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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Why You May Be Sitting In Filth On Your Next Flight: ‘Every Minute Spent Cleaning Is A Minute Lost In The Air’

by Gary Leff

Feb 10 2025

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom says the most important thing for an airline is an on-time departure (also, ‘not spending a dollar more than they need to’ which presumably includes on cleaning planes). Personally I actually prioritize not sitting in filth for my flight even ahead of an exact on-time departure. Unfortunately there’s really not any U.S. airline I can choose that shares this value. And ideally they’d be in the business of doing both! United is supposed to be going for premium, but. @united Another filthy Polaris experience… And no wipes on board. pic.twitter.com/Zk5RLwzYLR — Joe (@joebarti) February 9, 2025 Southwest is ostensibly pivoting to premium, selling seat assignments and extra legroom seats. Maybe start with this. @SouthwestAir great job cleaning the seats between flights this is disgusting pic.twitter.com/1yd1Lhdd9P — Eric VanDongen (@ervandongen) February…

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Hyatt Buys Playa Hotels In $2.6 Billion Doubling Down Into All-Inclusives

by Gary Leff

Feb 10 2025

Hyatt will acquire all outstanding shares of Playa Hotels at $13.50 per share, valuing it at $2.6 billion inclusive of $900 million debt. That’s a 40% premium over the company’s market cap prior to revealing talks over the sale. Hyatt plans to sell the physical hotel properties, and they anticipate this will generate approximately $2 billion by the end of 2027. The non-Hyatt branded properties seem likely to convert to Hyatt brands over time.

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North Koreans Once Hid Foreign Fast Food—Now They Empty This Airport KFC Before Every Flight To Pyongyang

by Gary Leff

Feb 09 2025

At Shenyang Taoxian International Airport in northeastern China, a familiar scene unfolds every time an Air Koryo flight readies for Pyongyang. As soon as passengers clear passport control, there’s a dash towards the KFC in the departures hall. The fast food outpost gets cleaned out of hamburgers and chicken burgers. They’re bringing the burgers back home with them.

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United Airlines ‘Surprise & Delight’ Move – Even Economy Flyers Now Enjoy Jaguar Rides Across The Tarmac For Connections

by Gary Leff

Feb 09 2025

United is leaving American behind in the dust at Chicago O’Hare, and competed head-to-head with Delta in the ‘premium lane’ of U.S. air travel across the country. So it doesn’t surprise me that they’re investing more in their product, investing in their technology, and consistently surprising customers with inflight milestone recognition. Well, it seems they have something new up their sleeve.

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‘No Washroom or Phone In That Small Cell’: 5 Flight Attendants Held In Zurich Over Missing Crew Member Certificates

by Gary Leff

Feb 09 2025

Five Air India flight attendants were jailed at Zurich airport after arriving without the mandatory Crew Member Certificate.

Over the past week, two separate Air India flights brought in crewmembers – and across the two, five flight flight attendants were affected – four arrived without any CMC while the fifth carried an invalid version of the document, issued under Air Vistara

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Sheraton Owner Ben Mallah: ‘We Ain’t Gonna Follow Your Rules’ — Exposing Marriott’s Permissive Brand Standards

by Gary Leff

Feb 09 2025

There’s a great video of the owner of the Sheraton Suites Fort Lauderdale, Ben Mallah, complaining about what Marriott required him to spend on his Sheraton property. He talks about how Marriott was telling him to bring back food and beverage after the pandemic and he threatened to pull the Sheraton flag over it. It’s a clear articulation of how owners believe Marriott will cave to them, and that they don’t need to deliver to customers.

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‘Things You DONT See as a Passenger’: Emirates Flight Attendants Fired After Behind-The-Scenes Video Reveals Rule-Breaking And Boyfriend Antics

by Gary Leff

emirates business seats
Feb 09 2025

Behind-the-scenes video by a former Emirates flight attendant that garnered over a million views has reportedly triggered the firing of an entire crew from one of her flights. While this flight attendant had apparently left the job prior to releasing the footage, the airline apparently pursued action against other cabin crew members who had worked with her.

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