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 »

More articles by Gary Leff »

Unlocking the World’s Most Exclusive Airport Lounges Without Paying For First Class

by Gary Leff

lounge
Feb 16 2024

The best airport lounge in the world is probably the Air France La Premiere lounge at Paris Charles de Gaulle. It has true gourmet dining, a spa, and a car service to take you to and from the plane. However, almost nobody can use this. You actually need to be an Air France first class passenger. They only make one award seat available per flight, and you have to be a Flying Blue Platinum member to book it.

However there are many great lounges that most of us have real world access to. These are my favorites.

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No More Waiting In Line For Capital One Lounges! Now Join The Queue Before Reaching The Airport

by Gary Leff

Feb 16 2024

Airline passengers will show up earlier, and stay longer (and eat more) at airport lounges than you expect when there’s a great lounge option at no added cost. And that’s true even when you expect that they’ll show up earlier, stay longer, and eat more.

So even as these lounges have expanded, and Capital One and Chase have both gotten into the airport lounge game, there’s just not enough space for the passengers who want to use these lounges.

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American Airlines Used To Own A Hotel Chain. It’s Now Part Of Marriott And IHG

by Gary Leff

Feb 16 2024

Pan Am founded Intercontinental Hotels. After all there needed to be places for American consumers to stay in the far flung destinations they served, and as a tool of US foreign policy.

At one point United Airlines owned both Hilton and Westin hotels as part of their attempt at horizontal integration in travel under the Allegis brand. United wouldn’t just sell airline tickets, they’d market the full trip to consumers.

But I’d forgotten that American Airlines had a hotel chain.

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Sheraton Still Awful After All These Years, Hilton And Marriott Strategic Moves Revealed In Government Filings

by Gary Leff

Feb 15 2024

Both chains report that 78% of their revenue comes from the U.S. Their international footprints are smaller than you’d think!

Marriott has more than twice as much booked liability for hotel award night redemptions as Hilton. But that does not mean “Marriott’s loyalty program generated a far higher total volume of rewards for members than Hilton’s did” since Hilton pays hotels less when members redeem than Marriott does.

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Gate Checking Madness: Why Bigger Overhead Bins Aren’t Solving the Airline Carry-On Crisis

by Gary Leff

inside plane
Feb 15 2024

You’re allowed to carry bags onto the plane – but only if there’s enough space on board. That’s the main reason it’s better to board planes early, rather than being last onto the plane. Priority boarding is a benefit to ensure you get access to carry on bin space – even though no one wants to spend more time on board the aircraft than they have to.

Overhead bins are stuffed full, and passengers are forced to gate check their carry on bags, even though airlines are installing bigger overhead bins – bins that are supposed to have enough space for everyone. And it didn’t used to be this way!

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