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 »

Big American Airlines Transatlantic Bonus is Back

Jan 20 2017

American AAdvantage is offering up to 20,000 bonus miles each way across the Pond for up to 4 one-way segments booked and flown between yesterday and March 31. Registration prior to travel with promo code NAS17 is required.

You can earn this bonus on American Airlines transatlantic flights (with American Airlines flight numbers) or American codeshares on British Airways, Iberia or Finnair between the U.S. and Europe.

Continue Reading »

UNICORN AWARD SPACE: High Season Premium Cabin Saver Awards to Australia With American Miles

sydney opera house at sunset
Jan 19 2017

Non-stop award space in premium cabins between the US and Australia is one of the toughest things to find out of any frequent flyer award in the world.

And American has been anything but generous with premium cabin international award space generally, except during spurts when they open up space. So when they do you need to act quickly. And when they do for Australia and New Zealand it’s worth paying attention.

Continue Reading »

Bedbugs at the Atlantis Paradise Island Goes to Court

Jan 19 2017

Pizza in Motion wrote about a woman who is suing Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island in the Bahamas over what appears to be one of the worst cases of bed bug bites I’ve ever seen and their alleged unwillingness to address the situation.

I reached out both to the woman that’s suing the property, and to Atlantis, in order to learn more.

Continue Reading »

Department of Transportation Just Proposed to Remake How You Can Buy Airline Tickets

Jan 19 2017

Yesterday the Department of Transportation published a ‘supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking’ on their existing rulemaking docket regarding transparency of ancillary fees.

DOT proposed to require airlines and ticket agents to disclose either customer-specific or itinerary-specific fees for: First checked bag, Second checked bag, Carry on bag.

Continue Reading »

American Rolling Out New Boarding Group Process March 1

Jan 18 2017

American Airlines will be rolling out a new boarding system March 1.

For the most part they’re changing how boarding is called rather than the order in which people are called. Everyone gets a group number. Agents are supposed to call boarding group numbers, rather than describing qualifications like first class, Executive Platinum, oneworld emerald, etc.

Continue Reading »

Hilton Apologizes for Change Without Notice, Gives Members a Window to Book AXON Awards

Jan 18 2017

Last week I wrote that Hilton eliminated ‘AXON awards’ December 31 without notice. These are discounted awards for four night stays in category 5 through 10 hotels which could be booked over the phone by American Express co-brand cardholders.

I spoke with Hilton HHonors Vice President Aaron Glick this afternoon. He apologized to members, says they made a mistake and that “we want to give advance notice of changes in the program.”

Continue Reading »