Man’s £190,000 Lifetime First-Class Ticket Canceled After Costing Airline £16 Million In Flights

A lifetime first-class ticket sounds like an amazing deal. And, that’s just what this man received from American Airlines after paying a large sum of money. However, the airline eventually canceled his lifetime pass. Here’s what you need to know about this wild story.

What would you do with an unlimited first-class ticket?

Back in the ’80s, American Airlines came out with their AAirpass. For 250k, individuals could purchase a lifetime first-class ticket with the airline, allowing them to fly anywhere they wanted as many times as they wanted. 

While the price was steep, the pass would easily pay for itself for someone who traveled often. And, with unlimited options, it was a great deal for someone with the upfront cash.

A man purchased his ticket in 1987.

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Steven Rothstein was a United States stockbroker who bought this unlimited ticket. He also spent another 150k for a companion pass, allowing him to take a guest with him. 

He quickly began using his pass as often as possible, even flying many times per month for the next two decades.

He went on over 10,000 flights.

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Rothstein clearly saw the value of this golden ticket. By 2008, he had been on over 10,000 flights and traveled around 30 million miles. 

While this was an excellent deal for him, the airline was losing money. All of these flights reportedly cost American Airlines around $21 million. They clearly underestimated how the pass could be used.

He was stripped of the pass in 2008.

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Rothstein would fly all over the world in a month as he enjoyed his unlimited pass. But, in 2008, American Airlines suddenly took the pass away and was going to sue him. 

Rothstein said the only rule he was given was that he couldn’t let anyone else use the AAirpass. He maintains that he followed this rule and never did anything to warrant being sued by the company.

Why did they take away his ticket and try to sue him?

In response, American Airlines claimed that Rothstein made bookings for non-existent passengers under different names. But, this story doesn’t quite seem to add up. It seems like the airline was just tired of honoring the unlimited pass since they were losing so much money.

American Airlines quickly regretted coming up with the pass.

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The AAirpass was introduced in 1981. However, according to Bob Crandall, the company’s chief executive at the time, they didn’t think the pass through.

“It soon became apparent that the public was smarter than we were,” he said.

American Airlines would discontinue the pass, so only a few people ever purchased one.

Rothstein took legal action in return.

After American Airlines threatened to sue him, Rothstein filed his own claim, saying the airline broke their agreement with him. The two parties ended up settling out of court.

But he wasn’t the only person American Airlines came after. Many other AAirpass owners had their passes canceled or had fraudulent activity.

The pass might have just been too good to be true.

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While it’s difficult to know the exact details, American Airlines clearly understated how often people would use the pass and wanted to try and crack down on it by revoking passes. But, for those lucky few who purchased a pass, they got to enjoy many years of luxurious flights and save millions of dollars.