Cell phone lot at ATL

No matter what type of car you drive, if you travel to or from Atlanta, you’ll be pleased to know that on Thursday, February 16, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (finally!) opens its first cell phone lot for drivers waiting to pick up arriving passengers.

The 160-space lot is along South Terminal Parkway at the east end of the Park-Ride Reserve lot and has no flight monitors, portable toilets or other amenities.

Refrigerators at AUS

At the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, six decorated refrigerator doors are on display in the baggage claim area, at carousels two and four. The doors were used as canvases by high school students as a way to promote the importance of recycling and will be on display through the end of February.

Where to go for Presidents Day

And, if you’ve got Presidents Day off you may be trying to figure out where to go to get in touch with a presidential past. Here are some tools and tidbits that may be helpful.

From Friday, February 17 through Monday, February 20, the Presidents Gallery at Madame Tussauds in Washington, D.C. is offering free admission to anyone who shares a birthday with a U.S. president.

The folks at Roadside America, keen collectors of odd travel destinations, have just released a Roadside Presidents app for the iPhone. They’re charging $2.99 for it – but you can bet that it’s full of all manner of oddball Presidential landmarks and museums.

And, from my post on msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin, here’s a list of some towns and attractions with special Presidents Day events on tap:

Washington, D.C.
In Washington, D.C., Ford’s Theater, the site of the April 14, 1865, assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, is hosting a Presidents Day open house on Feb. 20. Among the free activities scheduled are storytelling, Civil War-themed ranger talks and a presentation by costumed actors that includes a reconstruction of Lincoln’s assassination.

Every Four Years: Presidential Campaigns and the Press, a new exhibit opening at the Newseum Feb. 17, traces the way the media has covered presidential campaigns from “William McKinley’s 1896 front porch campaign to Barack Obama’s 2008 Internet campaign.” In addition to notable TV campaign ads, the exhibit includes campaign artifacts such as handwritten notes taken by John F. Kennedy during a 1960 presidential debate and the “Florida, Florida, Florida” white board used by NBC’s Tim Russert on election night 2000.

Bonus: The Newseum’s exhibit, First Dogs: American Presidents and Their Pets, runs through 2012.

Virginia
As the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents, Virginia proudly calls itself the “The Mother of Presidents” and has dozens of historic sites paying special Presidents Weekend tribute to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor and Woodrow Wilson.

There will be free admission on Feb. 20 at George Washington’s estate at Mount Vernon, where a costumed General Washington will be on hand for activities to include the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at Washington’s Tomb, music and military performances and a (shh!) surprise birthday party.

During Presidents Weekend, actors portraying founding fathers George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison will be visiting Colonial Williamsburg.

Alexandria will be marking the 280th anniversary of George Washington’s birth with a celebration that includes a Birthnight Banquet & Ball (Feb. 18), a Revolutionary War Reenactment (Feb. 19) and the George Washington Birthday Parade (Feb. 20). Historic sites around Alexandria, such as Gatsby’s Tavern Museum, where early patrons included George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe, will offer free admission on Presidents Day as well.

Bonus: A free, self-guided walking tour of 21 of the 140 sites in Alexandria associated with George Washington is available (PDF).

Massachusetts
In Boston, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is celebrating Presidents Day with discounted admission from Feb. 18-26. An activity-filled Family Festival Day on Feb. 21 includes the opportunity to meet actors playing presidents and first ladies such as Thomas Jefferson and Dolley Madison.

Sleep like a president
Presidents Day weekend activities can include sleeping where a past president got some shut-eye.

“Every president from Eisenhower to George W has stayed at the Greenbrier in West Virginia, a historic hotel that still brings in weekend splurgers,” says Robert Reid, U.S. travel editor for Lonely Planet.

Another option: the Presidential Suite at the Waldorf Astoria New York. Every American President since Herbert Hoover has stayed in the suite, which is decorated with the personal desk of General Douglas MacArthur, one of John F. Kennedy’s rocking chairs and other presidential artifacts.

Presidential treatment doesn’t come cheap. A weekend night in a two-bedroom executive suite at the Greenbrier is about $900, while nightly rates for the Waldorf Astoria’s Presidential Suite begin at $10,000 – and include a background check.

California’s Oakland International Airport (OAK) is offering free parking for passengers flying from the airport midweek between Thanksgiving Day and the December holidays.

To get the deal, which can save you up to $66, you just need to fill out an on-line form and download the coupon from the OAK website.

That’s not the only thing you can get for free at the OAK airport.

The airport website also has a coupon good for free rental clubs at Metropolitan Golf Links, located on airport property.

From now through December 31, 2010, Seattle’s Sea-Tac International Airport is offering a discount short term parking coupon for greeters.   Better yet: the coupon includes a 2-for-1 offer for coffee.

Any other airports doing something like this?  Let me know!

Find the Sea-Tac discount parking coupon here.

Airports around the country are expecting long lines and lots of extra travelers this weekend, but in Chicago, both O’Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport will be offering up some entertainment to help move things along.

To give travelers a taste of this weekend’s Chicago Jazz Festival, there will be live performances at both O’Hare and Midway on Friday, September 3 from 2 to 5 p.m. Look for the stages set up past the security checkpoints at O’Hare in Terminals 1, 2 and 3, and on the lower level Arrivals area in Terminal 5; and in the baggage claim area at Midway.

The Chicago Children’s Museum will also offer a workshop for kids at O’Hare’s “Kids on the Fly” play area in Terminal 2 on Friday, September 3 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Free parking in Tampa

And as Steve Huettel of the St. Petersburg Times reports, at Tampa International Airport airport officials have decided to continue offering free first-hour parking in both the short and long term garages.

