Hello from France.

This isn't exactly what I expected to be writing about today. But more on my missed connection below.

Before you dive in, there's a rare chance to earn 100,000 bonus points on one of the best and most affordable travel cards on the market.

Here’s my full breakdown of the offer.

One programming note: barring any further flight screwups, I'm taking Friday off for Juneteenth and will be back in your inbox on Monday.

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Project Sunrise — Qantas' massive bid to connect eastern Australia with London and New York via 22-hour nonstops — is nearing reality.

Qantas just announced that its first Project Sunrise flights will link London and Sydney starting in October 2027. (This represents a bit of a delay, but what’s new in aircraft manufacturing?)

It’ll span a distance of 10,573 miles, making this the longest flight in the world (by a steady margin) when it launches.

I was supposed to hear this news live at the Airbus factory, with the first-ever Qantas-liveried A350-1000ULR as the backdrop. Instead, it's coming to you via press release due to the flight troubles below.

That said, I'll have a much deeper look at Project Sunrise — and what it means for you — on Instagram and in your inbox shortly.

I just wrapped a fun 24 hours in Chicago — one of my favorite U.S. cities in the summer — before jetting off to Europe.

I flew British Airways to London last night (I decided to give them another shot after this) and planned to take an 8:45 a.m. connecting flight to Airbus' HQ in Toulouse.

The frustration started right after boarding, when we pushed back 45 minutes late for an undisclosed reason. Then came a line of nearly 50 jets waiting to take off. (Maybe the FAA's order isn't working as well as advertised.)

By the time we were airborne — nearly two hours after our scheduled departure — I knew my 115-minute connection would be tight.

I'd need to get from Heathrow's Terminal 5 to Terminal 3 in about 40 minutes. Doable, but barely.

Annoyingly, BA had already rebooked me onto a later flight, leaving me no way to sprint to the gate or switch back via the app. After some back-and-forth with customer care (handled over Wi-Fi), I got put back on my original connection.

Here's how it played out:

The good news? I'm now entitled to £520 in compensation for the delay. But I'd much rather have just made it to Toulouse than be filing a claim with BA.

I'm back in Europe, which means another run-in with the confusing new immigration system.

This time, I entered the EU in Toulouse — and it was a total hack.

My flight from London was the only non-Schengen arrival within an hour, so there was no line whatsoever. (The pre-registration machines were even closed.)

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced you need to time your flights carefully this summer and route through smaller airports where possible. (The same thing happened to me in Catania two weeks ago.)

If you're flying via a major European hub, I added an EES line-predictor tool to my comprehensive guide.

When I landed after my first domestic red-eye in nearly a decade, I got a bunch of questions about the eye mask and earplugs I use for overnight flights.

Eye mask

Earplugs

I'm all for sustainability, but I’m not a fan of hotels swapping personal amenity bottles for large, shared ones.

For one, I'm not sure how often the shared bottles get cleaned. And if they're not locked to the wall, I'm always wondering what other guests might've put inside.

Here's yet another reason I dislike them: some hotels pour basic pink soap into fancy containers.

At an upscale NYC hotel last week (I won't name names), I looked closely at the Malin + Goetz dispenser in the bathroom — and it was filled with the same generic pink soap you'd find in a highway rest stop.

This week, United became the latest U.S. carrier to unveil a special livery for America's 250th anniversary.

Six of the biggest U.S. airlines have now rolled out new liveries or decals for the country's semiquincentennial.

Pro travelers know the only way to fly is with carry-ons. (Goodness knows what would've happened to my bag had I checked one on my BA misadventure.)

My go-to carry-on (this Tumi rollaboard) is roomy, but it gets stuffed on longer trips.

To make room for more clothes — and purchases along the way — I recently started mailing my laundry home.

I don't mind that the Post Office takes a week to deliver it. It makes wheeling my bag around on the road far more pleasant.

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