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‘I’m doing the SAS million points challenge – here’s how’ (Part 2)

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Rob writes: Last month, SAS announced the million points challenge – here’s our article. If you can fly 15 of the SkyTeam alliance carriers by the end of 2024, you will receive 1 million bonus SAS EuroBonus points.

It’s not a competition – everyone who hits the target will get the points.

A number of HfP readers took up the challenge. One of them was Barry Collins, who you may have seen discussing the challenge in The Times last week – click here (paywall, or click here for a non-paywall version).

Barry is sharing his trip with HfP readers. This is Part 2, looking at ‘how’. Click here to read Part 1, looking at ‘why’. Over to Barry ….

How did I book my SAS million points challenge flights?

I knew the rules from SAS (click here) – and I had my own personal set of rules as set out by my wife – so I could get down to brass tacks and start booking.

After watching many episodes of the BBC’s ‘Race Across The World‘, I always think the ones who travel overnight will win, as they are the ones that keep moving rather than staying put. This meant that my original plan was to go as hard and fast as possible, keeping moving, and spending as little time in one place as I could.

This idea quickly went out of the window when we decided to go to Spain during half term with our 7 year old. This let me tick off one airline along the way – in this case Air Europa out of Madrid – which made the main European leg easier.

I also decided that I would try and get an overnight stay wherever possible in countries I hadn’t visited before. It was dipping my toe in, to see if we should all come back another time as a family.

Because of this (and other mistakes I made along the way) I know the trip could have been done cheaper. That said, I thought it was important to balance getting some experiences along the way with completing the challenge and getting the points. 

I had decided to break the flights up into three legs, based around the home bases of the airlines.

The European leg

Europe, being closest and cheapest, was first to be booked.

A 48 hour trip over one weekend would suit just fine for the four remaining European airlines – TAROM, Air France, KLM and competition sponsor SAS.

As the only ‘home base’ I had never visited was Romania (home of TAROM), I would spend the night in Bucharest. The route fell into place pretty quickly once I had decided on that.

I booked each of these flights individually which was my first mistake. I figured out when arranging the American leg that I should have booked connecting flights covering multiple airlines, but it simply didn’t occur to me. 

The North American leg

North America was fairly simple to plan with only three airlines to consider – Virgin Atlantic, Delta and Aeromexico.

As I had visited the USA and Mexico a number of times, I decided to go full ‘night bus’ with this route. My plan was to travel non stop for about 36 hours over one weekend. This also meant I could be home in time to see Rag n Bone Man in concert on the Sunday as we’d had tickets booked for months! 

My second mistake was planning and booking the European and North American legs completely separately from one another. As it turned out it was cheaper to fly home from Mexico City via Paris with a short Air France connection than it was to fly direct – meaning I could have dropped the Air France flight from my European trip.

The Asian leg 

Asia was FAR trickier.

I am not a professional traveller so it took a while to figure out a route that would allow me to stop off along the way whilst not doubling back on myself multiple times or spending far more than I needed to.

After about three days of searching flight map sites, along with Kayak and Skyscanner, I finally had a route I was comfortable with. 

This fell apart on the very first flight I tried to book (on trip.com) as the price doubled on the payment screen! All of the comparison sites prices then updated accordingly, and it threw me off completely.

I had already committed to the first eight flights across Europe and America so there was no turning back. I adjusted my route on the fly (if you’ll excuse the pun) and ended up losing an overnight stay somewhere I hadn’t been before whilst adding three extra flights to my route – albeit at a lower overall price. Not ideal.

My suggestion to anyone looking at numerous flights in the way I did for this booking – use a travel agent! And if not, use a VPN and private browsing. 

