Category Archives for Commentary.
A month ago I wrote that I’ll be speaking at the frequent flyer and casino loyalty event, ZorkFest, this October. But I’ve been remiss in sharing more details of the event.
How much inequality matters, versus absolute living standards which most people think has risen substantially over time, is something people can debate. I just wish they would do this debate less based on their one-off Mexico vacation. And if you are going to insist that it was, maybe spill a few paragraphs of ink considering wealth inequality between the U.S. and Mexico?
There have been a number of frequent flyer seminars, in-person gatherings to learn about strategy in miles and points. But the “OG” is probably the Chicago Seminar, held each October, at the Holiday Inn Elk Grove Village. It started back in 2010, and I helped out a lot in the beginning. I gave four talks the first year. I spoke multiple times the second year.
This year there are two events, marketing themselves as the Chicago Seminar, over the exact same dates. The Peoples Front of Judea has split with the Judean Peoples Front.
The U.S. is losing millions of visitors due to absurd wait times for visas. Last year we saw them get 14 times longer than they were before the pandemic, in some cases nearly three years. Make make it difficult for talented people to come here for work, too, and after a short time we… kick them out.
And we don’t do a great job even figuring out who ‘we’ ‘want’ here in the first place.
The restrictions imposed by the U.S. were performative. They were not sufficient to influence the course of the virus, and thus did not on their own make sense when instituted. Now that the government no longer even considers this a public health emergency it’s absurd that restrictions remain in place.
Most frequently visited isn’t the same as best, and this list in order wouldn’t be close to my own estimation of best, but for those curious about a best estimate of which frequent flyer and travel websites see the most traffic here’s a list that ranks 14 popular websites.
This is my rough guide to thinking about airlines and hotels. This can be useful, because it helps to understand announcements and changes that each one makes and also for transparency as you read my own writing. Specifically, these are my rough biases or frames as I think about each of the major U.S. airlines and hotel chains. I love some things about each one, but each also has its flaws.
Overall I fly American Airlines most, but I do fly everyone, and I stay at Hyatt most and recommend Marriott as a primary ‘backup’ chain since Hyatt isn’t everywhere you might travel.
I was skewing more towards the familiar after spending over a year inside the U.S., and as more and more countries opened up. I felt like I needed to return to places I’d been – it had been longer than it might otherwise have been. I needed to visit family I hadn’t seen, revisit the familiar places I loved to eat and experience. If you haven’t been to a place in years it feels more new, and you already know you’ll love it! So I’m only now just returning to thinking about new experiences.
The parent company of The Points Guy, Red Ventures, has been using AI to write articles on some of the sites that it owns like CNet and Bankrate. The tools for this aren’t very good yet – they produce numerous errors – but they will become good soon.
Phil Washington, who runs the Denver airport, was nominated by President Biden to head the FAA and confirmation hearings were held today in the Senate. Among other roles, the FAA has a huge responsibility in aviation safety as well as directly providing air traffic control service.
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 »
