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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American Airlines Took a Celebrity’s Seat, Blamed Her for Delaying the Flight—Then Threatened to Ban Her as Brazil Erupted

Mar 11 2025

Actress, comedian and tv host Ingrid Guimarães was flying American from New York JFK to Rio de Janeiro. She was onboard in her seat when she was told she was being downgraded to coach, she says, because a business class passenger had a broken seat and that passenger was being given hers in premium economy.

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How The Grinch Stole Southwest: Expiring Flight Credits And No-Seat-Assignment Basic Economy Erase Its Core Advantage

Mar 11 2025

Between Alaska or JetBlue or even Delta, and Southwest, I had more confidence buying from Southwest. They’ve given up that advantage. But expiring flight credits is better for the balance sheet, since it writes off a liability, even though expiring flight credits is worse for incentivizing repeat business.

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