Hope you had a great weekend — and happy Father's Day to my fellow dad readers.
I got back from Europe just in time for the long weekend and enjoyed spending time with my family.
That means I owe you an update on my trip.
Let's just say this isn't the edition to skip.
📋 In this edition
100k points: Chase’s sweet new offer
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card got a big revamp — and in many ways, it’s getting better.
To mark the occasion, Chase launched one of the most lucrative welcome offers in the card's history. Earn 100,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 within the first three months.
For a card with a $95 annual fee, that's a seriously good deal. So good, in fact, that this is only the third time this bonus has ever been offered.
There are two types of people who should absolutely take advantage of this:
Anyone with the Chase Sapphire Reserve®
The perks and earning rates are largely additive — earn the 100,000 points, keep your Reserve, and pool everything.
Anyone who’s new to the Chase ecosystem or thinks the Reserve is too pricey or complicated
The Preferred is the best entry point for beginners and intermediates in the points game.
Here’s my full breakdown of the revamped card and new limited-time offer.
Questions? Hit reply.
(If you apply through my affiliate link, I'll earn a small commission that keeps this newsletter free. Thanks in advance.)
Inside the world's longest flight
I just got back from perhaps the biggest travel event of the year.
It was Qantas' Project Sunrise showcase at Airbus HQ in Toulouse, France, where the airline pulled back the curtain on what to expect when the world's longest flight launches in 2027.
There's a ton to unpack from my time in Toulouse — which was annoyingly cut short by an (entirely avoidable) missed connection on British Airways.
The two routes
Project Sunrise has been marketed as the “final frontier in aviation.”
Qantas will launch 22-hour nonstop flights from Sydney to:
🇬🇧 London, October 2027 (10,573 miles)
🇺🇸 New York, shortly thereafter (9,950 miles)
Qantas is deep into London planning and just shared official projections for how long these flights will spend in the air.
Over the North Pole
Perhaps the wildest part of Project Sunrise is that some flights between Sydney and London will fly over the North Pole.
The explanation for why is seriously fascinating.
The jet built for it
Airbus purpose-built the ultra-long-range A350-1000ULR for Qantas.
The airline ordered 12 of these jets (three are needed for each route, given the flight lengths), and the biggest modification compared with a standard A350 is a 20,000-liter fuel tank.
Qantas showed off the first two airframes it's already built: the first, which is serving as a test aircraft, and the second — named Vega — which is already wearing the Qantas livery.
Inside the cabin
Qantas is installing a premium-heavy, 238-seat layout on these A350s.
6 first-class suites
52 business-class pods
40 premium economy recliners
140 economy seats
A wellness zone open to everyone, with room for stretching and light yoga
I toured the new first class in Toulouse, and it’s seriously impressive. You won't believe what's waiting for you at the pointy end of the plane.
Hopefully, the airline releases some award availability at some point.
Where the pilots sleep
You might think first class is as good as it gets. You'd be wrong.
Qantas is installing two special pilot crew rests to make the journey easier for the four pilots who'll operate each Project Sunrise flight.
The flight attendants will be resting in something that looks a lot like a hostel.
Europe's new queues
On my way home, I connected through Paris.
This was my sixth run-in with Europe's new immigration system, and boy, is it just as confusing as people warn.
The good news is that I timed my flights to dodge the long EES lines. You can do the same using my immigration line predictor tool.
I was on the last transatlantic flight of the night out of Paris, which meant zero wait at the eGate.
Best (and cheapest) business class
I flew Air France home.
This was my second time in a matter of weeks trying the airline's transatlantic business class — and this one was even better than the first. (Funny enough, both flights were the result of significant British Airways delays.)
I was on one of Air France's newest A350s, featuring its latest cabins.
The "hack" is to select a bulkhead seat. The footwell is so massive you might mistake it for first class.
Between the seat, friendly service, delicious food, and Starlink, Air France is now my go-to for my upcoming transatlantic flights.
Better yet, you can book this seat for just 60,000 Flying Blue miles — one of the best deals in travel.
And the 100,000-point Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card welcome offer I mentioned above? That's enough for nearly two award tickets in this cabin.
💡 Tray Table Tip: Choose arrivals
I don't always follow posted directions at the airport. And neither should you.
If you're connecting, especially in Europe, you'll often be told to follow signs for connections, which can route you through transit security and immigration.
Sometimes that's the right move. But other times, I head straight to arrivals and go through departure security as if I were originating in my connecting city.
Two good reasons why:
Exiting through arrivals gets you access to the arrivals lounge (in cities like London, Paris, Zurich, and Frankfurt), which usually has far more showers than the departure lounge.
You might bypass long security and immigration lines. At some airports optimized for connections, the transit route can take longer than exiting through arrivals and going through regular departure security.
Sadly, many European airports don't post live wait times. But if I spot a really long connections line, I'll often try the arrivals route instead.
🗞️ News you can use
Newark’s latest annoyance: Flying from Newark isn’t as bad as it once was, but here’s the latest headache — Rideshare pickups at Terminal C have officially moved to the parking garage. That should help with roadway congestion, but still less convenient than before.
Hilton’s London gem: At long last, the Waldorf Astoria London Admiralty Arch is nearly ready to welcome you. The hotel is taking reservations starting on March 1, but it is expected to open sooner. Rates are more reasonable than you'd expect, and I love how much more competition there is in London's luxury points market now, with the St. Regis and Park Hyatt also in the mix.
Delta’s switcheroo: Delta's Austin focus city is back in the news with a new route to San Jose, California, launching Oct. 6, plus a third daily frequency to Orlando. What the airline neglected to mention: it's cutting two Austin routes in the process — Memphis and New Orleans.
JetBlue’s network shuffle: JetBlue is pulling two transcon routes out of Newark (Las Vegas and Los Angeles) and redeploying those Mint-equipped planes to its latest crown jewel, Fort Lauderdale. New lie-flat Mint service to San Diego starts Nov. 16, with additional Mint flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco launching this winter.
🔗 Links to use
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