# My current obsession: SkyCards! Anyone else play? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 11, 2026, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818 "2026-06-11T07:05:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![BomTek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bomtek/32/21364_2.png) [@BomTek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BomTek)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/321 "2026-08-09T08:02:54Z")
Super glad I finally checked out SkyStats this early morning… fascinating to see some of that info! My favorite bits: I’ve caught 94.3% of the E175 Long Wings registered in the game and 35.6k unique registrations overall 🫪 My world rank is 1022nd, and I’ve caught 61.0% of all the aircraft types tracked. The one that really blows my mind comes after I do a little math… I joined in March 2025, and deleted the game from my phone for approximately three months at one point in between then and now. So if I multiply the 14 months that I’ve been playing this game by 30 days per month, I’ve played for around 420 days. And if I divide the 35,632 unique registrations I’ve caught, that’s almost 85 new registrations every single day I’ve played. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/322 "2026-08-09T21:58:38Z")
Just finished the Eagle trophy for North American countries; one country left for the Llama trophy, but it won’t be easy. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/323 "2026-08-10T03:27:34Z")
> [@BomTek](#): > > The daily tasks are a continual source of frustration. There was a brief period where I thought they had changed things up to make achieving them less of a POTA, but they’ve been pretty dumb this week I think, so IDK. I prefer if they are a difficult and require some planning and / or strategy. It keeps things fresh and encourages unlocking different parts of the map. I don’t mind skipping a mission if it doesn’t make sense for me to pursue. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/324 "2026-08-10T03:28:19Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Just finished the Eagle trophy for North American countries; one country left for the Llama trophy, but it won’t be easy. What’s your airport strategy for the Llama trophy? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/325 "2026-08-10T11:43:18Z")
If there’s a mission like “capture a flight between Buenos Aires and Madrid”, I’ll go to Buenos Aires and complete the weekly missions while I’m at it. For the rest of the week, while the free travel lasts, I’ll pop in the Buenos Aires and catch flights leaving there for as many new airports (and countries) I see. I got most of South America that way. With a few countries left, I had to look for specific flights. There are a couple flights per day from Martinique to Cayenne in French Guiana. At departure time, I spent the coins to go to Martinique and caught the flight when it took off. I caught a flight from Halifax to Saint Pierre and Miquelon the same way. I’ll do the same for the Falkland Islands, but flights there are rare. Of course, there’s also the Catch Anywhere, but I felt like I’ve been overusing those lately. Maybe that’s why I dislike the repetition in the daily missions. I’ve already been to Buenos Aires multiple times, and Madrid, etc. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/326 "2026-08-10T13:53:23Z")
Yeah, the daily mission repeat was irritating. I already had Buenos Ares and Madrid from the previous daily mission. I ended up missing the mission anyway though. I was busy during the times when Auckland would be active. * * * This may be known to all, but I discovered it last week. If you use Radar Expander, it moves with you as you change airports. I had assumed that the item applied to the current airport only. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2026, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/327 "2026-08-10T23:59:46Z")
Well, there’s no rule that you can only visit the cities mandated by the daily missions. One of yesterday’s missions was to catch an ATR. I found one approaching Algiers. I need more airports and countries in northern and western Africa, so I paid the coins to visit, caught the ATR, and tried to complete the six tasks to keep that airport. I was a couple catches short, so I went back today and finished them. I’ll see how many new airports and planes I can catch from there. I also found a website that shows the current jet stream winds on a map of the world. It was particularly strong over Australia yesterday, so I was able to catch a plane going faster than 600 mph. ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2026, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/328 "2026-08-11T14:35:50Z")
There’s a curious situation here. I’m catching planes near Barcelona. There’s a plane heading south-east but doesn’t have a destination, which is unusual for large passenger planes (it’s an Airbus A320Neo). Suddenly it veers off right and now it’s heading south-west along the Spanish coast. I looked it up on [flightrader](https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/ec-ncf) and it’s supposed to be going to Amsterdam. So unless it’s taking a really big loop around, I don’t know what the hell it’s doing. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2026, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/329 "2026-08-11T14:50:03Z")
