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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Spray Painting 10 Cadillacs Half-Buried Nose First Into the Ground

cadillac ranch
Oct 07 2018

In 1974 ten Cadillacs (models from 1949 through 1963) were buried nose first half way into the ground. The cars were placed in a wheat field Marsh owned, and then in 1997 moved two miles west to a pasture belonging to Marsh along side Interstate 40.

Unquestionably Cadillac Ranch is one of the better stops along one of the world’s great drives (“Or perhaps you don’t want to see the second largest ball of twine on the face of the earth who’s only four short hours away?”).

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United Says ‘Lavatory Leak’ Soiled All of Veteran’s Belongings, Will Take 8-10 Weeks to Compensate Him

veteran going through belongings
Oct 07 2018

Dave Harris flew home to Colorado Springs on Friday after a six month deployment in the Mideast. He says his “whole life for six months” was in his checked bag. It contained his uniforms, “workout clothes, gifts for..family, jewelry” for his wife.

Friends picked him up. On the way out from baggage claim tot he parking lot they all noticed a disgusting smell coming from his bag.

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Bizarre: US Virgin Islands Plans to Increase Hotel Taxes, Give the Extra Money Back to Hotels

peninsula
Oct 06 2018

The Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands announced a plan to re-open the Frenchman’s Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort and along with it a government plan to increase hotel taxes from 12.5% to 17.5% — the highest in the United States and the highest in the Caribbean.

The governor describes higher taxes as an “economic recovery fee.” And the extra 5% will be given back to the hotels, plus interest.

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The Price to Renovate New York JFK is Up to $13 Billion — And Will Make Travel Worse

outside airport
Oct 06 2018

We’d be much better off with airports that efficiently moved people from their initial location to their gate, and on arrival to their final destination, than with sprawling complexes that are cumbersome to traverse but accommodate more retail.

You can only sell off the airport’s future income stream once. Investing the money is new mega-terminals means not investing the money in things that would actually improve the airport most. As a result these choices mean the New York JFK travel experience will be worse than it otherwise could be.

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TSA Will Allow You To Bring Disabled Bullets Through Security, Unless They Can Keep Liquids Cold

bullets in a plastic bag
Oct 06 2018

TSA policy allows you to bring empty shell casings with the primer removed or discharged. So bullets that have been disabled and cannot be fired are fine.

Unless that bullet could keep your drink cold in which case they’re going to confiscate it. Since they have plenty of abandoned drinks at the checkpoint they want their drinks to be cold.

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