While we all like to fly and might think that we are well-traveled, what most of us have achieved in air miles is nothing compared to New Jersey car dealership consultant Tom Stuker. After having flown all over the world to train people how to run car dealerships, Tom Stuker had, as of July 2022, clocked up 23 million miles on over 12,000 flights.

Since the early 1980s, Tom's business career has taken him to spots all over the world - including more than 300 trips to Australia. At one point, Tom had his own television show, "Car Lot Rescue," on Spike TV and even made a cameo appearance on Larry David's Seinfeld. Tom was also the inspiration behind the movie "The Air Up There" a film about a corporate downsizing expert starring George Clooney,

Tom always flies with United Airlines

Photo: United Airlines

Based in Chicago, it will be no surprise to hear that almost all of Tom Stuker's flights have been with United Airlines and its Star Alliance partners. On July 11, 2009, Tom Stuker took United Airlines Flight 942 from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD) to become the first United Airlines passenger to have ever clocked up ten million miles. It had taken Stuker 19 years to accumulate the first five million miles and another ten years to double the figure. To celebrate its most loyal customer, United Airlines had a party for Stuker both in the air and on the ground in Chicago.

Tom's tips for frequent fliers

Tom's early life saw him grow up in a working-class family in New Jersey. One of seven children, Tom never flew as a child, and as an adult gradually progressed from economy up to business and first class. Tom admits that if he could only fly in economy, he would never have managed to fly so many miles. Before COVID-19, Stuker recorded he spent between 200 and 250 days a year in the air and has some advice for would-be frequent flyers that include the following tips.

• Have a monogamous relationship with just one airline. (Stuker has been a United Airlines Mileage Plus loyalty program member since 1983).
• When flying long-haul, don't adjust your watch to local time; instead, take a three-hour nap.
• Fly in the best cabin you can, and if possible get someone else to pay for it.

What about your carbon footprint?

Stuker sees flying as being a great adventure and a chance to escape from the mundane things of everyday life.

Transcendent to meditative bliss, Stuker believes that you can get a good seat on a long-haul flight to escape as you fly from one part of the planet to another.

Photo: United Airlines

In these days of flight shaming and a desire to help save the planet, Stuker does not care about what people may think of him jetting all over the world, telling GQ magazine in 2020 the following:

“I’m not adding to the footprint. 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.”