“Currently, no matter how long drivers stay in the garage, the first hour is free. Under the new policy, it’s free only if drivers leave before the hour is up. Otherwise, they’ll pay $3 starting Oct. 15.”

Free is free though, and it’s good news that – for now – this perk is staying in place.

Saving energy in Portland

In Oregon, Portland International Airport has installed moving walkways that only move when someone approaches. Popular in Europe and Asia, the four energy-saving, auto-start walkways are in the pedestrian tunnels connecting the parking garage to the terminals and are said to be the first such walkways installed anywhere in the United States.

Having paid a small fortune recently to park in an airport garage for a few days, I was wondering about the bills some of those volcano-delayed folks would be facing when they finally got home and went to retrieve their cars.

So I was pleased to read Roger Yu’s USATODAY Airport Check-in column last night and learn that some U.S. airports are offering to refund the additional parking charges for passengers whose flights home got waylaid by the volcano.

So far, says Yu, JFK, Newark Liberty, and airports in Las Vegas and Denver have offered to refund the extra parking fees.  I bet other airports will do the same.  Good for those that do.

Let’s hope some British airports offer a parking refund as well. According to an article in The Independent, “[a]s many as 50,000 British travellers remain stranded abroad this weekend because of the volcanic ash crisis, some being told they face delays of up to a month before they can return home.”

Yikes!

It may be stressful traveling this week through the nation’s airports, but there are some freebies and special events being rolled out that you may find useful and entertaining.

In addition to the events we listed yesterday at Boston’s Logan International Airport and Detroit Metropolitan Airport, you’ll find:

Two days of free valet parking at Kansas City International Airport (MCI). To get a coupon for the free parking, fill out this form.

Through Wednesday, November 25, 2009, you can stop by any Travelers Assistance Info Booth at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) and pick up a free children’s book, courtesy of Cheerios and The Spoonful of Stories program. The books include: “Junkyard Fort”, by Jon Scieszka, “Tea for Ruby”, by The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, “Sleepyhead”, by Karma Wilson, “Ballyhoo Bay”, by Judy Sierra, and “What’s Under the Bed?”, by Joe Fenton.

And don’t forget that many airports around the country have opened on-site dog relief parks.  The latest to open is at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), which now has a dog park with two sculptures by Doug Makemson of Commerce, GA, who says:

“The model for “Abby” was my beloved yellow lab, Abby, who was always willing to strike a pose. She had a full life and a mercifully rapid demise a few weeks after the sculpture was completed. She was the world’s best dog; I miss her. The sculpture is made mostly from parts of a backhoe and a bulldozer, and the stone is Gneiss, a type of granite, from an old quarry near Glade, Georgia. For me, “Abby” the sculpture will always make me remember Abby the dog, the most loyal friend I ever had.

You can see the sculptures – and a happy dog in the park – in this cute one minute video ATL airport posted to celebrate the opening of the dog park.

Happy Thanksgiving – more airport freebies tomorrow!

Then be sure to go the airport’s Web site and download a coupon for a free day of valet parking.

That’s a good deal.  But wait  – there’s more:  each time you use the coupon you and everyone in your party gets a pass to the airport’s Altitude Club, a lounge that has computer work stations, and complimentary snacks, soft drinks, local and long distance phone calls,  and wireless Internet access.

But after getting turned away from several near-the-airport parking lots one Christmas holiday I figured out the answer to “Do you have a reservation?” was “Of course!”

Even though the thought of making a parking lot reservation hadn’t ever crossed my mind.

So I’m glad that the folks at AirportParking are making an extra effort this holiday season to remind us that it’s a good idea to check prices, get directions, and make a reservation for a parking spot before you head to the airport. Their site helps: it’s got links, distance, and price information about parking lots near more than 100 airports. I checked the information for my city and was reminded by another users’ note about the discount coupons that put a valet lot in my price range. Thanks!

]]> http://stuckattheairport.com/2008/12/15/parking-ticket-check-parking-spot-oops/feed/ 1 http://stuckattheairport.com/2008/11/21/shuttle-bus-yoga-coming-to-airport-parking-lots/ http://stuckattheairport.com/2008/11/21/shuttle-bus-yoga-coming-to-airport-parking-lots/#comments Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:44:29 +0000 Harriet Baskas http://stuckattheairport.com/?p=1490 Everyone seems intent on helping travelers stay cool and calm this Thanksgiving season.

Some airports are rolling out entertainment programs. In others, travelers will be able to take advantage of free massages, snacks and other services. Now an off-site parking company is getting in on the stress-relief action.

On Nov 25th and 26th, travelers parking at many FastPark & Relax (or Airport Fast Park) locations will find yoga instructors on duty in the shuttle buses to the airport. Depending on the day, shuttle-bus yoga instruction will be available from 9 am to 11 am in Austin, Texas; Baltimore; Cincinnati; Cleveland; Houston; Miami; Milwaukee; Orlando; Raleigh, N.C. and Tucson, Ariz.

In general, there are plenty of parkers to go around. But with folks cutting back on travel – and trying to squeeze more out of their travel budgets – there are more open empty stalls at airport parking lots than ever before.

Maybe that’s why Nashville International Airport (BNA) is offering to accept off-site competitor’s parking coupons until November 15.

According to the airport’s press release:

“Valid coupons from any competing parking service will be honored and applied toward parking fees accrued when customers utilize any of BNA’s parking lots. Off-airport parking companies in the immediate vicinity of BNA are considered competitors…. Competitors’ coupons can be applied toward parking fees accrued in the valet, short-term, long-term and economy parking lots…”

Once the holidays are over, I predict we’ll see more matching offers like this at other airport parking lots. And then, it’s anyone bet when airports will adopt the grocery store idea of offering “double coupons” days. I’m all for it.