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 »

Always Watch Your American Airlines Awards To Make Sure They Ticket

by Gary Leff

airline cabin
Sep 08 2017

American Airlines doesn’t ticket reservations instantly. Paid travel usually tickets within a few minutes, although complicated itineraries can take longer. When I’m paying with a gift card for instance or I confirm an upgrade prior to issuing a ticket it may take several hours.

Award tickets take longer. They’re usually queued based on date of travel and a partner award ticket (that is queued for review) a year out can take a couple of days before tickets are issued.

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Alitalia Pilots Are Considering Doing Something That Failed at United in 1995

by Gary Leff

Sep 08 2017

This plan for partial pilot ownership, without other employee groups involved, will fail. That’s not a bold claim since in all likelihood any new plan for Alitalia will almost certainly fail other than breaking up the carrier and buying only a handful of good assets.

But we also know a little something about employee ownership by a subset of work groups in the airline industry.

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Etihad Scolds First Class Passenger Reporting Employee Sleeping in A380 Business Lounge

by Gary Leff

Sep 07 2017

Etihad fired their CEO who pioneered their premium strategy (indeed James Hogan brought the concept of an onboard chef over from his time at british midland). They’ve lost billions mostly because of failed investments in other airlines like Alitalia and air berlin.

In response they’ve cut their business and first class car service outside the U.S. and they’re monetizing access to their lounges. They’ve even closed their spa at London Heathrow and they’ve announced plans to devalue their frequent flyer program.

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Delta Waiving Pet in Cabin Fees for the Hurricane While Passengers Waive These Fees Every Day

by Gary Leff

Sep 07 2017

Delta has waived pet in cabin fees for passengers traveling in and out of Florida, the Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Virgin Islands and Cuba as part of their Hurricane Irma waivers.

It broke my heart to see pets being rescued in Houston — pets that had been left behind when their owners evacuated. I can’t imagine doing that, one person I saw interviewed on television about leaving their dog said they ‘didn’t think they’d be gone that long.’

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UNPOPULAR TAKE: Airlines Reducing Prices for Flights Out of Florida Aren’t Doing Good

by Gary Leff

Sep 06 2017

People have been complaining about expensive airfares to fly out of Florida. With everyone leaving because of the hurricane, there are few seats left. Last seats are generally priced at full fare. This isn’t airlines ‘raising prices because of the hurricane’ this is the standard way they sell tickets faced with unusually high demand.

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