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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Thai Airways Plans to Sell Frozen Thai Food So You Can Eat at Home Just Like You Do in the Air

by Gary Leff

frozen food
May 30 2019

Thai Airways is planning to sell frozen Thai food to consumers mostly under the Royal Orchid Gourmet brand, “new ready-made sauces, basil stir fries and pad Thai via the Eurng Luang brand to the market.”

One of the biggest things I gave up moving from the Washington DC area to Austin is good Thai food like Elephant Jumps in Merrifield and Kao Sarn in the Eden Center. I’m not sure I’d resort to Thai Airways Royal Orchid Gourmet frozen meals, at least unless they offered Thai’s duck rick soup.

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Japanese Hunter Thompson Goes Full-on Fear and Loathing on Flight to Tokyo

by Gary Leff

fear and loathing poster
May 30 2019

On May 23 a 42 year old Japanese man flying from Bogota to Mexico City and on to Tokyo Narita on Aeromexico caused his transpacific flight to divert to Hermosillo, Mexico when flight crew “noticed a person suffering convulsions and requested to make an emergency landing.”

An autopsy determined the man died of a drug overdose. His stomach and intestines contained “246 plastic packets of cocaine..measuring 1 by 2.5 centimeters each.”

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New Devalued British Airways Award Chart Live

by Gary Leff

airplane cabin
May 30 2019

British Airways announced they’d be devaluing their award chart for partner flights with one month’s notice, but refused to tell customers what the new chart would look like. It wasn’t hard to sort out, to a close approximation what the new pricing would be — since it was already loaded into agents’ computers. The final numbers for what flights on partners other than Iberia and Aer Lingus (which are owned by the same company as British Airways) are close to what was expected, but there are some divergences. British Airways used to price premium economy, business, and first class as multiples of coach award prices. That no longer holds exactly. BA charges based on distance of each flight. If you are connecting, then each segment is priced separately based on its distance. Here’s the new…

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Video: Passenger Demands Gate Agent Kneel Down and Apologize for Weather Delay

by Gary Leff

seeing airplane through window
May 29 2019

Video was posted on Chinese social media network Weibo where the delayed passenger isn’t getting much sympathy. One commenter suggests he be banned “from taking planes for the rest of his life, then get him to kneel if he wants the ban to be lifted.”

Customers certainly ‘have a choice of which airline to fly’ on this domestic hop with 16 peak daily departures offered by six different carriers. None however are likely to make staff kneel in apology when delayed by weather.

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IATA Says Boeing 737 MAX Won’t Fly Until August, While Boeing’s CEO Apologizes to Victims’ Families

by Gary Leff

plane tv
May 29 2019

Last week I wrote that the FAA would be trying to convince the world’s regulators to re-certify the Boeing 737 MAX. American Airlines CEO Doug Parker said he expects the plane to fly in ‘weeks, not months’ but that the FAA would want a critical mass of other world regulators to sign off on the plane as well as part of convincing the public that it’s safe to fly — however several countries would likely be recalcitrant for political reasons.

Now the head of standards-setting trade group the International Air Transport Association says he expects the Boeing 737 MAX to return in 10 to 12 weeks – at the earliest..

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Qantas First Class Awards Available for Fall and Winter

by Gary Leff

sydney opera house
May 29 2019

Here’s a search of available first class award space for two passengers in November. I searched Los Angeles – Sydney, but it brings up Los Angeles – Melbourne space where there’s connecting availability to/from Sydney, and Dallas Fort-Worth – Sydney where there’s connecting availability on American between LA and Dallas.

Some space appears to exist October through February, in other words when Americans want to travel to Australia.

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Goldman Sachs Likely to Lose Money on New Apple Credit Card

by Gary Leff

iphone 5s
May 29 2019

Citibank pulled out of advanced negotiations with Apple to be the new issuer of a co-brand card that will now launch from Goldman Sachs this summer. According to a report “J.P. Morgan Chase, Barclays and Synchrony, also bid on the business.”

One bank staffer is said to have texted a Goldman Sachs executive, “Dude, if that portfolio ever makes money, I’m buying you a beer.”

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Big Marriott Hotel Owner Complains About Free Breakfast at Resorts

by Gary Leff

breakfast food styrofoam container
May 29 2019

Mark Brugger, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Diamondrock Hospitality, spoke about how Marriott’s new loyalty program is affecting his hotels during the company’s earnings call.

When asked by analysts to provide color on the Bonvoy transition, he noted lower costs and some positives and negatives depending on the property but where he zeroed in on a problem it’s providing breakfast at resorts to elites.

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