Fighter jets intercept plane after passenger uses stolen air miles to travel

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A man in Canada was arrested for using stolen airline miles. The incident was serious enough that fighter jets were sent to meet his plane when it landed.

As a gamer, I think of airline rewards programs like RPGs – basically every airline has one! If you fly with them enough, you rack up miles and can eventually get free flights, access to those comfy airport lounges, and even upgrades. It’s all about the grind, really, but the rewards are awesome.

Although air miles and reward points are meant for individual use, they sometimes get transferred to other people. This recently occurred on March 18th when authorities were alerted to a 27-year-old man traveling using stolen air miles, prompting a police and air force response.

SimpleFlying reports that a plane flying from Brussels, Belgium, was intercepted by fighter jets from both the United States and Canada as it approached Montréal–Trudeau International Airport. This happened less than an hour before the plane was scheduled to land.

Man arrested over stolen air miles

According to the report, fighter jets tracked the Air Canada flight for the last hour after authorities discovered a passenger was traveling under someone else’s name – a person who had previously been prevented from boarding a different flight.

A 27-year-old man was arrested in Montreal for questioning, but he has since been released and will not be charged with any crime.

I was a little worried when security flagged my bags, thinking they might be something they shouldn’t be. Thankfully, they checked everything out and gave me the all-clear, so I was good to go!

According to SimpleFlying, people using stolen airline miles to book flights isn’t uncommon, and often travelers aren’t even aware it’s happening. They might receive a ticket obtained illegally and only discover the fraud when stopped by security.

Airlines usually prohibit customers from letting others use their rewards points, and that might be the only consequence in this situation.

This isn’t even the strangest airline theft reported lately. A man in California experienced something even more bizarre: his plane was stolen multiple times, but always returned – and improved!

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2026-03-23 13:48