How much one man paid to fly First Class forever
One man grabbed the opportunity of a lifetime back in 1990 and is now reaping the benefits of his hard work.
69-year-old Tom Stuker who was a car dealership consultant at that time, paid an eye watering $US510,000 — $A770,000 for United Airlines lifetime pass to passengers.
The married father of two described this as “the best investment” he’s made and has taken full advantage of his lavish first class travel perks in seat 1B.
Stuker has flown a total of 23 million miles according to the Washington Post, with 2019 being his record year where he flew 373 flights covering 1.46 million miles.
If converted to cash, those flights would have cost him $2.44 million.
Among the unlimited travel miles, Stuker is also treated like a VIP, with a special check-in station that has a door which takes him straight to the security queue.
He also has access to VIP airport lounges with free fine dining, spa treatments, showers and sleeping quarters.
In 2011 Stuker hit the 10 million mile mark which prompted the airline to name a 747 after him.
In 2019 he hit the 20 million mile mark which he celebrated mid-air with a champagne toast that he shared with other passengers aboard the same flight.
Stuker remained humble as he talked with all the other passengers and even topped up their glass of bubbles as they congratulated him on this milestone.
“It’s not about the places I go, it’s about the people I meet,” he said to the passengers via the plane's intercom.
“I wanted to say thank you to all of you who shared this moment with me,” Stuker continued. “To be able to celebrate 20 million on my favourite airline in the whole world, it’s everything.”
Stuker initially found out about the lifetime pass when his colleague told him American Airlines was offering it.
He then approached United airlines and said: “ ‘you’re going to lose me as a customer’ and they said ‘we have the same thing’,” he told Chicago-based TV station WGN News.
Sadly, for others who want to follow in his footsteps that offer doesn’t exist anymore, but there are still similar passes available, Stuker said.
“They came out to my office, they presented it and I did the number crunching and made a really good business decision because that’s what I bought the pass for — to save money on my business travel.
“They still have programs that do that, just not the unlimited.”
It’s been 33 years and Stuker still spends most of his time flying, unable to stay off a plane for more than a week.
He has travelled to over 100 countries using his unlimited United pass and is generous enough to share this experience with his wife, taking her on over 120 “honeymoons”.
Image: Instagram