2023-07-01 13:42:02
Published1. July 2023, 03:42 PM
a very good customer: An American traveled 37 million kilometers by plane
In 1990, Tom Stuker purchased a lifetime ticket. Since then, he travels unlimited and enjoys various benefits.
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Lauren Cavin-Hostettler
Thanks to a ticket valid for life, Tom Stuker travels in the air in an unlimited way.
Instagram ua1flyer
Thirty-seven million kilometres, or 12,000 flights and nearly 925 times around the Earth, that’s what Tom Stuker has traveled since 1990. 33 years ago, this 69-year-old American bought the only plane ticket valid for life from United Airlines for the sum of 290,000 dollars. “The best investment of my life”, he tells the Washington Post June 23. In 2019, the year he traveled the most, he made 373 flights in 365 days, covering 2.25 million kilometers. “It would have cost me $2.44 million,” he estimates.
A plane in his name
This consultant in the automotive industry travels a lot for his work. “I happened to sleep 12 nights in a row on a plane, going back and forth between Newark and San Francisco or between Bangkok and Dubai”, details the one who uses the miles accumulated on each trip to afford cruise vacations or nights in luxury hotels. “I also share it with my loved ones.”
On his Instagram account, the New Jersey native shows how the airline takes care of him. Every million kilometers, it organizes a ceremony. She has even baptized a device with the name of her most loyal customer.
Interviewed in 2020 by the magazine GQ, he confided that he loves the feeling of flight, because it allows him to escape the worries of everyday life. As for his environmental impact, he does not question his journeys: “The plane will fly whether I am in it or not. The carbon footprint would be much larger if I flew in a private jet. Those who take private jets would have much more impact than me if they flew on a commercial plane.
Today, airlines no longer offer lifetime offers. In the United States, there are subscriptions for one year, such as Frontier and its “All you can fly pass” at 1,199 dollars, but which mainly concern domestic flights.
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