Many of us into miles & points have gone on mileage runs, where we fly for the sole purpose of earning airline miles or elite status. However, here’s someone who has taken that to the next level, and then some.
In this post:
Man spends four years mileage running on United
United Airlines arguably has the most lucrative million miler lifetime elite status program. Specifically, if you earn four million lifetime miles with the airline, then you receive the carrier’s invitation only Global Services status for the rest of your life.
That of course sounds cool, but the catch is that four million miles is a lot to fly, especially on just one airline. However, one person has basically made this quest his full time hobby. Someone named Carl Brothers has been mileage running for lifetime Global Services from scratch, as part of a multi-year quest.
He started this journey at some point in 2021, and over the past several years, has been averaging around one million miles per year. Specifically:
- In 2022, he flew 1,072,812 miles
- In 2023, he flew 931,113 miles
- In 2024, he flew 1,128,303 miles
As you’d expect, the fastest way to rack up these miles is with long haul flying, and fortunately United has the largest ultra long haul network of any US airline. So much of his flying has been to destinations like Melbourne (MEL), Singapore (SIN), and Sydney (SYD). He has done so much long haul flying that over two million of those flown miles have been on the Boeing 787-9.
Just to give you a sense of the math here, he has flown to Singapore and back 95 times, racking up nearly two million of his flown miles. That represents weekly roundtrip flights for nearly two years. Yow.
Anyway, it seems that he has finally reached his goal of lifetime Global Services status. On June 23, 2025, he boarded a San Francisco (SFO) to Sydney (SYD) flight with 3,993,532 lifetime miles, meaning that after the 7,417 mile journey, he’ll land as a lifetime Global Services member!
Talk about a dedicated mileage runner!
Mileage running four million miles in roughly four years is a new level of dedication when it comes to the sport of mileage running. I’m not here to judge anyone — I commend his dedication, and hope he enjoyed his journey!
I’d be fascinated to know how much money he spent on the total endeavor in the end, and also how much of flying was in first and business class. I’m also curious if he actually made the decision to pursue lifetime Global Services because he decided the perks of Global Services justified the investment, or if he likes to set out on adventures, and liked the pursuit as much as the prize as such.
United certainly has its fair share of prolific frequent flyers. For example, Tom Stuker is United’s 24 million miler, though he had a lifetime flight pass, so I don’t believe he was actually paying (incrementally) for his flights. But four million milers of flying in four years, all out of pocket? Wow…
Bottom line
A United customer has taken mileage running to the next level, and has flown a total of four million milers over the course of four years, in order to earn lifetime Global Services status. That’s a level of dedication that we don’t often see.
Now that he has accomplished his goal, one certainly wonders to what extent his travel will slow down, since he must be exhausted.
What do you make of this epic lifetime Global Services mileage run?
In other news just as the 4 million miler mileage runner
reached 3 million/ 700,000 miles
United changes its term to needing 10 million flown miles or discontinues the program.
Trusting United is completely foolish
People had to sue them for changing their lifetime promises before in the past
This guy is my travel idol!
This sounds like a florid case of underachieving rich-kid syndrome.
Your comment is off base by a mile or in this case four million. Carl is a super nice guy and he tried to minimize spend to reach his goal. I’m thrilled that he set out to achieve something, stuck it out, and he did it with kindness and joy spread to others. If others asked him for tips on booking mileage runs he was always eager to help and even regularly alerted others to...
Your comment is off base by a mile or in this case four million. Carl is a super nice guy and he tried to minimize spend to reach his goal. I’m thrilled that he set out to achieve something, stuck it out, and he did it with kindness and joy spread to others. If others asked him for tips on booking mileage runs he was always eager to help and even regularly alerted others to deals. It has been fun watching him on his journey. Don’t spoil the moment for him with snarky rude baseless comments.
You sound like a very sweet person Judith, and I agree with so much of what you wrote. He appears happy with his mission and was after a goal doing something he loved, which is admirable.