My final itinerary

Trip 1 – Gatwick to Barcelona (easyjet), Madrid to Gatwick (Air Europa) booked as part of a family holiday

Trip 2 – Heathrow to Paris (Air France) – Paris to Bucharest (TAROM) – Bucharest to Amsterdam (KLM) – Amsterdam to Stockholm (SAS) – Stockholm to Heathrow (SAS) 

Trip 3 – Heathrow to Atlanta (Virgin Atlantic) – Atlanta to Mexico City (Delta) – Mexico City to Paris (Aeromexico) – Paris to Heathrow (Air France) 

Trip 4 – Stansted to Istanbul (Pegasus) – Istanbul to Riyadh (Pegasus) – Riyadh to Jeddah (Saudia) – Jeddah to Jakarta (Saudia) – Jakarta to Singapore (Garuda) – Singapore to Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) – Ho Chi Minh to Taipei (China Airlines) – Taipei to Xiamen (Xiamen Airlines) – Xiamen to Shanghai (Xiamen Airlines) – Shanghai to Seoul (Korean) – Seoul to Shanghai (China Eastern) – Shanghai to Gatwick (China Eastern)

The total cost for the flights was around £3,200 which – aside from the fun of planning and undertaking the challenge itself – is an excellent deal for the 1 million EuroBonus points plus the standard miles earned. Assuming all goes to plan, that is.

Click here for the next article in this series, as Barry starts the challenge.

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Comments (102)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Bundan says:
    26 Nov26 November 04:33

    Ho Chi Minh to Taipei, is that not China Airlines rather than Air China?

    • Jonathan says:
      26 Nov26 November 08:26

      Probably a typo error since the latter is Star Alliance

      Although some non alliance airlines have been used…

  • Phillip says:
    26 Nov26 November 05:08

    Barry, did you have any interesting experiences at border control/connections, particularly in Asia/Middle East? In theory Saudi Arabia only lets you transit without a transit visa if you are on the same airline but in practice no one seems to care. While Indonesia makes it so difficult to transit full stop, even if you have onward boarding passes.

    I have to say, I got a great reaction from the ground staff at check in in Jakarta, flying out with Xiamen Air. When they realised what I was doing they got very animated and the floor manager mentioned they had someone doing the same the day before. I got a great send off onto the aircraft too.

  • Andy says:
    26 Nov26 November 05:09

    At what cost to the planet? I have no objection to collecting points on purposeful trips that will be taken anyway, but taking 21 flights (excluding the family holiday flights) merely to collect points should not be considered justifiable.

    • Jimmy says:
      26 Nov26 November 06:01

      The planes were flying with him on them or not. Your clmment is asinine

    • John says:
      26 Nov26 November 06:12

      Tell that to SAS

    • david says:
      26 Nov26 November 06:18

      Your on the wrong site Andy.

      • IanT says:
        26 Nov26 November 06:30

        Andy’s not wrong though.

        Ten years ago I’d have been all over this challenge, but not now with how aware we are of the environmental impact of unnecessary flying. We can try to justify it by saying those planes are flying anyway, but that’s rather missing the point.

        Good luck to Barry and the others, but it’s no longer something I could consider doing.

        • cin4 says:
          29 Nov29 November 09:17

          Have to agree with this. You can love travel and all other things this site covers, but can’t defend the indefensible.

    • Bob says:
      26 Nov26 November 06:26

      It’s a scheduled flight so it’s going anyway

    • Charlie says:
      26 Nov26 November 06:32

      Oh, f*** ***. My partner and I drive about 3k miles a year in a 3 litre Mercedes we bought new in 2010, that hasn’t even hit 40k yet. My partner catches the bus to work. I work from home and use trains and planes. We have no children and don’t intend to breed. Even though I fly substantially, I damned well bet my carbon footprint is less than yours. Unless of course, you don’t eat meat. Which I suspect you don’t….. 🙂

      • BSI1978 says:
        26 Nov26 November 07:07

        Absolutely no need for the language, even if using asterisk.

        • zapato1060 says:
          26 Nov26 November 12:57

          ***** **** ********* ********** ***** ***** **** ********. Have a good day.

      • IanT says:
        26 Nov26 November 07:38

        Bit rude!

        • Will says:
          26 Nov26 November 07:43

          Plenty of us would agree with the **** *** sentiment. This wine agenda has resulted in the likes of Milliband and Trump so far apart on opposite sides of political agenda. We have lost the middle ground

      • CJD says:
        26 Nov26 November 10:16

        It probably isn’t if you fly extensively. One transatlantic flight from London to New York in economy has more carbon footprint than your claimed annual driving mileage. If you fly business class, then one flight will be worse than my annual mileage of 10,000.

