A man who bought United’s lifetime pass in 1990 for an unlimited air travel pass has flown more than 24 million miles.
Tom Stuker spent over $290,000 (equivalent to around $500,000 today) for a United Airlines ‘lifetime pass’ – a pretty hefty sum.
But without any regrets, Stucker has branded the pass the ‘best investment’ of his life.
And he’s certainly got his money’s worth over the years.
How many air miles he’s racked up
He’s taken more than 12,000 flights, visited over 100 countries, and flown a somewhat unfathomable 38,624,256km (24 million miles. For context, the moon is around 384,400km (238,855 miles) away.
All in all, according to Stuker, he’s saved $2.44 million with his savvy investment and he’s still going.
In reality, he only hit the 24 million mile mark in May of this year.
He’s clocked up more air miles than most of us can even begin to imagine, but Stuker has defended the environmental impact of his plane use – saying private jets were a much bigger issue.
“I’m not adding to the footprint,” Stuker told GQ in 2021.
“The plane is going to fly whether I’m on it or not. It would be much more relevant if I was flying in a private jet. Those are the people who can help the environment much more than I can if they flew commercial.”
He’s previously shared his flight tips
He’s previously shared some tips on how we can all enjoy better travel – and let’s face it, if anyone would know it would be this guy, right?
Stuker says in an interview with The Washington Post that he always pretends to know the first flight attendant as he boards – given how many he’s likely met over the years, I’m sure a lot of the time he’s not actually pretending.
“I always say, ‘I remember you! You gave us such great service last time. I wanted to thank you again,’” he said.
In addition, Stuker also encourages people to check the seat map just before boarding – so you can potentially nab yourself a better spot, if there’s one empty.
And he says to skip checked luggage if you want a smooth and easy transition through the airport. Instead, he says ‘laundromats…and stores’ are your friends.
I guess we’ll catch up with Tom when he hits 25 million miles.
