Hello from Queens, New York!

I'm usually out here for a JFK or LaGuardia run, but today's mission is different — you'll catch up on my whereabouts in the first section below.

I'm back in the air tomorrow for a big reveal that I'll share more about later this week.

In the meantime, hope you had a great weekend. And for everyone at a desk this week, hope the office is quiet.

Advertiser and Editorial Disclosure

My favorite New York sports event is the U.S. Open. (The Knicks run this summer was a rare exception.) I love bouncing between courts during the day, and then heading to the night sessions as the draw thins out.

The other big reason I love it: two of my favorite brands — American Express and Chase — go all out for cardmembers.

Like in years past, both issuers built premium lounges on the grounds, plus a slate of extra perks.

Amex's Centurion Lounge offers a free drink, a full bar, and bites from its curated chef lineup. Think of it as a mini airport lounge, except you walk out with a goodie bag.

Chase's lounge is bigger, but it doesn't offer a free drink or terrace. The food is simpler, too, though there are sweets from Lil Sweet Treat, one of my favorite NYC candy shops.

Getting in is the hard part. Chase opens reservations at 9 a.m. the day before. Amex goes live at 9:30 a.m. the same day through Resy.

Once you're inside, Chase lets you stay all day. Amex caps you at an hour.

Both issuers run activations outside the lounges, too. Chase has free phone chargers and an outdoor space stocked with portable fans.

Amex built a sleek fan experience with tennis-inspired perks and a contactless store that works with any Amex card.

Hard to say who wins, but if you’re going, bring every card in your wallet (and your patience).

Here's where to book:

I've been overpaying for nearly everything I buy at the airport, yet the fix is simple.

Provide your phone number at checkout at any Hudson News, and you’ll immediately get 5% off your purchase. This works at Dufry, World Duty Free, and just about every other store you walk past in a terminal.

By providing your phone number, you'll be enrolled in Club Avolta, the free loyalty program from the company behind most airport retailers.

Better yet, if you hold any airline or hotel status — even entry-level status matched from a credit card — you can request a free Club Avolta status match. That bumps your savings to 7% to 10% off, depending on the tier you land.

On the first of every month, Bilt drops a one-day-only batch of offers and transfer bonuses.

September's is shaping up to be one of the best of the year, so it's getting its own section.

Bilt is offering up to a 100% transfer bonus to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (or Virgin Red, which transfers 1:1 to Flying Club). Here's how it breaks down:

The bonus is capped at the first 150,000 Bilt points you transfer.

Virgin Atlantic is a SkyTeam member, and it prices premium cabin awards reasonably on its own flights and on many partners — including Japanese carrier ANA, one of the most popular Virgin Atlantic redemptions out there. (Watch the taxes and fees on tickets to and from the U.K.)

I rarely suggest speculative transfers, but this one could make sense.

United's newest jet is days away from entering service. The extra-long-range Airbus A321XLR will debut in phases, starting with domestic routes and then moving to long-haul service:

The single-aisle jet is destined to become a staple on United's long-haul routes to secondary cities in Europe and South America.

It sports an all-new Polaris suite and Premium Plus recliners. You’ll even find a blocked middle seat in one row of Economy Plus, as well as a walk-up snack bar. But it's still a narrowbody, and plenty of travelers will want to hold out for a widebody on an eight-hour flight.

I've long advocated for using Google Flights to search for airfare. Now the search giant is upgrading how you search for award space.

Google's AI Mode now shows mileage prices for a handful of airlines and hotel chains: Alaska, American, Choice Hotels, Hilton, and Wyndham. More partners are coming in the next few weeks, including Accor, Flying Blue, Hyatt, LATAM, and Lufthansa.

This is big news for anyone who's used tools like Points Path and Seats.aero.

Over time, I expect more travel providers to be added and for award pricing to surface in the Google Flights interface itself.

American and United rolled out their big summer 2027 expansions last week.

Alaska and Delta also made noteworthy changes, but they just didn't package them in a splashy press release.

Here's what I uncovered, as first seen in Cirium's Diio schedules.

Alaska cuts 6 routes, adds 1

Alaska is slashing six routes from its network. Most were scheduled to launch or return this winter.

The airline is adding four-times-daily flights between San Jose, California, and Los Angeles starting Nov. 1. (Alaska dropped that route earlier this year because of aircraft delivery delays.)

Alaska says it’s shifting capacity to more business-oriented markets where it has seen recent demand strength.

Delta trims its longest flight

Delta's longest domestic route is getting trimmed. The 5,095-mile Boston-to-Honolulu flight was scheduled to operate all winter, but I guess bookings weren't looking good.

Delta will now only fly it over the peak Christmas period, from Dec. 19 to Jan. 3.

Delta's jab at American

On Thursday, American announced new daily flights from Philadelphia to Porto starting March 28.

This weekend, Delta quietly filed an extension to its seasonal JFK to Porto flight. Rather than resuming in May, Delta now plans to restart on March 27 — one day ahead of American.

I wasted an hour at the Athens airport last week, and I'm still annoyed about it.

My wife and I bought a few gifts on our trip to Greece, and I wanted to claim the tax-free refund on the purchases.

That's normally a two-step process: get your customs form validated, then drop it at a tax-free kiosk or mailbox.

The line for a customs stamp in Athens was more than an hour.

Well, it turns out that line was only for goods going into checked bags.

We were traveling with carry-ons, and just past passport control, there was a second entrance to the customs line. I could have skipped the wait entirely by bringing our purchases there.

You probably won't be surprised to learn the process differs at every European airport. In Paris, for instance, you validate before passport control, whether the gifts are in your checked bag or your carry-on. I wish there was one centralized how-to database.

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