SAS Challenge Update: Calm Before the Storm

I’m writing to you from a sweaty Seoul Incheon Airport, having successfully completed the second leg of my 10-day quest to fly 15 SkyTeam airlines and become 1,000,000 SAS EuroBonus Points richer. On this installment, I’ve crossed off three more required airlines: Kenya Airlines, China Eastern, and Xiamen Airlines, and come to realize that whoever’s in charge of climate control at Asian airports seem to hate air conditioning. Here’s my itinerary over the past three days:

To refresh your memory, here’s my whole itinerary up until this point:

So why the sensationalist headline? The few days I’ve outlined are a veritable walk in the park compared to what I’m about to do. Over the next 48 hours, I head to Madrid via eight consecutive flights, each with a three-hour layover, give or take.

Before we get to that, though, let’s take a quick look at the past three days.

Ho Chi Minh to Bangkok

After a decent night at the Holiday Inn & Suites Saigon Airport, I woke up early to catch my Thai Airways flight to Bangkok. The flight itself went smoothly, but I have a couple issues with Saigon Airport. 

First, the staff is generally unhelpful and cold. They couldn’t be more different than the many kind, helpful, and generous Vietnamese folks I met travelling here. 

Second, immigration lines are too long—I queued for 40 minutes when I entered the country and 30 minutes when I exited. There were legions of immigration officers present, so long lines seem less due to staffing shortages and more due to a lethargic staff’s general indifference.

Oman Air Business and First Class Lounge Bangkok

One of the great joys of flying within Asia is making use of Priority Pass membership. In contrast to the dingy European and American lounges that are hardly ever more pleasant or less depressing than sitting in the concourse, Priority Pass lounges in Asia, which generally serve decent food and have ample seating, are worth visiting. 

While the Oman Air lounge is probably slightly worse than the average Asian Priority Pass lounge, it blows nearly anything you’ll find in the US or Europe out of the water. The lounge was mostly empty and had ample universal power outlets, so it was a good place to hammer out some work. The food and drink wasn’t great but would do fine in a bind.

Bangkok to Guangzhou

I walked from the Oman Air lounge to gate E3, where boarding began about 20 minutes late. Fortunately, the flight was around a third full, so we boarded in a matter of minutes and pushed back on time.

This was a fifth-freedom flight on Kenya Airways’ Airways 787-8. Because I wanted to review the product, I paid a small sum to upgrade from economy to business class but, had I not reviewed it, I’d probably have been annoyed at spending the money to upgrade. For one, the plane was nearly empty, so I could’ve easily spread out over an entire row.

Second, the food served was pretty pitiful—worse than any of the meals I’ve received in economy class on intra-Asia flights with Korean, China Airlines, or China Eastern. That said, the staff was exceptionally lovely, though presumably I would’ve had that in economy class.

Guangzhou Grand Hyatt

I spent Friday night to Saturday night at the Grand Hyatt in Guangzhou, paying 13,000 Hyatt Points for a suite that was substantially larger than my apartment in Chicago. Points well spent, though the room felt dated and the air conditioning didn’t work very well. 

Guangzhou Lounge

Late Saturday night, I caught an hourlong business class flight to Xiamen on the city’s eponymous airline. Beforehand, I visited the Premium Lounge which was somewhat crowded and dark but had a great noodle station and a buffet with good Cantonese fare. 

Guangzhou to Xiamen

Traditionally, Xiamen Airlines has operated only Boeing aircraft, but it recently took delivery of its first ever Airbus, a A321neo. Business class is in a 2-2 configuration, though you’ll get a bit of privacy from plastic wings at shoulder height. I found the seat very comfortable.

Xiamen Lounge

After a very short stay at a Courtyard Marriott near the airport, I headed back to Xiamen Airport for an early morning flight on Spring Airlines. Using my trusty Priority Pass membership, I visited the Xiamen Airlines lounge which was enormous and had a decent variety of Chinese breakfast food.

Xiamen to Shanghai

Considering Spring Airlines is a budget carrier, the experience was a pleasant surprise. The plane was clean, the crew was attentive, and a small snack was provided—quite a contrast to the Batik Air horror show from Singapore to Jakarta.

Shanghai to Taipei

My final flight of the day allowed me to cross off China Eastern. Thankfully, it was a pleasantly uneventful hop that got me into Taipei around 4:30 in the afternoon.

Grand Mayfull Hotel Taipei

This hotel was the surprise highlight of my Asia leg. A gorgeous room, well-appointed gym, serene pool and sauna, and very close proximity to Taipei Songshan Airport made it hard to leave. Above all, everything just seemed much cleaner and more modern than any of the other hotels I’ve stayed in so far. It was on par with the Four Seasons Jakarta, despite being a cheaper hotel in a far more expensive city.

Here goes nothing

Fortunately, I have no family history of deep vein thrombosis. Then again, nobody in my family has attempted something so asinine, at least with respect to commercial aviation. 

Updates from the eye of the storm soon. Wish me luck.