Guy turned his United lifetime pass into lifetime of perks

[rogermunibond]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/06/23/united-airlines-very-frequent-flyer/

 

[Gamecock-YT]

American tried suing the people they sold their unlimited flights to. Agree with #3 and 4 of his tips. #2 will usually cause more problems than it is worth. Standbys get those seats. Guess if you are good at making lame excuses.

[Morgan]

He definitely got a great deal, but that many trips really sounds like a drag. It seems like he's doing it for the miles vs visiting and exploring the places he visits. 

[Blugolds]

Im probably naïve to the "game" but didnt realize he would still accrue miles (whats the point? ((no pun intended))he flies for free anyway)...and then be able to leverage those miles and sell them etc. I dont know how he accrues, and sounds like he was successful anyway if he could afford the Lifetime pass, but if you made enough and were able to leverage it, treat it like a job, and it sounds like he is. A job that allows you to see the world and make money doing it, not a bad gig. 

 

I do think it would get old after a while. I think of when I was 16 and just got my drivers license, if mom asked me to go to the grocery store 5 min away...on my own, and get a gallon of milk it was the most exciting thing in the world, the freedom!! Now, middle age, if I could buy a completely autonomous car or hire a driver I would in a heartbeat, the excitement wore off years ago and now its a chore. Cant help but think that it might be the same with flying. But maybe the world is a smaller place and the excitement of being able to go have sushi tonight in Japan, completely free with lodging..and then go catch an opera in Sydney..all free...never gets old LOL

 

Interesting that he has seen 4 people die on planes from heart attacks..cant help but wonder, with the pace he is going..if he will join the ranks, how long can a guy keep that pace and at what age does he need provisions for an O2 cart...

 

Best of luck to him though! He's livin the life!

[Sweet]

He’s being a total arse.

 

Also, what a silly way to spend your life.

[rogermunibond]

My guesses.  He was pretty young when he bought the lifetime pass - maybe 36.  So $290,000 is a huge investment at that point.  He was likely working as an auto dealer consultant and expensed the cost through his business.  Otherwise back then when he bought it why not just buy a house.  Racking up a 1M or 2M miles per year is hard work. He must like traveling A LOT.  That extra time in the air has got to increase his overall radiation exposure and probably ups his cancer risk to some degree.

 

Still not as cool as the guy who figured out how to game frequent flyer miles from Healthy Choice pudding cups.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Phillips_(entrepreneur)

[Castanza]

8 minutes ago, rogermunibond said:

Still not as cool as the guy who figured out how to game frequent flyer miles from Healthy Choice pudding cups

 

Or the guy who games the Pepsi points thing to technically win an F-16 

[james22]

I'd like to learn more about his thinking at the time.

 

Did he recognize an opportunity others did not? Or did he take risks (change in terms/conditions) others weren't willing to?

[competitive-advantage]

What a fantastic story. It brought back a couple of memories.

 

Once, I was on a ski trip with a man who had rigged a television bingo game here in Denmark. The channel allowed viewers to print out bingo tickets from their website, and this man had somehow deciphered the system, enabling him to win as quickly as possible. He won an array of prizes, including an old fire truck, until they eventually discovered his scheme.

 

My father's story is another interesting one. He has managed to get an exceptional deal that allows him almost free access to local soccer matches. Over the years, he's purchased numerous cars from the same dealership and has developed a friendly relationship with them. Now, he can pick up complimentary tickets for matches for the local soccer team in the top Danish soccer league. These aren't inexpensive tickets by any means, so he tips for the staff's 'coffee budget'. As he often says in Danish, 'He who lubricates well, drives well'.

[CanadianMunger]

53 minutes ago, competitive-advantage said:

What a fantastic story. It brought back a couple of memories.

 

Once, I was on a ski trip with a man who had rigged a television bingo game here in Denmark. The channel allowed viewers to print out bingo tickets from their website, and this man had somehow deciphered the system, enabling him to win as quickly as possible. He won an array of prizes, including an old fire truck, until they eventually discovered his scheme.

 

 

 

@John Hjorth  Was that you?!?  

[competitive-advantage]

2 hours ago, CanadianMunger said:

 

 

@John Hjorth  Was that you?!?  

