Why I’m Especially Grateful This Year

by Gary Leff

turkey in airline cabin
Nov 23 2023

Every year on Thanksgiving I offer a reflection on the good fortune I’ve had in travel, mile and points and to be able to interact with so many wonderful readers over the course of the year. And as difficult as the past couple of years have been for so many (it was a dumpster fire, and we thought nothing could match 2020!) – and as tough as the coming year may be, I’m even more thankful than I’ve ever been – for my family’s health and for the way Covid kept me home more to grow as a dad, and how I’ve been able to keep that up even while traveling again.

And I’m extremely grateful for my readers.

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The High-Flying Baker: How a Ryanair Flight Attendant Baked a Cake Mid-Air!

by Gary Leff

Nov 22 2023

Flight attendants are miracle workers making the best of whatever hand they’re dealt (usually a 2 and 7 off suit). Airlines put them in jams, don’t book their lodging when they’re forced to pick up an expected sequence, and don’t give them time to eat between flights.

But one cabin crew member goes far above ordinary in the galley of his aircraft, actually baking a cake from scratch. Is it somebody’s birthday?

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Unexpected Hero: How A Southwest Flight Attendant Turned A Mom’s Nightmare Into A Dream Flight

by Gary Leff

Nov 22 2023

This mom was traveling with her lap child from Las Vegas to Salt Lake City. He’s not a great flyer. He was crying and nothing would soothe him. And she’s feeling stressed looking around the cabin, knowing that it’s driving everyone crazy.

She thought she could get through the short flight, but it delayed. The child isn’t a good sleeper so, she says, she’s barely slept in nine months.

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Southwest Airlines Testing Club Lounge Access For Credit Card Customers

by Gary Leff

Nov 22 2023

United, Delta, and American Airlines all have airport lounges for premium customers. Alaska Airlines has them, too. Southwest Airlines doesn’t offer lounges.

These lounges are also a huge perk of premium credit cards, which are a lucrative business for airlines. Southwest is competing with one hand tied behind its back placing cards in consumer wallets without lounges.

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United Airlines Flight Attendants Union Warns Crew Not To Give Food Away Free In Coach

by Gary Leff

Nov 22 2023

The AFA-CWA union, which represents United flight attendants, is reminding its members that under the Railway Labor Act it is illegal to engage in ‘self help’ (not just striking, but unilateral efforts to hurt the company) before being released from negotiations by the National Mediation Board.

AFA-CWA tells cabin crew that they cannot coordinate refusing to pick up trips, call for their colleagues to “work to rule” or to refuse to perform any duties, as well as “refusing to charge customers for buy-on-board products.”

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The Forbidden Fruit Of Rewards Cards: Everyone Wants It, But There’s Only One Way To Get It Now

by Gary Leff

Palladium Card
Nov 21 2023

Competition in the rewards credit card market has gotten so intense that I believe the Sapphire Reserve card – the ‘it’ product when it was introduced just six years ago – has become passé. It was the most rewarding in the marketplace, and now merely a good card that I think has been surpassed in its rewards-earning.

But what if that card threw in a full United Club membership at no extra cost?

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