Category Archives for Commentary.
On Thursday night I had the pleasure to co-host the Freddie Awards, the major awards program in airline, hotel, and credit card loyalty. Over 7 million votes were cast by program members to determine which programs around the world are delivering value to members that they appreciate most.
It’s a night to celebrate what’s good in loyalty, and to honor what the members think.
Love is a wonderful thing, and the excitement of a new and budding relationship is a feeling few people can match with their other experiences. Still, my recommendation would be for a discrete trip to the lav if you must and not to do this inflight (or during the boarding process).
First class upgrades are tougher than ever, but there’s real advice on how to get them. You can take the Wee Willie Keeler approach which is a very good one. You can hope for an operational upgrade.
There are also upgrade tips that make you look like an idiot.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
The TSA’s latest screening system, part of their ‘Future Lane Experience’ turns out to show images that are way too revealing. What these documents reveal is that the TSA “nude-o-scope” is back.
In our post-9/11 world airlines have quickly turned customer service problems into law enforcement problems. A customer creating a “disturbance” might really be creating a “distraction” for bad people to do bad things. It doesn’t matter how unlikely this is, especially prior to departure while still on the ground. The culture of precaution and ‘not being too careful’ has granted huge deference to the judgments flight crews make in the instant. And it’s allowed prejudice and ego to trump good sense.
How many times have we seen a passenger act concerned with a flight attendant moving their carry on bag in the overhead, and being asked in response, “Are we going to have a problem?”
A little bit of rain throws a monkey wrench in air travel in and out of Dallas. DFW actually stands for doesn’t function wet.
However it’s Dallas’ Love Field that seems to be taking the brunt of today’s storms so far, at least if flooding in the A parking garage is any indication.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Saturday afternoon Cathay Pacific flight CX360 from Hong Kong to Shanghai took off just in advance of the worst of the region’s storms.
Lightning was filmed from inside the cabin striking one of the aircraft’s wings. It also damaged the plane’s nose. Reportedly the plane “was rattled by turbulence for a solid 15 minutes” flying through the storm.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
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 »
