Even if you’re staying home, here’s a great way to save some cash and get some culture.

Bank of America’s Museums on US program offers free admission to more than 70 museums around the country on the first full weekend (Saturday and Sunday) of each month. All you need to do is show an ID and a Bank of America check, credit or ATM card. (Or find a friend who has one.)

Some great museums are on the list, including the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

Check here for a list of museums participating in the program.

At the Henry Ford Museum: The only remaining prototype of R. Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion House.

Tags: Free stuff
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On Tuesday Air France officials were in Everett, Washington to take delivery of the company’s 50^th Boeing 777-300ER airplane. The flight home to Paris had room for a few guests.

Highlights of the trip:

• A chance to see – and smell – a brand new airplane. Turns out, like new cars, new airplanes definitely have a very recognizable fresh smell.
• The chance to explore the upgraded entertainment system, with personalized instruction from one of the designers. Passengers can choose from 85 on-demand movies (I squeezed in three fresh French comedies on the flight between Washington state and Paris) and create personalized music play lists from a very extensive and somewhat eclectic list of CDs. The first screen of jazz and blues options, for example, included complete albums from John Coltrane and Ray Charles.
• By far, though, my favorite part of the entertainment system: Seatback Berlitz language classes, which provide lessons in key words and valuable phrases, such as “Somebody call the police!,” in 23 different languages.

Tags: Air France, Airline amenities, Uncategorized
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You’d think snow – even a spring snowstorm – wouldn’t get much attention in Alaska. But last Friday the folks in Anchorage got hit with enough snow to set a record for the day and for the month.

According to the National Weather Service, which has an office near the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, 17.2 inches of snow fell in Anchorage and 22 inches of snow fell in northeast Anchorage on Friday and Saturday.

In any “normal” city, that amount of snow would shut down the airport.

Not in Anchorage.

In fact snow has never shut down the airport.

Ever.

And that’s probably why the airport sent out a press release reminding the world that the airport is a four-time recipient of the Balchen/Post award for excellence in the performance of airport snow and ice control.

Tags: Airport history, Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Uncategorized
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It looks like its curtains after all for Berlin’s historic Tempelhof International Airport.

According to news reports, airport supporters failed to get enough people to vote this past weekend to keep the airport open. There wasn’t even enough turn-out to have the vote be considered valid.

Tempelholf Airport played a crucial role in the one of the biggest humanitarian air relief missions in history: the Berlin Airlift during the Cold War. The facility is Germany’s oldest commercial airport and is said to be the world’s third largest building, behind the Pentagon and Ceausescu’s palace in Bucharest.

Tempelhof Airport Interior
Photo credit: Florida Center for Instructional Technology

Tags: Airport history, Tempelhof Airport
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Next time you travel through O’Hare International Airport, Chicago’s Midway International Airport or the O’Hare Air Transit System (ATS), listen up.

The Department of Aviation just launched a re-vamped overhead music program – Terminal Tunes – that features instrumental versions of songs by blues, jazz, country and classical artists who are either from the Chicago area or record for Chicago-based record labels.

That’s great news. As I wrote in a recent USATODAY.com column, there are just a few airports where local music is front and center.

Chicago’s new overhead music program replaces and old one which dated back to the early 1990’s. The new program includes a high-tech twist: artist and album information, audio samples and play list logs will be posted on the Chicago Airport System’s website, www.flychicago.com.

So if you hear a catchy tune while rushing to catch a plane, you can go on-line and track down the music. Soon, you’ll also be able to purchase Terminal Tunes CDs from shops in the airports as well.

Tags: Airline amenities, Airport music, Chicago Midway Airport, Chicago O'Hare Airport, Uncategorized
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Today, April 24th, is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. Started by the Ms. Foundation for Women back in 1993 as a career day for young girls, the program is now on its own and has broadened its focus to include boys.

The goals for the day have expanded as well: parents and mentors are asked to expose girls and boys to the choices they have in the workplace and to offer lessons about the “family-work balance.”

But what if your work involves lots of travel? My Well-Mannered Traveler column today offers tips on taking kids along on a business trip.

Tags: Travel manners
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Velma Ruth Boyd (1921-2006) of Longview, Texas had a deep passion for hats and, no doubt, a big closet.

Throughout her life she collected more than 300 dress hats, most of which ended up at the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center in Austin, Texas.

Through July 1, 2008, a dazzling selection of Ms. Boyd’s hats is on display in the showcases between Gates 7-12 (post-security) at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

Look for the “vermillion red hat with plumes of feathers,…a tan straw hat trimmed in white organza with a wide brim folded and curled back on itself like a mobius strip, and a pink summer straw hat surrounded with pink netting, ribbons and adorned with small faux flowerets.”

Photo courtesy Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

Tags: Airport art, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Uncategorized
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On Wednesday, April 23rd, Chicago’s O’Hare Airport is celebrating the launch of its new overhead music program with a free live music showcase featuring four nationally-known Chicago-area musicians:

Blues singer and guitarist Lonnie Brooks

Polka artist Eddie Blazonczyk, Jr.

Singer-songwriter Kelly Hogan

Classical violinist Rachel Barton-Pine

The concert will take place between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. airside in Terminal 2, in the main corridor connecting Terminals 1 and 2.

Photo: courtesy Lonnie Brooks Web site

Tags: Airport music, Chicago O'Hare Airport, Uncategorized
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Mother’s Day is coming up (May 11th) and the Food & Shops program in the Central Terminal at New York’s LaGuardia Airport is offering prizes for folks who take a moment to pen a short essay about traveling with their mom or “mother figure.”

If your essay is chosen, your mom could win an Art Deco crystal watch with Swarovski® crystals from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Store.

You have until May 5^th to enter on-line.

Tags: Free stuff, LaGuardia Airport
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If you like to check your bags curbside at the airport, be sure to pack some extra cash.

One by one, airlines are adding fees for this once-complimentary service.

United Airlines, American Airlines and US Airways, for example, currently charge $2 for each bag dropped off at the curb. On April 15th, Delta Airlines began charging $3 per bag. And that doesn’t include the (expected) tip for the skycaps.

Come May 5^th, when many airlines begin charging an extra $25 fee for checking a second bag, things will get more costly and confusing out at the curb.

In my Well-Mannered Traveler column on MSNBC.com this week, I write about a frustrating experience trying to pin down airline reservation agents on payment options out at the curb. Should I bring cash, credit cards or a personal check? No one seems to know.

Tags: Uncategorized
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