World's Most Frequent Flyer Beats 20-Million-Mile Record

This time last year, Tom Stuker was a mere 19-million-miler — now, the world's most traveled man's lifetime United tally has soared past 21. That's right, Tom's now completed an absolutely mind-boggling 21 million butt-in-seat miles, exclusively on paid United Airlines flights — earning lifetime Global Services status many times over. 21,000,000 miles. That is nuts.

Tom hit 21 million on a recent flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles, but United celebrated the achievement this week ahead of his flight from Chicago to Frankfurt.

As with many frequent United flyers, I've run into Tom during his various globe-trotting adventures, including on the final United 747 flight from San Francisco to Honolulu, when I even "stole" his beloved seat 1A.

Then, earlier this year, I joined Tom on a quick trip to Sydney, where we explored the city and filmed a handful of tips videos, including a couple of my favorites (set at Tom's second home, onboard a United 787-9):

• Maximizing in-flight amenities
• Choosing the best seat on the plane

As for what's next? Tom's going to keep on flying — he expects to hit 22 million by June 2020, or perhaps even a bit sooner than that.

Daily Newsletter

Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter

Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG’s experts

Email address

Sign up

By signing up, you will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.