Where it’s hard to not to liken this to rich-kid syndrome is around how recent he jumped into the MR “game.” Had he done this between 2015-2019, I don’t think anyone would be thinking anything about his wealth...
You sound like a very sweet person Judith, and I agree with so much of what you wrote. He appears happy with his mission and was after a goal doing something he loved, which is admirable.
Where it’s hard to not to liken this to rich-kid syndrome is around how recent he jumped into the MR “game.” Had he done this between 2015-2019, I don’t think anyone would be thinking anything about his wealth as MR’ing was a totally different game. But he just jumped in and quickly was averaging *weekly* flights to SIN for almost two-years straight between 2021-2024 when even Y tickets to Asia were $2-$3k r/t each, let alone J or F tickets is extreme, and only a rich kid with something to prove could do this. Feeling happy for the guy and stereotyping him can happen at the same time.
Wow - that sounds unpleasant! Hopefully he can use the miles and status/upgrades to good use for places he and his spouse actually want to go in future, and not just direct turns to Singapore and Sydney from Denver. But I guess to each their own lol
For $200,000, you can get quite a few flights in premium class around the world and don't have to commit to United only flying or United only destinations. Or a downpayment on a pretty nice house.
I would admire the guy and have some respect for him if he wasn't desperate for attention on social media. Nobody can travel these days without needing to broadcast it to the world so that they feel important.
It’s a revenue stream. You and I cringe while they cash checks, and that’s the truth. I’m sure social media funded a few years of his travels to hit 4 million miles. It’s ironic though this is your complaint and you’re doing it on a travel blog that’s posted all over social media by its author lol
Too bad, a GS can still not access to a Polaris Lounge unless ticketed in J/F.
OMAAT in 2015: „Global Services members departing Frankfurt (FRA) or Munich (MUC) in United Global First now have access to the Lufthansa First Class Lounge. „
Too bad that Global First doesn’t exist anymore.
But GS can access the Lufthansa welcome lounges…
Respect.
To set a goal, to meet that goal, to accomplish that goal, to win the reward. Respect.
But it's 2025. UAL has the right to change the program at any time. What prize does he win then?
The real question: Would you fly 4 million miles in order to TRUST that you won't get screwed over by UAL's next policy or regime change?
UAL sucks. AAL sucks. DL sucks. For this ex-1K guy...
Respect.
To set a goal, to meet that goal, to accomplish that goal, to win the reward. Respect.
But it's 2025. UAL has the right to change the program at any time. What prize does he win then?
The real question: Would you fly 4 million miles in order to TRUST that you won't get screwed over by UAL's next policy or regime change?
UAL sucks. AAL sucks. DL sucks. For this ex-1K guy it's all transactional now on a per-flight basis. My PHX-YVR DL F was a dirty mess. Next time AK. Or AC. US airlines are the pit of the party.
You must lead a very miserable life. I feel sorry for you.
He said in another Instagram post that he spent "less than a Winnebago" which is $250,000. He basically said a little more than $200k. That's some serious disposable income!
Assuming he "only" spent $200,000, putting that on S&P500 until his retirement age would give him close to $4MM according to historical benchmark. To each its own.
You really think 401k will still be a thing in 25 yrs ? Lol things can be post apocalyptic by then if the democrats ever regain control here in the U.S. Hopefully I’ll be 70 and doing my daily morning climb in the Swiss alps by then.
Where did you read 401k on my post? I am talking about a simple brokerage account on S&P500.
Pretty sure a big chunk of it was OPM work flights too.
He and his husband own a hairdresser salon in Denver. It was his money.
@Ben- how about a follow up post or interview with this dude on the unanswered questions?!
"That represents weekly roundtrip flights for nearly two years. Yow."
I like the "YOW" (Ottawa)
This is so insane. Good on Carl. But SFO-SIN in economy with same day turns? And doing it almost weekly? Is it really worth it??? It's not like you even get into the Polaris lounge with Global Services. What is the point?
