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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Two People Finding Love on a Plane – And It’s Live Tweeted

by Gary Leff

picture with caption
Jul 04 2018

A couple of months ago I witnessed what may have been a world record hookup in the air, introduction-to-couple on a 140 mile Austin – Houston United flight.

These inflight couplings happen more often than you’d think. But one new coupling is very special because the entire budding relationship was live tweeted, and because the person doing the tweeting called it sort of like Babe Ruth pointing towards center field and calling his home run shot in the 1932 World Series.

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Report: American Bringing Back Carry On Bags to Basic Economy, Underscores Failure of Basic Economy

by Gary Leff

airline cabin
Jul 03 2018

American is expected to relax the most draconian restriction on their lowest-price Basic Economy fares, and that points to the failure of the overall basic economy strategy. Perhaps as early as next month they will once again allow customers on these lowest fares to bring both a personal item and a full sized carry on bag onto the plane.

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Deal of the Year 90,000 Iberia Avios are Posting!

by Gary Leff

so happy I could cry meme
Jul 03 2018

Earlier I wrote that Iberia again confirmed they’re honoring the deal of the year. You could earn 9000 Avios per flight booked, even cheap sub-$30 one way flights, and you wouldn’t even need to fly in order for the points to post.

As several readers have reported the points are now posting to accounts though it can take time for everyone to get theirs, do not panic if your points have not posted as of this writing.

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Iberia Reconfirms They’re Honoring 90,000 Avios for Under $300 Promo, Just Be Patient

by Gary Leff

stock airline bed
Jul 03 2018

This morning I >a href=”https://viewfromthewing.com/2018/06/23/deal-of-the-year-through-this-weekend-only-90000-points-for-300-1-3-of-a-cent-per-point/” target=_blank>wrote about the 90,000 Avios for under $300 deal and how Iberia was freezing new accounts and even telling some customers that because they living in a country other than the one whose Iberia website they used for the booking they wouldn’t be eligible for the offer.

I suggested we needed to be patient, that it was likely a better deal than Iberia had intended, but that in the absolute worst case it appeared that Iberia would be refunding tickets purchased by those who just wanted to take advantage of the points offer and not actually fly.

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Asiana is Suffering Delays and Taking Off Without Meals – Even On 12 Hour Flights

by Gary Leff

flight attendant pushing cart
Jul 03 2018

Star Alliance member Asiana is suffering widespread delays for catering and many flights are leaving without meals at all, even on trips as long as twelve hours.

Reportedly on Sunday “51 flights departed behind schedule and 38 left the airport without meals to feed passengers.” Then on Monday “18 out of 75 international flights operated by the carrier were delayed more than an hour and 16 short-haul flights to Japan and China even departed from the Incheon International Airport without in-flight meals.”

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Iberia Freezing Accounts, Offering Ticket Refunds For Some Who Took Advantage Of 9000 Bonus

by Gary Leff

stock airline bed
Jul 03 2018

I view this as good news. First, don’t panic. The promotion was ill-thought out by Iberia. It was more generous than they would have wanted to be. It was also taken advantage by customers at scale, which is a benefit, it’s easy for a company to stick it to or ignore one customer by Iberia is going to have to deal with this.

We’ll just wait it out and see how it resolves, but in the mean time they’re already seeming to understand that if they don’t honor the offer the absolute minimum they’re going to have to do is refund tickets.

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The Story of the Last Page in Your US Passport — and the Soccer Ball That’s Gone to Space Twice

by Gary Leff

passport
Jul 02 2018

One of the defining moments of my childhood was the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion in January 1986. I was 11 years old. The only way for 11 year olds to make sense of it is to detach from it and tell jokes. Crude jokes. Christa McAuliffe jokes.

Ellison Onizuka was the first Asian American and the first Hawaiian in space. He coached his daughter’s soccer team, and the team all signed a ball for him to take into space that fateful day.

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Lowest-Ever Price to Buy American Miles Now Through August 1

by Gary Leff

first class cabin
Jul 02 2018

Ever since US Airways management took over at American, AAdvantage sells miles the way that US Airways used to. Regular price only seems to exist to promote discounts against. Miles are usually sold with a bonus, a discount, or both — not regular price.

Frequently they sell miles at around 1.88 cents apiece. Once in awhile they get that down to 1.77. Only twice before that I’ve seen have they sold miles at 1.72 cents each. First in June 2016, then again in 2017, and now the offer is back. It ran in June, now it’s extended through August 1.

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A Lucrative Hotel Rewards Strategy is Hiding in Plain Sight

by Gary Leff

fancy hotel room
Jul 02 2018

A valuable rewards for hotel stays seem to me a function of where you book and how you pay rather than where you stay. That’s surprising to some because we’ve been taught to stay on the hotel loyalty program treadmill. And because hotels are trying so hard to get customers to ‘book direct’ you’d expect their loyalty programs to offer the best rewards for staying at their properties. But that isn’t always the case.

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