Feb 6, 2025 • 6 min read
20.01.2025 - 13:13 / thepointsguy.com
A day after Christmas, I started the final stretch of the SAS EuroBonus million-point challenge, where I would end up taking 20 flights on 16 different SkyTeam airlines over the course of 25 days in order to nab 1 million SAS EuroBonus points.
My first leg was a jaunt from Portland, Oregon, to Seoul, South Korea, via Seattle on Delta Air Lines, Korean Air and Garuda Indonesia. From there, I visited Bali before taking Vietnam Airlines to Ho Chi Minh City and on to Hanoi, Vietnam.
My third week included stops in Taiwan, China and Thailand followed by an overnight in the United Arab Emirates. I flew a combination of carriers including China Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Kenya Airways and Saudia.
Finally, it was time to head to Europe for what would be a whirlwind climax to my journey, flying seven different airlines over the course of just a few days and ending my odyssey in Mexico City.
I had only hit a few snafus so far, including one flight that I could not credit to my SAS EuroBonus account (and thus wouldn't count toward the challenge). That meant rescheduling some flights, adding a last-minute round trip between the U.K. and Norway on an airline I hadn't planned to fly, and then hoping everything else would run smoothly as the clock ticked down to 2025 and the end of the challenge period.
Would I make it all happen under the wire? Here's the conclusion to my round-the-world trip and the things I learned along the way.
I was very excited to experience Virgin Atlantic from Dubai International Airport (DXB) to London's Heathrow Airport (LHR) since this would be my first time flying the airline. Because my Kenya Airways flight from Guangzhou, China, to Bangkok had been delayed by a day and then did not end up counting toward the SAS challenge due to a fare code issue, I had pushed my Virgin Atlantic flight up by a day so that I would have extra time to take an additional flight once in Europe.
Check-in at Dubai was seamless, and I upgraded to an Economy Delight seat for the extra legroom — these seats have 34 inches of pitch versus just 31 inches in the regular economy seats.
It just so happened that the seat next to me was free, too, so I knew I would be comfortable on this 7 1/2-hour flight.
Once on board the Airbus A330-900neo, the vibe was very upbeat. As it was the day after Christmas, they were playing some recent Sabrina Carpenter releases and other Christmas pop hits.
There was one main meal served on the flight shortly after takeoff and then an afternoon tea service about 90 minutes before landing. For the first meal service, there was a special Christmas dinner or a vegetarian option. I went for the Christmas dinner, which included turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberries
Feb 6, 2025 • 6 min read
First came the coronavirus pandemic. Then came so-called "revenge travel." Now, it seems like the mad dash to Europe is an annual phenomenon that's here to stay.
Like a lot of us, I often find myself fried from days spent staring at my computer screen and nights circling back to emails I haven't answered. So when I heard that the Sanctuary Beach Resort in Monterey Bay, California, offered a package known as the Burnout Recovery Journey, I had to try it. When I arrived, I was happy to find the kinds of treatments on the spa menu I've been seeing more and more of lately: science-based offerings like infrared light therapy, IV drips, and electromagnetic pulse therapy. My outstanding massage took place on something called a Pulsed Electromagnetic Field mat. I was grateful that the hotel offered signal-blocking phone bags for the ultimate unplugging experience. Then I realized the irony: I was treating my burnout with…more tech. One has to wonder: How did we get here?
Dubai International Airport was the world's busiest for international travel in 2024, officials announced on Thursday.
An American Airlines plane with 64 passengers and crew collided mid-air with a military helicopter yesterday (29 January) as it approached Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, just five kilometres south of the White House and the US Capitol.
I'm sitting on the 360-degree promenade deck aboard a Viking river cruise, with a glass of wine and a paperback, taking in the silver maples in the high afternoon sun on a bright August day. The water, blue-green and more beautiful than I had expected, hums with steamboats and pontoons. Staff members flit about, delivering cocktails and greeting guests like old friends. With its plentiful blond woods, the stylish ship has the kind of opulence you'd expect on the world's great waterways, from the Nile to the Seine. But I'm on board the 386-passenger Viking Mississippi, custom-built to traverse America's most famous river. Interest in sailing along it has been on the rise since the pandemic, but Viking is the first major luxury liner to offer a trip.
Every year in late January, streets transform into a sea of red — lights, lanterns, and even little kids dressed in festive hues signal the start of Lunar New Year celebrations.
Low-cost airline Norse Atlantic Airways will make it easier to fly to Greece from the West Coast thanks to a brand-new flight launching next summer.
"I've been on a treadmill before on my work phone, doing barrier options," said Nick Fowler, 33, a British man who moved to the United Arab Emirates two years ago. "It can get a bit ridiculous sometimes."
The warm, palm-tree-dotted beaches of Royal Caribbean's private Haitian resort, Labadee, accommodate thousands of eager cruisers every year.
A few months after I left my husband, I downloaded multiple dating apps. It felt like foreign territory, as I'd met my ex-husband in college before dating apps existed — a time when "swiping right on Tinder" held no meaning.
Love ’em or hate ’em, the busiest airports in the world are where many of our holidays begin and end.