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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Delta Air Lines Meltdown: Getting Worse Before It Gets Better As New Systems Crash

by Gary Leff

Jul 23 2024

Monday was supposed to be better for Delta than Sunday – and it was, just cancelled ‘only’ 1,153 flights or 29% of their operation, and delayed another 45% more. On Sunday it was 36% canceled and 44% delayed.

There’s no end in sight because even before 6 a.m. Tuesday they’ve already cancelled over 10% of the day’s flights. They have planes out of position for maintenance – perhaps as many as 40% of their aircraft – and they still don’t know where their crews are and can’t get them assigned to flights.

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World’s Top Business Class Gets An Uplift: First Look at Qatar Airways’ QSuites Next Gen

by Gary Leff

Jul 22 2024

Delta often claims to have been the first airline to fly with business class suites, but that isn’t true. Qatar Airways was first, and their QSuite debuted seven years ago and remains one of the best business class products in the sky. The overall Qatar Airways business class experience is better than first class on airlines like British Airways and American.

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Medical Student Kicked Off Frontier Flight To Make Room For Crew, Threatened With Arrest

by Gary Leff

Jul 21 2024

A passenger on Frontier Airlines flight 1449 from Atlanta to Denver Friday evening says they were bumped from the aircraft after they had already boarded in order to make room for staff. She says she was “threatened with arrest” if she didn’t give up her seat, and she missed the wedding she was headed to. The flight wound up taking off without her.

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Any United Flight Attendant Calling In Sick Friday-Sunday Must Now Submit A Medical Treatment Plan Or Be Disciplined

by Gary Leff

Jul 21 2024

This absence certificate being required by the airline is extensive and invasive, demanding personal health information including a “treatment plan” and “progress of treatment” that is highly unusual to share with any employer – let alone for merely taking a sick day that an employee is contractually entitled to when sick.

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Award Alert: Wide Open Business Class Award Space To Asia Using Any Transferable Credit Card Points

by Gary Leff

Jul 21 2024

SkyTeam member Vietnam Airlines flies non-stop between the U.S. and Vietnam – four-times weekly San Francisco – Ho Chi Minh City service – with an Airbus A350. There is fantastic business class award availability right now for this flight, for up to 4 passengers per flight, whether looking for trips right away through eleven months from now. You can use this flight to connect onward in Southeast Asia (or, if you’re willing to pay the requisite miles, even beyond).

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