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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Northwest Worldperks Signup Bonus

If you’re taking a Northwest flight, be sure to sign up for their frequent flyer program with this link to receive 1000 bonus miles for your first flight and 5000 bonus miles for your second. You have six months to complete the second flight, but you must sign up for this offer by December 15, 2003.

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Frequent Flyer Programs Work

They influence purchasing decisions. An interesting statistic: Theunis Potgieter, the senior executive manager at SAA Voyager, says research shows that frequent-flyer programmes influence 30 to 35 percent of consumers who are choosing an airline.

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A View from the Wing Primer

Since this website is brought to you in the form of a blog — daily commentary offered with the most recent items first — older items quickly fall off the page. I only display the most recent week’s worth of content at any one time. I like to think, though, that some of the entries retain their value even after the week has passed. And you can still read them — just click on the Archives link or pick one of the entries labeled “Greatest Hits” at the right (under my picture).Don’t want to miss a single deal or offer? Just be sure to enter your email address under Subscribe for Updates and each night you’ll receive an email with the day’s content. And I will never use your email for any other purpose. For…

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Another note about Northwest

Two weeks ago I said that Northwest Airlines was best positioned not to change its frequent flyer elite program qualification rules, but that they’d face pressure because partners Delta and Continental had already made changes. Looks like they followed their own best interest, ignoring the calls to restructure their program to reward fare basis purchased rather than miles flown.

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No news is the best news

Northwest Airlines has announced program changes for 2004. The biggest news is no change at all: Northwest won’t go along with partners Delta and Continental on elite qualification — Northwest flights will continue to earn 100% elite mileage even on the lowest fares.Additional changes: Northwest will only award 50% of elite mileage on Continental flights at the lowest fares, so stay on Northwest metal! Most strikingly, Northwest will award 100% of elite mileage on Delta flights at the lowest fares (effective this Sunday – we don’t have to wait until January 1 for this one!). So Delta frequent flyers flying L, U, and T fares will only earn 50% mileage, Northwest frequent flyers will earn 100% elite mileage on the same flights. Northwest is increasing the number of miles required for First Class awards from…

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