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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American Airlines Creates New Customer Experience Unit, Names Chief Customer Officer To Drive Pivot To Premium

Feb 11 2025

A couple of weeks ago I revealed exclusively that American Airlines CEO Robert Isom had pivoted to begin talking about a premium focus in the airline’s strategy. In employee remarks following the airline’s fourth quarter earnings call, Isom talked about attracting customers willing to pay more for better services.

He said that the airline is going to have a “rededication and a renewal to focus on the customer experience.” And he talked about this as “the next order of business, we’re going to organize around this.” And says “you’re going to hear some things very soon.” The start of this appears to be today’s news.

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‘11% Of Your Money Is Being Stolen’: When You Tip At A Hotel, What Happens To The Money?

Feb 11 2025

When you tip at a hotel, where’s the money actually going? Often, this varies by location. In some places around the world, it’s common for service charges to be considered tips and pooled to be distributed to staff. In other places you can be pretty confident that tips are going to the person intended.

But not everywhere!

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FAA Revises Reagan National Arrivals To 26 per Hour Following Blackhawk–Regional Jet Collision

Following the disastrous collision of a military helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet landing from Wichita at Washington’s National airport on January 29, the FAA restricted the helicopter flight path around the airport. It appears that the Blackhawk was flying at an altitude above where it was supposed to be at the time the two aircraft collided. The FAA has also reduced throughput at the airport with runways 15-33 and 4-22 closed for the duration of the salvage operation, and all flights currently using the airport’s main Runway 1-19. The change is being reported as a reduction in allowable arrivals from 28 to 26 per hour. The number of allowable movements per hour is actually a little more complicated than that. 14 C.F.R. § 93.123(c) sets the maximum number of takeoffs and landings at…

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United Airlines Redeye Diverts To Denver As Four Passengers Pin Down Man Demanding, ‘Where Are The Mormons?’

Feb 10 2025

A United Airlines passenger wound up restrained on board Sunday night’s redeye flight 1494 from San Francisco to Chicago O’Hare after this “big dude kept coming up the aisle towards the front of the plane” getting into “heated confrontations with the crew,” according to a passenger on board. At one point the man got within “an inch” of “their noses” and “eventually started yelling really loudly.”

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Inside the Award Seat Crisis: Air Canada On Dynamic Pricing Of Partner Awards As Too Many Miles Chase Too Few Seats

Feb 10 2025

Airlines are at risk of killing their golden goose. Miles motivate customers, but customers need to be able to use their miles. Airlines have gotten better at selling their seats for cash, frequent flyer programs want to retain their margins, and so members get squeezed.

As a result, airline executives call for ‘revisiting the model’ of frequent flyer programs – the model that made them successful, multi-billion dollar enterprises.

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Why You May Be Sitting In Filth On Your Next Flight: ‘Every Minute Spent Cleaning Is A Minute Lost In The Air’

Feb 10 2025

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom says the most important thing for an airline is an on-time departure (also, ‘not spending a dollar more than they need to’ which presumably includes on cleaning planes). Personally I actually prioritize not sitting in filth for my flight even ahead of an exact on-time departure. Unfortunately there’s really not any U.S. airline I can choose that shares this value. And ideally they’d be in the business of doing both! United is supposed to be going for premium, but. @united Another filthy Polaris experience… And no wipes on board. pic.twitter.com/Zk5RLwzYLR — Joe (@joebarti) February 9, 2025 Southwest is ostensibly pivoting to premium, selling seat assignments and extra legroom seats. Maybe start with this. @SouthwestAir great job cleaning the seats between flights this is disgusting pic.twitter.com/1yd1Lhdd9P — Eric VanDongen (@ervandongen) February…

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