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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Hyatt Announces Double Dip Opportunity to Earn MGM M life Elite Status

by Gary Leff

mandalay bay
Aug 01 2019

If you have Hyatt status you’re probably just using that to get MGM M life Rewards status every year. If you have status with any other hotel chain you can status match to Wyndham, which will get you status with Caesars, which can be matched to MGM M life Rewards.

However if you’re going for MGM status the usual way by earning tier credits with the casino resort chain, it’s worth knowing that Hyatt stays between August 18, 2019 and October 10, 2019 will earn MGM tier credits

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Three 40% Membership Rewards Transfer Bonuses: British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus

by Gary Leff

stock airline bed
Aug 01 2019

American Express is offering a 40% bonus on transfers from Membership Rewards to British Airways through October 1. They’re also offering the same 40% bonus on transfers to Iberia and to Aer Lingus, all of which are owned by the same company. I find that you need to log in to your Membership Rewards account to see the transfer bonuses.

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Delta Abandons Tokyo Narita Airport

by Gary Leff

airport terminal
Aug 01 2019

Delta formed a joint venture (and even acquired a stake in) Korean Air and sees Seoul-Incheon now as its connecting hub to Asia.

They’ve wanted to be able to move their entire Tokyo operation to the close-in Haneda airport. That’s because they see Tokyo now as a destination rather than a connecting point. They’ve argued to the DOT in the past that if they don’t get enough slots at Haneda to run their own set of flights, that no U.S. airline should get to fly to Haneda. It was an aggressive position, but it largely worked.

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Virgin Atlantic Demands $2.5 Million Tribute From Small Island of St. Lucia

by Gary Leff

virgin atlantic
Jul 31 2019

Delta complains that Qatar Airways owns 49% of Air Italy and so Italy’s number two carrier is really a stalking horse for the Doha-based airline. Meanwhile Delta owns 49% of Virgin Atlantic, and most of the rest of Virgin is owned by Delta’s partners. Delta is also a huge fan of subsidies but only when the subsidies are going to them.

So is it any surprise that Virgin Atlantic is ceasing its three to four times weekly London Gatwick – St. Lucia flights June 8, 2020 because the island wouldn’t pay Virgin $2.5 million in subsidies?

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Fully Boarded Delta Flight Was About to Depart – When the Pilot Was Found With Alcohol

by Gary Leff

delta plane
Jul 31 2019

A real challenge is that pilots with an alcohol problem may be wary of speaking up and seeking help, for fear of being sidelined, despite programs designed to encourage them to do so.

Pilots hide not just alcohol abuse but mental health conditions and that points to a fundamental conundrum: you want pilots to be open and seek help in order to promote safety, but once they’re open they’re a clearly identified risk and get removed from the cockpit. So the consequences of being open discourage that openness. Or at least that’s the fear many pilots have, not trusting any commitments to help rather than punish.

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