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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EASY: 2 Free Airport Uber Rides Through End of Year, Register Quickly

Nov 16 2016

American Express and Uber will give you 2 free rides from major airports through the end of the year valued up to $65 each, using any flavor of Uber you wish.

Register right away adding promo code AMEXAIRPORT in the Uber app, you don’t want them to run out of code uses before you do so. You need to have an Amex card as your payment method when you request a ride (even if the ride is going to be free) for this to work.

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United Opens the Kimono: Here’s Their Strategy Going Forward

Nov 15 2016

United has been strategy discussions until Investor Day and now they’ve revealed their plan.

The most concrete thing they offered — and which customers aren’t going to like — was the full details of Basic Economy which takes away elite mileage-earning, takes away upgrades, and even takes away the ability to bring on a rollaboard bag from non-elites.

However they talked at length about broader strategy for their product, their hubs, and where their opportunities are.

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Alitalia Overcharging Taxes on Award Tickets, Possibly in Violation of DOT Rules

Nov 14 2016

A month ago Alitalia doubled the price of many partner awards overnight and without notice. At the same time, they brought partner award booking online and did not increase the price of awards on Alitalia’s own flights and promise not to through the end of 2017.

However they do appear to be overcharging taxes on Alitalia awards, and misrepresenting fuel surcharges as a fee imposed on them rather than one the airline is charging itself.

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