[Parsad]

On 6/24/2023 at 6:03 PM, Blugolds11 said:

Im probably naïve to the "game" but didnt realize he would still accrue miles (whats the point? ((no pun intended))he flies for free anyway)...and then be able to leverage those miles and sell them etc. I dont know how he accrues, and sounds like he was successful anyway if he could afford the Lifetime pass, but if you made enough and were able to leverage it, treat it like a job, and it sounds like he is. A job that allows you to see the world and make money doing it, not a bad gig. 

 

I do think it would get old after a while. I think of when I was 16 and just got my drivers license, if mom asked me to go to the grocery store 5 min away...on my own, and get a gallon of milk it was the most exciting thing in the world, the freedom!! Now, middle age, if I could buy a completely autonomous car or hire a driver I would in a heartbeat, the excitement wore off years ago and now its a chore. Cant help but think that it might be the same with flying. But maybe the world is a smaller place and the excitement of being able to go have sushi tonight in Japan, completely free with lodging..and then go catch an opera in Sydney..all free...never gets old LOL

 

Interesting that he has seen 4 people die on planes from heart attacks..cant help but wonder, with the pace he is going..if he will join the ranks, how long can a guy keep that pace and at what age does he need provisions for an O2 cart...

 

Best of luck to him though! He's livin the life!

 

The other issue is the amount of radiation he's exposing himself to.  Pilots are known for very high cancer rates due to their prolonged exposure to radiation while in the cockpit.  If this guy is in the air a couple of days a week for 20 years, he's got a much higher chance of developing some form of cancer.  Cheers!

[Parsad]

6 hours ago, rogermunibond said:

My guesses.  He was pretty young when he bought the lifetime pass - maybe 36.  So $290,000 is a huge investment at that point.  He was likely working as an auto dealer consultant and expensed the cost through his business.  Otherwise back then when he bought it why not just buy a house.  Racking up a 1M or 2M miles per year is hard work. He must like traveling A LOT.  That extra time in the air has got to increase his overall radiation exposure and probably ups his cancer risk to some degree.

 

Still not as cool as the guy who figured out how to game frequent flyer miles from Healthy Choice pudding cups.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Phillips_(entrepreneur)

 

That guy gamed the system once.  This guy can gather miles and travel till he dies.  Way cooler!  Cheers!

[Parsad]

6 hours ago, Castanza said:

 

Or the guy who games the Pepsi points thing to technically win an F-16 

 

I've never heard of this one...amazing!

 

https://thehustle.co/leonard-v-pepsi-harrier-jet-lawsuit/

 

Although he lost and didn't get the jet.  Free miles and travel guy is still cooler!    Cheers!

[Castanza]

11 hours ago, Parsad said:

 

I've never heard of this one...amazing!

 

https://thehustle.co/leonard-v-pepsi-harrier-jet-lawsuit/

 

Although he lost and didn't get the jet.  Free miles and travel guy is still cooler!    Cheers!

 

There is a Netflix (maybe Hulu?) doc on it that is pretty comical. 

[competitive-advantage]

Tom Stoker seems like a really nice guy with great energy. In the beginning he always praise people to get better interactions - no matter if it's true or not. Typical for a good sales guy I assume 

It was actually $510.000 he bought the pass for and he describes here that the first 10 years were mostly business focused flights to Australia etc.

 

 

He's doing good in business and have really taken advantage of this deal. If you want to read more about him then check out his LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomstuker/

[backtothebeach]

He has probably benefitted more than if he had invested the $520,000 in something else, especially if he flew a lot in the early years. Although long term bonds yielded 8.5% at the time.

[Parsad]

6 hours ago, backtothebeach said:

He has probably benefitted more than if he had invested the $520,000 in something else, especially if he flew a lot in the early years. Although long term bonds yielded 8.5% at the time.

 

Possibly, but there was always the possibility United could go bankrupt and the pass would become useless.  I would have stuck the money into equities...particularly BRK if I had known any better back in 1990.  Cheers!

[Haryana]

On 6/28/2023 at 6:50 PM, Parsad said:

 

I've never heard of this one...amazing!

 

https://thehustle.co/leonard-v-pepsi-harrier-jet-lawsuit/

 

Although he lost and didn't get the jet.  Free miles and travel guy is still cooler!    Cheers!

 

I had learnt about this one as part of the following free course on Contract Law -

(Very interesting case indeed)

 

https://www.harvardonline.harvard.edu/course/contract-law-trust-promise-contract