Happy Monday from 30,000 feet!

I love a spontaneous trip, and this one really came together at the last second. (I literally booked it walking around Central Park yesterday afternoon.)

You might be wondering why my newsletter is late. More on that and even more below.

Advertiser and Editorial Disclosure

Summer is nearly here, and if you aren't prepping for your Euro trip, you'll be at the back of the line. (Literally.)

Europe's new Entry/Exit System (EES) is officially live across the bloc, and it's leading to hours-long waits at major airports. Multiple readers told me they waited two hours in Athens, Madrid, and Barcelona over the weekend.

I'm heading back to Europe today and again next week, so be sure to bookmark my EES guide now. I’ll update it with my latest experiences.

I pulled up to Newark at 6 a.m. this morning and immediately got stuck in airport roadway traffic.

That's when I opened my live TSA wait-time tracker and saw that Terminal A had a 64-minute wait to clear security. (In the Precheck line, no less.)

My flight was out of Terminal C, which had a comparatively breezy 34-minute line. Nevertheless, this is your friendly reminder to check TSA wait times before you get to the airport.

If my flight had been from Terminal A, I would've had the driver drop me at C and taken the free airside shuttle after clearing security. Way faster than waiting it out at A.

If you travel with an iPhone, two quick settings will make your life easier.

First, turn on “Ask Reason for Calling” under the Screen Unknown Callers settings. Spam calls have gotten out of control, and this feature screens out unknown numbers and shows you what the caller wants before you pick up.

Second, the built-in converter in the Calculator app. Works with currency, temperature, units, and more. Better yet, you don’t need a separate app or a Google search.

Delta accidentally created the best first-class seat in the sky.

It's onboard the airline's wild new Airbus A321neo, which has a whopping 44 first-class seats.

Seats 1C and 1D at the bulkhead have so much space you could do yoga in front of them (against the rules, but still).

If you’re flying on this plane, you should reserve one of these seats. Especially since Delta isn’t charging extra for them.

There are two types of inflight Wi-Fi these days: Starlink, and basically everything else.

Airlines are racing to install Starlink, and it can't happen fast enough.

This newsletter is arriving late because I wrote it on a United jet featuring Panasonic service — United's slowest and most unreliable provider. Several tabs have been loading for over an hour.

As Starlink (and eventually Amazon Leo) gains adoption, I'm going to book more strategically.

If I'm flying during the workday, I need a jet with usable Wi-Fi. What about you? (Pick your choice below.)

You don't need me to tell you Emirates is one of the best ways to fly.

The airline just announced it's changing its award and upgrade pricing as of Wednesday, May 20. I booked an Emirates A380 flight this weekend to get ahead of what'll likely be a devaluation.

Amex Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, Capital One miles, and Bilt points all transfer to Emirates Skywards (beware of varying transfer ratios).

If you've been eyeing a redemption on one of my favorite airlines, do it now.

Pro tip: Emirates flies three U.S. routes that don't even touch Dubai. I just booked one of them.

I don't understand why people still wait at rental car counters.

Most agencies have free loyalty programs that let you skip the counter entirely — just enroll and complete the pre-check-in.

You can do even better, again without paying extra. I exclusively rent from National because I'm an Emerald Club Executive member. I skip the counter and usually end up with sweet upgrades, like the BMW X5 I drove off the lot at SFO a few weeks ago.

How did I get that status? By holding the right credit card and simply enrolling in the perk.

Better yet, the card is offering a whopping 150,000 bonus points as part of a new limited-time offer, so it’s easy to elevate your rental car game right now.

Here’s my full review.

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

From the Tray Table is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites. This compensation may impact how and where links appear. Not all financial companies or all available offers are included. The opinions expressed are mine alone. Content is not reviewed or endorsed by an entity.