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 »

Instant Hyatt Explorist Status and Fast Track to Globalist For Employees of Various Companies

by Gary Leff

hyatt hotel
Sep 18 2018

Hyatt used to be super generous with elite status matches. If you had a pulse they’d give you 90 days of Diamond status including confirmed suite upgrades, and an expedited path to keep that status.

No doubt they brought over a lot of great members with the offer, but they also picked up plenty of people who just wanted to have that one special trip (honeymoon, anniversary) but transferring in Chase points, booking a cash and points redemption, and applying a suite upgrade to it. Probably at the Andaz Maui or Park Hyatt Vendome in Paris.

Continue Reading »

US Airlines are Losing Interest in China, and That’s Bad for China’s Carriers

by Gary Leff

china memorial
Sep 17 2018

China is the next big thing. That was true 15 years ago, and may still be true 15 years from now (without ever actually becoming).

American carriers used to operate two-thirds of the flights between the U.S. and China, and now that’s flipped. And to hear Dr. Zhihang Chi, Vice President and General Manager of Air China North America, tell it “the US carriers are losing interest in the China market.”

Continue Reading »

Chicago May Be About to Overtake Atlanta at the World’s Busiest Airport

by Gary Leff

airport
Sep 17 2018

Atlanta airport is the world’s busiest. When you look at the number of flights many of the other busiest airports drop down in the rankings, major international airports often have large widebodies dominating but fewer flights. Atlanta certainly sees its share of widebodies but is also a major domestic hub with narrowbodies and regional jets.

It turns out that Chicago O’Hare isn’t that far behind Atlanta when ranked by number of flights. And each airport’s construction plans tell us that the busiest title may be about the flip in the new few years.

Continue Reading »

This Everyday Hero Makes Sure Your Checked Bags Come Out Upright and Undamaged

by Gary Leff

baggage handler
Sep 16 2018

Checked bag fees have gone up, at United to $30, but passengers aren’t getting more for their money. Instead the typical baggage experience is like this — just watching your bags get ignored. For $30 they should receive a private escort!

Now an everyday hero named Ephraim Sibeko is going viral for one man’s fight to keep suitcases straight and undamaged as they’re delivered to passengers.

Continue Reading »

Watch Out for Seat Changes When American Airlines Gives You An ‘Oasis’ Plane

by Gary Leff

airplane seats
Sep 16 2018

I flew American Airlines for the first time on one of their Boeing 737-800s that’s been converted to a “Project Oasis” interior — meaning it’s been retrofit to have the same lack of legroom and smaller lavatories (but larger overhead bins) as their new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

I wrote only days ago that these are planes to avoid but right now it’s really difficult to do so. You book a flight on a 737, and there aren’t enough ‘new’ 172 seat 737s to know consistently where these torture tubes are going to turn up. If you get one of the torture tubes, your seat assignments may wind up messed up, too.

Continue Reading »