After costing airline $21 million this man had his lifetime first class ticket revoked mid-flight
- Steven Rothstein bought a lifetime pass with American Airlines
- He paid it $250,000, but it ended up costing the company $21 million
- They eventually revoked his pass
Published on Jan 25, 2025 at 2:00 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Jan 21, 2025 at 12:50 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
In the 1980s, Steven Rothstein bought a lifetime first-class American Airlines ticket called AAirPass for $250,000.
He absolutely milked his lifetime pass, and ended up costing the airline around $21 million.
This is why, decades later, his ticket was revoked mid-flight, and the airline sued him.
This story is fascinating but also a bit messy.
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Why American Airlines revoked his lifetime first-class pass
In 1981, American Airlines tried selling a lifetime first-class ticket to alleviate financial troubles.
The lifetime first-class pass worked exactly as advertised, allowing the pass holder to travel first-class on American without restrictions.
Steven Rothstein also bought a $150,000 ‘companion pass’ with his lifetime first-class ticket, allowing him to take one more person with him on any flight.
He made the most of his AAirPass ticket but it took American Airlines a while to work out that Rothstein had booked $21 million worth of fares.
Obviously, he’d never paid a cent, because that was the whole point of his lifetime pass.
By 2008, Rothstein had racked up 30 million miles with his AAirPass tickets, all of which were free of charge.
That’s when American Airlines abruptly decided to cancel his pass, technically mid-flight because he only found out at the gate, right before boarding.
American also sued him after.
Steven Rothstein denied any wrongdoing, and the lawsuit was settled out of the court, but he still admitted he regretted buying it.
Are lifetime tickets still a thing?
Lifetime tickets used to be a thing, and several airlines offered them in the past.
Tom Stuker, possibly one of the most famous lifetime ticket holders, said he’s saved at least $2.4 million with his United Airlines lifetime pass.
They still exist, but they generally have a long list of clauses in the fine print that tilt their potential advantage way in favor of the airline, not the passenger.
WizzAir’s ‘All You Can Fly’ yearly pass is a classic case in point.
It costs €599 (around $623) for a year, with one free flight thrown in the package and every flight thereafter at a fixed rate of €9.99.
No luggage included, which is hardly surprisingly, and pass holders are pretty much at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to seat availability, meaning ‘regular’ passengers get priority.
But those are minor details compared to the truly big catch with this pass, which is the fact that you can only book no more than three days in advance, making it impossible to plan your trips ahead.
