Introducing the 2024 Team Challenge for Frequent Milers. Fly points seats! In this year's challenge, three of us will be competing to book a last-minute trip. Within each of the three stages, the judges give us a challenge: where to go and when to get there. You have just two days to do it. For example, you might be in Chicago on Wednesday and find out you have to go to Morocco by Friday. My goal is not just to get there in time, but to book a great award ticket to get there. While there is “awesomeness” in the eyes of the beholder, The idea is to get a combination of great points and preferably luxury flights. Similarly, I need to find a great place to stay in Morocco, and I do my best to use points (or free night certificates, etc.) to book hotels at a great deal. In this challenge, contestants will fly separately. If all goes well, let's meet again somewhere in the world.
Team challenges (background)
Every year, members of the Frequent Miler team compete to outdo each other in researching, booking, and completing trips that highlight and discover the great opportunities available through points and miles. For example, in 2019 he competed in the 40K to Far Away challenge to see how far he could get with just 40,000 points and $400. The winner of that year (Sincerely,) After visiting Spain, Senegal and South Africa, it ended in Seychelles. And in the 2022 3 Card 3 Continent Challenge, we competed to see who could build the most amazing 3 continent trip with just his 3 credit card welcome bonuses. The 2022 winner (Nick) visited both Europe and Asia, visited the Egyptian pyramids in Africa, took a boat ride in Istanbul, and in his first two days of the trip he conquered three continents . He then swam with sharks in Oman, rode a zipline and jumped off a waterfall in the Philippines, visited Santa Claus in the North Pole, and finished off with a spectacular view of the Northern Lights. Most recently, in 2023, they were split into teams in the Party of Five challenge. His frequent miler team spent two weeks traveling through Asia and southern South America. The Tokyo team (Stephen and Carrie) took us to the Philippines, Macau, and Tokyo. And Team SFO (Tim and Nick) took us to San Francisco, Santiago, Chile, Buenos Aires, and Iguazu Falls. I was a judge for that competition and made the controversial decision to declare a draw after my scoring notebook was stolen in Santiago. I won't let that happen this time. Scores will be published on the fly and the judges will be safely at home (wherever home may be at the time).
Let's jump over the point challenge
This year, Nick, Tim, and I will be competing to see who can best complete a series of last-minute challenges. Each livestream check-in gives you a new assignment: where in the world to go next and how long it will take to get there (usually around two days). You'll be scored based on your ability to arrive at each destination on time, the quality of your trip (e.g., the more comfortable and luxurious it is, the less points you spend, the better), and your ability to complete mini-challenges along the way. .
Carrie and Steven will serve as hosts, game masters, and judges for this contest.. They have destinations and mini-challenges that will be revealed as we progress. The challenge consists of three stages.
Stage 1: Domestic convergence
On Monday, June 3rd, via YouTube livestream, Carrie and Stephen will reveal their first destination: somewhere in North America, while we each stay at home. They will tell you which city to go to, which hotel to check into and what time to arrive. Must Be there to check in for the live stream. You will also be given some kind of mini-challenge that you must complete before heading to your next destination. This round, everyone stays in the same hotel, so hotel reservations are not included in your score.
Stage 1 Live Stream Check-in: Wednesday, June 5th at 9pm ET on YouTube. Contestants gather for this purpose. During this livestream, the Stage 1 score will be revealed. Also, as part of this livestream, our next destination will be revealed…
Stage 2: International differences
Carrie and Stephen will reveal their next destination via livestream on Wednesday, June 5th at 9pm ET. This time we will go to different places. They tell us individually which city to go to and what time to go. Must Be there to check in for the live stream. Now they are free to book their own accommodation… and it will be judged. You will also be provided with mini-challenges to complete before heading to your final destination.
Stage 2 Live Stream Check-in: Friday, June 7th at 2pm ET on YouTube. Contestants will now stay in different international locations. During this livestream, the Stage 2 score will be discussed and then revealed. Also, as part of this livestream, our final destination will be revealed…
Stage 3: International convergence
On Friday, June 7, Carrie and Stephen will reveal their final destination via livestream. We'll meet again at the same place.They tell us which cities to go to and what time to go Must Be there to check in for the live stream. We will once again be able to freely book our own accommodation. Although we are in the same city, we are not necessarily in the same hotel. You will also be provided with mini-challenges to complete before leaving your final location.
Stage 3 Live Stream Check-in: Sunday, June 9th or Monday, June 10th on YouTube, time TBA. The contestants will meet again in the same city and will definitely livestream together in the same location. During this livestream, the Stage 3 score will be discussed and revealed afterwards.
final winner
The final winner will be determined based on the total score of each of the three stages.
going home
Contestants will return home on Tuesday, June 11th. This part of the trip will not be scored.
Scoring details
As of this writing, we are very It's close, but we still haven't been able to determine exactly how to keep score. However, the basic idea is that you earn points as you progress through the game, and your scores are prominently posted so everyone can see your standings at any time.
Once details are finalized, Stephen and Carrie will post on this blog the scoring process and criteria they will use to judge our trips.
How to follow
- blog post: I will regularly post challenge updates on this blog. If you haven't already, please subscribe to our email newsletter.
- Instagram: Instagram is a great place to track actions in near real time. Check out our story! Follow Frequent Miler here.
- YouTube: Here, there will be a live stream at the beginning and end of each stage of the challenge. Each livestream summarizes what we've done so far. You have the opportunity to ask questions and (potentially) influence the judges. And we all find our next destination or small challenge. Subscribe here to be notified when we go live.
way to participate
There are several ways you can become a more active participant, rather than just passively following along.
- Support contestants through blog comments: Each contestant will have their own challenge diary blog post, which will be regularly updated with what they have done so far and their plans (if any) for tackling the next stage of the challenge. If you have an idea that would work for a particular contestant, please post it as a comment within that contestant's blog post. We will each monitor these comments closely. No matter how much you know about award booking, there's always something you don't know (or forget) that could be the key to winning it all. Basically, she can choose to only help one person within their post and join that person's team, or spread her wisdom across all posts. it's up to you! However, if you're particularly good at this, we recommend joining Team Greg 😉
- Help judges decide scores via live stream: During each livestream check-in, you'll see an overview of the flights you booked and flew to get to your current location, including how much you spent in points or cash. Carrie and Steven will have already decided whose flight she will be 1st, 2nd and 3rd on that stage. but, can change their mind. If you disagree with the judges' stance, for example why Tim's flight was better than Greg's or Nick's, please feel free to discuss it in the comments. If you can sway the judges, your score will be updated before the livestream ends.
challenge travel gear
If you happen to be traveling during the challenge, you'll probably run into one of us. If so, thank you! We wear challenge hats (see above) and also carry matching water bottles, so you'll be easy to spot.
If you want to get this for yourself, you can find the hat here and the water bottle here.
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