This man has undertaken 23 million miles of air travel on a lifetime pass worth $290K

In 1990, he, perhaps, took one of the best decisions of his life. An investment in that era has reaped immense benefits for him.

No, it is not about buying stocks, but something closer to that.

Tom Stuker, from New Jersey, bought a lifetime pass to United Airlines three decades ago after shelling out $290,000.

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In 33 years since then, he has flown more than 23 million miles (37 million km) and visited more than 100 countries, which, according to The Washington Post, is more miles than any individual in history.

To make sense of that feat, NASA’s Apollo 11, which carried Neil Armstrong and his fellow astronauts to the moon, travelled only 953,000 miles (1.5mn km).

And it seems that his record will forever remain unbroken as United no longer extends such passes to its fliers, as per the newspaper.

In 2019, he covered 1.46mn miles

In 2019 alone, Stuker’s distance travelled was equivalent to “more than six trips to the moon”, the Post reported.

In that year, the 69-year-old car dealership consultant took 373 flights, covering 1.46mn miles. Had he paid cash for the flights, it would have cost $2.44 million.

At one point, he spent 12 consecutive days without touching a bed, as he hopped from Newark to San Francisco and then to Bangkok and Dubai, only spending time outside of the friendly skies while he visited airport lounges.

But one of the greatest benefits to have accrued over the years is his flier miles. In 2009, Stuker passed the 5m mile (8m km) mark, according to Simple Flying, and then in 2019, he breached the 10m mile mark.

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Setting milestones

Notably, he was the first United Airlines customer to achieve this milestone and the points he got have been a boon to him.

“Stuker has lived like a sultan on United miles ever since – lavish hotel suites all over the world, weeks-long Crystal cruises, gourmet meals from Perth to Paris,” the Post report said.

He used the miles to “redo his brother’s house”, and “once cashed $50,000 worth of Walmart gift cards in a single day”, the report added.

Stuker also won a charity auction to appear in a Seinfeld episode by bidding 451,000 air miles.

"Best investment of my life," Stuker told the Post.

He said that he was aware that frequent-flier miles weren't just a way to get more flights; he also ended up selling and trading miles with others.

“I’m not adding to the footprint,” Stuker told GQ in an interview in 2020.

“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.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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