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 »

More articles by Gary Leff »

Yes – It May Finally Be Time To Plan Travel Again

by Gary Leff

May 08 2020

The Points Guy ran a video by Brian Kelly arguing “against any unnecessary travel at all.” I’m not persuaded, and hashing this out publicly should help people make up their own mind.

It can certainly make sense to do limited domestic travel this summer if you aren’t living in a coronavirus hotspot, aren’t heading towards one, and are not in a high risk group (and do not live or work with people that are). I’m not telling anyone that they should travel for leisure but the argument doesn’t hold that no one should.

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Mystery: Man Struck By Southwest Plane Landing in Austin Airport Last Night

by Gary Leff

southwest plane
May 08 2020

Southwest Airlines flight WN1392 from Dallas Love Field with 53 passengers and 5 crew on board landed in Austin Thursday night at 8:12 p.m. The plane struck and killed a man on runway 17R, despite seeing him there and – according to the airline – maneuvering to avoid him, though air traffic control audio doesn’t seem to support that explanation.

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Airports Are Asking For A Second Bailout, After We Lit The First $10 Billion On Fire

by Gary Leff

May 07 2020

The CEO of the American Association of Airport Executives told Congress that $10 billion is the minimum that airports want in a second bailout, and they aren’t even coming first offering to clean up corruption at airports including Atlanta, Detroit, and Washington Dulles and National and New York LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark.

The first $10 billion, which distributed funds to 3200 airports, became such a mess that some airports received 25 to 50 times their annual expenses.

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You CAN Get A Refund Even If You Already Accepted A Voucher For A Cancelled Flight

by Gary Leff

airplane tickets
May 07 2020

Early on in the pandemic I told you to wait to cancel your travel plans. Two months ago I suggested that future plans shouldn’t cancelled right away because if the travel provider cancels on you then you’ll be entitled to a refund, while if you cancel plans when a flight is still operating all you can get is a voucher.

Many consumers were duped by airlines into taking vouchers when entitled to a refund. It’s not too late for them to get their money back.

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What Doug Parker Should Say To American Airlines Employees And Customers Right Now

by Gary Leff

May 07 2020

American Airlines hasn’t been perfect, but it’s charted a path different from United and even Delta through the pandemic. They’ve generally honored refunds for cancelled flights, rather than choosing to illegally conserve cash the way United and others have attempted to do, and they’re plotting a course to avoid employee furloughs.

But they’re not capturing the value from these moves because they’ve failed to craft a narrative for the airline around being a better company, that frames them as the underdog and motivates employees and generates customer loyalty going forward. American Airlines can change that.

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Four Things The President Of Emirates Believes About The Coronavirus Crisis in Aviation

by Gary Leff

emirates business seats
May 07 2020

Emirates President Sir Tim Clark is set to retire in June after 35 years with the airline and 17 as in his current role.

The 70 year old, who began his career at British Caledonian in 1972, gave an interview offering his perspective on where the airline industry is headed as it grapples with the coronavirus crisis. There are four key takeaways – including a challenging view of the virus itself and why it means we don’t need to remove seats from planes.

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Atlanta Airport Once Again Vies For Most Corrupt In The Nation

by Gary Leff

delta airplanes on tarmac
May 07 2020

Atlanta’s airport is the most corrupt in the country (although in fairness Detroit may be a close second).

In Atlanta if you want to open a restaurant you donate to a political campaign and pay the former mayor’s daughter. The airport’s former manager was fired for being insufficiently corrupt, and then the city council buried the payments that bought his silence. Now a new bribery scandal and a guilty plea.

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