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 »

Entire U.S. Terrorism Watch List Leaked Online

by Gary Leff

Sep 08 2021

The US government maintains a “No Fly List” and airlines are required to check passengers against it before allowing them to fly. They maintain other lists that trigger increased security screening and potentially harassment.

The lists are pre-crime profiling. Not even based on science. And it’s also done very very poorly. People get on the list by mistake, because they’re related to someone who is on it (or just have a similar name), or because they visited the wrong country in the wrong year. .

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Reschedule Flight After Covid Exposure? No Fee Waiver If Your Test Hasn’t Come Back Yet

by Gary Leff

Sep 08 2021

A JetBlue passenger learned he was exposed to Covid-19 and was supposed to fly the next day. Many airlines have dropped change fees from some fares, but this passenger was on a ‘Basic’ fare. He called JetBlue to find out what to do. He had taken a Covid-19 test, but wouldn’t get the results before he was supposed to fly.

He asked to reschedule his trip a couple of weeks into the future. He was told he’d have to pay a difference in fare and also a $100 change fee. JetBlue wouldn’t waive the change fee without presentation of a positive test.

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Capital One Reveals New Best Place To Book Airfare, Save An Average Of 15%

by Gary Leff

Sep 08 2021

Capital One made a $170 million investment in Hopper, the online booking service which uses machine learning to guide customers on when it’s the best time to buy a plane ticket. And they’re partnered with Hopper to roll out their new online travel tool which will layer Hopper’s prediction analytics with guarantees for the traveler. They’re offering the most guarantees of any places customers might book online – all while letting them use their points to pay for travel if they wish.

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Australian Soldiers Sent To Afghanistan Not Allowed To Fly Home Because Of Covid Rules

by Gary Leff

Sep 07 2021

Australia sent soldiers to Afghanistan to rescue refugees and they aren’t being allowed to return home due to Covid-19 protocols. The country only allows a limited number of ‘state quarantine’ beds each day, there’s a give figure backlog of Australians who have been stranded abroad for the duration of the pandemic and have been reserving beds. As a result these soldiers are stuck in Dubai, waiting for “a special exemption to quarantine in the hotel system” from the state of Queensland.

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Take Two Flights Earn A Temporary Southwest Airlines Companion Pass

by Gary Leff

southwest plane
Sep 07 2021

Register by September 9 and then travel on Southwest Airlines by November 18, 2021 and you’ll earn a Companion Pass that will be valid January 6, 2022 through February 28, 2022.

That’s two months of companion pass for two one-way flights (that can be a roundtrip, of course). That companion pass means being able to take someone with you on your travels (whether paid or award) for just the cost of security taxes.

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Passenger Chews His Mask And Growls At Cabin Crew

by Gary Leff

Sep 07 2021

The man can be seen yelling in the galley, declaring “you can’t hold us!” The crewmember stands strong and the passenger returns to his seat while he moves his mask beneath his nose. Then things go off the rails in the second video, as the man appears maskless and growling while he struggles with his face covering, putting it over his eyes and chewing it.

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Etihad To Limit First Class In Favor Of “Business Plus”

by Gary Leff

Sep 07 2021

Etihad doesn’t have a first class cabin on its Boeing 787-10 aircraft, though it still has these suites on some 787-9s. According to Etihad’s CEO this isn’t the end of first class on the airline but it’s being limited and de-emphasized. They’ll still operate planes with a first class cabin on routes where there’s historic paid demand for the cabin, though we’re already seeing last minute aircraft swaps where it’s scheduled for planes that do not offer the product.

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