5/6/2023 0 Comments Airpass tickets$1,950 per month to fly above the central states. For a $450 startup fee and then a monthly fee (i.e., $1,500 per month to fly anywhere on the west coast. Described as “Netflix for flights” by Business Insider -), OneGo, launched in early 2016, was a subscription flight service that had connections (you see what I did there?) with 76 airlines that served over 700 routes across the U.S. The only company in recent years that offered any sort of “unlimited” pass for nationwide travel was through a company called OneGo. (BTW, I highly recommend reading the whole Los Angeles Times article about American Airlines’ investigations into some of the people who bought and “overused” these lifetime passes, if you get a chance – it’s fascinating) Kennedy International Airport in New York. “I love Rome, I love Sydney, I love Athens,” Joyce said by phone from the Admirals Club at John F. In one 25-day span this year, Joyce flew round trip to London 16 times, flights that would retail for more than $125,000. Mike Joyce of Chicago bought his in 1994 after winning a $4.25-million settlement after a car accident. The unlimited passes were bought mostly by wealthy individuals, including baseball Hall-of-Famer Willie Mays, America’s Cup skipper Dennis Conner and computer magnate Michael Dell. “It soon became apparent that the public was smarter than we were.” “”We thought originally it would be something that firms would buy for top employees,” said Bob Crandall, American’s chairman and chief executive from 1985 to 1998. Not surprisingly, some people took more advantage of that American Airlines ticket than would be expected. The airline ended sales of the unlimited passes in 1994, except for a one-time offer in the 2004 Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog, at a price of $3 million for the pass and $2 million for a companion pass. The lifetime ticket increased to $600,000 in 1990, and just over $1 million in 1993. Dubbed AAirpasses, the cost was $250,000 (remember that’s in the early 1980s money when the average round trip domestic flight was not quite $600) and you could buy a companion ticket for an additional $150,000. In the early 1980s, American Airlines was strapped for cash, so they decided to start selling passes that gave unlimited first-class travel for life. I think the most valuable would be a lifetime pass to an airline – and there used to be such a thing national parks, but they discontinued the program in 2007 (it was replaced with the America The Beautiful pass, which used to cost $10 but went up to $80 in 2017). National Park Service used to offer a Golden Age Passport that got seniors free entry for life into U.S. It wouldn’t have been for a lifetime though – “just” for 25 years. They also considered an “ultimate pass” at one time, which would have been good at WDW and DL. Walt Disney World sold such things to select visitors and associates in the 1970s and 1980s, and Disneyland has been known to give them out to “significant” guests (i.e., the first guest, the 100,000,000th guest, the first child born at DL, etc.). I don’t know about you, but for me, I think the ultimate in travel luxury would be a lifetime pass, or its equivalent, to something.
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