Buenos dias everyone, I just wanted to share a quick update with you about a few developments on my way to becoming a SAS EuroBonus Millionaire.

A Dramatic Schedule Change

A week ago, I got a phone call and email from Trip.com that my Kenya Airways flight from Bangkok to Guangzhou had been canceled and rescheduled for the next day. Fortunately, I’d carefully planned my itinerary to allow for something to go wrong with this particular flight.  Since it was only scheduled to operate 4 days a week, I intentionally booked for a Tuesday knowing that there was a flight on Wednesday, and I gave myself two nights in Guangzhou before my Xiamen flight.

So I just switched my hotel bookings around.  I added a second night at my hotel in Bangkok, canceled my hotel and food tour in Guangzhou, and booked a $13 room near the Guangzhou airport since now I just have a 14 hour overnight layover, so I don’t think it’s worth trying to go into the city.

Saudi Visa Challenges

The 3 countries I need visas for on this trip are China, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia. Indonesia also requires visas for US citizens, but since I’m connecting between two Garuda flights, I shouldn’t need one. I already had a China visa (issued in 2016), and was able to get a Vietnam eVisa with no issues.

Saudi Arabia is a bit trickier. If you book a stopover directly with Saudia or Flynas, you’re supposed to be able to get a transit visa on the airline’s website, though I have friends who say the Saudia website keeps giving them errors. If you’re flying a different airline, or you book through a third party, the Saudi eVisa website is happy to take your information and money, but instead of issuing a visa, it marks your application as “send to embassy” and when I went to the Saudi embassy in Washington, they said they no longer issue transit visas and I’ll have to apply on arrival in Jeddah.

This was the complete opposite of what I’d been told by Visit Saudi’s customer service team on WhatsApp, so after leaving the embassy, I sent them a message to let them know what had happened. They filed a report and said someone would follow up with me.  The next morning, I woke up to a missed phone call around 3:00am and then an automated email around 8:30am saying my case had been closed, so I have just given up on that.

SAS Moved the Goalposts (but in a Good Way)

SAS announced this week that they’ve moved the deadline for retroactive mileage claims to January rather than requiring them to be submitted by December 20, which effectively meant you had to complete your flights by December 12 in order to submit them for manual credit if they didn’t automatically post to your SAS account. Had they done that from the beginning, I would’ve booked my flights in December and wouldn’t have had to skip a concert I bought a VIP ticket for in Toronto. But I’m glad that the change will make the challenge more accessible for others.

My First Flight

My trip on Aeromexico from Mexico City to Chicago was fairly unremarkable. Check-in was a bit of a hassle since booking through Delta partially breaks Aeromexico’s website and kiosks, so I wasn’t able to change my seats or pay for checked bags without going to the counter. I added my SAS EuroBonus number to the reservation on Delta’s website, and although Aeromexico’s computer system didn’t even list SAS as an option, it printed out correctly on my boarding pass and the paltry 170 miles posted to my SAS EuroBonus account 2 days after the flight.

What’s Next?

I start with a positioning flight this Sunday night and then I fly to London on Monday morning, so I’m making my final arrangements.  Expect another post in the next few days before I take off and dispatches along the way.