Travel enthusiast Carl Brothers recently completed an epic quest: On June 23, 2025, he flew his four millionth mile on United Airlines, earning lifetime access to the airline’s top-tier, invite-only Global Services elite status in the process.
Brothers began his endeavor in 2021, logging near-weekly round-trip flights primarily from the United States to Singapore, Melbourne, and Sydney to reach his goal. He reached his first million miles in 2022 (he flew a total of 1,072,812 miles that year, followed by 931,113 miles in 2023 and another 1,128,303 miles in 2024), which ushered him into the elusive ranks of United’s Million Miler program.
Million-miler programs recognize extraordinary loyalty from VIP customers. Each of the “Big 3” airlines (American, Delta, and United) has a million-miler program, as do Alaska Airlines and several international airlines, including Air Canada and Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA). Perks vary by airline, but all of these programs offer lifetime benefits to travelers who have flown a million miles or more.
Airlines celebrate their top customers by offering them a lifetime loyalty program and elite status benefits like priority boarding, complimentary upgrades, free checked bags, dedicated customer service, and the ability to share their status benefits with a travel companion of their choice.
Brothers’ accomplishment is extraordinary. But he’s not the only traveler by far to reach multimillion-miler status. He personally knows at least three multimillion milers, including automobile sales consultant Tom Stuker, who purchased a lifetime flight pass from United Airlines in 1990 for $510,000 and is widely hailed as the world’s most frequent flier, with more than 24 million United miles under his belt.
Others who have made the news include one of Delta’s top customers, Todd O., who has flown more than 15 million miles with the airline, and Stephen Routh, Alaska Airlines’ first customer to reach the 3 million-mile mark.
“At Delta, we’re incredibly impressed by our million milers and more importantly, grateful for their loyalty,” said Joe Kiely, managing director of Delta’s SkyMiles loyalty program. “Reaching this elite milestone is a reflection of years, often decades of loyalty, and we make sure to recognize it in ways that are both meaningful and memorable.”
The perks that come with million-miler status
Alaska Airlines similarly celebrates new million milers with public recognition on their milestone flight. (While it isn’t official and may not happen every time, pilots or flight attendants who notice the milestone will often call out the passenger midflight.) Afterward, a customer service representative will make a personalized follow-up call to walk the traveler through their new benefits. Alaska million milers also get a customized luggage tag made from the fuselage of a vintage Alaska or Hawaiian Airlines aircraft. And now that Alaska and Hawaiian have merged their loyalty programs under the new Atmos Rewards umbrella, travelers can earn lifetime top-tier Atmos Titanium status after 3 million miles flown through the joint program.
United and American aren’t as public or consistent in their acknowledgment of million-mile travelers. Some million milers from these airlines have shared anticlimactic experiences on Reddit, comparing their form letters and plastic luggage tags to more lavish displays of appreciation shared by Delta or Alaska, for example. But as people have returned to the skies with gusto in the aftermath of the pandemic, both airlines have improved their efforts to celebrate travelers who achieve million-miler status.
For example, United rolled out the red carpet to celebrate Brothers when he and a few of his fellow United loyalists conducted a seven-stop mileage run, flying into each of United’s hub airports in a single day. American Airlines also let a soon-to-be million miler who wanted to film a YouTube video briefly use one of its planes as a backdrop.
How to get million-miler status
Becoming a million miler from earning “butt-in-seat” miles truly is a feat of loyalty and commitment, since miles earned from credit card spending don’t count toward million-miler status. In an interview with Afar, Brothers revealed that he paid for his four-year adventure out of pocket, spending around $180,000 total on airfare, $20,000 on approximately 200 hotel stays averaging 50 nights a year, and between $25,000 and $30,000 more on food and local transportation. In 2021, he spent an estimated 665 hours in the air to reach just over 1 million miles; by this metric, he’s spent approximately 17 weeks of the past four years on planes alone.
As for expensing some of the trips for business, said Brothers, who owns two Denver salons with his husband, “While I did conduct legitimate business on some of these mileage runs—meeting vendors abroad, picking up fashion magazines for the salons—our CPA ultimately advised against writing any of it off.”
Chasing million-miler status isn’t feasible for most travelers; while the rewards can be attractive, the cost and time commitment can be staggering. Many million milers are business travelers whose companies pay for the majority of their trips. But there are exceptions to every rule: die-hard aviation enthusiasts, like Brothers, commonly referred to as AvGeeks, who love hopping on a plane at the slightest excuse.
For the flight that got him to the 4 million-mile mark (and lifetime Global Services status), Brothers leveraged social media to invite his AvGeek community to join him on the route from Newark (EWR) to Singapore (SIN) connecting via San Francisco (SFO). All told, more than two dozen travelers tagged along for his momentous journey; well over a dozen of them already held million-miler status with United.
While it’s a daunting commitment, becoming a million miler is attainable if you strategize with an effective approach. The biggest key is extreme loyalty: Pick an airline that suits your lifestyle and stick with it, even when it means less convenient routes and higher fares.
Most airline websites offer a tracker in your loyalty account so you can keep an eye on your elusive seven-figure milestone. Utilizing points and miles can reduce some of your costs for the many flights you’ll need to take. The final factor is patience: Unless you’re willing to fly full-time, as Brothers did, it will take you several years of dedicated flying to reach your goal.
For the vast majority of us, reading about million milers is the closest we’ll get to this mythical club. But if you care more about travel comfort than bragging rights, having the right airline credit card in hand can get you most of the perks these VIP travelers enjoy—free checked bags, priority boarding, and complimentary seat upgrades when available—with far less effort.
