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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Once You Get Your Vaccine Shot, Wait Two Weeks, It’s Time To Travel

Mar 03 2021

One Mile at a Time asks “What Does New Vaccine Timeline Mean For Travel?” now that the current expectation is enough doses in the U.S. for every adult by the end of May. What he’s really asking, I think, is once you’ve been vaccinated (and waited two weeks for full protection) and once community spread is significantly reduced (from vaccinations, immunity from prior infection, and seasonality), will you feel comfortable traveling?

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Flight Attendant Narrowly Averts Disaster When De-Icing Company Fails to Clear Snow From Wings

frontier plane docked
Mar 03 2021

A near-disaster was narrowly averted for the February 18 Frontier Airlines Nashville – Las Vegas flight.

The aircraft had to be de-ice prior to departure. The contractor informed the crew this was completed. However a flight attendant noticed a significant amount of snow and ice on the wings, and informed the pilots, who returned to the gate. They found around a foot of snow on the wings.

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American Furloughed More Workers Than Any Other Airline. Its CEO Got a $7 Million Payday.

Mar 03 2021

When other CEOs were cutting their pay at the start of the pandemic in order to share sacrifice, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker’s pay wasn’t cut. He takes all of his pay in stock and told employees that the stock is worth less and that was his pay. The number of shares he receives was not reduced.

Surprisingly, Parker may have earned this year’s $7 million stock award – and then some.

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Texas And Mississippi Are Dropping Their Mask Mandates, What Does That Mean For Travel?

Mar 02 2021

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves is lifting mask mandates in the state and allowing businesses to operate at full capacity starting Wednesday. Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that capacity restrictions on businesses and mask requirements will be lifted next Wednesday.

The short answer is this means very little for travel including travel to, from, and in states where state and local mask and other requirements are lifting.

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Is This Airline Really A Front To Sell Boeing 737s To Iran In Violation Of Sanctions?

Mar 02 2021

A Boeing 737 was taken out of storage, flown (apparently illegally) into Bulgaria and then while supposedly being flown to the U.A.E. it declared an emergency over Iran – and some claim it was a ‘hijacking’.

The plane went missing over Iranian airspace, the airline has been silent about the incident, and there’s now speculation that the whole thing was a ruse by Fly Armenia Airways – a new airline that doesn’t appear to operate any flights – to sell the plane to an Iranian carrier in contravention of economic sanctions.

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American Airlines Is About To Remove Its Last Boeing 737 Seat Back Video Screen

Mar 02 2021

During the pandemic American Airlines accelerated the removal of seat back video screens from its Boeing 737 aircraft. While other airlines aggressively clamped down on capital spending, American ramped up its effort to add seats to its planes – reducing the amount of space per passenger, even in
first class – and take out the screens.

Now there is just one Boeing 737-800 left with seat back entertainment: N981NN. And unfortunately you won’t be able to fly on it, because it’s been in storage in Miami since November 23, 2020 and is about to be sent in to be retrofit.

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