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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So, wait a minute. I

So, wait a minute. I don’t plan to fly any of these places, or on USAirways, or Delta. So, Mr. Smartypants More Room Throughout Coach, what good is any of this to me? Simple. You may not realize it now, but you might catch a flight.. say from DC up to New York on the USAirways shuttle.. or maybe you’re flying Northwest and your flight gets cancelled and you get put onto Delta. Will you be able to register for this promotion while running between terminals trying to catch another flight? I didn’t think so. Just register for these babies. It takes just a few seconds. It could pay off big in free travel.

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USAirways has a

USAirways has a ton of bonuses, too. 10,000 bonus miles by flying to London and Amsterdam Double miles between Chicago and Charlotte/Pittsburgh Double miles between Chicago and Philadelphia Earn up to 20,000 bonus miles which count towards status (Fly 4 segments get 4k, 8 segs 6k, 12 segs 10k). Call 800-872-4738 and request bonus 5124 Quintuple miles from NY LaGuardia to the Bahamas Bonus miles to Florida 30,000 bonus miles to Europe Double miles between Washington, DC and Bermuda Triple miles on USAirways Shuttle (DC/NY/Boston flights)

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Delta is offering double base

Delta is offering double base miles on all flights between August 1 and October 15, but you have to register. What are “double base miles?” Since you asked… it normally takes flying 25,000 to become an elite flyer (which makes you eligible for first class upgrades and lots of other good things). Double base miles means that each mile you fly counts as two. Fly 12,500 miles and become an elite. Reach the next level at 25,000 instead of 50,000, too!

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Glenn Reynolds suggests

Glenn Reynolds suggests that a “mischievous soul should add a rider to financial reform legislation requiring candidates for office to sign a statement swearing that no illegal contributions were accepted, on pain of criminal sanction if that turns out to be wrong.” That would be cute — but please, Glen, don’t give anyone any ideas! First, I should note that in most cases campaign treasurers are even held personally liable for campaign finance violations (that is, for FEC fines). That isn’t the candidate, but it is some accountability. Actually, I would argue, it’s too much accountability or more precisely it’s accountability for laws which are impenetrable and incomprehensible. Second, candidate liability would be a bad idea. It’s often times at least as difficult if not more so to figure out what is or is not…

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In a case of shutting

In a case of shutting the barn door after the horses have already fled, President Bush declared that in signing the new accounting reform bill that “the era of low standards and false profits is over.” The markets have punished the offenders and are rooting out any other potential disasters. Of course, the President and Congress both feel the need to act — to do something — and more importantly, to appear as though they are doing something. Question of the week: can anyone come up with an example of the federal government being proactive? That is, recognizing the possibility of a problem, legislating, and then being proven right/have the legislation prevent the problem? I’d love to hear one.

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Vanguard Airlines is filing for

Vanguard Airlines is filing for bankruptcy. They were denied the $35 to $40mm in federal loans they were seeking. Thank goodness this airline is being allowed to die. They’ve been operating on less than $200,000 cash on hand for some time. They never had a profitable route system or strategy. Unfortunately, Midway Airlines wasn’t allowed to just die. It was in bankruptcy proceedings — for the second time — on September 11th. They suspended operations immediately thereafter. Immediately after 9/11 the feds gave direct cash payments to airlines based on previous year’s traffic to make up for time lost while the nation’s airways were shut down. Since Midway had been in the air the previous year, it got cash. The bailout funded the airline’s ability to get back in the air. It was unfortunate, because…

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