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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The Powerpoint Slide American CEO Doug Parker Wishes He Had Never Shown

May 10 2017

The CEO of the world’s largest airline appears to believe that the way you earn more money from customers is to provide the worst possible product which is less attractive than what’s offered by competitors.

Only it’s the exact opposite of what he was telling investors less than two months ago. Here’s the slide outlining American’s path to profitability growth — that they seem to quickly be turning 180 degrees from.

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American Will Offer Less Legroom, But Don’t Worry You Get Less Comfortable Seats and No Seatback Video Too!

May 10 2017

BoardingArea blogger and teenager The Unaccompanied Flyer interviewed American Airlines CEO Doug Parker and asked about the airline’s plans to squeeze more seats into Boeing 737s — meaning less legroom. They’re going from a 31 inch standard in regular coach down to 30 in most seats and even just 29 inches in some rows.

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Did American Really Downgrade Woman Because Of Her Race? (Not All Complaints About Airlines are True)

May 09 2017

I’ve covered many stories recently of passengers being treated badly by major US airlines.

Still, it’s important to note that not every customer complaint about an airline is valid. Sometimes there are genuine misunderstandings (where they could be opportunities to better explain things to consumers in the future) or pieces of stories that get misreported by media.

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Southwest is Inspiring People With How Well it Treated a Customer… But Don’t Be Fooled

May 09 2017

After United called the cops on a passenger and he was dragged off the plane and bloodied, an American flight attendant nearly hit a baby with its stroller, and a Delta flight attendant threatened to have the government take young children away from their parents, any show of kindness by an airline is news. Even if it happened two years ago.

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Did United Lock the World’s Biggest Rabbit in a Freezer For Hours and Then Cremate It Without Permission?

May 09 2017

In the aftermath of the death of a rabbit expected to become the world’s largest in the hands of United Airlines (bred by a former Playboy Bunny), United told employees to tell customers who asked that the rabbit’s breeder didn’t want an examination to determine the cause of death.

United’s story is being… disputed.

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