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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Plane Got Stuck Under A Bridge, Officials Had To Figure Out How To Get Break It Loose

by Gary Leff

Dec 26 2019

In the fall an Airbus A320 got stuck under a bridge in Harbin, China. The quick thinking truck driver carrying the plane managed to break it free by deflating his tires.

Now images of a plane getting stuck in Durgapur, West Bengal, India are going viral and deflating the tires wasn’t enough. Officials were called in and they “had to get rid of the tyres” in order to free the plane and get the truck moving again. It had to be “pushed out with the help of another truck.”

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Amazon Likely To Offer Consumers a Standalone Alternative to UPS and FedEx

by Gary Leff

Dec 25 2019

Two of the most innovative companies in the world are Google and Amazon. They’re impressive in similar ways. They’ve built capabilities, scaled them, and used their new internal capacity to compete aggressively in adjacent industries. No one can touch what Google has done in artificial intelligence at scale. They built and effectively managed large scale data storage, and branched out to manage web services for other companies (Google Cloud). They used the data storage and search capability to offer e-mail, which they scan to learn tremendous amounts about their customers. When I receive an email with travel plans, Google knows where I’m going. They know where I have dinner reservations, too, and tell me when I should to make it to a restaurant on time. They’re embedded in my phone through its operating system, and…

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New California Independent Contractor Rule Means More Transportation Discrimination

by Gary Leff

Dec 25 2019

I used to get in taxis all the time in New York. But before the driver would let me in he’d (and it was always a he) roll down the window and ask where I was going. He didn’t want a ride in the opposite direction of where he wanted to go, and he certainly didn’t want to drive into an ‘undesirable’ (minority) neighborhood. That’s illegal, but the practice was commonplace.

Uber and other rideshare companies changed all that. You enter where you’re going in an app, the driver accepts the ride, but doesn’t learn the destination until you’re in the car and on the way – and they can be penalized for cancelling rides.

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Hilton About To Unveil a New Chain For New Affluents That Hate Tiny Rooms

by Gary Leff

Dec 24 2019

Tired: Hotels ‘for millennials’ featuring tiny rooms that lack desks, where hopefully guests escape claustrophobia to ‘social spaces’ spending money on food and beverage. However millennials as a class don’t have as much disposable income as older generations, and their digital life includes ordering in more interesting food and beverage than the hotel provides.

Wired: Hotels catering to the ‘new affluent’ who prefer experiences over things, so don’t mind small rooms and are sufficiently lacking in experience that they’ll allow the hotel to curate their food and beverage choices in those same ‘social spaces’.

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Etihad And Qatar Non-U.S. Awards Are Back At AA.com

by Gary Leff

airplane docked
Dec 24 2019

American only just introduced online redemption of Etihad awards in May and it was a surprise to see at the time, since American has been in a political war with those two airlines, despite their partnerships, for the past four and a half years – and even terminated codeshares with both. I’m glad to see American continuing to invest in getting online redemption for Etihad and Qatar right.

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Emirates President Stepping Down In June

by Gary Leff

plane with loading dock
Dec 24 2019

Emirates President Sir Tim Clark will leave the role in June and remain as an advisor. He’ll have been with the airline for 35 years, having joined the Dubai-based carrier as part of its founding in 1985. He initially served as the carrier’s head of planning and became airline President in 2003.

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First Renderings Of The New American Airlines Philadelphia Flagship Lounge

by Gary Leff

Dec 23 2019

I like the bar and buffet areas more in these renderings than I do American’s other Flagship lounges. It strikes me that wall the main lounge area design is straight from the pallet of the other lounges, the dining room is darker and a bit more modern. In some ways it feels more like a Cathay Pacific lounge in those areas. This could be their most attractive Flagship lounge.

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