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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The Next Wave of Online Travel Booking Is Here: Kayak Moves Beyond Schedule and Price

by Gary Leff

Dec 15 2015

There’s no reason for many people to use a travel agent for a simple roundtrip airline ticket, and very few travel agencies are interested in making those bookings. Brick and mortar agencies saw their commissions cut, and began instituting fees or such bookings. They were mostly put out of business by the online travel agencies like Expedia and Orbitz. Now, travel agencies mostly exist for specialized services such as managed business travel and high end trips.

Something was lost in the process. Some customers do need handholding, the kind they used to get from travel agents of varying quality.

We’ve taken one step back towards what we used to have today — mass customization — through Kayak’s new data partnership with Route Happy.

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When Did the Government Start Requiring IDs to Fly.. and Why Did They Do It?

by Gary Leff

Dec 14 2015

Airlines long wanted to eliminate the secondary market in airline tickets, in order to enforce their revenue management strategies. If customers could buy and resell tickets, that makes it impossible for airlines to price discriminate between leisure travelers buying tickets far in advance and less price sensitive business travelers buying close to departure.

But when did the ID rule become a government requirement? Since it happened nearly 20 years ago, I had forgotten the rule’s origins.

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American Changed Mileage Earning on British Airways and Iberia Flights AGAIN!

by Gary Leff

Dec 14 2015

In late September American accidentally published new, reduced mileage-earning rates for discounted British Airways and Iberia tickets on their foreign websites. The changes were supposedly going into effect October 1.

The changes disappeared and then re-appeared on the American website in early November, with an effective date of February 1. So we were given three months’ notice of changes.

Except there are more changes for the month of January only..!

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A New Way to Africa Using American Miles

by Gary Leff

Dec 14 2015

American Airlines doesn’t fly to Africa. American Airlines doesn’t have a lot of partners flying to Africa. As a general matter, American and their partners aren’t ideal for most Africa flying although their Qatar Airways partnership does help here.

Fortunately there’s a new way to use American miles to Africa… and surprising availability for an old way.

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Several American Airlines Flight Attendants Taken to Hospital After Turbulent Descent Saturday Morning

by Gary Leff

Dec 13 2015

Friday night’s American Airlines Dallas – Buenos Aires hit severe turbulence. I heard that flight attendants hit the ceiling and that they were even hospitalized. I asked American about the flight.

Most of the time severe turbulence comes with warning, either from other aircraft or because it isn’t completely sudden. That means the pilot has the opportunity to turn on the seat belt sign and warn passengers. However severe turbulence does happen without warning. And while it isn’t usually a danger to the aircraft, it’s certainly a danger to passengers.

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