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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Air New Zealand CEO Diverts Flight So It Can Pick Him Up, Then Serves Drinks

Jun 17 2024

Air New Zealand’s CEO Greg Foran may have violated his flight attendant union contract scope clause by taking over cabin crew duties to serve drinks to passengers on a flight from Auckland to Tokyo. (I kid, I kid.)

He was trying to make up for having the flight diverted – to pick him up, along with a New Zealand trade delegation of 30 business leaders, government officials, and media.

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Big Airline Lobbyists Win? FAA Will Move Forward With Crackdown On Comfortable Scheduled Charters Like JSX

Jun 17 2024

Last summer, the FAA outlined an intention to ban JSX and other scheduled public charter operators, largely because they offer a popular, quality product that competitors do not like.

Now the FAA says that it will move forward with a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would – at least in some cases – prevent public charter operators from selling scheduled flights from private terminals, using co-pilots with fewer than 1,500 flying hours.

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Qatar Airways To Take Control Of RwandAir, Add It To oneworld?

Jun 16 2024

Prior to the pandemic Qatar Airways was looking at taking a 49% stake in RwandAir after already having invested in and taken control of the new Kigali airport. The plan was to improve RwandAir’s systems and quality, and bring them into oneworld although it was not clear at the time whether the airline would become a full or ‘connect’ member of the alliance.

After nearly five years of discussions, punctuated by the pandemic, Qatar Airways finally looks ready to take the stake in RwandAir this summer.

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WSJ: Wells Fargo And Bilt Rewards Contract Details Too Generous With Customers, Locked In Until 2029

Jun 16 2024

I love reading these insider details, almost as much as the players involved probably hate their being published.

I think both sides come out really well here – Wells Fargo aggressively experimented, found something wasn’t working, and pulled back while they retooled. Meanwhile Bilt Rewards has a lucrative program in place for a long time that consumers benefit from.

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