Travelers crisscross the globe with frequent-flier immortality at stake
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Beginning Wednesday, Philip Wallin plans to spend roughly 90 hours on airplanes over the course of two weeks. His grueling journey involves over 20 flights and will take him across 37,000 miles and more than a dozen time zones.
In between these flights, Wallin, who has a sales job in Stockholm, says he will only occasionally step foot outside an airport. The goal of all this marathon flying: one million frequent-flier points. Scandinavian Airlines, also known as SAS, is running a promotion through year’s end to celebrate its entry into the SkyTeam airline alliance, which also includes Delta and Air France.
The carrier is giving away one million points in its EuroBonus loyalty program to anyone who flies on at least 15 SkyTeam airlines by Dec. 31. Those who fall short of the ultimate goal could still receive as many as 100,000 points depending on how many airlines they fly with.
This game of continental hopscotch has become something of a status symbol among travel-loyalty nerds. They have set online forums ablaze trading sample itineraries, booking tips and other hacks. Especially competitive fliers have set goals to see who can earn the points faster and cheaper than everyone else.
Some plan to fly in one extended trip, while others have broken it into separate chunks. Employees at the airline are placing bets on how many people will complete the challenge, with estimates ranging from five to 500, said Aron Backström, vice president of product and loyalty at SAS. Richard Cherskov, a 50-year-old from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., already had a trip to Europe planned this fall that he realized he could mix into the SAS challenge.
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