It should come as no surprise that Austin and Maje first met at work, him being a pilot and her a flight attendant. It was November of 2020, and they just so happened to be paired up on the same four day trip together. Austin remembers walking down the jetbridge and seeing Maje for the first time, already waiting to board the airplane. He tried to strike up the first conversation with a simple, “Hey, how’s it going?” Her response: Nothing at all! Ask her why this was, and she’ll say that she just wasn’t looking at the time. Not to worry, they would have a few days together to get to know each other.

Lucky for Austin, the captain he was flying with at the time had a very outgoing personality and made the effort to get the whole crew to hang out together after work. At first, it was a little difficult to break the ice. By day two of the trip, the captain invited the whole crew to hang out by the fire pit at the layover hotel in Dayton, Ohio. With a little help from a bottle of plastic whiskey the captain kept handy in his carry-on luggage, Austin and Maje finally built up the courage to break the ice. This is the moment they discovered their passion for travel, and it just so happened that Maje was going on a trip to the Grand Canyon over the few days following work. Having the chance to visit a place he’d never been before with a beautiful girl he’d just met was an opportunity Austin could not resist, and thankfully he had the same days off. Maje had her doubts he would ever show up, that it may just be a missed connection. However, two days later, they met up again at the tiny Flagstaff, Arizona airport terminal for their first date at the Grand Canyon.

At the time, Austin was living in Atlanta and Maje in New York City. They kept in touch daily, often through facetime or the occasional meetup at the airport if their schedules aligned. Nevertheless, they were able to organize their second travel date the following month in Aruba. By their third trip together in St. Thomas, Austin knew that Maje was the girl for him and built up the courage to ask her to be his girlfriend, on an appropriately named, “Honeymoon Beach.” Lucky for him, she said yes, and the rest is history!

Over the course of two and a half years, Austin and Maje have taken full advantage of their airline travel benefits, something that they both value tremendously. Together they have been to all 50 states and dozens of countries. Ask either one of them, however, and they will probably tell you that the most meaningful trip they took was to Maje’s home country of the Philippines back in August of 2022. It was here, on a private island in Palawan, where Austin took Maje to the top of a ledge overlooking the beautiful archipelago, and asked her to marry him. She, of course, said yes! Back at their resort, a sunset dinner with a bottle of champagne had been arranged for the newly engaged couple, a perfect way to celebrate such a beautiful day.

Today, Maje and Austin are living happily together in Duluth, Georgia, in a home they just recently purchased. With this added responsibility, they have cut back on the travel quite a bit, but have no plans to stop. Plenty more boxes to check and memories to be made. We can’t wait to share new memories with our friends and family here at home in Atlanta this coming April, and look forward to seeing all of you there on our special day!