How a man turned pudding cups into 1.2 million airline miles
A man once turned pudding cups into over a million airline miles—all by exploiting a promotional loophole. David Phillips bought thousands of Healthy Choice desserts to collect labels, which he exchanged for frequent flyer points with American Airlines. His clever scheme even earned him elite status with the airline. In the late 1990s, Healthy Choice ran a promotion offering 500 airline miles per product label. Phillips spotted an opportunity and purchased 12,150 pudding cups at $0.25 each. His total spending reached $3,140, but the labels alone were worth around 1.2 million miles.
To avoid waste, he donated the pudding to a local Salvation Army. The donation also gave him a tax deduction of about $815. By the end, Phillips had collected 1,253,000 miles—enough for AAdvantage Gold status. One of his most famous deals involved buying 1,000 miles for just $2.50. But such loopholes no longer exist in airline loyalty programmes today.
Phillips’ story remains one of the most creative uses of a promotional offer. His haul of over a million miles came from a simple but effective strategy. Airlines have since closed similar gaps in their reward systems.
