP)
- Virgin Atlantic (London LHR, Manchester MAN)
- Qualifying airlines based in Asia (primary hubs shown in parentheses)
- China Airlines (Taipei TPE)
- China Eastern (Shanghai PVG)
- Garuda Indonesia (Jakarta CGK)
- Korean Air (Seoul ICN, GMP)
- Vietnam Airlines (Ho Chi Min City SGN, Hanoi HAN)
- Xiamen Airlines (Xiamen XMN, Fuzhou FOC)
- Qualifying airlines based elsewhere (primary hubs shown in parentheses)
- Kenya Airways Nairobi (NBO): Note that Kenya Airways has a 5th freedom flight in Asia: Bangkok BKK to Guangzhou CAN
- Saudia Airlines (Riyad RUH, Jeddah JED)
My Focus
As mentioned earlier, our Million Mile Madness journeys will be judged based on SAS – Speed, Affordability, and Style. While it would be nice to travel in style, my main focus will be on the first two factors – Speed and Affordability.
Don’t get me wrong, if there’s some kind of cheap business class fare that can be booked using the Amex Business Platinum’s Pay With Points rebate, I certainly wouldn’t object. However, I’m guessing that I’ll be flying most – or all – of the paid legs in economy and so I’d love to be the one to complete this challenge for the least amount of money.
The speed of the overall journey is also important to me. I had some major reservations about taking part in this challenge because November is my busiest month on GC Galore (one of my own websites) due to all the gift card deals that are around leading up to the holidays. As a result, my wife and I tend to spend a month in the same place in November on our 50 state road trip seeing as much of each day is spent working, hence why we’d booked a month in Vegas. Jetting off around the world and getting little sleep probably isn’t my smartest move, but the EuroBonus Millionaire promotion – and this challenge by extension – was too fun to pass up.
It does mean though that I’d love to not be spending 2+ weeks on this trip, so the shorter the overall travel time, the better.
My Superpower
I’m extremely fortunate because I find it pretty easy to sleep anywhere, even when flying in economy. In fact, when flying economy I’m usually snoozing before the plane has even taken off. Some of the best sleep I’ve ever gotten on a plane was 10 years ago when flying to Australia in economy. I’m therefore hoping that’ll help me get enough rest seeing as my itinerary could be fast-paced with fewer hotel nights than Greg and Nick allow themselves to have.
Hopes & Dreams
Speed and affordability are the primary objectives, but if it’s possible to fit these in with my itinerary, that would be superb.
- Trolls – If you’ve been following Frequent Miler challenges from our first ever challenge – 40K To Far Away – you might remember that I found some of Thomas Dambo’s trolls in both Belgium and Denmark. I’d love to be able to fit in more of them during this trip, but the easiest ones to get to will still likely be a big hassle visiting due to their distances from airports. It therefore won’t make sense if this impacts on the speed of my journey, but if I have a long layover or an overnight in one of these places, it might be doable.
- Seoul, South Korea – There’s a collection of five trolls at Pyeonggang Land, a two hour drive northeast of Incheon. Google Maps doesn’t give driving directions in South Korea, so I’d have to use either Naver Map or Kakao Map and I’m not sure how good those are when it comes to driving directions in English.
- France – There’s a troll in Elfy Land, about 1.5 hours outside of Lyon. There’s also a new one in La Forêt Monumentale in Rouen, about two hours northwest of Paris.
- Copenhagen – Although I found several trolls in Copenhagen during 40K To Far Away, there are many more that I haven’t found there (Copenhagen is where Thomas Dambo is from, hence why there are so many there).
- Lounges – If I want to get this journey done ASAP, it’ll likely require as few nights in hotels as possible. Seeing as I’ll likely be flying in economy for the most part, having access to Priority Pass lounges in each airport I’m flying through would be ideal, especially if they have showers.
- As few flights as possible – While we can take as many additional flights as we need to piece together an itinerary that incorporates 15 SkyTeam airlines, I’d love it if those additional flights were minimal. Even better if there’s somehow a way to only fly 15 legs.
- Visas – For anywhere that I’d be staying overnight, being able to get a visa on arrival would be preferred. Unlike Nick, I don’t already have a Chinese visa and so that means in order to fly any of the China-based airlines, I’d need to transit the airport rather than actually enter the country.
- Getting back to Vegas – If there was some way to have the itinerary land me back in Vegas, all the
bettorbetter. However, that’s not essential as I can find some other way to get back there (hopefully in comfort) using my own miles.
