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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How to Pick the Hotel Program That’s Best For You

sydney opera house
Dec 30 2018

A lot of members are frustrated with Marriott — for botching the Starwood integration, for failing to deliver on the benefits they promised, and for generally unhelpful customer service. I argued that doesn’t make Hilton better, that Marriott disappoints but shouldn’t surprise — they are the largest and still offer better elite benefits, why would you think they’d be better?

I learned several things making the argument and listening to reader comments and commentary from other blogs.

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American Airlines Ramp Worker Tries to Entertain a Baby, Winds Up Entertaining All Of Us

Dec 29 2018

ahmaul Allen works the ramp in Toronto for American Airlines. He’s been there for three years, but a passenger just made him famous.

On Sunday he saw a baby on a plane and tried to entertain her. A passenger caught the scene on video, posted it to Instagram, and it’s been shared to several social media sites since — and has been viewed a million times. Just keep watching and wait for it.

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Alaska Airlines Reveals Data on Where Members Redeem and How Much They Fly

alaska airlines plane
Dec 28 2018

Five years ago Alaska Airlines shared that 84% of redemptions were for flights on their own aircraft, that American Airlines was by and large the second biggest carrier members redeemed for travel on, and non-U.S. airlines accounted for just 3.5% of redemptions.

Alaska shares how much members flew, how many members are being added, and where redemptions took place in 2018. Great data for anyone interested in loyalty!

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Hotel Burglar Caught Because His Feet Were Smelly

feet plane
Dec 28 2018

Thieves smashed a jewelry case and stole $800,000 worth of merchandise from the Little Nell hotel in Aspen on Friday. They weren’t even wearing masks. They weren’t caught right away, despite video footage, because apparently their feet didn’t smell badly enough.

At least that seems to be the lesson from a robbery that was foiled quickly on December 19 in Wanzhi, China.

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