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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Where Marriott Bonvoy Stands Today

by Gary Leff

outside marriott hotel
Apr 27 2019

I think that Marriott has done a better job with their program than many give them credit for. Marriott Rewards never offered suite upgrades. They’ve increased the number of brands that have a breakfast benefit. Since the Starwood merger late checkout became a guarantee. And they’ve introduced 24 hour check-in and Ambassador services at the top end of the program.

At the same time they’ve had incredible challenges over the past year. There are still IT challenges, even booking rooms at times at Marriott.com. There are huge challenges getting a sprawling network of 7000 hotels to consistently deliver on points and benefits promised by the program.

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Hilton’s New Double Points Promo Starts May 6th With a Kicker

by Gary Leff

hotel room
Apr 26 2019

Hilton’s current promotion, great for short stays ends May 5. Not missing a beat their new promotion runs May 6 – September 8. Hilton is continuing the theme of their most common bonus, double points, but they aren’t interested in bonusing only occasional guests. They’re only offering double points starting with your second stay during the promotion period.

Doubling down, as it were, on the focus on bonusing the most frequent guests they’re adding a component to double points…

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American Airlines Wants to Clarify Its Mission and Get More Customers to Recommend Them

by Gary Leff

american airlines plane
Apr 25 2019

In the American Airlines internal podcast Kurt Stache, American’s Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Loyalty talked about the airline’s new Airbus A321neo, on board entertainment, the airline’s new mission, and getting customers to want to recommend the airline.

He’s a legacy American Airlines executive who once ran the AAdvantage program, and AAdvantage reports up to him.

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Woman Arrested and Daughter Sent to Child Protective Services After Complaining About Vomit in Seat

by Gary Leff

fake barf
Apr 25 2019

In our post-9/11 world airlines have quickly turned customer service problems into law enforcement problems. A customer creating a “disturbance” might really be creating a “distraction” for bad people to do bad things. It doesn’t matter how unlikely this is, especially prior to departure while still on the ground. The culture of precaution and ‘not being too careful’ has granted huge deference to the judgments flight crews make in the instant. And it’s allowed prejudice and ego to trump good sense.

How many times have we seen a passenger act concerned with a flight attendant moving their carry on bag in the overhead, and being asked in response, “Are we going to have a problem?”

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American Airlines Cuts Back on Special Meals

by Gary Leff

airline food
Apr 25 2019

I told you that ‘simplicity’ was the direction American was headed with their catering, and I’ve also written that the option to pick a good meal seemed too generous. So it shouldn’t surprise that there are significant cutbacks in the special meal program.

The Asian Vegetarian, Hindu, and Muslim meals are all the same thing, they just list the options separately. No more meat, then, with Muslim meals. The diabetic meal won’t get steak anymore, now it’s chicken. And meals will be frozen rather than fresh with a one year shelf life. Yum!

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American Airlines Seat Coupons (and Seat Coupon Challenges) are Here

by Gary Leff

airplane cabin
Apr 25 2019

Two months ago I wrote that American would be introducing ‘seat coupons’, so that non-elites and Gold members could earn preferred seat assignments on American Airlines instead of having to pay for these seats.

Seat assignments — even the most undesirable ones, if a non-elite wants them in advance — can come at a premium. So ‘coupons’ to get them without cost or at a discount at some level have value.

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