Meet the man who has flown the distance of 23 trips to the moon on a lifetime airline pass

This seems to be his best investment decision ever. In 1990, when United Airlines offered a lifetime pass for $290,000, Tom Stuker jumped on it. $290,000 or Rs 2.3 crore was a big amount then, but the New Jersey resident has made the best possible use of the opportunity. Since then he has flown 23 million miles, New York Times reported.

To get a perspective of how much is flown 23 million miles, it is 22 million miles more than what was covered by Apollo 11, the first spaceflight that first landed humans on the moon.

The report also said that 2019 was the best year for Tom Stuker. He flew 1.46 million miles in a single year, travelling the distance in 373 flights. If he had paid in cash for these trips the cost: $2.44 million.


To accumulate frequent flyer miles, according to the report, he "once went 12 straight days without sleeping in a bed," covering the distance of equivalent of four trips around the world.

On many occasions, Tom Stuker used the frequent-flier miles to take long cruise vacations, stay at lavish hotels and have gourmet meals from Perth to Paris. He also used the frequent-flier miles to renovate his brother's house once and getting the chance to make a cameo appearance in a Seinfeld episode.

There were somber moments too during his trips. He has been witness to four people dying in their seats.
“Yeah, four. All heart attacks. I’d met a couple of them, too. Just died right in their seats. The last guy was up in business with me, Chicago to Narita [Tokyo]. They covered him with a blanket and put the seat belt back on. What else could they do?," he was quoted as saying.