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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Buffalo Thinks It’s Going to Get Transatlantic Flights. That’s Nuts.

Aug 10 2017

Europeans want to fly to Toronto and want to fly to New York. Buffalo simply is neither a business nor leisure market for them. Carriers would be relying largely on the local Buffalo market. And the striking thing about the airport’s case for transatlantic service is that they seem to mention everything other than the number of people in Buffalo flying to Europe.

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In Venezuela Flight Crews Get Robbed and the Government Loots Checked Luggage

toilet paper rolls
Aug 10 2017

Back in 2008 Venezuela’s currency controls were considered an airfare arbitrage opportunity.

But it was risky even then to holding Venezuelan assets, something underscored when the country nationalized a Hilton. (Not even a first in Venezuela for that brand.) Apparently Hugo Chavez didn’t like the hotel meeting contract, so he decided to take the hotel.

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Thank You to the Special Airline Employee Who Helped a Woman With Stage Four Cancer – And All Of Us

southwest plane
Aug 09 2017

The news, and the stories I cover, can seem negative — and they often are. Tales of airline employees can paint them in a bad light, but the truth is that even where interactions go badly most employees are just following the rules given to them and using the limited tools they’re allowed to work with. There are people who lose their cool as well.

To the ones who don’t, who go the extra mile, like the Southwest ramp agent who saved Christmas for a little girl in Detroit, thank you.

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Details are Out on Bank of America’s Entry into the Premium Rewards Card Space

Aug 09 2017

Details on Bank of American’s new premium Visa product, the Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card, are now out and confirmed. The card will launch next month.

And despite the way the bank is pitching the card, and the Wall Street Journal is covering it, this does not appear to be a competitor to the Platinum Card by American Express or Chase Sapphire Reserve. It’s not in the super premium card space.

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Leaked Memo: Flight Attendants To Be Penalized for Missing Inflight Sales Quotas

ryan air plane landing
Aug 09 2017

Ancillary revenue and customer segmentation are huge buzz words in aviation. It’s how already-profitable airlines think they can make more money. Segmentation usually happens when they sell you a ticket, do you buy basic economy, regular economy, or premium economy? But they also have you captive the full length of the flight. You may be bored. And you can’t ignore the sales pitches.

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