The briefing in brief: JetBlue slashes some Northeast flights, but will try Fort Lauderdale-San Diego nonstops. Amex trims some cardholder perks around the margins. Lufthansa backs off most of those fees for cancelling its most expensive tickets. The Blackstone Hotel, home of the original smoke-filled room, is sold. TAP adds a kind of premium economy on international flights. Porter Airlines begins flying to a second Montreal airport. Philippine Airlines joins Oneworld next year. And more.

JETBLUE BAILS ON SOME NORTHEAST FLIGHTS
In many ways, JetBlue Airways always has been a creature of its first hub at New York's Kennedy Airport. It launched in 2000 thanks to a political carveout of slots at overcrowded and otherwise slot-controlled JFK. And except for a secondary hub at Boston/Logan, it has had difficulty expanding its Northeast footprint. Now groaning under billions of debt and hoping to rationalize its route map, the airline is slashing nearly a dozen more routes, most originating in the Northeast. It will bail on Manchester (MHT) entirely, ending service on July 8. (It's flown regularly from New Hampshire to Orlando since early 2025 with three or four other seasonal routes.) From Newark on the same date, it'll kill flights to Aruba, Cancun, Punta Cana, Santo Domingo and Tampa. Also gone effective July 8 is the Hartford-Tampa run. Elsewhere, it will drop its Orlando-San Jose (Costa Rica) and Providence-San Juan nonstops. Amidst the realignment, there is one notable new route. The airline will launch daily nonstops from its Fort Lauderdale hub to San Diego beginning November 19. The rare southern-tier transcon will operate with Airbus A321s configured with the airline's Mint business class cabin. From FLL, JetBlue also flies transcon to Los Angeles and San Francisco.

AMEX TRIMS LOTS OF LITTLE BENEFITS
American Express has been upping the acquisition bonuses on many cards and maintains its lead in the super-premium market with the Platinum Card. But if you justify your Amex membership at the margins with smaller benefits and perks, pay attention to these clawbacks:
        Saks is gone. Effective July 1, Amex Platinum cardholders no longer the receive $100 annual statement credit for shopping at Saks.
        Etihad is gone. Amex has dumped Etihad Airways as a points-transfer partner. Cardholders in Canada lost the benefit yesterday (June 20). U.S. cardholders have until June 30 to move Membership Rewards points to the Etihad Guest program.
        Lufthansa lounges are going. Amex Platinum cardholders gained access to many Lufthansa lounges around the world in 2018, but that perk disappears on September 30. This will hit flyers to Germany and Eastern Europe especially hard.
        Changes to the Resy benefit. Platinum cardholders receive $400 in annual statement credits for restaurant reservations made through Resy. (Gold cardholders receive $100 annually.) Effective August 1, however, restaurants listed at Resy.com or its app must specifically state that they are credit-eligible. So book carefully.

SMOKE-FILLED ROOMS AND VELCRO SIGNS
Notable hotel sale: the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago has been sold to a local investor for $43 million. The 23-story hotel, part of the Marriott Autograph Collection, has been on the market for several years. The property overlooking Grant Park is best-known as the birthplace of the political term "smoke-filled room." (It dates to when Warren Harding was chosen secretly by GOP grandees as the 1920 Republican presidential nominee.) The hotel now offers the "Smoke-Filled Suite" for rent.
        Kimpton has a new New York outlet. The 205-room Kimpton Ashbel is the latest sign to hang above the door on the property at 70 Park Avenue. It's the second time the property has operated as a Kimpton. First built in 1928, the hotel has also been known as the Doral Park Avenue; 70 Park Avenue, which is what it was called during the first Kimpton reign; and the Iberostar. Anyone know how much Velcro they use to keep replacing those signs?

LUFTHANSA BACKS OFF RAPACIOUS CANCELLATION FEES
Back in April, I told you about rapacious new cancellation fees that Lufthansa imposed on its highest-priced (fka refundable) tickets. The blowback from the media, travel agencies, corporations and, especially, flyers was immediate and ferocious. And Lufthansa has backed off--mostly. Fees have been removed from the so-called Flex bookings in coach, premium economy and business classes. But, inexplicably, Lufthansa continues to add cancellation fees of as much as 800 euro for First Class seats in the Flex category. Certainly makes the case for never booking Lufthansa in first.
        Singapore Airlines has joined the naughty list of airlines that charge travelers for advance seat selection in business class. Lower-priced business class tickets and KrisFlyer awards are now restricted to certain seats. If your preferred seat is unavailable, you'll have to pay. As you recall, British Airways began the heinous practice of charging for business class seat assignments in 2009.
        Amsterdam will raise its tax on hotel stays to 16% next year, up from the current 12.5%. It will then increase the hotel tax one percent every year until it reaches 20%.

TAP KINDA, SORTA ADDS PREMIUM ECONOMY
TAP Air Portugal has been a holdout, steadfastly refusing to add a premium economy cabin on its international flights. Now it has kinda, sorta given in. The carrier's new Economy Prime section on widebody Airbus A330 and narrowbody A321LR aircraft offers 4-across seating. But you're not getting wider chairs. Instead, TAP is guaranteeing that the adjacent seat remains empty. (TAP is calling it the "empty side seat.") Economy Prime rows are immediately behind business class cabins. Tickets also include fast-track security, priority boarding, amenity kits and two checked bags. More details are here.
        Philippine Airlines is joining the Oneworld Alliance next year. The carrier currently serves five mainland U.S. destinations (LAX, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and New York/JFK) as well as Honolulu, Guam and Saipan. It'll join Cathay Pacific Airways and Malaysia Airlines anchoring Oneworld service in the South Pacific region.

TRAVEL NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Hawaiian Airlines, the Alaska Airlines subsidiary, is eliminating free coach meals on all flights to the mainland, except the HNL-JFK nonstop. That will match the Alaska Airlines policy. Effective July 1, when the coach meals disappear, flyers have the option to pre-purchase meals curated by Maui restauranteur and chef Sheldon Simeon.
        Porter Airlines has converted a former general aviation airport near Montreal into Montreal Metropolitan Airport. Coded YHU, the airport is now home to 11 Porter routes, all within Canada. That includes Toronto/Pearson, Toronto/City, Vancouver, Halifax and Calgary. YHU is 7 miles from center city Montreal compared to 11 miles for Montreal/Trudeau (YUL). Long-time travelers will recall that Montreal briefly had two commercial airports before. Montreal/Mirabel opened in 1975, but lost scheduled service in 2004 when all traffic was consolidated at Trudeau, which was then called Dorval. Mirabel, now a general aviation airport, is more than 30 miles from midtown Montreal.