About Gary Leff

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 »

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Holy Hypocrisy Batman! Ex-Delta CEO Rails Against Subsidies, Takes Over State Railroad

Jun 27 2017

When Richard Anderson resigned as Delta’s Chairman — suddenly in October, without notice, and without waiting for the airline to be ready to name his successor as CEO the new Chairman — I said that it would be interesting to see what the then-61 year old did next.

Now we know. He’s the new CEO of Amtrak. Hold onto those Guest Rewards points, folks.

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17 of My Favorite Frequent Flyer Award Booking Values

shower in plane
Jun 25 2017

The price of an award ticket can vary tremendously. That’s because the same flight will be ‘sold’ for different mileage prices depending on the frequent flyer program you’re using to book it.

As a result there are what some would consider ‘tricks’ to get your awards at the lowest possible cost. Here are 17 of my favorite.

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Why You Should Always Keep Your Eyes on Your Bags When Going Through The Security Checkpoint

people walking in airport
Jun 25 2017

Whenever I go through a security checkpoint, I keep my eye on my bags. If I am singled out for additional screening, I insist that my bags remain in view while waiting for a TSA employee to turn up.
These waits are the time you’re most likely to be separated from your belongings.

This insistence usually gets a response, in fact it usually limits the time I have to wait for someone to come do the additional screening. And at a minimum declaring that I’m watching closely may serve as a deterrent to theft.

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Pilot Tells Passengers to Pray as Plane Shakes ‘Likes a Washing Machine’ and Returns to Australia

Jun 25 2017

Air Asia X flight 237 from Perth, Australia to Kuala Lumpur took off shortly after its scheduled 6:50 a.m. departure time, made it out over the coast of Western Australia, and had to turn back around.

With 359 passengers onboard the Airbus A330, there was a ‘big bang’ about an hour into the flight and the plane began to ‘violently shake’. A passenger described the shaking as “like a ‘washing machine’.”

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