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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Four Seasons Philadelphia Hotel Denies They’re Hosting Trump Lawyer Event. Here’s What Happened.

Nov 07 2020

The best part of this has to be the phone call from the Trump campaign advance team, dialing up the Four Seasons in Philadelphia. “Hello, Four Seasons, how can we help you?” “Do you have availability for an event at 11:30 a.m.?” “Yes, we have space available.” “We won’t need catering, would you be willing to do it for a flat $10,000.00?”

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Family Flies Home After Hawaii Rejects Negative Covid Test. When They Landed, Hawaii Said Oops.

Nov 07 2020

CVS Pharmacy is a trusted partner for Hawaii, and one San Diego family got their CVS test prior to travel. They arrived in Hawaii, presented their negative results, and were sent to quarantine anyway.

Facing the prospect of 14 days of quarantine, they decided to fly home. Once the family arrived back in California they got an email from Hawaii acknowledging the mistake and inviting them to leave quarantine.

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Man Spends 15 Nights At Hotel, Charges Meals For Friends, Has No Money

Nov 07 2020

In the U.S. you generally check into a hotel, provide a credit card, and many guests don’t check out. It’s polite to let the hotel know you’re leaving so they can clean and turn over your room for the next guest as early as possible. However about the only selfish reason to check out usually is to make sure you get a copy of the bill.

In many parts of the world, including Asia, checking out is far more customary and can take a surprising amount of time. They’ll run your credit card again with you present and insist you sign before leaving.

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Passenger Steals Flight Attendant’s Meal, Breaks Lavatory Door, Urinates in Seat

Nov 07 2020

A man and his son were flying from Larnaca, Cyprus to Mancester, U.K. on British holiday airline Jet2. The father became aggressive with another passenger after being asked to wear his face mask. The men yelled at flight attendants and followed them into the galley, threatened to drag one of the cabin crew off the plane and also to urinate on other passengers.

And it all started out over a flight attendant’s meal – that the man’s son supposedly stole and ate.

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Watch: Police Chase A Honda On The Van Nuys Airport Runway As Driver Waves Out Window And Roof

Nov 07 2020

Two police cars followed a Honda that stormed onto the runway at the Van Nuys airport on Friday. The driver moved erratically while waving one hand out the sunroof, another out the side window. Maybe he was steering with his knees, or not steering at all.

When the driver was finally caught around 9 a.m. he “cooperated with officers, but also rambled about being followed by the government and the Mexican cartel.”

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New Transatlantic Budget Airline Says They’ll Charge For Soap, Offer Flights To People With Covid-19

Nov 06 2020

Mom Air has sent out a press release, and promises a press conference November 11, announcing the launch of their new budget airline offering transatlantic flights out of Iceland. Bookings are supposed to open November 9 for travel March 1, 2021 onward.

In nearly every respect, including the logo, this appears to be a copy of Wow Air which failed even during better times for the airline industry – except they promise two free seats on every flight (you’ll be able to go to their website and search for available free travel), they’re putting gender equality at the forefront, and they plan segregated flights for those who have Covid-19 (or have been exposed and are quarantining) and those who do not.

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Free Full Breakfast No Longer A Brand Standard For Hyatt Place

hotel breakfast food
Nov 06 2020

Hyatt Place is changing its breakfast offerings. They are going to vary by region of the world. Guests will no longer be guaranteed a free hot breakfast at any Hyatt Place in the world, even if they are members of World of Hyatt booking direct. That’s a huge change.

This degrades the premium brand that Hyatt Place has built. You still get reasonably stylish large rooms. I’m a fan of Hyatt Places generally, at least the properties that aren’t ex-AmeriSuites. Fortunately the change shouldn’t affect top tier Hyatt elites.

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