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 »

Delta Relaxes Award Blackout Dates

Sep 28 2015

In August Delta split up blackout dates on Korean Air by region, improving one of the most frustrating things about booking award travel on partner airlines using Delta miles.

Now — effective October 1 — they’ve fixed that for another partner as well: China Southern. That’s especially useful because award availability on Guangzhou-based China Southern is fairly good across the Pacific and beyond to destinations in Asia and also Australia.

Continue Reading »

When It Makes Sense to Spend Your Miles for Magazine Subscriptions

Sep 28 2015

Using miles for things other than travel has been an increasing trend, the loyalty programs have been offering several new options over the past few years — whether it’s redeeming miles for other travel like hotels and rental cars, or for LCD toasters.

The idea is that miles are a general currency, they can be spent like money. Heavy travelers may not want more flights. And if there are limited award seats available getting members to spend miles on other things satisfies those members rather than frustrating them.

Continue Reading »

How You Can Prevent Getting Scammed When Traveling Abroad

Sep 27 2015

Consumerist asked me how to deal with a scam where you’re asked to sign a charge slip for substantially more than the value of your drinks in a bar.

They highlighted the case of a traveler approached in a threatening manner in a bar and pressured to sign a credit card bill for $2000 on a ~ $20 bar tab. The traveler wrote on the charge slip that they were signing under duress, they disputed the charge, and the card company wasn’t a help.

Continue Reading »