About Gary Leff

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 »

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Qatar Airways Pulls Kiev Fares, Imposes 14 Day Wait For Changes Using Most Generous Airline Policy Ever

by Gary Leff

first class cabin
May 17 2020

The insane Qatar Airways airfare deal is one of the most generous I’ve ever seen, at least where there hasn’t been a mistake. You can book the cheapest flight you can find from the U.S. and then change the city you fly from and change where you fly to – just pick somewhere within 5000 miles of your originally booked destination.

Qatar Airways has two new restrictions – which is actually a good thing, it shows the basic policy is working as intended and this is not a mistake.

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How To Make Airline Ads Great

by Gary Leff

May 17 2020

To be among my favorites an ad needs to be more than clever or visually appealing, it needs to be effective and make sense for the brand that’s doing the advertising.

As we come out of the pandemic, and associated recession or depression, there will be empty seats to fill. While on the way down the first and easiest place to cut spending is marketing, we’ll know there’s business to earn and our economy is beginning to recover when we see airline advertising. That means people are ready to fly, and airlines are ready to compete for this business.

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7 Reasons New TSA Temperature Checks Will Make Air Travel Worse

by Gary Leff

May 16 2020

The Administration wanted the CDC to do temperature checks at airports. They refused. U.S. airlines have been lobbying for the government to do these checks – they don’t want the responsibility of doing it themselves, even though that would be better for travelers. Now the TSA is preparing to do it at security checkpoints.

This isn’t going to make air travel safer, and it’s going to make the travel experience worse for a long time to come.

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Great Video Explaining How Airports Are Designed. I’m Not Convinced They Got The New LaGuardia Right

by Gary Leff

airplanes tarmac
May 16 2020

The point of an airport is to get somewhere. The best airports are the ones get are easiest to get to and get through. They make your travel more efficient, rather than adding to an already cumbersome and stressful experience. That has little to do with how much high-end retail there is (airports offer expensive shopping for their benefit, not for yours).

That means the best airports are close-in to the city center, and once you get there security is near the entrance and gates are near security. There’s enough taxiway space and runway capacity to handle flights, too, minimizing delays.

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Yes, Ben Schlappig Should Travel To Iceland In June. Why Do You Ask?

by Gary Leff

May 15 2020

Ben Schlappig, known as Lucky from the One Mile at a Time blog is contemplating a trip to Iceland next month and the way he frames the discussion, and the ensuing comments, are a fascinating sociological study in how people are reacting to the coronavirus pandemic and travel.

He’s talking about visiting Iceland – which plans to welcome visitors starting June 15, with COVID-19 testing on arrival. He shouldn’t be sheepish or apologetic about this.

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