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 »

AARP Membership: The Best $12 Young People Now Spend

by Gary Leff

Dec 16 2023

I first joined AARP because of the discount their members get buying British Airways tickets. I’ve stacked the AARP and Chase discounts during BA sales to buy very cheap tickets, which I’ve then upgraded to first class using points. The hotel deals are great, too. And most people don’t realize you don’t need to be old to join.

The Wall Street Journal covers a trend in younger people joining AARP to take advantage of discounts, as effective methods of saving money become more focal in an era of inflation.

Continue Reading »

Are Airlines Thinking About Seat Fees All Wrong?

by Gary Leff

Dec 16 2023

For years airlines ‘gave away the value of seat assignments for free’ to customers. That’s no longer true. And the tax code encourages airlines to charge for seats, too. That’s because base airfare for domestic flights is taxed at 7.5%, while fees aren’t covered by this excise tax. Airlines have an incentive to move money from the fare into fees.

Continue Reading »

Breast Milk Battle on American Airlines As Gate Agent Leaves Mom In Tears

by Gary Leff

Dec 16 2023

An American Airlines passenger shared their ordeal boarding a flight with breast milk and being told they weren’t allowed to bring it on board, they’d have to ‘consolidate’ it into their carry on or give it up in order to fly.

The woman began crying and tried to show the agent her employer’s rules. Eventually she broke down, because the milk would spoil without being in the cooler packed with ice the way she was carrying it. She “squash[ed] some of it into [her] bag but couldn’t make it fit with the ice so most of it is unusable.”

Continue Reading »

Delta’s Big Move in Austin: Questionable New Flights as American Airlines Cedes Ground

by Gary Leff

keep austin weird
Dec 15 2023

While American shed highly unprofitable flying, they had been using pretty much all available windows for swing gates, gates that could be used for flying by any carrier. And that blocked others from significant expansion.

With their recent moves opening up the field I speculated that could mean Delta making good on its promise to create a focus city in Austin. They’ve been willing to stick by unprofitable flying like Seattle, buoyed by strong performance of their interior hubs and their lucrative American Express deal, making a bet on long-term performance.

Continue Reading »