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 »

Award Alert: 4 or More Business Class Award Seats to Asia From Several US Cities

by Gary Leff

flight chart
Jun 14 2018

I frequently highlight awards bookable with American AAdvantge miles in premium cabins because they tend to make fewer seats available than many other airlines on their own planes and because they have fewer partners through the oneworld alliance than United does through Star.

As a result it’s worth jumping when there are plenty of award seats available on long haul routes. That’s doubly true when you’re looking for more than two seats, because finding availability for four is exponentially harder much of the time and to many destinations.

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Etihad Lost $1.5 Billion Last Year — After a $2 Billion Loss the Year Before

by Gary Leff

airplane docked
Jun 14 2018

Etihad is in the midst of re-organizing its business. The airline that launched after Gulf Air eliminated its Abu Dhabi hub by hiring away Gulf Air’s CEO adopted a strategy of buying stakes in troubled airlines around the world and redirecting their connecting traffic through Abu Dhabi. But that didn’t work out very well — the available carriers were in some cases real basket cases and not candidates for turning around with new uniforms and group purchasing agreements.

When energy prices dropped the Al Nahyan family’s appetite for absorbing losses in exchange for growing an international hub airline ran out.

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New Aggressive Pitch for Onboard Credit Card Signup — ‘Get Both’ for Big Bonuses

by Gary Leff

first class
Jun 14 2018

I was surprised flying American Airlines this week that the onboard credit card pitch for the Barclays AAdvantage® AviatorTM Red World Elite Mastercard® included the flight attendant noting that this is ‘a new card introduced in 2017 (sic) and that if you already have the American Airlines card issued by Citi you can get this one too.’

Explicitly mentioning a competitor product seems to be a new part of the script since I’ve seen several references to this from other flyers on Facebook as well.

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Is Hyatt Playing With Me? Suite Upgrade at Hyatt Place

by Gary Leff

hotel kitchen
Jun 14 2018

I’ve harped quite a bit about the lack of benefits for Hyatt elites at Hyatt Place properties, especially now that the program has eliminated check-in amenities. The program doesn’t allow top tier elites to confirm suites at Hyatt Place hotels. Breakfast is for everyone, or at least for program members booking direct going forward.

Since I rarely want a late check-out at a Hyatt Place the only benefit I experience is bottled water.

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FAA Safety Inspectors Improperly Allowed Aircraft to Fly

by Gary Leff

FAA logo
Jun 13 2018

The Office of Special Counsel today wrote to the President and Congress to reveal that “safety inspectors at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have improperly approved aircraft for commercial operations without first reviewing critical safety information that in some cases would have prohibited their operation.”

That sounds pretty scary and this is going to get some coverage but it turns out that most of the issues didn’t actually involve safety issues. They included things like expired registrations. And the majority dealt with small charter aircraft.

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United Introducing Premium Economy This Month

by Gary Leff

stock image of people on plane
Jun 13 2018

United has been slow to retrofit its fleet with new Polaris business class seats. Only 11 planes have been retrofit with these seats since the program was announced two years ago.

So far United says only 3 Boeing 777-200 planes have the new seats. This is the aircraft that’s getting international premium economy first, and that product will become available this month.

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Review: Japan Airlines First Class Lounge Tokyo Narita Airport

by Gary Leff

lounge
Jun 13 2018

Overall I find the Japan Airlines first class lounge Tokyo Narita to be fine. It’s a nice enough place to pass the time before a flight, though it’s not a destination itself worth showing up at the airport early for.

The overall design is really dark. I would love it if the lounge were somewhat brighter. It’s nicer than all but a handful of business class lounges. The highlight for most is the sushi bar.

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American Express Will Now Give You a Warning If You’re Not Eligible for an Initial Bonus

by Gary Leff

credit cards
Jun 13 2018

Lifetime means as long as American Express sees you as having had a card in the past. Often that seems to be around seven years. You can ask American Express what cards you’ve had in the past and they’ll tell.

There’s no more guessing, because American Express has a new popup when you submit an application — before they pull your credit — noting you’ve had the card in the past (or currently have it) and therefore aren’t eligible for a bonus. You can proceed with the application if you wish, or stop the process.

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