I Need Your Help!
All three of us are seeking reader input on our itineraries, but I could probably do with getting the most assistance of all! I signed up for this challenge against my better judgment as I’m super-busy for the next couple of weeks. That means I have little time to do a lot of research into routings, pricing, etc., so all input will be gratefully received. And remember – the person who’s most helpful will win a prize and if I win the challenge overall, that reader will win the grand prize.
Please therefore share your ideas, tips and tricks in the comments below – thank you 🙂
Let the madness begin!
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One idea I had for your itinerary would be to fly to central bases in Asia and stay for a few days to knock out most of the Asian airlines and avoid complexities with entering China. Taipei could be a great fit for you during this challenge. You could take advantage of the very cheap award flights from SEA to TPE, 22k skymiles in basic economy (this potentially may not count towards the challenge but you could take a cheap paid flight from LAS to SEA). Bonus is there are some trolls in the Seattle area if the connection time is long enough.
Once in Taipei there are some affordable FHR to stay at or other great uses of points for a comfortable stay. From there you could complete a day trip(s) to knock off China Airlines, Xiamen, China Eastern and Korean Air. There may be a way to complete 3 in a day and use the 4th to complete the next step
The following day you can fly to BKK and use that as a hub to complete another set of trips including the Kenya Airways fifth freedom. My suggested itinerary would be BKK-HAN-CAN on Vietnam Airlines and the return on Kenya Airways. The next day you can fly to Indonesia to take on the KLM fifth freedom flights, these have some very affordable flights in premium economy or business to get some style points. Depending on your selection you would return to KUL or SIN on Garuda with the option to return to BKK or continue on to Europe. Saudia seems like the likely airline but I am also seeing very cheap flights on China eastern if you skip it earlier in the itinerary.
Thanks for those suggestions. I like the idea of basing myself somewhere for a couple of days and trying to fit in several flights, so I’ll have to research those options.
Definitely tempted by the KLM 5th freedom routes as I found some for only $55 last night.
I also found several sub-$300 BKK-Europe flights, so those are tempting. If going that direction though, I’ve had a hard time fitting in Virgin and Saudia affordably.
I just watched the live and realized you are planning to go East…need to look that direction!
Not necessarily. After the live I started doing some research and found some good options going west too. The biggest issue I’m coming across is finding an affordable way to fly Saudia (whether heading east or west) and Virgin Atlantic (when flying west – one-way from Boston or JFK to London is fine)
I’m seeing some really cheap flights from BKK to DOH on Xiamen $220, then you can fly in the middle east on Saudia for much cheaper. This also helps check off one of the China transits with no visa
That’s a helpful route option, thanks. It doesn’t look like that fare will be eligible for earning miles with SAS though unfortunately.
My quick Tips on Some Overlooked 5th Freedom flights Options
1) Brisbane <> Auckland (China Air) – then you can fly onto LA from Auckland cheap on delta cash
3) Sydney <> Auckland (China Eastern) – link it up with above to knock off 2 Chinese airlines
3) There are a bunch of virgin route within the Carribean
I like the idea of pairing these with a short Auckland-PPT flight (not on Skyteam), then finishing the challenge with the PPT-LAX AF 5th Freedom route. I also love the idea of knocking out KLM in South America, then using UX for the entry/exit to Europe from South America. This strategy would make Europe easier, as you would only have Tarom, SAS, and VS. I haven’t looked hard at this, but VS could be a fun to finish Europe, heading to Accra, then take Kenya to Nairobi and Saudia to Jeddah and onward into Asia.
