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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New United Fee Waivers for 1Ks

united-plane
Mar 14 2007

As of this past Sunday, United is waiving paper ticket fees, Australian Electronic Travel Authority Fees (which up until recently were free), and the $25 same-day confirmed change fees for 1K, Global Services, and passengers flying on paid premium class ickets. I still miss the days when same-day confirmed changes (not on the day of departure, but well in advance) were no cost to Premier Executive and 1K members. I could book an 8am flight and call up a week later, still long in advance of travel, and change it to a 2pm as long as the same fare class I had ticketed was available on the 2pm (and technically as long as the fare I had purchased wasn’t time or flight specific, but those rules were often ignored). Still, fee waivers are good, and…

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Alaska to Fly to Hawaii?

alaska airlines
Mar 11 2007

The Cranky Flier thinks that the end of the Alaska-Hawaiian Airlines frequent flyer program tie-in signals that Alaska is finally planning to offer Hawaii flights itself. Not a crazy bet, and the Alaska 737s can make the trip. Presumably Seattle-Honolulu and possibly Seattle-Maui.This would be good news for lots of flyers, as Alaska partners with American, Continental, Northwest, and Delta (among others) so many mileage program members would have a new option to Hawaii.

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Companion Ticket Offers and the New American Express Platinum Program

Alaska Airlines offers $50 companion tickets once a year with their co-branded Visa ($99 companion ticket with the business Visa). This is probably the best companion ticket out there — it’s good on any fare, from cheapest in the market to first class, there are no blackout dates or other restrictions, and the companion ticket counts as the same booking class as the paid ticket. Earns miles, eligible for upgrades, etc. USAirways offers $99 companion tickets once a year with their co-branded Visa. There are a few restrictions (such as minimum ticket price of the paid ticket, advance purchase requirements, even a few blackout dates) but in general it’s quite usable, and the companion ticket earns miles. In fact I used one for travel last weekend. American’s Mastercard offers a companion ticket as well, but…

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An Alternative to 100% Screening for Airport Workers

It isn’t often you hear someone making an argument against requiring all airport workers to pass through security screening, but Bob Poole offers one that makes enough sense to merit reposting: At most airports, the secure area begins just behind the ticket counter, and agents go back and forth between secure and non-secure areas a dozen or more times a day. At smaller airports, the same people who work the ticket counters often do double-duty as gate agents, and may even load and unload baggage. To be meaningful, the 100% screening policy would have to screen these people every time they went back into the secure area, all day long. And what about mechanics and carpenters and electricians, bringing tools to work? None of those tools could get through passenger checkpoints, but people can’t work…

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Choice Privileges Member-Get-Member Bonus

Choice Privileges, the frequest guest program of a variety of low-end hotels (sometimes Comfort Inn is just the only decent place in some towns, but I’ll still pass on EconoLodge) has a member referral program — new members referred by an existing member get 500 bonus points on their first stay, and the existing member gets 500 points as well. Thanks for Free Frequent Flyer Miles for the pointer, and if you’d like a referral for the bonus points just email me.

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Encounter at LAX Closing

Encounter, the space age restaurant at Los Angeles International Airport that some mistake for an air traffic control tower, is being closed for at least six months for structural repairs.The food isn’t great, but it’s better than most of what you’ll get at the airport and it’s a fun visit. Bummer.

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USAirways Quietly Devalues Award Chart

usairways
Mar 08 2007

USAirways seems to have updated their award chart with no notice whatsoever. The first item I’ve noticed is that flights between North America and “South and Central Asia” now run 80,000 miles for coach/120,000 for business/160,000 for first class — up from 60/90/120 thousand respectively.This really is a disappointment. I know that USAirways has had a much maligned program, and things have generally changed for the worse since America West took over things. But I was just starting to collect USAirways miles again over the past few months, racking up about 90,000. And now that doesn’t buy my favorite award any longer. Update: This was discussed briefly earlier in the week on Flyertalk. It surprises me that there’s less attention being paid to it than I would have expected. One summary of the changes to…

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Car Rental Upgrades, Good or Bad?

Mark Ashley doesn’t like car upgrades. He usually gets a bigger car than he wants, burns more gas, and bigger isn’t always better anyway. Back when I was a run of the mill “Preferred Select” elite member with Avis, I expected to get a one car class upgrade on each rental. Sometimes I’d just book one class below what I wanted to get. The rule, of course, with any travel — air, hotel, or car — is always to confirm the minimum that you’ll actually be happy receiving.More than upgrades, I enjoy service … I like that my status now with Avis yields a ride back to the airport in the car I drove up in, no transferring bags and waiting on a bus or dropping off other passengers. And I do love my car…

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Germans, Elites, and ‘the Rules’

I just love this story. Lufthansa Senator member sees the first class checkin has a long time, wants to use the empty business class line. They’re told ‘no way’ — a benefit of Senator status is that they use the First Class lines. Period. They’re not allowed to use the business class lines. Lufthansa can just be… that way. Those of you who’ve ever tried to access a Lufthansa lounge know what I mean. Your boarding pass displays your status, which entitles you to the lounge…. but the rules say you must present your membership card. No card, no entry. Rules.

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