Throwback: When American Airlines Offered A $250,000 Lifetime Pass

Imagine having the opportunity to purchase unlimited first-class travel for lifewould you take it? For most travel enthusiasts, its a dream come true. Youre probably thinking right now about all the destinations youd explore with a pass like that. There actually was a time when American Airlines made this dream a reality with their unlimited lifetime AAirpass.

What was AAirpass?

AAirpass (pronounced Airpass) was a membership-based discount program American Airlines started in 1981. Facing a struggling financial situation, the program was launched with the intention of giving the airline a quick infusion of cash. When it debuted, the price of the AAirpass was $250,000. It gave members a lifetime of first-class travel on American plus access to the Admirals Club. For an additional fee, you could purchase a travel companion ticket.

Who bought them?

To put it briefly, mostly business travelers had the cash to shell out on such passes - however, some notable pass holders included Michael Dell and Willie Mays. Mark Cuban said it was one of the first things he purchased after he sold his first company for millions and had extra money. One Chicago man bought a pass after receiving a multi-million dollar settlement from a car accident.

Business travelers saw the immediate advantage of the program: they could book multiple flights per day and not have to worry about missing a flight and then rebooking since they already had a reservation on the next flight. A total of 66 people ended up purchasing the lifetime unlimited AAirpass. The last time they were sold was in 1994 through the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog for $3 million. Nobody purchased one and sales of the lifetime ticket ceased.

What about miles?

The contract language in the original version of AAirpass had nothing prohibiting passholders from earning frequent flyer miles on trips taken with the AAirpass. That means the unlimited air travel ticket, in essence, came with unlimited miles. Because pass holders had no motivation to collect or use the miles, they ended up giving them away to friends and family.

To put this in perspective, AAirpass debuted the same year as AAdvantage, one of the first frequent flyer loyalty programs of its kind and the first offered by a major carrier. it was unknown at that time if such a loyalty program would even work with a carrier as large as American, let alone the value of the loyalty points they gave out.

Was it worth it for American Airlines?

Famously, making the pass unlimited for life was very much not a good financial move for American Airlines. People who bought the pass were people who intended to make good use of it. For example, according to the Los Angeles Times, one man who bought his pass with his accident settlement money traveled to London 16 times in a 25-day span in 2012, and the estimated retail cost of those flights was $125,000 at the time.

Because he had the AAirpass, he paid nothing additional to take those flights (not even airport fees). Even today, there are still 25 AAirpass holders flying with American, costing the company a combined estimated $25 million in revenue a year. Former American Airlines CEO Bob Crandal was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying,

One flyer really got his money's worth

According to the Guardian, one man, Steve Rothstein, has cost the airline a massive amount of money with his AAirpass use. Rothstein, purchased his AAirpass in 1987 and was determined to get his money's worth from it. When American looked into it, they found that by 2008, Rothstein had flown 30 million miles across 10,000 flights, costing the airline over $21 million.

Rothstein had managed to make the entire program unprofitable with his zest for travel. Eventually, American took legal action and canceled his AAirpass for violating the terms of use. A man as worldly as Rothstein didn't take this sitting down. He countersued and the case bounced around the courts for a few years before both parties reached a settlement. In case you're curious, Rothstein still travels, but his carrier of choice these days is United Airlines.

With unlimited flights comes unlimited imagination

Unburdened by the constraints of a typical ticket, AAirpass holders began to use their travel privileges in creative ways. A typical trick for those who had companion passes would be to book an extra seat with no intention of bringing anyone so they'd have extra elbow room. One pass holder, Willard May, found himself short on cash and made a deal with a couple to fly with them back and forth to Paris using his companion ticket for $2,000 a month. May is quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying,

Will we ever see anything like this again?

In the way American did it, probably not. For starters, the program being truly unlimited for the life of the passholder was the primary reason it proved to be unprofitable. Adding to the fact that these seats were all first-class made it all the worse in terms of lost potential revenue or the chance to reward loyal passengers with an upgrade. American did try to revive a version of the program under a new name (called Airpass) where travelers could buy instant elite status and then use the value of that purchase as credits credit for future flights. While not "unlimited" (or even necessarily cheaper) it did give Airpass holders flexibility to travel without any change fees. American discontinued the Airpass program in early 2024.

The legacy of the AAirpass can still be seen in the industry. Frontier Airlines offers a membership-based all-you-can-fly pass, the GoWild Pass, starting around $149 per month, but even their "unlimited" pass comes with strings attached: it has over 31 blackout dates where you can't use the ticket and the fare does not include airport fees (which can vary from place to place). Alaska Airlines also offers a prepaid ticket package, but limits the number of trips you can take. Although neither of these programs matches the flexibility or generous benefits of the AAirpass, it's clear where they drew their inspiration from.