Conclusion
It was a very special trip for me. All flights took place as scheduled, there was no equipment change. Well okay, the Barra flight, or landing, didn't work out as planned. But on this trip, this definitely was one of my least concerns. I was worried the most of the last segment. SAS is operating A320s on the Stockholm - Frankfurt route. When I booked this flight, it was scheduled to be a 737-600 and it was a 737-600. So no equipment (or schedule) change as I am used to when flying with United.
To be honest, this time there was not a single equipment or schedule change for the United flights. I guess the Island Hopper is one of the most stable ones in their entire network. With 6 segments on this flight, there would also have been a lot of things that could have gone wrong (weather, technical issues). Fortunately, nothing happened except the flight taking place as scheduled.
The whole trip in numbers:
23 segments
12 tickets
9 airlines
1 aircraft:
Boeing 737 Next Generation
1x 737-600
6x 737-700
15 x 737-800
1x 737-900
Both the Island Hopper and the Guam - Hong Kong flight were booked as award tickets with Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles. All other tickets were paid in cash. But please don't ask the total amount I spend, I didn't do the math and I won't do it either. The most important thing: it was worth it.
Before the trip, I made up my mind to find something to commemorate this very special trip. In the end I went with an embroidered t-shirt. The design is my own creation and I found a company for the embroidering. I had them make two shirts. One did circle the planet with me and received a lot of signatures.
All of the flight deck crew and at least one of the cabin crew did sign the shirt for me. At first I was a bit reluctant, especially on the south east Asia flights, but in the end I worried too much. Everybody was friendly and happily signed the shirt for me. Most of them thought it was a cool idea, both the trip and the shirt, but some thought it was just crazy. Some of them also felt honored to be part of this, especially on the Island Hopper.
Other than the flights, I also enjoyed the places I traveled to. If you want to see US Navy ships, those are the places to be. I also enjoyed Hong Kong, which was my first visit there and certainly not the last. I didn't like Dubai too much, but I am happy that I got a chance to see it. It was the safest option for a 737 to 737 connection.