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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Stinky Fruit Forces Air Canada to Make Emergency Landing

durian
Oct 07 2019

If you’ve spent much time in Southeast Asia you’ve come across Durian, sometimes referred to as “stinky fruit.” You’ll see hotels and buses with “No Durian” signs because while delicious, some people think it smells like sewage, and the odor lasts.

There wasn’t a ‘no durian’ sign September 17th on Air Canada Rouge flight 1566 from Montreal – Vancouver that was forced to make an emergency landing due to the smell of durian.

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Delta’s CEO is Wrong About Airline Alliances

Oct 06 2019

Bastian is certainly right that alliances haven’t created seamless travel experiences for customers, and that alliances don’t allow airlines to do as much jointly as when they receive anti-trust immunity from governments to work together, as with a joint venture.

However he overgeneralizes the importance of this to alliances as a whole, rather than recognizing alliances simply haven’t helped Delta as much as they benefit other airlines.

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Marriott’s Move to Bulk Toiletries is Already a Disaster

bottles with hair cleaner in them
Oct 06 2019

I don’t know what the substance was in the bulk toiletry and it really doesn’t matter. That these get tampered with in practice should be enough to stop the project in its tracks. And 5000 Marriott points as an apology for this is genuinely offensive.

How can the hotel expect to charge for a room that is so poorly cared for by housekeeping, and that jeopardizes a guest’s health by allowing the toiletries to be compromised in this way?

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