This is an incredible story. Air traffic controller Anthonius Gunawan Agung was working at Palu airport in Indonesia on Saturday when several earthquakes occurred.
The tower evacuated but he stayed behind to ensure Batik Air flight ID 6231 got off the ground. It was a 5:55 p.m. scheduled departure. The captain pushed back 3 minutes early and was cleared for takeoff at 6:02 p.m.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
At the start of the Trump administration there was tremendous media attention over the travel ban for nationals of several countries, but I pointed out at the time one of the lesser-noticed provisions was expediting implementation of exit controls at the border. This wasn’t just about keeping people out, it was also about keeping them in.
The plan has become more ambitious in fact a Department of Homeland Security report details the plan to require all departing passengers, including all citizens, to have photos (mug shots) taken when leaving the United States — expanding to land and sea crossings as well.
A year ago Hyatt took a stake in Oasis and then in March launched points earn and burn, elite stay credit, and very limited benefits when members stayed at any of the Oasis homesharing options (which were in 20 cities).
However Oasis has been sold and is no longer associated with Hyatt.
American’s plan was for more extra legroom coach seats while a few seats would have just 29 inches of pitch which is the distance from seat back to seat back. Word leaked about these changes and employees were up in arms (and thoroughly embarrassed). The airline backed down, and didn’t ultimately go to 29 inch pitch.
There’s a brilliant video about that plan. I keep watching it and completely losing it, this is hilarious.
Hyatt introduced a pretty revolutionary partnership with MGM 5 years ago with reciprocal points earning, redemption, and status matching. Hyatt didn’t have a significant presence in the Las Vegas market, while this became an opportunity for MGM to reach affluent customers whose choices in Vegas might otherwise be brand-independent. This was a tighter relationship with more value than we had seen from other chains, something almost akin to the kind of codesharing airlines do with each other. Since then the status match has been made less generous for Hyatt members, but there’s still valuable recognition. And the Hyatt-MGM M life deal isn’t ‘either-or’ you receive MGM recongition while still earning Hyatt points also. Through the end of the year there’s a promotion to earn double Hyatt points (an extra 5 points per dollar) at MGM…
Earlier in the month I wrote about $63 fares to Europe. That’s not a sustainable business model, it works for a few seats and for a short period of time. But what happens when you’re not even filling your planes at low low prices?
For many Chase cards you can only get approved if you’ve had fewer than 5 new credit card accounts in the last 24 months.
If you’ve had 5 or more new cards in the last 24 months, and you take a break from any new cards and fall back under 5/24, here’s the first card you should get.
The Star Alliance member airline faces a challenge selling flights to Americans, he says, because we all think New Zealand is 40 hours away by air. According to Luxon “geography’s not the strong suit for the average American.”
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
