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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‘White Pills’ Found In Woman’s Luggage After Bangkok Flight – Chilling Discovery Could Have Ended In Life Sentence

Nov 05 2024

“I found some white tablets in a clear plastic glove, all in the bottom of one finger of the glove,” buried deep within her dirty clothes. The tablets were unmarked, five in total, and she has “no idea” what they were. “It felt really scary that somehow someone had either accidentally or intentionally put it in my suitcase.”

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Russian Explosive Devices Headed For Transatlantic Flights: Two Failed Attempts Could Lead To New Bans On Everyday Items

Nov 04 2024

Airlines in some parts of the world are banning passengers from flying with pagers and walkie talkies after Israel took out much of Hezbollah’s command structure by supplying booby trapped devices. Soon in the U.S., though, we may no longer be able to travel with personal massagers – or other personal electronic devices.

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The First Hawaiian Airlines Flight On The Chopping Block After The Alaska Airlines Merger

Nov 03 2024

It’s clear that we’re going to see some long haul flying move to Seattle. That means some Hawaiian Airlines widebodies leave Honolulu. There will be fewer widebodies operating between Honolulu and the West Coast, perhaps, and fewer Honolulu – Pacific destinations. But it’s not just those markets that will see planes shift around.

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Hyatt Partnership Changes Free American Airlines Elites From Loyalty — Opening The Door To Flexible Travel

Nov 03 2024

I suspect that it will make sense for some Hyatt and American elite members to focus just on earning Hyatt status, transfer some Chase points to Hyatt and redeem for AAdvantage status for each trip you wind up making on American – and just travel on whichever airline makes sense on a given trip.

If you’d just be an occasional American traveler this may make more sense than striving for AAdvantage status – especially if you’re doing it now with spending on an AAdvantage credit card. Earn more and more valuable points (like Chase points) spending on a different card instead, and redeeming ad hoc whenever you need the status.

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