Thanks – I’ll take a look at those options
Hi Stephen: Here is my suggested itinerary that hits 15 unique skyteam airlines (one duplicate) and includes all 3 requested stops in Seoul, Lyon and Copenhagen:
Scratch the above itinerary and use this instead b/c it’ll give you more time to check out your trolls in Copenhagen, Lyon and Seoul:
1. Las Vegas (LAS) to Mexico City (MEX)
o Airline: Aeromexico
o Flight Number: AM 222
o Date: November 5, 2024
o Duration: ~4.5 hours
o Departure Time: 4:00 PM
o Arrival Time: 10:30 PM
2. Mexico City (MEX) to Amsterdam (AMS)
o Airline: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
o Flight Number: KL 685
o Date: November 6, 2024
o Duration: ~10 hours
o Departure Time: 11:55 PM
o Arrival Time: November 7, 2024, 3:55 PM
3. Amsterdam (AMS) to Seoul (ICN)
o Airline: Korean Air
o Flight Number: KE 271
o Date: November 8, 2024
o Duration: ~10 hours
o Departure Time: 5:30 PM
o Arrival Time: November 9, 2024, 10:30 AM
4. Seoul (ICN) to Taipei (TPE)
o Airline: Korean Air
o Flight Number: KE 123
o Date: November 9, 2024
o Duration: ~2 hours
o Departure Time: 10:00 AM
o Arrival Time: 12:00 PM
5. Taipei (TPE) to Shanghai (PVG)
o Airline: China Airlines
o Flight Number: CI 881
o Date: November 9, 2024
o Duration: ~2 hours
o Departure Time: 3:00 PM
o Arrival Time: 5:00 PM
6. Shanghai (PVG) to Jakarta (CGK)
o Airline: China Eastern Airlines
o Flight Number: MU 5001
o Date: November 10, 2024
o Duration: ~5.5 hours
o Departure Time: 6:15 PM
o Arrival Time: 11:45 PM
7. Jakarta (CGK) to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)
o Airline: Garuda Indonesia
o Flight Number: GA 226
o Date: November 11, 2024
o Duration: ~3 hours
o Departure Time: 9:00 AM
o Arrival Time: 12:00 PM
8. Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) to Hanoi (HAN)
o Airline: Vietnam Airlines
o Flight Number: VN 103
o Date: November 11, 2024
o Duration: ~1.5 hours
o Departure Time: 3:00 PM
o Arrival Time: 4:30 PM
9. Hanoi (HAN) to Guangzhou (CAN)
o Airline: Xiamen Airlines
o Flight Number: MF 883
o Date: November 12, 2024
o Duration: ~2 hours
o Departure Time: 5:30 PM
o Arrival Time: 7:30 PM
10. Guangzhou (CAN) to Nairobi (NBO)
o Airline: Kenya Airways
o Flight Number: KQ 882
o Date: November 12, 2024
o Duration: ~9 hours
o Departure Time: 9:00 PM
o Arrival Time: November 13, 2024, 6:00 AM
11. Nairobi (NBO) to Paris (CDG)
o Airline: Air France
o Flight Number: AF 982
o Date: November 13, 2024
o Duration: ~8.5 hours
o Departure Time: 9:55 PM
o Arrival Time: November 14, 2024, 6:25 AM
12. Paris (CDG) to Lyon (LYS)
o Airline: Air France
o Flight Number: AF 7430
o Date: November 14, 2024
o Duration: ~1 hour
o Departure Time: 9:00 AM
o Arrival Time: 10:00 AM
13. Lyon (LYS) to Bucharest (OTP)
o Airline: Tarom
o Flight Number: RO 660
o Date: November 14, 2024
o Duration: ~3 hours
o Departure Time: 3:00 PM
o Arrival Time: 6:00 PM
14. Bucharest (OTP) to London (LHR)
o Airline: Virgin Atlantic
o Flight Number: VS 746
o Date: November 14, 2024
o Duration: ~3 hours
o Departure Time: 8:00 PM
o Arrival Time: November 15, 2024, 11:00 PM
15. London (LHR) to Copenhagen (CPH)
o Airline: SAS
o Flight Number: SK 501
o Date: November 15, 2024
o Duration: ~1.5 hours
o Departure Time: 8:00 AM
o Arrival Time: 9:30 AM
16. Copenhagen (CPH) to Madrid (MAD)
o Airline: Air Europa
o Flight Number: UX 111
o Date: November 15, 2024
o Duration: ~3 hours
o Departure Time: 4:00 PM
o Arrival Time: 7:00 PM
17. Madrid (MAD) to Atlanta (ATL)
o Airline: Delta Airlines
o Flight Number: DL 1234
o Date: November 16, 2024
o Duration: ~8 hours
o Departure Time: 5:00 PM
o Arrival Time: November 16, 2024, 8:00 PM
18. Atlanta (ATL) to Las Vegas (LAS)
o Airline: Delta Airlines
o Flight Number: DL 5678
o Date: November 17, 2024
o Duration: ~4 hours
o Departure Time: 10:00 AM
o Arrival Time: 11:30 AM
Thanks!
sure! some have very tight connections so you may need to play around with it a bit, but it does meet your criteria of dates, requested stops and 15 of 16 skyteam airlines. Best of luck!!
Um…what? I’m assuming this is AI-generated, but literally zero of these flight numbers are accurate…and many of these routes aren’t even operated by the airline listed.
