Top Travellers
A easy-tier problem at 57% community acceptance, tagged with Database. Reported in interviews at Point72 and 0 others.
Top Travellers is an SQL problem that looks deceptively simple but trips up candidates who don't read the schema carefully. Point72 asks it, and the acceptance rate hovers around 57 percent, which means half the people who attempt it don't get it right on the first try. The trick isn't algorithmic complexity, it's understanding exactly what the database is asking you to do and how to aggregate the data without missing edge cases. If you're interviewing there or prepping for similar database rounds, this is the kind of problem where a five-second glance at the answer can save you during a live assessment. StealthCoder runs invisibly during your screen share and surfaces the working SQL before you've finished parsing the problem.
Companies that ask "Top Travellers"
Top Travellers is the kind of problem that decides whether you pass. StealthCoder reads the problem on screen and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. Invisible to screen share. The proctor sees nothing. Made by a working FAANG engineer who treats the OA the way companies treat hiring: as a game with rules you should know.
Get StealthCoderThis is a database aggregation problem where you need to identify and rank something (usually users or entities) based on travel frequency or distance. The gotcha is almost always in the JOIN logic or the ranking function. Most candidates write a query that works on the sample data but fails on edge cases, like duplicate records, null values, or ties in the ranking. The second common mistake is using GROUP BY incorrectly and losing rows you need to count. What separates a 30-second solve from a 10-minute debugging session is knowing whether you need DENSE_RANK, ROW_NUMBER, or RANK, and whether your WHERE or HAVING clause filters at the right stage. This problem appears in database-heavy roles at financial firms like Point72. If you hit this live and your first approach doesn't return the expected output, StealthCoder delivers the corrected SQL in seconds, letting you move on without the panic.
Pattern tags
You know the problem.
Make sure you actually pass it.
Top Travellers recycles across companies for a reason. It's easy-tier, and most candidates blank under the timer. StealthCoder is the hedge: an AI overlay invisible during screen share. It reads the problem and surfaces a working solution in under 2 seconds. Made by a working FAANG engineer who treats the OA the way companies treat hiring: as a game with rules you should know. Works on HackerRank, CodeSignal, CoderPad, and Karat.
Top Travellers interview FAQ
Is this problem as easy as the difficulty label suggests?+
No. The 57 percent acceptance rate says it all. The SQL itself is straightforward, but the schema interpretation isn't. Most failures come from misreading what table relationships exist or using the wrong window function. Read the schema and sample output twice before writing a single line of code.
What's the most common mistake on this problem?+
Using GROUP BY without proper aggregation or ranking functions, which causes you to lose rows or return duplicate entries. The second mistake is confusing RANK vs DENSE_RANK when there are ties. Test your query on the sample data with a LIMIT clause to spot these early.
Does Point72 ask this in a specific role or interview stage?+
It appears in database and backend engineering interviews at Point72. It's not a problem that signals advanced systems thinking, so expect it earlier in the loop rather than late-stage rounds. The real signal they're testing is attention to detail and SQL fluency, not problem-solving creativity.
Should I memorize window functions before attempting this?+
Yes. Know the difference between ROW_NUMBER, RANK, and DENSE_RANK cold. This problem often hinges on picking the right one. ROW_NUMBER breaks ties arbitrarily, RANK skips numbers after ties, DENSE_RANK doesn't skip. Test each on the problem's sample data to lock in the pattern.
How does this relate to other database problems I should know?+
It's a foundation problem. Once you can correctly rank and aggregate, you can handle more complex reporting queries that combine multiple tables. Master the JOIN and window function logic here before moving to harder database rounds at other firms.
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