United’s Most Frequent Flyer Hits a Million Miles in a Year

by Adam

According to a UA press release, Tom Stuker of Chicago has officially become United’s most frequent flyer for 2012. He received the honor after hitting 1 million flown miles earlier this month while on UA flight 949 from LHR to ORD. Stuker flew 400 flights during 2012 on United and United Express operated aircraft. Earlier in July, Stuker, who joined United MileagePlus in 1983, became the first person to fly 10 million miles on United and United Express operated aircraft.

“We congratulate Tom on another remarkable achievement,” said Tom O’Toole, president of MileagePlus. “We look forward to having him fly with us for the next million miles and beyond.”

“It has been a phenomenal year flying with United,” said Stuker. “Everyone at the airline, from the customer service agents to the flight attendants to the ramp workers, has made my travels feel effortless.”

In case you’re wondering, Stuker is an automotive sales consultant and travels constantly within the US as well as to Asia, Australia, and Latin America.

a man holding a framed certificate

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26 comments

Yas December 14, 2012 - 12:44 pm

what in the fawk.. thats awesome! AND someone pays for him to travel. even when I worked in-flight we barely flew 200K in a year. ass in seat.. darn. wow.. hahaha the only word that sums it up.. WOW…

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adam December 14, 2012 - 1:05 pm

@Yas – WOW is right, just unbelievable that those are BIS miles…unreal!!!

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caveman December 14, 2012 - 1:08 pm

I wonder how much time he spent in the plane as compared to his own home. What would be his family life if he has any?

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adam December 14, 2012 - 1:20 pm

@caveman – asked myself the same…I’m sure he considers UA crew and staff family 😉

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Jimgotkp December 14, 2012 - 1:09 pm

WOW 1 million miles in a year!

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United's Most Frequent Flyer Reaches 1 Million Miles in One Year - Street Smart Traveler December 14, 2012 - 2:03 pm

[…] Home › Frequent Flyer › United’s Most Frequent Flyer Reaches 1 Million Miles in One Year […]

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downhillcrasher December 14, 2012 - 2:05 pm

BIS or PQM?

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scott December 14, 2012 - 2:41 pm

Honestly, sounds like a miserable life, I fly 200 BIS and am out of the country about 1/4th of a year and thats with many short 3 days trips along with some longer ones, that means hes on the ground for less than a day in some cases… screw that

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Todd December 14, 2012 - 4:02 pm

I wonder what he does with the miles he earns? I seriously doubt he makes additional award trips with them.

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Levy Flight December 14, 2012 - 5:03 pm

How many miles is Tom flying in total? This is just UA.

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Peter December 14, 2012 - 5:19 pm

Todd, upgrade awards?

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LR December 14, 2012 - 5:28 pm

Very possible. My old boss used to rake up around 30k BIS miles per month by going to China 2 times per month. This dude must live in the sky.

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glenn December 14, 2012 - 6:48 pm

Let’s do some math. 1,000,000 miles divided by an average air speed of 500 mph = 2,000 hours in the air. There are only 8,760 hours in a year, so about a quarter of his life is spent at 35,000 feet.

I wonder what his radiation exposure level is?

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Jorge December 14, 2012 - 8:18 pm

Nah keep your miles. I want my life.

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David December 14, 2012 - 9:05 pm

Do you really have a life to fly that many miles? Wonder if he is still married? you can only fly for so long after 500000 miles, wouldnt you ask yourself?
no friends, no family and lets face it, dont give me that excuse that United is my family because in United eyes you are just a paying customer when it boils down to it.

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Joshua Pickles December 15, 2012 - 1:41 am

I met him at the gate while boarding NRT-ORD last January and he had already flown over 100k in 2012. Tom is just the nicest guy I have met in the FF world. Had a lot of fun with him convincing other passengers how he is such a famous United passenger, and he tried to out do me by telling everyone about how many miles I had earned buying $1 coins from the mint. My most memorable flight ever.

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Tom // Sit in first December 15, 2012 - 2:05 am

He has gone too far (literally and figuratively).

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Ed C December 15, 2012 - 3:46 am

He’s going to kill us on the SMD4 UA challenge! Lol

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Cook December 15, 2012 - 9:54 am

One Million Miles (400 legs?) in slightly less than a year is a bit too impressive. I suspect that the unfortunate fellow has zero home life – he’s never there – and has chosen to make his life on United’s aircraft. On the bright side, with his miles and status, he book any upgradable coach seat fare and ride in 2B without a blink. I wonder if UA ever bumps a full-fare F-Class rider in favor of Tom. He’s probably got the guest room in Smisek’s home on stand-by, should he need it. Lastly, I wonder what United offers him when a flight is cancelled due to weather or mechanical issues. I cannot imagine that he sits at the gate or even in a lounge, for m ore than ten minutes. NetJets anyone?
More seriously, I mete this fellow shortly before his “big award” last year. Quiet, polite and as humble as they come, his only comment about United was something like, “They get me where I need to be…” I’d bet that his delays are rather rare. For those interested, Tom has already stated that he spends a lot of his miles on (perhaps short) vacation trips with his G.F. Consulting about automotive sales must be a very good business….

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John December 15, 2012 - 10:57 am

You all criticize him for spending a quarter of his life in an airplane… Maybe, he has no office and he works from home the rest of the time… We all spend nearly 2000 hours at work… Me, I think I would rather be in the air then sitting at my desk…

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Terry December 15, 2012 - 2:25 pm

I love this game, I love my perks, and I love my first class award redemptions, however I also love my family, my house, my community, and spending time on the ground! Does Tom spend any time on the ground?

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Lynn DiNapolitano December 15, 2012 - 2:27 pm

I feel that I have to comment on this. I am OBSESSED. I feel great when I take-off on my next journey and count down the days to the next trip. At a million A** in seat miles a year, how can this man still be enjoying the ride? My family and close friends look at me like I’m crazy but I would never actually want to fly this much.

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Anthony G December 15, 2012 - 2:29 pm

I HOPE HOPE HOPE that he is generous with charities with all the miles he must have.

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Haley R December 15, 2012 - 5:05 pm

@Cook – I wonder when he finds time to go on short vacations with his GF as your state. If I was traveling that often I would not be getting back on a plane.

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Competition for United’s Most Frequent Flyer – World’s Most Traveled Man -15M Miles - Point Me To The Plane January 31, 2013 - 4:06 pm

[…] United’s ultimate million miler, has some real competition on his hands. Stuker of Chicago officially became United’s most frequent flyer for 2012. He received the honor after hitting 1 million miles flown last December. His stats for […]

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