Pretty sure he has access to lounges on both ends, at least via credit cards. I've randomly tracked seat maps on those SFO-SIN flights and sometimes they're pretty empty w/ possibility for entire row (3 seats) to yourself. Otherwise he might at least have free upgrades to Y+ w/ status.
Admire his commitment. Now, imagine the preboard and lip services for GS lifetime, before moving onto Economy Plus (Tm) as the #1 to lose upgrades, thanks to UA aggressively pushing for cash upgrades.
We all wish we were as dedicated to our goals as this guy. Definitely not the same goal though lol
Let me rewrite this headline for you:
"Denver man endures hell for four years for a lifetime pass to hell's lobby."
So what does he actually get with this status?
I've heard Stuker has lost his United privileges. He's basically been off the radar for a year now.
That's right, they took his pass away and now he has to pay for his flights like everyone else.
While he may have lost all the pass privileges he's still flying United - check his socials - prepping for book publicity. He was at a frequent flier event in May with his United 24 million miler self-made jacket.
Carl is a friend of mine. He actually did most of these flights in economy. He typically would try to get a row to himself in the back of the plane so he could lay down and sleep. Of course, if he could get an upgrade to Polaris, he would take it.
Why did he do it? He and his husband own a chain of hair salons in Denver and he was bored and had the money, so picked this and stuck to it for four years. He typically aims to pay $700-800 for those long hauls.
If he was flying long hauls for $800 than I very roughly calculate that it would have cost him $400,000 to achieve lifetime GS. ($800 for an 8,000 mile flight = 10 miles/$1) If he is 40-years old (rough guess from his pictures) and his expected life span is 80, than that equates to a cost of around $10,000/year for GS (not taking into account opportunity cost and time value of money as he had to pay this all up front).
Your math is wrong, $800 per round trip, you can typically route every R/t to Asia at about 10K each way, so it's 400 per 10k so in the $160-200K.
I’m 300,000 from lifetime 1k. I’m getting ready for some mileage runs. Maybe do the extra 1mill for GS. What a great post for the best airline. Thanks Ben.
That's an expensive goal, but I guess it's still cheaper than Warhammer miniatures xD
In all seriousness, good for him. It seems like he got to know the crews pretty well during all this too, sweet of them to make all the signs for support.
He sat in economy for most of those Singapore turns too. Often in the very back so he had a chance at an empty row during rare SIN flights with lighter loads!
Wonder what his carbon footprint is......you know, since UA ia all about "the environment"
tracking carbon footprint is lame
You're lame
Virtually zero, as United would have flown all those flights to Singapore with or without him on them. So some marginal extra fuel burn for his 150 pounds?
So how did mommy and daddy make all the money he spent on this?
He and his husband own a very successful chain of hair salons.
People who think people spending money in a non traditional way is burning their parents money is a jealous hypocrite idiot.
You don't have to come from money to do crazy things and a lot of self made billionaires do equally crazy stuff with money too.
Just look at that cheating scrooge who gave his ex wife a quarter to revenge donate so he can go to Venice with his mistress.
Then you have people...
People who think people spending money in a non traditional way is burning their parents money is a jealous hypocrite idiot.
You don't have to come from money to do crazy things and a lot of self made billionaires do equally crazy stuff with money too.
Just look at that cheating scrooge who gave his ex wife a quarter to revenge donate so he can go to Venice with his mistress.
Then you have people born with land just to spend more to rule the lands.
Although, much less crazy, born from steel also had 2 generations of war hunger commanders.
i think this is stupid, but hey you do you...
I think this might actually be a relatively economical way to earn GS:
4m miles is about 200 U.S.-SIN round trips, which go for around 1k in regular economy. That’s about 200k spend for lifetime gs, compared to 50k+ a year to earn gs the normal way
Yes, I believe he did a bunch of SIN-US flights, some with same day turnarounds. He probably at least gets upgrades to Y+ which may make it slightly more bearable.
Would probably also get a bunch of Plus Points en route or score some cheap upgrades every now and then, hopefully.
The plane he is flying on right now is N783UA!
I've flown on that plane from Dulles to London.
What a coincedence!
