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 »

How Important Is Business Travel To The Airlines Anyway?

by Gary Leff

Nov 15 2020

We know that business travel is almost non-existent these days, but airlines in the U.S. have consistently reported that it’s more or less tripled off of a very low basis – it was down 95% and now it’s down ‘only’ 85% (so up from 5% of last year’s levels to 15%).

The business travel that has recovered has been small businesses, often in the Midwest and Sun Belt, as well as critical logistics and health care businesses. But how much of an airline’s total revenue did this account for, anyway?

Continue Reading »

Silvercar Closing All Airport Locations

by Gary Leff

silver audi with driver door open
Nov 15 2020

Silvercar was my favorite company to rent cars from. They rented only Audis and had a generally all-inclusive model. For $5 they refilled your gas at market prices. You paid actual cost of toll tracking, no extortionate daily fee. However the Audi-owned rental car company is shutting down all airport locations in the U.S. in early December. They will retain Audi dealership locations.

Continue Reading »

Muslim Media Influencer Removed From American Airlines Flight After First Class Passenger Dispute

by Gary Leff

Nov 14 2020

A Muslim media influencer and 2020 Democratic congressional primary candidate, 28 year old Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, was removed from an American Airlines flight from Newark to Charlotte prior to departure today after an altercation with a man seated in first class.

Since she refused to leave the aircraft ‘unless he was removed also’ the entire plane was offloaded. She got off last, and was taken into custody. She is claiming discrimination and has sought assistance from the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Continue Reading »

We’re Going To See A Bifurcated World Of Frequent Flyer Haves And Have Nots, Based On Modest Effort

by Gary Leff

first class cabin
Nov 14 2020

U.S. frequent flyer programs aren’t the most valuable. In fact some airline programs seem almost allergic to the idea that some consumers somewhere might actually benefit in an outsized way from what they offer. United and Delta have actually devalued their award prices for travel on partner airlines during the pandemic. And when we see promotions they aren’t especially rich – either it takes a lot more from the customer compared to what the program is willing to give, or earning is capped at very low levels.

The real value comes from airlines around the world who won’t so quickly devalue, and whose airlines will begin to ramp up service perhaps before demand fully returns. Expect to see a lot of award seats available on Emirates, whose planes like Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s are too big for many routes at least for awhile.

Continue Reading »

Flight Attendant Sues Her Union To Stop Paying Dues

by Gary Leff

United Flight Attendants Campaigning in Union Election Outside San Francisco United Club
Nov 14 2020

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigated an earlier complaint, was unable to resolve it, but found sufficient merit to issue a “Right to Sue” letter so the federal government has found some merit in the arguments thus far. Winning this case would represent an existential threat to airline unions. It seems a long shot, however.

Continue Reading »

People Are Holding Events In The Sky To Circumvent Quarantines

by Gary Leff

Terribly Named Flewber Offers Private Flights for $400 One Way ($700 Roundtrip)
Nov 14 2020

Rules that limit the size of gatherings are imposed at the city, state, or national level – and don’t apply to the sky. So if it’s illegal to gather with 20 or 40 of your closest friends because of the global pandemic, why not hold your get together in the sky?

Not only is it a way to hold events that’s legal in places that restrict getting together with those outside your immediate household due to Covid-19, but it’s also a way to look after the safety of your guests and reduce the likelihood of spread.

Continue Reading »

Would Airlines Solve Much Of Their Environmental Problems If They Just Flew Higher?

by Gary Leff

sulfur dioxide emissions
Nov 14 2020

It turns out what while aviation’s contribution to global emissions has been growing as worldwide air travel has grown (pre-pandemic), it hasn’t increased in relative importance. Between 2000 and 2018 aviation has steadily accounted for about 3.5% of climate-affecting emissions, and that includes commercial and cargo flights, according to a new study from climate scientist David Lee and Manchester Metropolitan University.

What’s especially interesting though is just how aviation appears to affect climate. It’s contrails that matter most – water vapor and exhaust forming ice crystals.

Continue Reading »