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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Game-Changer At Southwest Airlines: One Simple Policy Shift Ends Seat Savers And Wheelchair Cheaters

Sep 20 2024

Southwest Airlines lets passengers pick their seats on a first-come, first-served basis. You board earlier if you buy the most expensive tickets, if you’re a frequent traveler, or if you pay for early boarding. Or if you fake the need for a wheelchair.

That’s why Southwest Airlines has more wheelchair passengers than any other airline.

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Citi Moves to Oust Barclays From American Airlines Cards: What Cardholders Could Lose

Sep 20 2024

Barclays just isn’t big enough to bid effectively for the whole American AAdvantage card portfolio. Citibank had the chance to take the whole thing, and also to offer points transfers to AAdvantage as part of its ThankYou-brand card product suite. But they balked at the price. Ultimately American got the biggest deal possible by leaving two card issuers in place. That could change.

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New Hotel Status Match Offer, Your Premium Rewards Credit Card Is Enough For Top Tier

Sep 20 2024

GHA Discovery is the loyalty program across 40 hotel brands and over 800 properties such as Viceroy, Pan Pacific, Outrigger, Kempinski, NH Hotels, Marco Polo, Anantara and Capella.

They’re just wrapping up one of the boldest earning promotions I’ve ever seen offering up to a 94% rebate on stays (excluding taxes and fees). They’ve been adding elite benefits like breakfast at several brands since the program’s relaunch three years ago. And they now have an exceptionally broad status match campaign.

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DOT Investigates SkyMiles: Delta’s ‘Free Benefits’ Claim Faces Backlash

Sep 19 2024

Delta’s President views SkyMiles as a ‘giveaway program’ rather than something his customers invest in and can expect a return from. So it’s no surprise that Delta can charge more than 4 times as many miles for the same Delta seat that their partners will charge to their own customers. The Vice President running SkyMiles even admits they’re not trying to compete over offering value to customers.

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