Where to next ?
A doctors office.
I wonder if he is single
What a fun thing to do! If you have the time and money, and love flying, why not? Not a bad payoff at the end of it - lifetime invitation-only status (for him and a companion!)
Even if you have the money, do you really want to spend 40 hours per week in the air? How much life is a person actually living?
Lots of fin tech bros spend twice that in an office. Everyone lives life differently. Not my cup of tea but good for him. Let him cook.
Some people spend 80 hours in an office to become a partner at a high-end law firm
And they make millions after achieving that goal.
@NFSF
Well this dolt is also making millions. Millions of miles on a shitty airline. At least he has his miles to retire on.
My first guess was that he might be an onboard courier…but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
According to LinkedIn, Carl studied in Bremen/Germany and now owns/co-owns some hair salons in the Denver area.
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”
“I’M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!”
I wonder would he now be in pursuit of a lifetime ‘invitation only’ status with another airline and if he has any lifetime status with a hotel(s). He seems to enjoy traveling just for the sake of traveling.
He didn't tarvel much.
He flew a lot, and stayed in airport hotels sometimes, but didn't actually travel anywhere.
Anna is right, going to Singapore back and forth is not really travelling…
Ok bad example with the Singapore one but still, seems like he mostly spend time flying and less exploring. I can understand the rush to do it but not in a single airline. Pre pandemic, I also had moments where I went on pointless day trips of flying but I had varieties of aircrafts and airlines and cabins to enjoy. But United again and again is just too much United
And in return you get a cupcake, a congratulations on a piece of paper and 5 mins of Instagram fame from United, totally worth it!!!
I am sure he had some joy in his own ways but godammit I would never go out of my way to do a round trip ultra long haul with United every week. The reputation of flying the same cabin and subpar service would bore me to death
That juice ain't worth the squeeze. For the time and cost consumed, just easier to buy F and lounge access if he wants it. Wait until UL devalued GS and adds a tier above it.
This guy probably wanted the squeeze as much as he wanted the juice
Honestly, who cares?
You do.
You read it.
You commented on it.
How else could ylannis have arrived at he doesn't care if he didn't read it?
To add perspective, with his timeline, a person will average being in the air about 40 hours per week (it is like a job) and will spend about $125k in airfare per year if in economy ($500k if in business).
Wow, this is really really interesting.
In my 2 decades of choosing to direct most of my travel to United out of some loyalty (but also some convenience), I have seen the actual benefits of MM status steadily eroded and diluted to the point that if I had known all along, I would've chosen more rationally just based on each flight's value proposition. Lounges now are barely worth it, upgrades are practically nonexistent even as 1K, you almost have to buy...
In my 2 decades of choosing to direct most of my travel to United out of some loyalty (but also some convenience), I have seen the actual benefits of MM status steadily eroded and diluted to the point that if I had known all along, I would've chosen more rationally just based on each flight's value proposition. Lounges now are barely worth it, upgrades are practically nonexistent even as 1K, you almost have to buy premium economy now for any hope, and miles redemption rates are all devalued. I cannot justify spending or asking my employer to spend $28k for whatever minimal benefits this brings any more. They shot themselves in the foot training me now to choose whatever airline gives me the best value per dollar, esp. when I can get more with other carriers if I have to pay through the nose for it. I cannot imagine throwing money away for 4 years and hundreds of flights, just so what, I can get an upgrade on a couple of flights later?
Indeed. What benefit does tier status provide that a premium cabin ticket doesn't? The fact is that the high-touch benefits of the invite-only statuses can be purchased ad hoc. I had been AA Concierge Key for years (on my own dime) and the high-touch benefits were "nice." Now that I'm in a pure pay-with-points mode, I can simply purchase a particular service if I need it.
In 2019 (I think) I flew over 250,000 miles (domestic, Asia and Europe) and I'm happy never to do that again.
I mean, I like traveling... and I appreciate that having high levels of status makes it less miserable since airlines treat you like you could be human. But you could not pay me enough to spend this much time flying.