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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American Airlines Taking its Mechanics to Court Over Work Slowdown Affecting 125,000 Customers

american-airlines-plane
May 21 2019

American Airlines has gone for an injunction against their mechanics’ union, accusing them of a work slowdown leading to “650 flight cancellations and more than 1500 maintenance delays” affecting 125,000 customers, according to a letter sent to employees. They contend that the degree of issues they’ve faced would be “one-in-one billion” if left to chance rather than the result of “concerted activity.”

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Delta’s New Austin Club Has a Sky Deck — and It’s Gorgeous

airport lounge
May 20 2019

Delta’s new SkyClub in the Austin airport opens Tuesday morning. It’s gorgeous on the inside, features more substantive food options than the United and American clubs in the same airport, and features an furnished outdoor observation deck area with misters for the summer heat and heat lamps for the few days each year it’s cold.

For an outstation hoping to become a focus city like Austin this new club is an absolute winner — and will be a draw for flying Delta.

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Why Hong Kong’s Rejection of Cathay Pacific Advertising is a Show of Strength for Beijing

people holding hands walking on a beach
May 20 2019

Hong Kong’s airport and mass transit refused to display a Cathay Pacific ad which depicts two men walking on the beach holding hands with a slogan ‘move beyond’.

While this highlights continued lack of tolerance for homosexuality in Hong Kong, and backlash as societies undergo transformation, it also signals a broader discomfort in Hong Kong with social movements as Beijing asserts its influence over the increasingly less independent region.

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Four Amazing Award Redemptions Thanks to 2 Bank Programs Offering Transfer Bonuses at the Same Time

first class seats
May 19 2019

A couple of days ago I wrote about Delta One business class suites to Asia for as little as 47,000 points each way with availability for 4 or more and sometimes even 9 passengers per flight.

Now two transferable points programs are running transfer bonuses to Virgin at the same time. In addition to a 30% bonus transferring American Express Membership Rewards points to Virgin Atlantic through July 1, points transfers from Citi ThankYou Rewards to Virgin Atlantic receive a 30% bonus through June 22.

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Hotel Discount Deal Comes With All Meals, Premium Scotch and Champagne

hotel dining room
May 19 2019

Hotels and resorts that make their money on gambling or in-house services want to fill their properties, and keep guests on property. Old School Vegas did this by treating guests well, especially their big spenders. And they did this through lavish buffets and shows offered at surprisingly affordable prices.

Mohegan Sun, the Connecticut casino hotel a couple of hours from Boston and about three hours from New York, has a cheap rate that comes with decadent meals and unlimited top shelf alcohol. It shouldn’t be hard to eat and drink more than the cost of the room on any given night, and that’s the sort of value proposition only old school casino hotels can offer.

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