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 »

5 Great New Opportunities Created by the Marriott-Starwood Merger

by Gary Leff

first class seats
Sep 23 2016

Now that Marriott’s acquisition has closed, and they’re already letting you link accounts, match elite status, and move points between programs, there are fantastic arbitrage opportunities created.

However long the period lasts where the Marriott program and Starwood program retain their separate identities while letting members move their points and status back and forth between the two — whether only a little over a year, or for two years — this period may wind up as one of the real golden ages of hotel loyalty programs.

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American Airlines Has a Brand New Safety Video – I Like It

by Gary Leff

Sep 22 2016

This will take some time to roll out, for instance my flights on American last night still aired the older videos that American has been playing for years (which featured different crew members speaking different parts but that was generally corporate and straight-forward). I expect my American flights today will still have the older video as well, and of course MD80s don’t have inflight video at all.

However the new video is more modern, it has a little bit too long of a lead-in in my opinion, but is more ‘fun’ without being too cheesy either.

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Hawaiian Airlines Wants to Be the First US Airline to Fly Airbus A380s, Because Why Exactly?

by Gary Leff

Sep 22 2016

Japan’s Skymark Airlines was scheduled to take the A380, but it went bankrupt. ANA won Airbus’ support as a creditor to take control of Skymark — all they wanted was Skymark’s slots at Tokyo Haneda — by agreeing to accept the Skymark A380s. ANA says they’ll operate the planes to Honolulu.

No US airline has taken an A380. Many airlines regret theirs. It’s a big plane, expensive to operate, although cost-effective if you can fill it. The idea was to fly routes at slot-congested airports, like Tokyo Narita and London Heathrow, where an A380 could replace two smaller planes. But an airline that does that loses frequently, and becomes less convenient for time-sensitive business travelers. And adding seats to a market drives down the price the carrier can sell those seats for.

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Etihad Wants Your Family to Fly Them Long Haul in Economy

by Gary Leff

Sep 22 2016

Three years ago Etihad launched onboard nannies. Now they’ve added new features.

This isn’t a premium cabin benefit, it’s available even in coach, and the idea is to offer help with preparation of bassinets, to look after unaccompanied minors, and even keep children entertained while parents – economy passengers, no less – nap, eat, or watch a movie. Of course, the nanny spreads their time across all the families onboard so it’s not free unlimited babysitting to offload your kids for the duration of the flight.

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Aer Lingus Members About to See Their Points Become Avios — Watch Your Account Balance!

by Gary Leff

Sep 21 2016

British Airways parent IAG acquired Aer Lingus and the Irish carrier is expected to join oneworld.

Aer Lingus is a former member of oneworld — they left nine years ago to pursue a strategy as a low cost carrier. Since then they’ve built back their premium offerings. They have a good transatlantic business class, considering the short flights between Dublin, Shannon and the East Coast of the U.S. which are their bread and butter (though not exclusive) destinations.

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Delta and Starwood’s Open Relationship: Once a Year SkyMiles Cheats with Hilton HHonors

by Gary Leff

Sep 21 2016

Delta rarely runs promotions anymore, since the lead up to their going to revenue-based mileage earning.

They do have a very tight relationship with Starwood, though — Crossover Rewards — which offers Starwood points for Delta flights and Delta miles for Starwood stays, and even status benefits equivalent to the lowest tier at both companies.

And yet there’s one area in which Delta cheats a bit on Starwood.

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New London Heathrow Lounge Can Handle the Overflow of Delta Elites Kicked Out of Virgin Clubhouse

by Gary Leff

Sep 21 2016

I shared last week that with Delta’s move of their full operations to Terminal 3 at London Heathrow, while Delta business class passengers will continue to have access to the Virgin Clubhouse there Delta elites will instead be sent to the No1 Lounge (which is a Priority Pass lounge).

If there’s one thing that London Heathrow has a lot of it’s lounges, the best and most unique being the Sofitel’s club lounge at terminal 5.

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