Man who had his lifetime first class pass canceled after costing airline $21,000,000 was only given one rule to abide by

The man who had his lifetime first class pass canceled after costing the airline $21 million says that he was online given one rule to abide by.

One man bought the ticket of a lifetime after scooping an unlimited first class ticket with American Airlines.

If it sounds too good to be true, well, that’s because it usually is.

Steven Rothstein was one of 66 people who bought the exclusive firstclass pass (Caroline Rothstein)

In 1981, American Airlines introduced the AAirpass where passengers could pay $250,000 and in return, they'd get unlimited first class travel for either five years or a lifetime.

Only 66 people took them up on it, one of them being Steven Rothstein who then upgraded his membership to the lifetime option in 1987.

Two years later, he also added a companion for an additional $150,000.

However, despite paying for the supposed lifetime ticket, Rothstein had his privileges revoked randomly mid-trip.

In 2008, after it was revealed that he and his companion were costing the airline around $1 million a year, Rothstein was handed a letter at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.

The letter informed him that American Airlines was terminating his pass due to ‘fraudulent behavior’.

However, he claims that when he bought the pass, he was given just one rule to abide by.

He said: “When I bought the AAirpass, in no uncertain terms, they told me that there was only one rule: I couldn’t give anybody the AAirpass.

After rinsing the ticket, Rothstein had it removed by American Airlines (Zoonar RF/Getty)

“And those were the days before they took identification from passengers.”

With Rothstein unaware that his life of luxury was hitting American Airlines in the wallet, he was shocked to learn his AAirpass was being terminated.

But he wasn't going to take it lying down, and denying that he'd try to cheat the system, he tried to sue American Airlines in 2011. Although the judge sided with the airline and denied Rothstein's appeal, things were reportedly settled out of court in 2012.

It sounds like the man himself knew he was onto a good thing, telling Forbes in 2019, “They told me that they viewed the AAirpass like a bond, so it was as if I was lending the airline money, and they needed money. So they gave me a very good deal.”

There might've been more to the story, as Rothstein admitted that he often gave miles away to those with 'a good story': “I gave a man in Seattle a ticket to go to his father’s funeral. I gave many people tickets to visit ill family members. I don’t view that as philanthropy, I view that as good deeds.”

He unsurprisingly stopped flying with American Airlines following the AAirpass scandal, instead choosing United Airlines as his preferred carrier.