Commentary

Category Archives for Commentary.

You learn well, young grasshopper

by Gary Leff on January 7, 2005

Jan 07 2005

I’m very proud of Courtney.

Donate Miles in Addition to Money

by Gary Leff on January 1, 2005

Jan 01 2005

Here’s an updated list on how to donate miles for tsunami relief efforts in Southeast Asia. Not everyone can spare tons of cash, that’s certainly understandable although in times of severe crisis I hope that folks will dig as deep as possible. But those of us with even a small amount of spare frequent flyer miles — possibly not even enough to use for free tickets — can help provide free travel for relief efforts. While minimum donations vary by program, in some cases you can give as few as 1000 or 5000 miles. You may have this laying around in an otherwise-forgotten account. These miles might even expire on their own, going to waste. But you can do some good with them. And since most frequent flyer programs keep accounts active with any activity…

Support Disaster Victims

by Gary Leff on December 28, 2004

Dec 28 2004

Flyertalk is accepting contributions for the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund in support of the earthquake and tsunami victims. Red Cross contributions are tax deductible, and there are of course only a few days left in the calendar year to seek such deductions. What better cause?

Season’s Greetings

by Gary Leff on December 22, 2004

Dec 22 2004

Happy Holidays from United Airlines. Turn on your speakers. I have an inexplicable affection for Rhapsody in Blue.

View from the Wing in the Washington Post

by Gary Leff on December 13, 2004

Dec 13 2004

This blog is apparently recommended for a very specific niche of traveler. [I]f you’re a road warrior who will make three ugly flight connections for triple bonus points, you may want to go straight to a pro-blogger who focuses on mileage programs, such as WebFlyer (www.webflyer.com/blog) If only “pro” in this context meant “participating for gain or livelihood”…

Impeach Norm Mineta!

by Gary Leff on December 9, 2004

Dec 09 2004

Michelle Malkin links to my old Impeach Norm Mineta bumper stickers. Now that Mineta is clearly staying in the Bush Administration, it’s time to resurrect them. Oh, and I’m already getting orders for them via paypal.

Don’t smile too much

by Gary Leff on December 7, 2004

Dec 07 2004

Or the US State Department may not give you a Visa. The State Department frowns on toothy smiles, which apparently are classified as unusual or unnatural expressions. According to the Bureau of Consular Affairs, smiling distorts facial features. Officials say smiling can change facial features so much that facial-recognition software would think the passport or person weren’t the real deal. Who knew that terrorists could avoid detection by smiling?

If you steal a Krispy Kreme truck, make sure the back door is closed

by Gary Leff on December 5, 2004

Dec 05 2004

In the middle of the night Thursday night, a Krispy Kreme doughnut truck was stolen. The back door to the truck was left open, and police followed a trail of doughnuts to find the truck. Hat tip to Ramble On.

I hate marketing doublespeak

by Gary Leff on November 25, 2004

Nov 25 2004

The only thing I hate more than devaluing points is being lied to. It’s laughable enough when Qantas describes the gutting of its award chart as “rebalancing.” But now they explain the end of mileage upgrades on discount fares as a way to support its most “loyal” customers. The changes would give “more availability to those business and first class fares rather than just somebody who books a one-off and uses the very bottom, cheapest fare and then upgrades”. “Because it is a loyalty program we’re rewarding those obviously more loyal to us,” the spokesman said. So Qantas is doing this because full fare paying passengers have been unable to buy business and first class tickets? I buy that they define loyalty as high revenue rather than high frequency or fidelity to a single airline.…