David Phillips is an American civil engineer best known for accumulating frequent flyer miles by taking advantage of a promotion by Healthy Choice Foods in 1999.
[1] While grocery shopping he calculated that the value of a mail-in promotion for frequent flyer miles exceeded the cost of the pudding on which it was offered.
[3] Valuing each mile at two cents, Phillips calculated that the return per UPC ($1) was worth a significant part of the price of a frozen meal (which were selling for $2), but while shopping he found Healthy Choice soup cans for only $0.90.
[3] Since 2000, Phillips continued to take advantage of frequent flyer promotions, and is earning points five times faster than he is spending them, now having reached lifetime Platinum status on his AAdvantage account.
[8] Phillips' pudding story received international attention from news outlets, such as The Wall Street Journal and The Times.