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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You Want to Apply for Credit Cards, the Miles are Great, But What About Your Credit Score?

May 27 2015

One of the most-asked questions about credit cards is how does it affect your credit score, and of course the implied followup, do you care? And it’s been awhile since I wrote a post on understanding your credit score. I’ve signed up for scores of cards over many years and I still have an excellent credit score, it was nearly 800 FICO on the three major credit bureaus when I went to get my mortgage. In part because of signing up for more cards, rather than in spite of it. I first discovered rewards credit cards in 1997. I signed up for a US Airways card, enticed by the bonus. I decided I didn’t want to pay an annual fee for a credit card back then. My income – and thus my spending – wasn’t…

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Why the Andaz 5th Avenue is My Favorite Hotel in New York

May 27 2015

The Andaz 5th Avenue has large rooms and tons of suites, plenty of value like non-alcoholic minibar free, and treats Diamond members exceptionally well including complimentary room service breakfast. In my view it hits a real sweet spot for price and value in the city. And they’ve made some recent changes that will have others singing praises too.

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United Had Men-Only Flights Until 1970. Here’s the Manly Services They Offered.

May 27 2015

From 1953 through 1970, United offered men-only ‘Executive flights’ between New York and Chicago and between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

These flights were operated by DC-6B aircraft and later Caravelles. Flights mostly operated at 5pm in each direction between the two cities(generally six days a week excluding Saturdays). They didn’t just ban women, but children also, and flight attendants catered to these business flights with…

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How US Airlines Benefit from Gulf Carrier Service

May 26 2015

There’s a tremendous interdependence between US airlines (which don’t service the vast route network in India and surrounding countries that the Gulf airlines do) and Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar. That’s why JetBlue is so strongly in favor of Gulf carrier route expansion. Gulf airlines actually plan their routes around bringing passengers to and from US airlines. None benefit more than American Airlines…

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