Hello from NYC!

I’m home for the weekend before heading back out on the road again on Monday for a very high-profile event. (Stay tuned.)

But first: this is your final weekend to lock in the best-ever public welcome offer on one of my favorite cards.

It gets pulled on Monday, June 15, at 9 a.m. ET. (Here’s my full explainer.)

Advertiser and Editorial Disclosure

Spoiler alert: my big trip next week? Well, I'm heading back to Europe — my fourth visit in six weeks.

That means yet another firsthand run-in with the new European Entry/Exit System (EES).

To prep, I just built a forecast tool that tells you how busy the airport will be at your planned departure or arrival time.

It uses airline schedule data (from Cirium) to estimate the crowds at each hourly interval.

I just added the tool to my EES guide. Check it out below.

United’s first extra-long-range Airbus A321XLR might debut with a clever twist: European-style business class in economy.

That would mean blocking some middle seats in economy for travelers to have a bit of extra space.

Aside from charging more for these seats, United could crew the jet with just four flight attendants.

Block two middle seats, and the jet has a capacity of 150 passengers. Under the FAA's one-attendant-per-50 rule, that's three — but a fourth would be required because of the sliding doors on the biz pods.

When I asked, United stopped short of confirming the leaks. "We're always evaluating and testing new ways to further differentiate ourselves within the industry and add even more value to the experience of flying United," the airline told me.

If I were a betting man, I'd say this happens.

I'm just curious how it'll be priced — and whether four crew members can deliver a full meal service in business and economy before you’re halfway to Europe.

There've been several big shifts in the loyalty world lately.

Most of them make it harder to score partner award seats and hotel nights — either by tightening inventory or clamping down on transfer partnerships.

Many of the historical sweet spots are changing, too — think Lufthansa first class within two weeks of departure, or last-minute American awards booked through Alaska Atmos points.

It’s becoming clear that one of the best new strategies for finding award space is monitoring for limited-time drops.

This week, Qatar released a ton of Qsuite awards on its soon-to-resume Philadelphia route.

I spotted it in Thrifty Traveler's premium deal alert service. (Get $20 off your first year using my link.)

Another solid option for tracking drops is Straight to the Points.

I personally use both because they don’t always send the same alerts.

This week, I took my first domestic redeye in a decade — and to my surprise, I'd happily do it again.

Personally, I've never found a great way to get from the West Coast to the East Coast.

(Fly during daylight, and you lose basically the entire day.)

I've long avoided the red-eye because I remembered it wrecking the rest of my week with exhaustion.

But I took the 9 p.m. out of SFO, landed at JFK at 5 a.m. ahead of the traffic, was in the city by 6:15 a.m., and had a full day — capped by a Broadway show (you must see The Balusters), dinner, and a wild Knicks win.

I was tired, but functional, and loved having a full day on both ends.

What's your go-to transcon strategy? Hit reply. I read them all.

Several major hotel chains just unveiled gorgeous new properties. Three caught my eye.

Andaz Turks and Caicos Grace Bay

Hyatt's Caribbean portfolio is growing with its first-ever property in the Turks and Caicos.

Everybody has long loved redeeming (and transferring) points to Hyatt, so this should be a great new option, even post-devaluation.

Awards start at 55,000 points a night, which — given the cash rates and surcharges — actually represents decent value. (Rooms available starting on June 1, 2027.)

St. Regis London

The Bonvoy portfolio in London is expanding with the opening of a St. Regis.

The opening has been delayed a bunch (what else is new in hotel development), but it's now slated for October.

It'll have 193 rooms, and I'm sure it'll be a hit with Marriott loyalists.

Hilton in Hawaii

Hilton's new Hale Hokuala Kauai is now taking reservations for stays beginning Oct. 1.

It'll be a Curio Collection property, and it's always great to add more points options in Hawaii. (It reminds me that I’m overdue for a Hawaii trip.)

On Sunday night, I flew American's poshest domestic jet — the soon-to-be-retrofitted Airbus A321T — from New York to San Francisco.

This configuration, introduced more than a decade ago, is showing its age. My TV and power outlet weren't working. Neither was my seatmate's, so I awkwardly asked the guy in front of me if I could borrow his.

When I flagged the issues, the flight attendant apologized.

(Had I been on United or Alaska, she could've issued compensation on the spot — an area of opportunity for American.)

So I emailed customer relations and got 10,000 bonus miles, worth around $150.

But the fun part? The flight attendant offered me a bottle of wine to go as her apology. ("I'm so sorry this happened, I wish there was more I could do," was her line.)

I'm glad I accepted — the $60 bottle of Chardonnay made a great gift for a friend based in SF.

The TSA line chaos may be history, but that doesn't mean you're in the clear.

I still maintain my live TSA wait time tracker, which shows checkpoint-by-checkpoint status — and I've recently seen some lines hit hour-long waits.

For one, you should be using my tracker before every flight.

But this also brings me to a relatively new service: a concierge-style add-on experience from Clear where an ambassador meets you at the curb, escorts you through check-in and security, and skips the lines.

Departure service starts at $99, and I'm curious whether it's worth the splurge.

I nearly missed my flight Sunday night because JFK's Terminal 8 had just four security lanes open during a peak evening bank.

I could've used the service — but since I was flying out of American's terminal, there weren't any Clear lanes. (American reportedly has some long-standing beef with Clear.)

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