Lifetime airline passes are the ultimate in luxury. So ultimate that few have ever been offered. A handful of airlines have offered promotions where you can get unlimited flights for a certain period of time – say, a month – if you pay a set price. But few have offered actual “tickets for life.”
Here’s the history of lifetime passes in the U.S.
Being able to fly for free for the rest of your life is also pretty rare in other countries. However an EgyptAir passenger was recently granted one of those rare lifetime passes. And all they had to get it was be born in the middle of a flight.
Oh, and if you want to talk about international travel, get this! The mother was from Yemen. The plane was an EgyptAir flight that departed from Cairo. It was headed to London. And the pilot diverted to Munich because of the emergency.
Anyway, the baby’s mother, Hiyam Nasr Naji Daaban, reportedly went into unexpected labor mid-flight, which prompted the pilot to initiate an emergency landing while in German airspace. But the baby, being impatient (and wanting that lifetime pass), decided to make its appearance before the plane touched down in Munich and was safely delivered on board.
هنيء الطيار رشدي زكريا رئيس مجلس إدارة الشركة القابضة لمصرللطيران الراكبة هيام نصر ناجي دعبان يمنية الجنسية علي سلامتها ومنح مولودتها تذكرة سفر مجانية مدي الحياة والتي أنجبتها علي متن الطائرة أثناء رحلة مصرللطيران المتجهة أمس من القاهرة إلي لندن. pic.twitter.com/WDLsBFePDW
— EGYPTAIR (@EGYPTAIR) September 17, 2020
Above: “The pilot, Rushdi Zakaria, Chairman of the Holding Company for Egypt, congratulated the passenger Hiyam Nasr Naji Daaban, a Yemeni national, for her safety and granting her newborn a free lifetime travel ticket, which she gave birth on board the plane during the Egypt Air flight yesterday from Cairo to London.”
In a reply tweet to itself, EgytpAir’s Twitter continued: “Pilot Amr Abu Al-Nayin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Misr Aviation Company, stated that it is our pleasure to receive a new customer to Egypt to fly to the world on board our plane and we are also pleased to present her with a souvenir to celebrate with her family and to give her a free ticket for life on Munich flights.”
So is the baby getting a lifetime EgyptAir pass, or just one that’s good for flights to Munich? I hope it’s the former. There are even precedents!
- a baby born on a Jet Airways flight between Saudi Arabia and India in 2017 got a lifetime pass.
- Also in 2017, a little boy was born on a Spirit Airlines flight between Fort Lauderdale and Dallas/Fort Worth. The baby, name Christoph, didn’t get a free lifetime pass, but can fly every year on his birthday for life.
- Twins girls were born two months early on a MIAT flight between Istanbul to Mongolia’s capital in 2000 received free lifetime tickets.
Fingers crossed that EgyptAir does the right thing with this baby, as well.
