If you had the opportunity to buy a plane ticket for almost $1 million, giving you access to fly first class for the rest of your life, would you do it?
Tom Stuker, a 69-year-old US car dealership consultant did back in 1990 when United Airlines was offering a lifetime pass to passengers.
He paid $US510,000 — $A770,000 — for it.
Sadly, it doesn’t exist anymore. But when it did, Mr Stuker pounced at the opportunity, describing it as the “best investment” of his life.
The married father-of-two has been jet setting around the world in seat 1B ever since with the pass giving him unlimited first class travel on any of the carrier’s flights worlwide.
In total, the New Jersey man has flown 23 million miles, the Washington Post reported.
But 2019 was his best year yet. He took 373 flights that covered 1.46 million miles. If he had bought all these flights in cash, it would have cost him $2.44 million, according to the publication.
When he hit the 10-million mile mark in 2011, it prompted United to name a 747 after him. There was also a celebration mid-air for him in 2019, including a champagne toast and a welcome reception in Los Angeles, when he reached 20 million miles with the airline.
Everyone on the flight got free champagne and Mr Stuker went around talking to every passenger, even topping their cups with bubbles as they congratulated him on his history-making moment.
“It’s not about the places I go, it’s about the people I meet,” Mr Stuker told passengers via the plane’s intercom.
“I got to tell ya, it’s unbelievable” a passenger told him.
“I wanted to say thank you to all of you who shared this moment with me,” Mr Stuker continued. “To be able to celebrate 20 million on my favourite airline in the whole world, it’s everything.”
It’s been 33 years since he purchased the ticket and the car dealer consultant is still racking up miles and enjoying every second of his view from his favourite seat — 1B of course.
In fact, he never goes a week without flying.
“If I spend more than a week in one place, I’m like, ‘I gotta get back in the air’,” the frequent flyer told the NY Post in 2019.
“I’m more afraid to be on the ground than in the air.”
It’s a [travel] life one can only dream of with Mr Stuker never having to worry about airport lines and baggage issues with a Mercedes waiting on the tarmac to whoosh him away to the next gate.
He even has his own special check-in station, with a back door to the front of the security queue, as well as VIP airport lounges with free fine dining, spa treatments, showers and sleeping quarters.
The one thing he won’t do, though, is have someone carry his bags for him. He said while it’s part of the service, it makes him feel like an invalid.
Mr Stuker has been to more than 100 countries using his unlimited United pass and even shares the wealth with his wife, taking her on over 120 “honeymoons.”
And believe it or not – his love for travel and aviation started back in 1984 after visiting Australia for work.
He “fell in love” with the country, revealing he’s been back more than 300 times.
While Mr Stuker isn’t big on social media, he will post about his travels every now and then under the Instagram handle ‘ua1flyer’.
His most recent post was screenshots from a Seinfeld episode that he was featured on.
“Someone sent this to me today – I got a nice chuckle out of it!” he captioned the post.
Mr Stuker won a charity auction by bidding 451,000 miles to be on the popular series at the time — the one where George’s fiancee dies from licking envelopes.
The clip shows Jerry at the diner with a woman, with Mr Stuker sitting behind her at a table.
“You see that guy sitting behind you?” Jerry asks the woman. “Well, he paid 451,000 airmiles to be on this episode, and has travelled more than anyone in history.”
In an interview with Chicago-based TV station WGN News this week, Mr Stuker said he first found out about the lifetime pass when his colleague told him American Airlines was offering it.
“I went to United and I said ‘you’re going to loose me as a customer’ and they said ‘we have the same thing’,” Mr Stuker explained.
“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.”
He also clarified the pass cost him $US510,000 upfront, not $US290,000 as currently reported. Mr Stuker also joked he is the reason they stopped selling the lifetime ticket.
“Back then it was an intelligent decision for the airlines to sell the passes because it helped cash flow, [but] it’s not needed anymore,” he said.
“I think I’m not needed anymore but I’m so, so grateful for United offering that and yes, I have taken advantage of it tremendously.”
Mr Stuker has been a member of United’s secretive Global Services club, which travellers are invited to join once they have notched up four million flying miles.
But he is way ahead of that figure now, having clocked a total of 23 million miles (and counting).