Would you buy a lifelong unlimited first-class plane ticket if you could? How many flights would you take on a yearly basis? Obviously, money makes the world go round and we all know that flying the world does not only depend on the transportation possibilities but wouldn’t it be an amazing privilege to not have to think about the ticket cost and booking?
Meet Steve Rothstein, the man who managed to get (almost) the most of the American Airlines services. The man who is probably considered the world’s most famous flier, for having flown over 10,000 times after paying the $250,000 lifelong ticket in 1987. According to the popular opinion, Rothstein “screwed or got screwed” by the airlines by paying an additional $150,000 for a companion feature two years later. This meant a possibility to bring whomever he wanted along to any of his flights, which was a smart family move. The Rothstein family’s precaution is also worth mentioning – Steven’s wife Nancy and him had a deal about never boarding the same flight. In case of a plane crash, that would mean that their three children would not lose both of their parents. The contract amendment said that the spouse of the AAirpass Holder was allowed to travel separately, by using the extra seat on the flight that was immediately prior or posterior to the Holder’s (that is, Mr Rothstein’s) flight. The only rule – that Rothstein never even thought of violating – was that the pass should not be given to other people.
As Steven’s daughter Caroline recalls in her The Guardian interview, Rothstein was “a child of the world”. His father was a World War II navigator veteran, who travelled a lot for business, so globetrotting was a normal thing for Steven since his early childhood. It was a part of his integrity. His wife Nancy says he used to get on a plane just like some people get on a bus. Not only that: he knew nearly all of the AA employees, and they knew him: from front-desk lounge employees to gate attendants and cabin crew. Frequent flying was Steven’s lifeline. Not to mention the number of people who he helped along the way and whose lives he enrichened by his wholehearted generosity.
The cancelation of his AAirpass in 2008 was a shock for both the Rothstein family and dozens of American Airlines employees. Steven was notified about the unlimited pass termination when he was about to board a plane to London with a Bosnian refugee he wanted to help. The disbelief and shock led to a long period of depression. Steven was said to have breached the contract terms. The airline explained it as “a fraudulent usage”, describing the bookings he made as “speculative”, among other things. It was the revenues department that started the investigation because the AAirpass was apparently not giving the expected profit to the company. In fact, an article published in 2017 calls this unlimited pass “the worst marketing disaster in human history”.
The truth is, Rothstein’s use of the companion feature was creative, to say the least, since he often kindly presented it even to people he met on the same day. There was a period when, out of emotional distress and deep depression, he made a lot of bookings and cancelled them the next day. On some days he even booked an empty seat because he felt like seating alone and grieving his son’s death without having to explain his tears to the passenger next to him. It obviously was not what the companion feature was intended for by the AA, but it was not a violation of the terms of use, either. Also, Rothstein had never even been warned by the company for using his AAirpass in a way that he was not supposed to.
These days, a much bigger concern would be risen about the unbelievable 10 million air miles of carbon footprint that Steven Rothstein managed to get for around 21 years of his recurrent use of the American Airlines Airpass.
