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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One Way Non-Elite Upgrades Now Take Priority Over Complimentary Elite Upgrades at American

Sep 08 2016

About six weeks ago I covered American’s new domestic first class upsell program where they e-mail non-elite flyers with offers to sell first class seats if still available the day before departure.

These upgrades are after elite upgrades the day before departure, so they don’t trade off with elite upgrades that are confirmed at least a day in advance however they certainly can trade off with available inventory for elite upgrades closer-in. We now know that in the event of a flight cancellation they have a higher priority than elite upgrades.

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How Marriott Rewards Could Be the Best Hotel Loyalty Program in the World

Sep 07 2016

With Marriott acquiring Starwood — a deal that hasn’t yet closed thanks to delays by Chinese regulators — a lot of members are going to be seeing changes.

Today Marriott Rewards’ strongest argument is ubiquity. What members tell me most often what they like about Marriott Rewards is ‘no matter where I go, I can earn my points’. In the US at least there are Marriott family properties pretty much anywhere.

Marriott is also already more rewarding for in-hotel spend than Starwood, and certainly clustered in the middle of the pack with competitors. And Marriott has started to improve since announcing its deal with Starwood.

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New York Airfare Deal: $62 to the Cayman Islands!

Sep 06 2016

Delta really does have $62 one-way fares from New York to Grand Cayman, including all taxes. Roundtrip fares are $190 which is phenomenal.

Travel is available September through mid-February with some peak dates like December 16-27 and New Years Eve and New Years Day excluded. This is a $24 base fare in each direction, so it’s mostly taxes.

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