SAS Challenge Update: This Kinda Sucks

Having finished the first leg of my grueling 10-day quest to fly 15 SkyTeam airlines, I’ve come to a conclusion: this is not fun.

Here’s an overview of my journey so far:

Chicago to New York

My maiden flight was uneventful and allowed me to cross off Delta. Perfectly pleasant despite having to wake up mighty early.

New York to Abu Dhabi

JFK to Abu Dhabi in Etihad’s First Class Apartments was, predictably, superb and got me stoked for the next few flights. How could sprawling out in a suite and showering at 38,000 feet not be fun?

The Pearl Lounge in Abu Dhabi

I tried to enter the Etihad lounge on arrival but to no avail. Fortunately, a nearby Priority Pass lounge, the Pearl Lounge, had ample seating and decent food. Since I was flying in business class on Saudia, I was granted access to a seperate part of the lounge which was much less crowded and offered a few a la carte food items.

Abu Dhabi to Jeddah 

Abu Dhabi to Jeddah was the first leg of a business class itinerary on Saudia to Singapore. It was on an old A320, but the seats were comfortable and the food was surprisingly good.

Al Fursan Lounge in Jeddah

The 7 hours or so I spent in Saudia’s Al Fursan lounge was where things began to go south. There were several culprits:

• The Al Fursan lounge is windowless. Even with windows, it would be depressing.
• The lounge was absolutely freezing. I didn’t have a thermometer, but I’d guess it was 60 degrees.
• The food, though plentiful, was bad. It’s saving grace was freeflowing Arabic coffee, for which I have a newfound appreciation.
• The longer I was there, the more crowded it became. Jeddah’s busiest hours, like other Middle Eastern airports, are in the middle of the night. As the lounge filled up, the noise level and the lack of personal space made it nearly impossible to relax. With each passing hour, this got worse and I became increasingly frustrated as I grew increasingly tired. A bit of a vicious cycle of fatigue and irritation feeding off each other.

Jeddah to Singapore

By the time I left the lounge and boarded Saudia’s 787-9 bound for Singapore, I was dying to lie down and relishing the prospect of a lie flat. Obviously, I should’ve done more research because, to my great chagrin, seats on Saudia’s 787s don’t actually lie flat. They get close, but they’re still a good 20 degrees from going completely flat. That may not sound like a lot, but it prevented me from getting decent sleep. 

The other major problem was the food. Though the flight is around nine hours, Saudia serves just one meal to its business classes passengers. You may well be thinking “what’s this guy complaining about? A nice big dinner should get him through a nine-hour flight redeye.” Fair point. But the meal we got was breakfast. Business class or not, scrambled eggs is not a sufficient meal for a nine-hour flight. 

SATS Premiere Lounge in Singapore

I stepped off the plane in Singapore hungry and tired. Fortunately, the nearest priority pass lounge, the SATS Lounge, had some very nice food. My next flight on Batik Air to Jakarta was delayed an hour, so I ended up spending around three hours in the lounge.

Singapore to Jakarta

If there were an equivalent of Child Protective Services for airplanes, Batik Air would be in trouble. The A320 we took was so beat up, I was genuinely worried about the integrity of the plane. After all, if an airline can’t be bothered to fix rust on the wing of its plane, or replace an armrest that had literally been broken in half, or remediate the overwhelming smell of urine in the cabin, or clean a carpet that had more stains than surface area, what else is it neglecting to do?

Arrival in Jakarta

I’ve seldom been more pleased to get off a plane than I was in Jakarta. My escape from the urine smell was so sublime, in fact, I didn’t mind overpaying for a taxi to my hotel or waiting 20 minutes for it to arrive. And my relief at finally showering at my hotel an hour later was indescribable.

Jakarta to Singapore

Though I could only sleep from midnight to 4 AM, I had a substantial breakfast, a workout, and a shower before heading to the airport, feeling as refreshed as one can after days of intense travel and serious jet lag. My mood was buoyed by a few cool planes I saw on the apron. How cool is this livery?

My hopes were up, but Garuda Indonesia’s service was a mixed bag. The flight itself was smooth, and I managed to snag a good seat, but the cabin felt extremely worn and the food left much to be desired.

Singapore to Saigon

The crew on this flight was polite and responsive, but I was so tired that I barely took note of the experience. My focus was now squarely on the finish line, counting down the flights left on this marathon.

Give me strength

I’m dreading the remainder of this journey, and I’d pay a good chunk of EuroBonus Points to be back in Chicago tonight, sleeping next to my fiancée instead of an airport hotel.

That said, I have a newfound respect for people who do this for a living. I’m just a masochistic hobbyist without a wife or kids, but reviewers like Ben Schlappig or Matthew Klint have families and still take on these whirlwind trips. I don’t know how they manage to keep up the energy and the positive outlook trip after trip.

I realize, of course, that these are all first-world problems, and I’m truly grateful to even have the opportunity to attempt something as wild as this. It’s a privilege to be able to see so much of the world, even if I’m currently longing for my own bed. Here’s hoping the next few legs surprise me in a better way, though I don’t have high hopes, because my itinerary only gets more intense from here.