Tom Stuker's 24 Millionth Mile: Day 2: United 1398 (EWR-SFO)

Tom Stuker's 24MM

Day: 24MM on UA 1398

Tom signed my shirt.

Stickers too (I forget who did these).

UA 1398 is Tom's 24MM flight.

More shirts (just for Tom).

Interview by Channel 12.

Group photo in front of United Global Services reception.

Tom found more friends inside the United Club near gate C123.

Back to (mostly) our group.

"Rule Number One: don't forget your wallet."

At the gate, C136.

Boarding begins in 6 minutes.

Tom making sure he and his wife have their Polaris seats.

Boarding all of Tom's groupies first.

Loyd taking pictures as we board.

Not going to lie, I am terrible with names (please fill me in!).

Polaris cabin.

Sue and her friend.

Thomas and Bruce. Laura.

Laura.

Dorothy.

Carl brought balloons!

Giving Carl a break.

Ready to bring them up front.

Purser (Ricardo) helping out.

24 for 24,000,000 miles.

Greg pointing out Tom's famous jacket(s).

Getting photobombed by Julie.

Carl, Tom, Darlene, Amrish.

Jordan Bykowsky, director of airport operations customer service at EWR, made sure Tom was well taken care of.

Tom and Darlene.

Jordan Bykowsky, director of airport operations customer service at EWR, making sure Tom is well taken care of.

Tom (and fans) with Jordan and her operations crew.

Carl, Kitty, and Julie.

Pre-ordered the overnight oats.

Bruce and Riya.

Riya made cards and handed out magnets.

Amrish photobombing the ladies.

Thanking the flight crew.

Riya offering magnets to Tom and Darlene.

Celebration continues in the United Club, Concourse F, SFO.

Thomas found the cotton candy machine.

Tom found the cotton candy machine, too.

More than 2 hours after arrival and most of the group is still hanging around.

Jerome (left) joined the group at SFO.

Final group shot before the party moved on to San Francisco proper.

After far too late a night, got up far to early to get ourselves to Newark Airport (EWR) Terminal 3 so that Channel 12 News could interview Tom Stuker at 7:00am sharp. Fortunately plenty of reinforcements arrived, those who were wise enough to skip the late night out last night and get a good night's sleep, so by the time the interview was done and we were herded through security, we had quite a crowd at the big United Club adjacent to Gate C123.

While Tom ensured his business class upgrade went through on United flight 1398 (N792UA), the rest of us were pre-boarded early by United representatives so we could setup to properly welcome Tom and his wife Darlene on-board. Carl packed ballons, Loyd took pictures of everyone from the boarding door, and others were scattered through the plane. Jordan Bykowsky, United's director of airport operations customer service at EWR, and her team showed up not long after to make sure Tom was well taken care of. Ricardo (purser), Carolina, Ty, Clyde, Hugo, Lily, and the rest of the crew were all excellent as well, handling the unexpected load of excited passengers quite well the whole way.

Somewhere over Nebraska, Tom crossed the 24,000,000 mile mark, as a few of us gathered in the business class cabin to celebrate with him, complete with various announcements by the captain to commemorate the occasion. Riya, who was non-rev'ing on the flight, even made up thank you cards for all of the Premier 1K/Global Services/Million Miler passengers on the flight.

The celebration continued on arrival at SFO. We nope'd out of the United Club in Terminal G and headed over to the United Club in Concourse F, Terminal 3, to continue the festivities. We'd lost a few long the way and gained a few as well, as people proceeded back to their normal lives, but was still quite a party for several hours after landing. The real party people moved out of the airport to continue celebrating the rest of the evening, while some of us (like me) continued on to our own flights afterwards.

Congratulations on 24 million miles, Tom, and looking forward to many more flights with you!