        • John says:
          26 Nov26 November 21:58

          I don’t think it’s fair to base the carbon footprint of business class on the floor area occupied by the seat. For one thing that ignores the effect of any cargo being transported by the plane

    • Jonathan says:
      26 Nov26 November 08:36

      To all those who try and justify this sort of thing, people who fly unnecessarily when they wouldn’t do otherwise easily give airlines incorrect data on how much demand there is for routes, what’s going to happen when BAEC moves over to collecting tier points based on how much you’ve paid for your ticket ? – people looking for dirt cheap CE tickets will be a thing of the past, as the tickets just won’t yield enough TPs to maintain or achieve Silver or Gold status.
      Although this is a website with travel in everyone’s interest, we definitely shouldn’t be showing a blind eye to the environmental impacts that everyone’s responsible for, our planet can’t last forever the way things are going, winter are getting warmer, summers are getting hotter…

      • Richie says:
        26 Nov26 November 09:16

        If there’s an article about Bristol airport soon, I think @Andy will also comment there.

    • Novice says:
      26 Nov26 November 11:19

      @Andy and anyone else bothered about the planet, I am sure you protested in front of parliament when news broke that nearly 500 delegates were sent to a climate conference and also I am sure you all protested outside Eras tour as Taylor Swift used 2 private jets to do her hundreds of shows???

    • StanTheMan says:
      26 Nov26 November 12:43

      Heal the world, make it a better place……

  • Thaliasilje says:
    26 Nov26 November 05:12

    “The total cost for the flights was around £3,200 which – aside from the fun of planning and undertaking the challenge itself – is an excellent deal for the 1 million EuroBonus points plus the standard miles earned.”

    1 million points for £3200 + the exhaustive nature of flying + time lost and away from family and more. It’s simply not worth it.

    Instead, the same amount of money and time could be spent on fewer but more meaningful trips.

    • John says:
      26 Nov26 November 06:12

      Sounds like these trips were meaningful to Barry

      • david says:
        26 Nov26 November 06:23

        This is part an parcel of life. You could run a marathon for the benefit of amputees and theyll be a small minority who’ll find it disgusting to forget about the blind.

    • Rob H not Rob says:
      26 Nov26 November 06:22

      Dinner party stories for the rest of time.

    • Thomas says:
      26 Nov26 November 07:48

      Believe me, when you are together for a long time with your partner, time away from them is as valuable as time together!!
      Just saying.

      • Rob says:
        26 Nov26 November 08:06

        Absolutely! Few couples I know who don’t do separate holidays as well as joint ones. Most common with one super-high earner and one stay-at-home partner. The lady opposite us went trekking in Peru for a month this summer on her own (she’s mid 40s) whilst her husband worked.

        I’m off to France with my son in mid December for a few days whilst my wife is in Germany and my daughter is away with friends.

      • Gordon says:
        26 Nov26 November 09:30

        Agree, I’m off for a grand tour of SEA for a few months with my son next year, while my wife stays at home, married for 35 years, a little time apart would not hurt, I’ve promised no massages with happy endings!

        • john says:
          26 Nov26 November 09:51

          I thought you were spending a few months in Seattle then until you mentioned the massages 😂

        • zapato1060 says:
          26 Nov26 November 12:59

          I wont tell if you wont Gordon. jaja jk. My son is 11 and I cannot wait for this part of the experience of being a father.

          • Gordon says:
            26 Nov26 November 13:25

            @zapato1060 – Yes it’s a great feeling to experience this with your child, as we did get a taster about 9 years ago when he was 18 years old, touring Thailand and Vietnam for a month.

            I loved the experience so much, I have always said I wanted to return for much longer, and that time will come in Q4 2025. When your time comes, you will know what I mean.

        • John says:
          26 Nov26 November 21:59

          For yourself or for your son…

    • Novice says:
      26 Nov26 November 11:25

      Can’t believe how jealous some people are on this site.

