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 »

Alaska Airlines Bets Big on Premium: More First Class and Extra Legroom Coach

by Gary Leff

Jul 18 2024

Twenty years ago Alaska Airlines seriously considered eliminating first class altogether, but determined that they could better monetize the product instead. Now they’re betting more heavily on premium.

They don’t have lie flat seats even for cross country flights, and they eliminated Virgin America’s superior first class product after the merger, but they’re planning to add a row of first class to Boeing 737-800s and add a row of extra legroom coach (“premium class”) to their 737-900ER and 737 MAX 9s.

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Hyatt Close To Acquiring Standard Hotels

by Gary Leff

Jul 17 2024

The first Standard Hotel property – The Standard Hollywood – was opened on Sunset in 1999 and closed during the pandemic. The original investors included Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, and Benicio del Toro.

Current hotels include New York in the Meatpacking District and the East Village; Miami Beach; London; Maldives; Ibiza; and Hua Hin.

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TSA Administrator Reveals: Ex-American Airlines CEO’s Maneuver To Kill JSX Fails

by Gary Leff

Jul 17 2024

Former American Airlines Chairman Doug Parker shared how he championed his airline’s cause using the federal government to try to take out a small competitor. In March he went on the Airlines Confidential podcast and shared that a year earlier he and Southwest Airlines Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson button-holed David Pekoske, asking him to stop allowing JSX from operating out of private terminals without TSA screeners.

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Beyond Burgers: Why McDonald’s Is Indispensable For Every Traveler

by Gary Leff

united plane with ronald macdonald in it
Jul 17 2024

The Big Mac is so ubiquitous The Economist developed a price index for the burger as a way to measure purchasing power parity across economies.

McDonald’s changes its offerings to meet local demand. For instance there’s no beef in Mumbai McDonald’s but they do offer several different fry dips. However my reason for going there has nothing to do with the food.

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Major Overhaul Already: American Airlines Updates AAdvantage Business Program with New Perks

by Gary Leff

Jul 16 2024

American Airlines let go Chief Commercial Officer Vasu Raja, architect of their strategy of chasing award managed business travel. His thesis had been that they were going to fill their planes, and didn’t need to offer companies discounts. They’d make more money, and do so at a lower cost – without the sales teams and special customer service to service those accounts.

Now they’re backtracking on this strategy.

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