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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You Can Now Earn Star Alliance Elite Status By Drinking Starbucks Or Ordering Uber Eats

lounge desk
May 06 2021

The new Air Canada Aeroplan program lets members earn elite status through everyday activity, not just flying. Crediting shopping transactions, credit card spending, and other forms of points-earning can give you better treatment with Air Canada, and even incremental benefits with some of its partners – without ever setting foot on a plane.

Aeroplan hass partnerships with brands like Starbucks and Uber Eats that can deliver elite status.

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Why You Should Never Book Airline Codeshares

jetblue plane
May 05 2021

You may save a few dollars or earn more miles when one airline sells another airline’s flights but puts its own flight number on it. But when things go wrong they can get confusing. Passengers get confused, too, about where they’re flying and where to check in. And seat assignments can be difficult to obtain.

In fact right now American Airlines can’t even assign seats to customers off of a seat map when they sell JetBlue codeshares.

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