Ten Million Frequent Flier Miles: Actual Milestone or Myth?

Frequent flier Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) in the movie "Up in the Air", contemplating ten million mile status on American Airlines' AAdvantage program.

In the movie “Up in the Air,” frequent flier Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) crisscrosses the skies with a dream of reaching a milestone: Ten million miles flown on American Airlines.

Is that really possible?

Yes, although that calculates out to approximately 400 complete circumnavigations of Planet Earth.

Has anyone actually done it?

Several people say they have earned ten million miles. But have they actually flown that far? It depends on what you count, it seems.

Jim Morehouse, a management consultant from Chicago told a newspaper this week that he now has “something north of 10 million” frequent flier miles on AA. In 2009, he made 104 trips on the airline. He said that was a fairly typical year.

Another Chicagoan, Jerold Solovy, 79, said he passed the ten million mark on American last year.

Did the flight crew pop champagne corks for him, as they did for Mr. Bingham in the movie?

No.

“American Airlines wrote me a nice letter,” Mr. Solovy said, adding it wasn’t a big deal to him. “I don’t even think I kept the letter.”

Mr. Solovy said he has been flying American for 64 years, mostly between Chicago’s O’Hare and New York’s LaGuardia.

“They treat me royally. I know everyone and they are very nice to me,” Solovy said.

But neither Mr. Morehouse nor Mr. Solovy qualifies as the AAdvantage Miles champ.

That honor may go to Phillip Dunkelberger, who claims to have earned more than 14 million miles.

Mr. Dunkelberger, the president of a data protection firm, travels regularly internationally. Most of his miles have been earned on American.

“But I’m also an elite on United and Lufthansa,” he told interviewers.

He remembers getting a nice meal on the flight which put him over ten million.

“But what brought a smile to my face wasn’t so much what I drank and what I ate,” he said. “I think it was when I landed and realized I’ve been able to enrich my life with business travel. It was more a happy thought than anything else.”

What special perks, if any, can a ten million mile flier expect?

Do they get a special number to call, just like Mr. Bingham in the movie?

Yes.

When a storm recently threatened Mr. Morehouse’s flight plans, he said, “I dialed a secret number and found out exactly what the situation was.”

How about “Graphite Status”?

No. That was invented for the film.

The Concierge Key?

American won’t confirm it but it exists – and the key is black, by the way – but Concierge membership is by invitation only; it’s not necessarily based on the number of mileage accrued. Celebrities – like Mr. Clooney (who is only in “reel” life a high-mileage flier) – are accorded that privilege in real life.

Executive Platinum is about as high as a frequent flier can go on American.

Mr. Dunkelberger said that is good for first class upgrades, no luggage fees, lounge access and a 100 percent flight mileage bonus for every trip – so he earns miles twice as fast as mere mortals.

One other previously undisclosed perk: The members of the ten million mile “club” were invited to a special, private screening of “Up in the Air”.

Why does American get all the glory in the movie? Because they cooperated in the filming, for one thing. For another, they debuted the world’s first frequent-flier program, back in 1981. AAdvantage also has the largest program of its kind, with more than 60 million members around the globe.

United Airlines also keeps track of its most frequent fliers (I got a plaque when I achieved “Million Miler” status). The highest level is its “Global Services” program.

“We don’t discuss the criteria for being invited into this elite club,” a spokesman said.

But United can tell you who the top Global Services mileage accruer is: Thomas Stuker.

“Global services is like dying and going to heaven,” said Mr. Stuker, 56, a sales and management trainer for the auto industry. “They take care of every single Global person 24/7.”

Mr. Stuker said special operators will work on his special Global Services requests even while he’s still in the air.

“When I call the 800 number in Michigan, most of the time I don’t even have to introduce myself,” he said. “They know me. I got my own 1-800 KISS MY ASS hotline.”

Over the years, Mr. Stuker has enjoyed perks such as $500 of free wine one Christmas, cakes on his birthday and gourmet dinners. He even had a United-sponsored appearance as a diner on the old “Seinfeld” television show.

How many miles, you ask, has Mr. Stuker accrued?

Over 30 million.

But “miles accrued” are not the same as “miles flown”.

Mr. Stuker said his “butt-in-seat” flights only amount to 8.8 million since he started in 1982. His total has been padded by “bonus miles” from various promotions, status upgrades, and affinity credit card extras. (A University of California-Davis professor, in 2000, accumulated more than one million miles just for buying 10,000 cups of pudding.)

Mr. Stuker said his goal is 10 million actual miles.

But he has a stipulation where he will be when that happens:

“It won’t be on a flight to Des Moines or Omaha,” he said, of Ryan Bingham’s somewhat anticlimactic flight in the movie. “I’ll take a bus before I cross the mark on one of those flights. It’s going to be an international flight, probably Europe with my girlfriend. I’m going to plot it out exactly and know when I hit it. And hell yeah, there is going to be champagne.”

The final question: What do ten million mile fliers do with all those miles?

Redeem them for more tickets, for more flights.

Jerry Garrett

January 1, 2010