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Since opening its doors in 2004, Gansevoort Meatpacking NYC has maintained its status as the resident neighborhood cool kid in the ever-chic, Chelsea-adjacent Meatpacking District. Following a multiyear, $40-million sprucing up in 2021, the hotel debuted refreshed guest rooms, a refurbished rooftop and a private membership club in late 2024, solidifying its spot as one of the best hotels in New York City. Here’s what we love about it — and how you can book this hotel using credit card points. Related: Our favorite Mr & Mrs Smith hotels to book using Hyatt points What it’s like staying at Gansevoort Meatpacking NYC ELLIE NAN STORCK/THE POINTS GUY With its cheerful pink-and-white striped umbrellas and an entrance shrouded in lush greenery — a rarity in New York City, but an element that lends the hotel its sense of effortless cool — Gansevoort Meatpacking NYC sits just a stone’s throw from major Chelsea attractions like the buzzy High Line, Chelsea Market, the Whitney Museum of American Art and dozens of high-end shops. ELLIE NAN STORCK/THE POINTS GUY Checking into this hotel was a swift affair, as I was greeted at the sleek black marble front desk by two friendly attendants who had

“Alcoholic beverages will not be accepted in either carry-on or checked baggage for this flight,” read the email reminder I received two days before flying from Hamburg, Germany, to Abu Dhabi onboard Etihad’s factory-fresh Airbus A321LR. That’s the first time in my more than 1,000 lifetime flights that I’ve ever received such a notice. While packing some bubbly certainly would’ve been appropriate for this unique flight, there was still plenty of celebration to go around — even before we eventually popped some bottles of Champagne once airborne. ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY In the coming days, Etihad is set to inaugurate its Airbus A321LR, or “long-range” aircraft, that’ll seriously upgrade the narrow-body experience when flying with the Gulf mega-carrier. The jet is Etihad’s first single-aisle plane to feature lie-flat pods in both first and business class. Thanks to its roughly 1,000-mile range increase relative to the airline’s existing A320 family, it’ll unlock a bunch of new routes and unique deployment opportunities for the airline. But in order for the plane to actually make it to Abu Dhabi for its Aug. 1 commercial inaugural flight to Phuket, Thailand, the jet had to first get from Hamburg (where it was manufactured at Airbus’

What’s the most exciting new airline route of the year? Ask 10 different travelers and you might get 10 different opinions. The question doesn’t come with an easy answer, but — as you might expect from TPG — we’re happy to share our thoughts on it. Our aviation team looked at all of the new routes launched in the first half of 2025, and we came up with this top 15 list. (Hint: They largely mirror what we predicted at the end of last year.) The more you know: The best time to book flights for the cheapest airfare We stopped short of naming a winner — check back for that at the end of the year — but these were the new routes that intrigued us. Listed in alphabetical order by airline, here are top 15 for the first half of 2025, along with why they were chosen. Map watching: The award for ‘sexiest new route’ of the 2023 goes to … | And 2024 … Aer Lingus Indianapolis and Nashville to Dublin These routes may not normally stand out as candidates for a “most exciting list.” But the Irish carrier’s new 2025 routes are noteworthy since they’re being