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 »

More articles by Gary Leff »

Navigating the Gray Zone: Air Canada’s Lawsuit and the Future of Award Search Tools

by Gary Leff

Oct 20 2023

Air Canada has sued award search website Seats.Aero in Delaware court for pulling award availability from its website. They claim (1) trademark infringement for use of its marks, and (2) violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for accessing its systems without authorization.

There may be a real problem for Air Canada here, but their legal claims appear weak – and certainly bad from a public policy standpoint. They have deeper pockets, though, and sometimes that’s enough to prevail.

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From Superhost to Homeless: How Airbnb Left Pregnant Woman With $300K Debt

by Gary Leff

Oct 19 2023

Airbnb says they cost hosts up to $3 million. One San Francisco host shares what that coverage actually looks like in practice, when a guest clogged a toilet and created a leak from a separate upstairs unit into the whole home – causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. After six months, they want the owner to settle for about 10% of the costs.

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U.S. Issues Alert For All Americans Traveling Abroad

by Gary Leff

Oct 19 2023

The U.S. is “advising…increased caution” for U.S. citizens while overseas. The State Department is a bureaucracy, and how would it look if bad things happened and they didn’t warn people? Now that they’ve done so, bad things aren’t their fault.

The State Department advises that you register your travel with them and… follow them on Facebook and Twitter. That’s hardly advice that, for now, is going to scare me off from travel.

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Customer Service Blunder: How Hyatt Charged An Elite Guest $137 For A ‘Free’ Gift

by Gary Leff

Oct 19 2023

A reader stayed at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay for his wife’s 50th birthday weekend. He’s a “Globalist,” a top elite with Hyatt for the past decade or more. And one of the benefits of this status is a dedicated ‘concierge’ who helps with reservations, upgrades, billing and points issues and other hotel matters.

Since his concierge knew that it was a special weekend, she contacted the hotel about delivering something to the room for the occasion. The hotel did. And they charged the guest for it, at full room service prices.

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[UPDATE: Now Live] Hyatt Launching Homesharing Platform Like Marriott Homes & Villas

by Gary Leff

Oct 19 2023

Marriott has an affiliate commission-earning business, and they rebate part of that commission in the form of points.

Hyatt is getting into the homeshare marketing business too with Homes & Hideaways by World of Hyatt. It will launch “in the coming weeks” with domestic markets “like Hawaii, Florida and Colorado,” and eventually expand to international markets as well.

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Flight Takes Off With Plane’s Door Still Open

by Gary Leff

Oct 19 2023

We’ve seen belligerent or drunk passengers try to open the door of a commercial aircraft while inflight. And unless the plane is at sufficiently low altitude, or a door’s seal fails, it will almost always be pressurized such that this is impossible.

What I don’t think I’ve seen before is an flight that takes off with a door that’s still open!

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United Flight Attendants Told: Pack Flashlight, Latex Gloves Due To Bed Bugs

by Gary Leff

Oct 19 2023

The United Airlines flight attendants union, AFA-CWA, is telling crewmembers to pack (1) a flashlight and (2) latex gloves, so they can search for bedbugs during their trips. The union also reports cabin crew at Alaska Airlines, Frontier, Hawaiian, Spirit and others including American Airlines wholly-owned regional carriers Envoy Airlines, Piedmont, and PSA. Members are being told to be vigilant about bedbugs, not only at international carriers flying to Paris, where infestations have gotten the most attention lately. Check the mattress for bed bug remains That means looking at the corner of the mattress, seams, and labels Crew are advised that while the headboard is a place they can be found, not to actually remove the headboard because they could be liable for damage. Flight attendants are also advised to use hard sided luggage rather…

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Amex Refreshes Premium Hilton Card, And The Changes Are… Ok?

by Gary Leff

condado plaza hilton
Oct 19 2023

Hilton’s premium co-brand is interesting because it straight up comes with Honors Diamond status, though I view Hilton Diamond as worth less than similar status at Hyatt, Marriott, and IHG (no guaranteed late check-out from Hilton or IHG, even, but at least IHG offers confirmed suites).

The premium card is also the only one where Hilton spend is more rewarding that putting it on an alternative card.

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