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 »

More articles by Gary Leff »

United Polaris Bears Will Be Available Inflight – Two Days Only

by Gary Leff

Mar 28 2019

On the preview flight for the first aircraft with new seats every passenger received a Polaris Bear. United’s CEO Oscar Munoz was with the group, first in the lounge and then on the plane prior to takeoff. He was well aware of the aftermarket for these bears. They were fetching hundreds of dollars on eBay. And I suggested to him that United consider getting out of the passenger business, and just sell bears. The margins are much better. He chuckled and said he’d consider it.

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Wow Air Fails, Cancels All Flights

by Gary Leff

wow plane
Mar 28 2019

On Sunday I asked whether transatlantic low cost carrier Wow Air was toast. I phrased it in the form of a question but pointed out that while the answer to internet posts phrased as a question is almost always ‘no’ in this case it was probably the opposite.

This morning they ceased operations while stranding passengers. Your best recourse at this point if you hold tickets is likely to be with your credit card company. Claims by unsecured creditors with the airline’s bankruptcy administrator are far less likely to be successful.

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Hyatt Announces Dates They’re Adding 2 New Brands, Plus Bonus Points and Free Night Offers

by Gary Leff

zihua
Mar 27 2019

In addition to expanding their footprint via partnerships (such as earning and redemption at so far about a third of Small Luxury Hotels of the World) they’ve also acquired Two Roads Hospitality which manages 5 brands.

Hyatt has now announced that Thompson Hotels joins March 28 and Joie de Vivre Hotels joins May 15. They have two bonus offers to celebrate, they stack, and also help towards an existing bonus as well.

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Would You Notice – and Intervene – If a Guy Was Creeping on a Teenage Girl Inflight?

by Gary Leff

people sitting on plane
Mar 27 2019

There’s something about a plane, or maybe it’s being away from home, that gives people license to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do in semi-public. And they can escape their usual inhibitions and talk up strangers thinking something might come of it.

However in the air, just like on the ground, giving attention to fellow passengers may be unwanted. I remember talking to a co-worker years ago about the number of times she noticed married men on planes taking off their wedding rings when they sat down next to her. She avoided Southwest Airlines because of their open seating policy, a virtual invitation for men to choose the seat beside her and make unwanted advances.

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These are the 20 Airports With the Greatest Likelihood of Cancelling Flights

by Gary Leff

united
Mar 27 2019

You want to fly in the morning when you can. Flights later in the day are affected by each of the segments an aircraft has flown that day and delays stack up. When something goes wrong to delay a flight, usually subsequent flights with the same plane will be delayed too. At the end of the day crew may also be running out of allowable duty time.

And bring patience and plenty of backup planning because things inevitably do go wrong, whether because of weather or technical snafus. Find your own alternate flights (with availability that changes constantly). If the first airline agent doesn’t give you help try someone else. And if you can’t get through on the phone, try a foreign call center.

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United Flight Attendants are Selling Their Seniority – and the Airline Wants it to Stop

by Gary Leff

people posing for picture
Mar 26 2019

Unionized flight attendants — and flight attendants at airlines whose procedures mirror union work rules — get to work the most desirable trips based on seniority. Senior flight attendants at large international airlines can jet away to Sydney, to Buenos Aires, to Paris while more junior flight attendants overnight in Des Moines.

Those longer trips aren’t just more exotic. They pay more (more hours) in a short amount of time, have longer layovers, and may entail staying at better hotels. Secondary markets developed. Last year I wrote about American flight attendants renting out their seniority for $200 a pop. Now United flight attendants are doing it.

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