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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Lufthansa Setting Up Duty Free Vaccination Center, $1200 For Flights And Shots

by Gary Leff

Feb 28 2021

Lufthansa will set up a Covid-19 vaccination site inside Moscow Domodedovo airport so that people can fly in, get the Sputnik V vaccine without clearing immigration or customs, and then fly back.

Ultimately we need more jabs in arms, the quicker the better, through whatever means necessary. Many governments have been more focused on who gets shots out of a limited supply than making sure people get shots, and increasing supply. That prolongs the pandemic and costs lives.

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SCOOP: Delta Air Lines Is Making Large Bonus Payments To Management Employees

by Gary Leff

Feb 28 2021

Delta Air Lines is paying out bonuses to management employees to compensate them for pay cuts mandated in 2020 as part of the airline’s pandemic belt-tightening, which in some cases can exceed $250,000 per person.

These bonuses are being paid out while Delta is receiving payroll funds from the federal government, and aren’t being offered to the airline’s frontline employees who earned less in 2020 than in 2019,.

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United Airlines Will Pay $49 Million To Resolve Criminal Fraud Charges

by Gary Leff

united
Feb 27 2021

United Airlines will pay a $49 million fine to the federal government to resolve criminal fraud charges for falsifying records that allowed it to collect payments for transporting U.S. mail on time, when in fact it failed to do so.

United “falsified parcel delivery information…[b]etween 2012 and 2015..by submitting false delivery scan data to make it appear that United and partner airlines with which it worked were complying with the [on time mail delivery] requirements, when in fact they were not.”

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Someone Is Suing United Airlines For Helping Him Not Miss A Flight (Really)

by Gary Leff

united plane
Feb 27 2021

News and notes from around the interweb: After 3 years Mexico is still trying to sell its Presidential jet. Even before the pandemic it was tough to sell a VIP-configured plane because of the expense of converting it to passenger use. And Mexico’s President flies coach as his schtick. ⚡️#LoÚltimo El Presidente @lopezobrador_ abordó al vuelo Delta Airlines que lo llevará a Washington, DC, con escala en Atlanta, por la pista. 📹 Isabella González pic.twitter.com/aGZIMpwFyk — REFORMA (@Reforma) July 7, 2020 Class action lawsuit against United Airlines for sending text messages to help people make their flights it’s one of those things that makes you really sympathetic to tort reform. Capital One Starting to Raise Credit Limits in Hunt for Growth Earn miles referring people to Qatar Airways Privilege Club, who then fly the airline…

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The United Airlines ‘Halfway To Hawaii’ Game Is Back, With A New Prize

by Gary Leff

Feb 27 2021

Up through 2014 most United Airlines flights to Hawaii featured the “Halfway to Hawaii game” where you could win a bottle of champagne. Passengers would be invited to guess the exact time they’d be halfway across the ocean to Hawaii. Some would just take a close enough guess by listening to the pilot’s announced flight time, cutting it in half, and adding that to the departure time. Others took it as a more complex math problem.

The game is back – and starting March 3 there’s a new prize.

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This Pizza Place Delivers By Plane, With Free Shipping

by Gary Leff

Feb 27 2021

Papa Murphy’s in Anchorage, Alaska doesn’t deliver within 30 minutes, but that’s because they deliver by plane. If you live in remote Alaska, as far out as Prudhoe Bay 855 miles away, and you want pizza what else can you do?

The idea started when customers would call asking them to bring pizzas to the airport, and customers would arrange the air cargo themselves. While shipping eats into margins – they offer free shipping! – the pizza shop generally fulfill big orders (people don’t just order one pizza at a time).

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Dumb, Dumb, Dumb: Canadian Pension Official Forced To Resign Over Vaccine Tourism

by Gary Leff

Feb 27 2021

The concern with travel abroad is that someone might become infected by the virus, including a new variant, and bring it back with them when they returned. But in this case the CEO was being vaccinated and the inactivated virus vaccine is highly likely not just to protect from symptoms but also infection (and spread). He’ll be less of a risk than most Canadians when he returns to the country. Getting vaccinated is a public benefit, not just a private one.

Furthermore, he’s now one less dose that Canada needs to provide for, meaning one more Canadian will get vaccinated more quickly. In places where vaccines aren’t widely available yet, three cheers for vaccine tourism!

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American Airlines Should Spend Government Payroll Subsidies On.. Payroll

by Gary Leff

Feb 27 2021

American Airlines is bringing 11 pilots back to work after furlough. They’ll start requalification training on March 2, 2021. All of them have received a WARN Act notice, letting them know they may be re-furloughed at the start of April.

One thing that’s boosted how much money American Airlines keeps for itself out of the second bailout is voluntary leaves. They’ve convinced employees to go on unpaid leaves. Many thought they would collect unemployment, understanding that American would not contest these claims.

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