Sorry Stephen. So much for chat GPT! Guess it’s not good at making an accurate flight itinerary. Seemed good on paper!
#FAIL
I used both Naver and Kakao when I was in South Korea last summer, and found them both easy enough, with a slight preference for Kakao. I was primarily driving on Jeju, and a neat feature is that the apps alert you to precisely where speed cameras are located down to to the meter, which was essential for avoiding tickets.
That’s good to know – glad that they’re both easy enough to use.
Here is what I found –
Nov 5 – LAS – LAX $52 – Delta (6:05am-7:15am)
Nov 5 – LAX – SGN Via ICN – $450 – Korean (10:50am – 10:15pm +1)
Nov 7 – SGN – PVG – $180 – Vietnam
Nov 8 – PVG – BKK – $180 – China Eastern
Nov 9 – BKK – CAN – $182- Kenya
Nov 10 – CAN – TPE – $351 – China Airlines
Nov 11 – TPE – CGK Via FOC -$231 – Xaimen
Nov 12 – CGK – JED – $591 – Garuda
Nov 13 – JED – BOM – $357 – Saudia
Nov 14 – BOM – LHR – $432 – Virgin (3:40 pm arrival)
Nov 14 – LHR – CPH – $90 – SAS (7:30pm departure)
Nov 15 – CPH – CDG – $151 – Air France (5:55pm departure allows for trolls)
Nov 16 – CDG – OTP – $65 – Tarom
Nov 17 – OTP – AMS – $100 – KLM (8 am arrival)
Nov 17 – AMS – MAD – $161 – Air Europa (11 am departure)
Not saying this is the best route, but it does get you home before Nov 20 (figured you can take an award flight home). These were all priced via google flights.
Stephen, JED -BOM on the 13th is only $383 in business class. Good use of Amex Business 35% back benefit.
Nice spot, thank you 🙂
Can also change around the order of the beginning.
Sgn – Can – Bkk -Pvg- Tpe for example
Ouch! Almost $3400 just for flights.
Pretty sure Xiamen and TAROM are not mileage-qualifying fare classes at those prices, so add a couple hundred dollars
Thank you!
Another option is to fly sfo direct to ICN on the 5th- $487. ICN to BKk via Vietnam with overnight layover in SGN in business class is $384 on Nov 7.
Thanks for these!
Stephen,
Other routes I found that are cheaper than what I listed…
You could route XMN – KUL and then use the KUL – CGK on KLM with the 5th freedom flight.
Also, a cheaper way to get from BOM to Europe is on AF on the 15th.
Since Xaimen is hard to get a fare class to qualify, XMN – KUL is showing as $424 in business class on google flights. Not the cheapest, but also a 4.5 hour flight.
I looked at many options for the Asia trips a few days ago, and like you, I do not have a China visa. Try flying to Xiamen (many cheap fares from all over Asia) and then something like XMN-PVG-ICN on China Eastern. This way you can do both Chinese carriers in one transit and fares are cheap.
Unfortunately, you can’t enter via XMN and exit via PVG under the TWOV rule. For XMN, you enter there, you can only stay in Fujian province. If you enter via PVG, you can go about Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and may exit from area airports like SHA, NKG or HGH. But even in that case you can’t exit via XMN.
You’re right, I was thinking it was okay because of the through ticket, but agree this wouldn’t work
Could do LAS to ELP for cheap on Frontier. Then walk across land border and do CJS to TIJ through Mexico City on Aeromexico. From there cross the land border again to San Diego. I know this doesn’t fit your criteria for flight time. But cheapest way to hit Aeromexico and there’s priority pass at all stops along the way (cjs, mex, san).
From San Diego could do TATL and fly to London through Seattle for $500 and knock off Delta and Virgin Atlantic. Or could do TPAC to Seoul and hit Delta and Korea Air. Or take a delta flight back to LAS and recoup and then go again.
I can’t take any credit as land border was discussed on FlyerTalk. Just thought you’d be able to use it best with your starting point in Vegas.
Bonus points if you can do the whole trip without ever setting foot outside of an airport.
Just so you know you can enter China without visa for no more than 144 hrs if you are in transit.
https://www.china-briefing.com/news/china-resumes-144-hour-visa-free-transit-policy-for-foreigners-who-can-apply/#:~:text=China%20has%20expanded%20the%20144,as%20of%20July%2015%2C%202024.
China you’ll be fine, you can do Transit Without Visa (TWOV) as long as you don’t return to the same country you flew in from. No visa necessary, and can often stay for up to 7 days.