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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CFPB’s Warning Shot Says Airline Miles Devaluations Are Now Illegal Bait-and-Switch—Just Empty Words From Regulators?

Dec 18 2024

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has launched a broadside against credit card rewards programs. I spoke with CFPB’s Director, Rohit Chopra about the effort.

The agency warns that several aspects of credit card rewards programs – like devaluations – may violate the law, that retail (store) cards are often poor value, and that consumers can be misled by tools that purport to suggest the best product for them.

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15 Months Later, Hilton Demands $325 With 2-Week Deadline—Another Guest Faced the Same Issue. How Long Is Too Long?

Dec 18 2024

A Hilton property in Budapest emailed a guest saying that they’ve discovered about $325 still owed from a stay 15 months earlier. Another guest reports receiving a similar note from the property. Despite the hotel giving themselves more than a year to identify the underpayment, they’re demanding that the customer make good within two weeks.

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DOT’s Dubious DCA Decision: Controversy Over Possibly Illegal Slot Awards

Dec 18 2024

By law, flights to and from Washington’s close-in National airport are limited to 1,250 miles, except for a handful of trips created by Congress and handed out by the Department of Transportation.

DOT finalized its award of new ‘beyond-perimeter’ slots at Washington’s National airport, granting flights to American, Delta, United, Southwest, and Alaska. But their process for doing this was probably illegal.

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