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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The chairman of

The chairman of Hooters is considering buying bankrupt Vanguard airlines. He’s paying $50,000 per week for the next three weeks to pay a skeleton staff while he examines the company’s books and decides if he wants to buy. A newly formed company called Hooters Air Inc. will make the payments. I bet they’ll have a great frequent flyer program. Stay tuned to More Room Throughout Coach in order to keep abreast…

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United is pulling

United is pulling out of E-Rewards, the e-mail survey program, effective August 31st. E-Rewards will still be offering Delta and Hertz discounts, Hilton HHonors points, and Blockbuster coupons. Personally, I valued the United discounts the most, so I’ve redeemed everything that I had.

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With USAirways in bankruptcy and

With USAirways in bankruptcy and United next, it’s time for all of the “I told you so” comments. Well, here’s my “I should have been able to tell you so.” Why should I have seen it with greater clarity? Because of a change in the insurance industry. Insurance companies are generally pretty savvy. As a class (abstracting away from particular insurance companies), they are very good at analyzing risk. After September 11th, the following was inserted into many travel policies: We will not pay a claim that arises because of any of the following: You incur any costs or losses arising from the failure of any travel agent, tour operator, accommodation provider, airline or other carrier, car rental agency or any other travel or tourism services provider to provide services or accommodation due to their…

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Another More Room Throughout Coach

Another More Room Throughout Coach Giveaway! Just e-mail an entry including your name and address. I will pick one winner who will get their choice of: (1) a confirmed first class upgrade on Alaska Airlines, (2) two drink coupons on Continental or United, or (3) a USAirways club pass. Winner will be picked at random on Friday, August 30th.

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Travelers are choosing

Travelers are choosing cars over jets. (Link via Instapundit.) That was exactly my explanation in an earlier post. The Transportation Security Administration is making travel more costly and time consuming, and travelers drive instead of fly for trips under 500 miles. USAirways, which serves a large chunk of these short routes up and down the East Coast, has been impacted most — and that’s a big reason they’re in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

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It turns out

It turns out that the government requirement for airline passengers to show an ID may not exist. Airlines began requiring IDs as a way of preventing tickets from being resold, in order to maintain their pricing structure. They are now required to request identification, but it isn’t clear that any rules forbid transporting a passenger who refuses to identify himself or herself. One procedure which has been used — but not verified vis a vis a federal rule — is to search any passenger unwilling to show ID.

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