Gary Leff, Author at View from the Wing

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 »

Delta Fires Back At Alaska-American Airlines Partnership With New Seattle Service

by Gary Leff on March 2, 2020

Mar 02 2020

Delta has announced new routes and flights out of Seattle showing that they aren’t going to take American’s re-invigorated partnership with Alaska Airlines lying down.

Competition is good, and has been great for Seattle residents since Delta and Alaska began their breakup and Delta built up their own hub at the Pacific Northwest airport. Delta will grow their Seattle service to 190 peak daily departures to 56 destinations for summer 2020, with new service coming beyond that as well.

Former Delta CEO Out As Head Of Amtrak

by Gary Leff on March 2, 2020

Mar 02 2020

Most of the readouts on Anderson’s tenure will repeat the falsehood that Amtrak is covering almost all of its operatings costs and will be profitable in 2020. To accomplish this chicanery Amtrak counts government subsidies from states as ‘passenger revenue’ and excludes depreciation expenses (20% of total expenses).

In fact Amtrak’s 2019 losses are about 35 times greater than reported. In other words they inflate Amtrak’s revenue and ignore costs in a creative accounting scheme to make Amtrak look like a financially responsible operation.

Fuel Spill On Delta Checked Baggage

by Gary Leff on March 2, 2020

Mar 02 2020

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.

Huge New Star Alliance Status Match, Mileage Purchase Under 1 Cent Each, and More

by Gary Leff on March 2, 2020

Mar 02 2020

Star Alliance member TAP Air Portugal has 280,000 frequent flyer members in the U.S. market, growing at about 12,000 members per month, and now serves 9 North American cities with 81 weekly flights. They’re even launching Boston to the Azores in June. And they acknowledge that their Miles & Go program “hasn’t been as relevant as it should be.” They aim to change that.

They are offering status matches up to their top elite tier, mileage on sale for less than 9/10ths of a cent apiece, 25% discounts on award redemption, and miles just for joining the program and referring others to join as well.

Today American Airlines Employees All Begin Wearing A New Uniform

by Gary Leff on March 2, 2020

Mar 02 2020

American Airlines launches their new uniform with about 50,000 employees putting on their new attire today. This comes after the new 2016 Twin Hill uniforms led to thousands of complaints about irritation and worse from another manufacturer.

As a result of these issues American’s employees have been allowed to use a makeshift combination of old uniforms, including old US Airways uniforms and some off the shelf options. This will be the first time, hopefully, that all legacy American Airlines and US Airways employees all have the same look and keep it.

American Coronavirus Copycats Alaska And JetBlue With A Strange New Offer

by Gary Leff on March 1, 2020

Mar 01 2020

American Airlines has come out with their own convoluted copycat of waiving change fees on new ticket purchases. It is simultaneously less generous and also more strategically useful than what JetBlue and Alaska have done in the face of weak bookings resulting from coronavirus fears.

Passenger’s MacBook Screen Got Crushed By A Reclining Seat And He Wants Compensation

by Gary Leff on March 1, 2020

Mar 01 2020

It’s a fool who tries to work on their laptop in regular coach, let alone who tries to do this without coming to some sort of an arrangement with the passenger in front of them. Nevertheless a man whose MacBook screen was cracked by a reclining passenger sought compensation from Delta – was offered it – and complained that it wasn’t generous enough and “I have a podcast.”

Passenger Flew Back From China To An Unapproved Airport, Skipping Over Extra Screening

by Gary Leff on March 1, 2020

Mar 01 2020

It turns out that the quarantine system that’s set up for arriving passengers from China has a loophole: not starting the air portion of the trip on the mainland and transiting an airport with U.S. immigration pre-clearance.

American Airlines Crew Refuses To Fly To Milan, Airline Suspends Service To The City

by Gary Leff on March 1, 2020

Mar 01 2020

American Airlines flight AA198 from New York JFK to Milan was cancelled Saturday evening after crewmembers refused to make the trip to Northern Italy over coronavirus fears. On Saturday the U.S. government raised the alert for travel to Northern Italy to its highest level.

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About Gary Leff

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About Gary Leff