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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Did Kuwait Kick Out United Airlines In Retaliation Against US Government Non-Discrimination Rules?

Oct 24 2015

If the U.S. is going to enforce its non-discrimination rules against Kuwait Airways, which flies to the US, then it seems no US airline is going to be allowed to fly to Kuwait. That’s at least one interpretation of a spat over United’s Washington DC – Kuwait City service.

United – the only US airline flying to Kuwait – has just announced an end to service despite what appears to be their desire to continue service. So it may come at the direction of the Kuwait government in retaliation for the declaration by authorities here that an airline serving the US may not refuse to transport Israeli passport holders.

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Amazing Star Alliance Award Space to Europe: 4 to 8 Seats and No Fuel Surcharges, Act Fast

Oct 24 2015

Star Allinace member Turkish Airlines has opened up as many as 8 business class award seats or more between the US and Istanbul in 2016. This is available on a wide range of dates.

Turkish serves more countries in the world than any other airline (and fourth most destinations and will provide a free hotel night in Istanbul if flight schedules force an overnight connection in Istanbul. You can generally route US – Istanbul on Turkish and then backtrack to Western Europe. They’re a great option for getting to Israel and to Athens, as well as to Africa and even Asia.

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The TSA’s New ‘Priority Concern’ Isn’t Security, it’s… Insufficient Airport Retail Shopping

Oct 24 2015

So what new issue “has now been earmarked as a priority concern for action by TSA” under new TSA director Peter Neffenger?

Long security lines mean passengers have less time to shop. Plus if people didn’t bring so much stuff through security and carry it onto planes, there’s be more room in the overhead bins for people to store retail purchases.

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What I Like Most About This Blog

Oct 23 2015

Many of the emails I get with questions contain notes of thanks. I usually delete those parts when I post questions and answers on the blog. Since I do post many of my media appearances, folks probably wouldn’t know it but I’m fairly bashful about such things.

But I do like to share what really means a lot to me.

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US Court of Appeals Orders TSA to Stop Breaking the Law With Nude-o-Scopes

Oct 23 2015

A federal court ruled in 2011 that TSA use of body scanners has been illegal.

Eight years since the introduction of body scanners, and four years since a court ruled that TSA was in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act over those scanners, the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the National Center for Transgender Equality sued — and the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled, essentially, that TSA is simply ignoring the law…

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200 Free Hilton Points (and Up to 10,000 Bonus Points)

Oct 23 2015

The only real value I’ve ever gotten from ‘ThanksAgain’ is earning miles at brick and mortar retailers when I didn’t expect it.

When they first began they had a ton of dry cleaners in their portfolio. More recently they’ve focused on signing up the majority of merchants at several airports. Pay with your registered credit card, accumulate points for the purchase. You can set up different accounts, and link different credit cards to each.

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