Tom Stuker, 69, has flown more miles than any other person in history, and he has no intention of stopping. The NJ man earned enormous rewards from an investment made in the 90s. No, it is more closely related to that than buying stocks. Three decades ago, New Jersey resident Tom Stuker spent $290,000 to purchase a lifetime pass from United Airlines. He has travelled more over 23 million miles (37 million km) in the 33 years since then, more than any other person in history, and has been to more than 100 different nations.
The NASA spacecraft Apollo 11, which brought Neil Armstrong and his fellow astronauts to the moon, travelled only 953,000 miles (1.5 million kilometres), which helps to explain the feat. And it appears that he will always hold the record because, according to the publication, United no longer offers such passes to its passengers.
Stuker’s distance travelled in 2019 alone was equivalent to “more than six trips to the moon”
According to the Post, Stuker’s distance travelled in 2019 alone was equivalent to “more than six trips to the moon.” The 69-year-old consultant for a car company flew 373 times that year, totalling 1.46 million miles. The price of the flights in cash would have been $2.44 million. He once went for 12 days straight without sleeping on a bed as he travelled from Newark to San Francisco, then on to Bangkok and Dubai, only leaving the comfort of the sky to use airport lounges.
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.”