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 Requires Basic Economy Customers to Be Shamed By an Agent Before Checking In

united plane
Jun 20 2017

I read late last week in a post on Facebook that United didn’t allow Basic Economy customers to check in online and thought surely that was wrong. It turns out it isn’t wrong.

If you say you’re checking a bag when you check-in online, and pay for the bag, you can complete the check-in process. But if you say you aren’t going to check a bag, United won’t check you in and tells you to deal with it at the airport.

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Review: Etihad’s New First Class Lounge, Abu Dhabi

Jun 19 2017

This is an excellent first class lounge, with plenty of space so that you never feel crowded by other passengers and very good service along with all of the features you’d expect. I’d rate dining here among the top 5 first class lounge epicurean experiences, probably somewhere around number 5 and the overall lounge itself I’d place in the top 10.

However there were no private nap rooms and Etihad’s first class ground service lacks personalized escort from check-in to lounge and from lounge to gate.

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Virgin America Announces Dates for the Rapture: Partner End Times in Advance of Program Closure

Jun 19 2017

In March Alaska Airlines announced that they expect to end Virgin America Elevate at the close of 2017. They project a ‘single operating certificate’ to fly as one airline at the beginning of 2018. They’re working towards mid-year 2018 labor agreements and a move to a single reservation system at the end of 2018 (with a trickle of final merger-related activities running through 2020).

As part of this process Virgin America Elevate has announced the last day for transactions with their various partners.

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