Man’s £190,000 lifetime first-class plane ticket had to be cancelled after he cost airline £16 million in flights

A man who forked out £190,000 on a first-class plane ticket which was meant to last him for life had it revoked after it reportedly ended up costing the airline millions.

Steven Rothstein travelled in luxury for more than two decades after he purchased an AAirpass from American Airlines back in 1987.

Travelling more than 30 million miles on 10,000 flights, the businessman certainly got his money's worth - much to the displeasure of the airline who sold him the golden ticket.

Over the 20-year period that Rothstein was in possession of his AAirpass, his travels are said to have cost American Airlines a whopping $21 million (£16 million).

According to his former wife Nancy, the businessman is someone who 'got on a plane like most people get on a bus' - so a $250,000 (£190,000) lifetime ticket for first-class flights was probably an absolute bargain to him.

He made the purchase at the age of 37 before forking out another $150,000 (£115,000) for a companion pass two years later, which allowed him to bring a guest along for the ride too.

Rothstein was jetting off multiple times a month - and in July 2004 alone, he flew 18 times to destinations including Nova Scotia, New York, Miami, London, Los Angeles, Maine, Denver and Fort Lauderdale, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Steven Rothstein purchased the AAirpass at the age of 37 for $250,000 (£190,000) (Caroline Rothstein)

But in 2008, he hit some turbulence when he was stripped of the American Airlines pass, while the firm also went on to launch legal proceedings against him.

The stockbroker previously told how he was walking to the gate after checking his luggage in when he was handed a letter 'terminating' his first-class ticket which was supposed to last him a lifetime.

Rothstein told The Guardian in 2019: "Why did they let me go to the gate? Why didn’t they tell me up front, which would have been the nice thing to do?"

The frequent flyer said he was informed there was only one rule when he bought the ticket - he couldn't let anybody else use it.

He explained: "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.

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

Rothstein claimed he refused offers of thousands of dollars from people who wanted to use it, alleging that someone even tried to entice him with $5,000-a-week (£3,860).

However, American Airlines claimed that he had violated the terms of the AAirpass scheme by making a string of 'speculative bookings' for non-existent passengers under names including 'Bag Rothstein' and 'Steven Rothstein Jr'.

American Airlines later accused the frequent flyer of abusing the ticket (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The company also alleged he and other travellers had abused the pass, which was launched in 1981, by breaching its contracts and offering strangers a seat on their companion pass or keeping it empty for more space.

But Rothstein's wife and daughter insisted that he 'never used a computer' and that 'every single reservation he ever made was made with an American Airlines paid employee'.

After his pass was revoked, he also took legal action against the airline and accused the company of breaking its own deal when it revoked the lifelong pass.

The case was eventually settled out of court - and a former American Airlines boss later revealed why the lifetime first-class ticket was really cancelled.

"We thought originally it would be something that firms would buy for top employees," Bob Crandall, the airline’s chairman and chief executive between 1985 and 1998, told the Los Angeles Times.

"It soon became apparent that the public was smarter than we were."

This pass is no longer available for purchase with American Airlines - however, budget airline Wizz Air has launched a similar 'All You Can Fly' membership scheme.