Gary Leff, Author at View from the Wing

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 »

20,000 Mile Bonus Offer for United Visa Signature Platinum Class

by Gary Leff on July 14, 2005

Jul 14 2005

The new United Mileage Plus Visa Signature Platinum Class, detailed earlier this month, has an offer of 20,000 bonus miles with first purchase along with the other card benefits detailed in my previous post. The application link won’t spell out the bonus miles — these links usually don’t — but the link is from an email clearly promising the bonus miles. In my experience with the United Visa, this works out perfectly well (although if you have any problems receiving the correct bonus, email me at gleff -at- yahoo.com and I’ll forward the text of the email).

Several free items

by Gary Leff on July 13, 2005

Jul 13 2005

Free Dove deoderant sample Free $10 OfficeMax gift card for taking a survey from DHL. Free Bausch & Lomb ReNu contact solution sample. (I signed up for several at the same address, received them all.)

One small step for sanity, one giant leap for my bladder

by Gary Leff on July 13, 2005

Jul 13 2005

The thirty-minute no pee rule at Reagan National has been repealed.

Marketing price increases

by Gary Leff on July 13, 2005

Jul 13 2005

Last year I explained why airlines instituted ‘fuel surcharges’ instead of simply announcing ‘price increases’. One reason is that customers seem to accept price increases more readily when there’s a story that accompanies the change. Another reason is that surcharges are often permitted in negotiated corporate travel contracts that have fixed prices. The dance that accompanies surcharges leads to some absurd explanations. Northwest has announced that it will no longer ‘absorb’ passenger facility fees (which they have to pay to airports that they carry passengers cross), and as a result will be adding those fees onto tickets. Gosh, I never knew that they were kindly ‘absorbing’ a fee for me. Turns out I was getting something for nothing! Airlines have recently instituted ticketing fees for using their call centers or buying at the airport. One…

Reading the fine print for breakfast

by Gary Leff on July 11, 2005

Jul 11 2005

Brad DeLong points to the fine print in a hotel’s complimentary breakfast offering Fresh Fruit Parfait–Granola and yoghurt topped with Fresh Fruit OR Two farm fresh eggs, scrambled (Only) with choice of Bacon or Sausage. Served with country potatoes and a Croissant. Toast is not included with Hotel breakfast, Nor can it be substituted for the Croissant, however it can be purchased for $1.95. Coffee, Tea, Milk, Lemonade, Orange Juice, Apple Juice, or Pass-O-Guava Juice Only Is included with Hotel Breakfast Please No substitutions on Hotel breakfast. A $3.95 credit will be applied to other entries on the breakfast menu if you choose outside the box. Two comments. First, as Brad DeLong observes, the hotel squanders much customer goodwill through its complicated rules. Second, this hotel has to be a good candidate for a six…

Cracking down on motel pricing

by Gary Leff on July 8, 2005

Jul 08 2005

David Rowell notes in his latest weekly email that Florida has settled with 23 hotels that were accused of price gouging during last year’s hurricane season. At One hotel in particular the daily rate for rooms at the motel increased from $55 per night to $75 and, in some instances, $100 per night. As a result the Airport Inn will provide restitution to guests affected by the price gouging practices, many of whom were over age 60. (I’m not sure why being 60 years old makes paying $75 for a hotel night especially problematic?) I addressed this issue when it came up last year: Via Chris Elliott, Florida’s attorney general filed complaints against two hotels for price gouging in the aftermath of Hurricane Charley. The attorney general has issued a press release to let voters…

Food poisoning in the air

by Gary Leff on July 7, 2005

Jul 07 2005

Joe Turner got food poisoning on a JAL flight. Not fun, and I can relate — I picked up salmonella last month on Qantas (in first, flying Melbourne to Los Angeles). Doesn’t discourage me from flying, though, I’m just not sure how to ‘be more careful’ and avoid such things in the future. Thoughts?

Air Marshall Mission Creep

by Gary Leff on July 7, 2005

Jul 07 2005

Watch what you say. Don’t make fun of the law, or joke that you might be breaking the law. An air marshall might be listening. Apparently an air marshall overhead some men on a plane talking about having crossed into the U.S. illegally so he had the plane met and the men taken into custody. Some might say: great, law enforcement is present and acting against criminal activity. I’m actually frightened by this, on several levels. The expansion of law enforcement in our midst has been accepted as a way of fighting terrorism (though it’s unclear this particular method is effective in that fight). Now, once in under the cover of fear of terrorism, law enforcement has far greater access to our conversations by simple virtue of being closer to those conversations in daily life…

Disputing the fair market value of a prize

by Gary Leff on July 7, 2005

A story in the Wall Street Journal yesterday has been much talked about on the web, the man who turned down 12 round-trip coach tickets for two from the U.S. to anywhere in the world American flies. (He won the ‘We Know Why You Fly’ contest, I’ll save mocking American’s ad campaign for another post.) The man turned down the prize because American reported that each ticket would be worth $2200, and so his tax liability was going to be $800 per ticket. The tickets expire within a year, and he quite reasonably didn’t think he’d get as much value out of them as he’d be liable for in tax. As the Journal piece notes, it is possible to dispute the reported value of a prize. Contest winners do have alternatives, according to tax experts.…

Wrapping up Northwest’s Fly Free Faster 5 Bonus

by Gary Leff on July 5, 2005

Jul 05 2005

Last month I detailed Northwest’s Fly Free Faster 5 bonus. Over the past week I’ve gone through the hoops to earn it. Last weekend I applied for a Northwest Visa Signature, I received the card on Friday . That qualified me for the Fly Free Faster 5 bonus. I promptly registered that credit card to earn Northwest miles at iDine (er, “Rewards Network”) restaurants. Last Monday I transferred 1000 Goldpoints into 125 Northwest miles and 1000 Diners Club Club Rewards points into 1000 Northwest points. This weekend I racked up two iDines with the Northwest credit card. Once those points post, and I receive the Visa bill, I’ll have 5 partner credits and I’ll receive the 10,000 bonus miles. The Visa will provide another 25,000 miles, and I’ll earn about another 2,000 miles from the…

	Bilt Mastercard® Earn Points Paying Rent (up to 100,000 each year) plus earn 3x at restaurants; 2x on travel; as long as you make at least 5 purchases per month. No annual fee.
	Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months (See rates and fees)
	Citi® / AAdvantage Business^TM World Elite Mastercard® Earn 65,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening. AAdvantage miles are the currency I've redeemed most.[See rates and fees]

About Gary Leff

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About Gary Leff