That’s a Veuling Airlines bird. They are based in Barcelona, and it’s a small airline so that’s probably their MX base as well. Looking at other past BCN-BCN flights for that aircraft, my guess is that it could be a maintenance check flight. ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2026, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/330 "2026-08-11T15:00:41Z")
I think you’re right. It’s turned around and heading back north now. The Amsterdam flight is for tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/331 "2026-08-13T01:16:32Z")
So far, Algiers is not turning out to be quite the African gateway I was hoping for. It seems like quite a few flights arrive there from African countries and airports, but I’m not seeing as many leave. It’s quite possible that Algiers is where old airplanes go to die. I might try to pick another airport and compete the missions; that way I’ll still get four free days of travel to make use of it. Does anyone have a suggestion, an airport with direct flights to a lot of African airports and countries? ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/332 "2026-08-13T02:00:14Z")
I grabbed Cario at one point, but it wasn’t the gold mine that I expected. When I go back to try to complete the African trophy, I was going to try Cairo, Cape Town, and LOS in Nigeria, then see what is left. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/333 "2026-08-13T03:29:00Z")
I just got a 737-600 at Algiers, so it’s not a total loss. I had Johannesburg for a week; didn’t get a lot of countries, but got three small ones nearby. I was thinking of using Entebbe to try and catch some African countries and airports, but I haven’t unlocked it yet. Addis Ababa seems to have a lot of traffic; maybe I’ll try that. ---
**Author:** ![BomTek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bomtek/32/21364_2.png) [@BomTek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BomTek)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2026, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/334 "2026-08-13T15:41:56Z")
Africa is tough, imo… even on weeks when I’ve managed to unlock free travel to Lagos or Addis Ababa or Johannesburg, it’s a slow process to add fleets and airports. ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/335 "2026-08-14T03:20:18Z")
Here is an app (Web site) that isn’t a game, but provides the opposite experience: you can hop aboard any active flight (with ADS-B I assume) and ride along. Even some Earth satellites are available (including _lots_ of rocket bodies). The ground views are unimpressive low-res satellite imagery, but still it’s a fun ride. > **[Stowaway — Ride along with anything in the sky](https://stowaway.live/)** > > Every plane and satellite overhead is a seat with nobody in it. Stow away on one — real flights over real terrain, real orbits above it. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/336 "2026-08-14T18:20:40Z")
That’s pretty cool. I currently have free travel to Brisbane, AU, and Auckland, NZ. I was hoping to unlock a bunch of Polynesian airports, but so far I’ve only gotten Port Vila and the Cook Islands. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/337 "2026-08-16T16:59:42Z")
There is 600+ kts flight just south of the Aleutians right now if anyone is trying to get the daily mission. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/338 "2026-08-16T20:22:42Z")
I found an A380 a couple hours ago doing 625 off the west coast of Australia. This page shows a globe that you can rotate to see the jetstream around the planet. There is a pretty good breeze over the Aleutians right now. > **[Global Jet Stream Map - Netweather](https://www.netweather.tv/charts-and-data/global-jetstream#2026/08/16/1200Z/jetstream/surface/level/overlay=jetstream/orthographic=193.82,52.74,409)** > > View the jet stream forecast for the entire globe ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/339 "2026-08-16T21:02:56Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > This page shows a globe that you can rotate to see the jetstream around the planet. That’s really cool - thanks! ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818/340 "2026-08-17T13:56:56Z")
I just traveled to the Bedford, MA airport to pick up the A321neo for today’s challenge. In doing so, I realized that the airport’s weekly tasks were pretty easy; the nearby airport tasks were for Logan which, of course, has tons of flights. Often when I travel to a major airport, it’s difficult to complete the weekly tasks if one of the nearby airports is a lightly used regional. I’ll this technique again, but was curious if anyone else does this? Or something similar? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-current-obsession-skycards-anyone-else-play/1030818.md?page=18)