      Well done Barry. Wish I had it in me to fly like this.

  • Richard Peters says:
    26 Nov26 November 05:25

    Did you not think of using ITA Matrix for better use of your funds?

    • mradey says:
      26 Nov26 November 13:31

      This merits an article to itself I think. Maybe Rhys could work on one… maybe a Christmas ‘filler’?

  • Ziggy says:
    26 Nov26 November 06:14

    Did you ever stop to consider that what’s not worth it to you may be worth it to someone else?

    I should really know better by now, but it still amazes me how obnoxiously judgemental some people can be about how someone completely unrelated to them choses to spend their money and time.

    • Ziggy says:
      26 Nov26 November 06:15

      That was meant to be a reply to Thaliasilje

    • PlaneSpeaking says:
      26 Nov26 November 06:53

      Well said Ziggy. There are people on here and all of the other sites relevant to this community who thrive on judging others and being horrible to people who are either asking for help or offering it. Maybe a site should be set up just for the angry folk…

    • Rui N. says:
      26 Nov26 November 07:22

      If they didn’t want people to comment about what they did they shouldn’t be announcing it to the public

      • PlaneSpeaking says:
        26 Nov26 November 08:14

        Rui N. There are comments and there are comments. If they’re not constructive and are just nasty, there’s no point in making them, wouldn’t you agree?

        • Ken says:
          26 Nov26 November 08:23

          What nasty comments ?

          People suggesting it’s not great for the planet (whether it’s SAS designing the competition or people doing it) ?

          One even wishes good luck to Barry.

          The nastiness seems to be the people triggered so much they reply with expletives, then boasts about their carbon footprint.

          • john says:
            26 Nov26 November 09:54

            Ideally SAS would carbon offset the effects of the competition. Or maybe HfP could offer to for the content they are getting 🙃

          • Rob says:
            26 Nov26 November 10:21

            Barry is getting paid our standard commercial rate plus an SAS Gold card!

          • John says:
            26 Nov26 November 10:28

            That Swedish flight shaming thing seems to have died out.

        • Scott says:
          26 Nov26 November 17:08

          I guess then I had better keep my thoughts about Barry’s naff musical taste to myself 😂

    • Novice says:
      26 Nov26 November 11:32

      So true @ziggy especially when you have the rich flying around the world in private jets and instead the general public is constantly getting lectures on climate change.

      I do believe in climate change science but I don’t care anymore. I am not having kids and as long as I have money I will be okay until I kick the bucket. After that not bothered the world can burn.

  • Ben says:
    26 Nov26 November 06:23

    We had very similar booking patterns to you, Barry:
    – We rushed the America trip to be back in London for a concert booked months before (Becky Hill), leaving Tokyo on 22/10 at 21h35 and landing in Heathrow on 24/10 at 12h35, having stopped at San Francisco, Los Angeles, Mexico City and Miami on the way with only a few hours spare at each airport and no hotel booked. Still managed to revisit an empty Mexico City center at 6am and meet some friends for a dinner in Miami.
    – We too decided to spend an overnight or 2 in places either I or my partner hadn’t visited, and really enjoyed our stays in Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, Seoul, Bangkok, Shanghai, Tokyo and Aalborg. Our overnight stay in Copenhagen made us rediscover the city too.
    – We did the European trip in 2 days too using 5 Skyteam airlines plus Wizz but taking advantage of a cheap multi flight pricing from Air France, leaving Aalborg via Amsterdam and Paris to land home in Lisbon later the same day.
    – We spent £2800 on flights but could have greatly reduced this had we not decided to start flying on the 12 of October, 2 days after the email from Head for Points announcing the SAS Euromillion challenge landed in my inbox. Booking the first few flights so close to departure dates meant that they were more expensive. We also booked a Xiamen unqualifying fare meaning we had to had Tarom later in our itinerary adding further costs.

    I noticed your itinerary has an Air China flight to Tapei, I m assuming you, in fact, booked a China Airlines flight instead?

  • Thomas Atkins says:
    26 Nov26 November 06:33

    Am I too late to start the challenge?

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