Ciao from Italy!

I just landed in Milan after a bucket-list flight, and I'm spending a few days exploring Sicily with friends.

Another European adventure means another firsthand look at the new immigration system.

Catch that, and much more, below.

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Europe's new immigration process feels engineered to slow your trip down and force misconnections.

I've never seen this many groggy travelers stepping off long-hauls looking so confused.

The good news? Clearing the new Entry/Exit System (EES) in Milan was relatively painless.

But that's also because I knew what to do. One of my friends spent two hours in line during his Amsterdam connection this week.

I just updated my guide with a slew of new intel from this trip.

On my way to Europe, I flew Emirates first class on the Airbus A380.

It's a flight everyone reading this newsletter should experience (at least) once.

Between the free-flowing Dom Pérignon, the two onboard shower spas, and the decadent dining, no first-class experience is more memorable than Emirates.

(As much as I love the "game-changer" product on select Boeing 777s, the A380's massive onboard bar and two shower spas make it my favorite way to fly the airline.)

Here's the wild part.

I redeemed 109,000 points and $434 for this $15,962 flight. You can too — it starts with picking up one of my recommended credit cards.

Then stay tuned for Friday's edition, where I'll break down exactly how I pulled it off.

There’s a new Global Entry process rolling out nationwide, and it’s way more widespread than I initially thought.

Instead of stopping at a machine to take a picture, Customs and Border Protection has installed overhead cameras that continuously take pictures as you walk through the immigration hall.

You then get processed by an officer, no extra stop needed. This new setup is now live at most major U.S. airports, though not in every terminal. (It wasn’t live when I cleared immigration last week in JFK’s Terminal 8.)

There is one big downside to the new system, though.

Word on the street is that Emirates was asked to add seventh-freedom flights from Tel Aviv to New York and Bangkok.

(Seventh-freedom means Emirates could fly these routes without stopping in Dubai.)

As someone who visits Israel often, this would be wild. Israeli transportation authorities reportedly asked Emirates to add the routes directly from Tel Aviv.

If it actually happens, you can bet I'm booking the shower suites on my next visit.

Until then, I'll have to stick with these.

American just became the latest airline to ink a deal with Starlink.

The carrier will install free Starlink on 500 Airbus A320-family jets starting in early 2027. There's no word on when the rollout will wrap.

The bad news: American didn't announce any plans to equip its wide-body fleet with Starlink, meaning that the planes that need the upgrade most won't get it. (These days, I actively avoid planes with Panasonic Wi-Fi during work hours.)

Hopefully, this is just the start of a broader investment in the in-flight experience that will eventually include TVs on domestic jets.

Starlink is my favorite onboard internet provider. The download speeds rival my home Wi-Fi, so there's no downtime when I need to work.

You might have read that Emirates first-class section and wondered how I flew from New York to Milan without stopping in Dubai.

That's thanks to "fifth freedom" rights, which allow airlines to sell flights between two countries they aren't based in, as long as the jet continues on to its home base.

Emirates offers three fifth-freedom routes from the U.S. — no Dubai stop required.

There are a handful of other interesting ones in the U.S. and abroad, and I can't recommend them enough.

I can't tell you how cool it is to grab a Delft house on a KLM flight from Santiago to Buenos Aires.

Using these links is the easiest way to support FTTT — and I only recommend what I actually use.

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