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 »

Chase Introduces New Iberia Credit Card

by Gary Leff

stock airline bed
Mar 15 2018

Iberia is great because — although accounts that have been open 90 days and have had some activity can move between Avios programs already — you can circumvent the active accounts requirement and go straight to the Spanish carrier’s program. And that lets you redeem for Iberia flights for far fewer miles, and without huge fuel surcharges.

Despite this deepening relationship with IAG I wasn’t expecting news that Chase would issue an Iberia credit card in the United States.

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First Hilton Killed Award Charts, Now They’re Doubling/Sextupling Some Award Prices Without Notice

by Gary Leff

award chart
Mar 15 2018

Hilton formally dropped award charts a year ago but promised that they weren’t raising prices.

I wrote at the time after speaking to program leadership that Hilton says they are not increasing the maximum price of any hotel, and do not intend to do so. If they increase pricing and they do not make an announcement of this in advance they will come under much-deserved criticism.

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American Passenger Fiddles With Liquid Pipe, Tells Seatmate Their 737 is Gonna Explode

by Gary Leff

american planes on tarmac
Mar 15 2018

American Airlines flight 1316 from Chicago – Sacramento turned around on Friday after a passenger started talking about a bomb and fiddling with a liquid filled pipe and battery.

Passenger Michael Bielinski reportedly tapped the woman beside him on the shoulder. He told her “we’re all going to die” and the “plane is going to explode.”

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American and Chicago O’Hare Make Peace at Last Minute

by Gary Leff

airport tarmac
Mar 15 2018

United Airlines has 14 more gates than American at Chicago O’Hare. American is opening 5 new gates that they paid for, reducing the gap to 9. But the new O’Hare expansion plan re-opens the gap and returns United to a 14 gate advantage.

After escalating things by FOIAing communications between the Chicago’s Mayor and United this week — and as the city was scheduled to approve the plan, American’s lack of assent notwithstanding — there are now reports of a stand down and a deal.

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Brazilian Gang Watches Goodfellas, Robs Lufthansa Flight of $5 Million

by Gary Leff

lufthansa plane
Mar 14 2018

In 1978 nearly $6 million was robbed from Lufthansa at New York JFK — in what was then the largest cash robbery ever in the United States.

The heist was investigated for over 35 years, even leading to an arrest in 2014 of a purported high-ranking member of the Bonanno crime family, however the then-78 year old man was acquitted. Much of the proceeds of the Lufthansa robbery were said to have been gambled away in casinos.

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United: Don’t Blame the Flight Attendant For Killing That Dog, Have a Bright Bag Tag Instead

by Gary Leff

dog
Mar 14 2018

Yesterday we learned that United required a passenger to put her dog in the overhead bin on a flight from Houston to New York LaGuardia, and the dog died.

Although a flight attendant did insist the woman put her dog in the overhead bin for the flight, United wants us to know that it’s not really the flight attendant’s fault.

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