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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Are Two Of My Strongly-Held Travel Beliefs Totally Wrong?

by Gary Leff

Jan 12 2017

I avoid Cancun. My mental model is spring break and disappointing resorts. You can use it as a jumping off point to explore the Yucatan but I’d rather fly into Merida for that. It’s super close since I live in Texas and Southwest offers daily non-stops for the 2.5 hour flight (United has seasonal weekend non-stops as well) so if only I could find a wonderful escape there…

I avoid all-inclusives. I don’t drink a lot and when I do drink I have strong preferences for what I’m drinking. Do I really want to be locked into staying on property since eating there comes at no marginal cost? Even though each generally has at least one ‘nice’ restaurant the food seems to most often disappoint.

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WOW Fare Alert: $69 Flights West Coast to Europe

by Gary Leff

wow plane
Jan 10 2017

Wow Air has $69 flights from the West Coast to Europe and it’s for real, you can book a one way at that cost.

They charge more for Europe – US, but you don’t have to buy from them you can book an award ticket or fly another airline (though their returns are about as cheap as you’ll get still under $200).

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Former New York Senator Kicked Off Flight After Inciting Passenger Rebellion

by Gary Leff

Jan 10 2017

Former New York Senator Al D’Amato (“Senator Pothole”) was onboard JetBlue flight 1002 yesterday from Fort Lauderdale to New York JFK which was delayed more than 6 hours.

Reportedly passengers who paid for ‘Even More Room’ seats were bumped from those due to weight and balance issues on the Airbus A321. “That’s when..[D’Amato] took to the aisles” to pressure passengers to leave their extra legroom seats (he was in back, so inciting class warfare).

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