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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United Fails Basic Marketing With Polaris Business Class Rule

Feb 06 2017

I hear from customers almost every day who aren’t getting the new business class seats on their upcoming flights over the next few months — and argue with me that they are. “But the confirmation says Polaris” they tell me and I have to explain that this simply means they get the new soft product, and it will be years before most flights have the new seats.

That’s a problem, but there’s something far pettier and a much bigger lost opportunity, that I want to highlight.

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TIP: People Behind the Desk at American Express Lounges Can Do More Than Just Check You In

Feb 04 2017

American Express prides itself on service, and when you arrive at one of their lounges you’re checked in at the “Member Services” desk. I’ve only seen staff there checking boarding passes, American Express cards, and photo IDs (and of course in Dallas and Miami, making spa appointments).

I was curious what else they did, so I asked around, and it turns out quite a lot. You can really lean on the staff there for more than just scanning a boarding pass, which is something I suspect most guests don’t realize, so I became curious about some of the things that the staff have done recently for members in some of the various clubs across the network.

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