Commentary

Category Archives for Commentary.

Why The Points Guy’s New Effort To Value Miles Is Nonsense

by Gary Leff

Sep 08 2023

The Points Guy has published new “data-driven” valuations for U.S. airline miles and for credit card points, but they don’t… show you much about the data, and the methodology they offer makes very little sense. It’s nonsense built on stilts. They’ve picked out some flights to compare prices in cash and in miles, and then declared the value you’re getting for your miles on those flights is the value of miles. And that’s just wrong. This treats points as being worth the same as cash used towards an airline ticket. But points are not worth as much as cash, because cash can do more than buy airline tickets. You can spend cash on anything you want, not just on what an airline says you can, and you can invest cash to earn a return. You…

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Chris Guillebeau’s Self-Recommending “Gonzo Capitalism” Is Out Today

by Gary Leff

Aug 22 2023

Chris Guillebeau is out with his latest book, Gonzo Capitalism. It comes with book blurbs from Daymond John, Gretchen Rubin, and Dan Pink.

He’s written extensively on the new economy, entrepreneurship, and finding personal freedom in an unfree world. He founded the World Domination Summit where thousands of people descended on Portland, bringing their own dreams and schemes and bound together by a desire to live life by their own rules and still live it well. Self-recommending.

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Your Flight To Mexico Wasn’t An Allegory For Wealth Inequality

by Gary Leff

airline seats
Jul 08 2023

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?

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The Frequent Flyer Community Has Split Into Two Camps, And They’ve Confusingly Taken The Same Name

by Gary Leff

airport
Jul 05 2023

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.

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We Should Allow More People To Come To The U.S. And Stay Here

by Gary Leff

passport getting stamped
Jul 03 2023

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.

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