SAS Challenge Update: Limping Towards the Finish Line

Barring chapped lips, dry eyes, and a fleeting urge to hurl myself headlong into a jet engine, I’ve emerged nearly unscathed from the longest continuous flight itinerary I’ve ever undertaken. 

Over 48 hours, eight flights, and seven layovers, I traveled from Taipei to Seoul to Taipei to Bangkok to Vienna to Zurich to Copenhagen to Barcelona to Madrid, and cross off four more SkyTeam airlines in the process.

Here’s a more detailed itinerary:

And to refresh your memory, here’s my itinerary up until yesterday:

Taipei Songshan to Seoul Gimpo

At 7 AM on Monday, I dragged myself out of an exceptionally comfortable bed at the Grand Mayfull Hotel in Taipei and caught a taxi back to the city’s second airport in Songshan. Taipei Songshan is not a particularly pretty airport, and it doesn’t have the best restaurants or flashiest stores, but it’s supremely clean and calm. Stuff just seems to work.

I used my Priority Pass to grab an early morning green curry from Homee Kitchen before my China Airlines flight to Seoul’s Gimpo Airport boarded. We pushed back at 9:10 on the dot and I enjoyed an uneventful flight. Unlike a single American or European airline, lots of Asian airlines, including China Airlines, serve full meals on economy flights less than two hours. It’s great for carnivores, but vegetarians be warned: not one of the five flights I took in which meals were served was there a single veggie option.

Seoul Incheon to Taipei Taoyuan

Upon landing at Seoul Gimpo, I took a 40-minute, $30 taxi ride across town to Seoul’s major international airport, Incheon. The 3.5 hours I left myself between flights turned out conservative, and I was through security and exit immigration at Incheon with 2.5 hours before my next flight.

I spent that time in the Matina Lounge which, although crowded, had plenty of available seating and decent food. More memorably, it was in this lounge that I saw my first ever robotic busboy, basically a Roomba carrying a couple of trays into which guests could deposit dirty dishes. 

My Korean Air flight back to Taipei was punctual and uneventful. Another tasty-looking meat meal was served.

EVA Air Infinity Lounge Taipei Taoyuan Airport

I landed in Taipei with 4.5 hours before my long haul flight to Vienna via Bangkok. Thanks to the deeply disappointing EVA Air Infinity Lounge, this was a long 4.5 hours. 

I’ve detailed my frustrations in a separate article, but my main takeaway from my visit is that travelers should avoid this lounge if they can. It was overcrowded, muggy, and windowless—and, according to other lounge goers, my experience there was not unique. 

Taipei Taoyuan to Bangkok to Vienna

Besides Etihad’s First Class Apartments, my EVA Air business class flight on the airline’s relatively new 787-10 was what I was most looking forward to on this trip. Thanks to a somewhat awkward 2 AM stopover in Bangkok in which passengers must disembark and clear security before reboarding, it wasn’t quite as restful as I would’ve liked, but most of that inconvenience was made up for by the fact that I was able to quickly shower in the Paradise Priority Pass lounge before the next leg. 

The flight itself was excellent, and I enjoyed good food, excellent wine, and a very comfortable seat all the way through a 15-hour journey to Vienna. This ranks among the very best business class flights I’ve flown. 

Vienna to Zurich to Copenhagen

I arrived in Vienna well rested and ready for the latter half of this eight-flight leg. Vienna is a relatively easy airport to navigate, so I cut it fine when booking my connection my connection here.

I became briefly nervous about missing my connection when an officious immigration officer took interest in my past decade of travel, though his bizarrely aggressive inquisition — “Why did you go to Belize? What did you do there? Who did you go with?”—was easy enough to answer. My best explanation for this puzzling line of questioning is that the agent either didn’t notice the Iraqi immigration stamp on the first page of my passport or that he has high-level intel about the dangers posed by people who visited sunny Caribbean scuba destinations in early 2015.

My SWISS flight reminded me that in Europe, unlike in Asia, most short haul economy tickets buy you a cup of water and frosty service. The only thing I really cared about was catching my next flight to Copenhagen which, thanks to an on-time arrival, I was able to do. 

Copenhagen to Barcelona

Having last eaten before landing in Vienna, I was starving by the time we touched down in Copenhagen. I went to burger joint called Cocks and Cows and had one of the best veggie burgers I’ve ever eaten, made of zucchini, parmesan, and breadcrumbs, as well as a large side of crispy fries.

Sidenote: I love Copenhagen Airport. It’s everything an airport should be. It has plentiful and comfortable seating, tons of power outlets, clear signs, and tasty, reasonably priced restaurants. It’s also clean, quiet, and has that cozy Nordic vibe that find deeply calming. I’d have no problem spending a long layover here without lounge access.

Although it was quick and uneventful, my flight to Barcelona felt symbolically important given it was operated by SAS, and this is, after all, an SAS challenge. 

Barcelona to Madrid

I arrived in Barcelona at 6:30 PM and worked out of the Sala VIP Pau Casals, a Priority Pass lounge, for a couple hours before boarding a mostly empty Air Europa 787. I paid an extra $18 for a seat near the galley with effectively unlimited legroom and slept through the first half of the flight. The last hour was the lowest point of this leg for me—my neck was sore, my lower back ached, my eyes were dry, and I was extraordinarily tired.

But, almost miraculously after a day of intra-European flights, I arrived in Madrid right on time and was in bed at the Ibis Madrid Aeroporto Barajas less than half an hour later.

This is unpleasant

Apart from the EVA Air flight and my veggie burger in Copenhagen, these 48 hours of travel were unpleasant. I felt achy and tired through most of it and was convinced I was coming down with something, though in retrospect I think I was just exhausted. 

My 6-hour hotel stay last night reinvigorated me slightly, but I’m still tired. Driving me forward at this point is not my upcoming business class flight on Air France’s new A350, but the nearly sublime prospect of being soon reunited with my fiancée, Tamar, and miniature dachshund, Larry.

It’s also worth saying that I’m equally grateful and astonished I haven’t faced a single meaningful delay this whole trip. The compound probability of missing at least one of the many short connections in my itinerary was high, but thus far I’ve somehow beaten the odds. I’m sincerely hoping we can keep the winning streak alive for just a few more flights. Wish me luck.