Today ( Saturday, June 6, 2009)  if you’re flying to or through Seattle-Tacoma (SEA), Portland (PDX), and Spokane (GEG) airports,  go over to the Southwest Airlines gates and ticket counters and see if you can get it on their party.

The airline is celebrating 15 years of service to these airports with history and trivia “gate games” that give customers the chance to win prizes, including free tickets.

Maybe there’ll be cake.

Tags: Portland International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Southwest Airlines, Spokane International Airport
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So many people are canceling trips to Mexico because of worries over swine flu that United Airlines and Continental Airlines are significantly cutting out flights to that country. No doubt other airlines will also cut flights, so if you’ve postponed your Mexico trip, check back with the airline to see if you need to change plans again.

For more details about the cuts, see this article in the Chicago Tribune and this article in the Wall St. Journal.

And after you read some of the details about a Northwest Airlines luggage theft ring busted at Oregon’s Portland International Airport, you’ll probably want to figure out how take that next trip with just a carry-on bag.

And – just so this isn’t a post full of bad news – the Miami International Airport officially opened the new South Terminal Art Gallery with a new program called Hand Made, which will feature handcrafts from around the world.

The first exhibition is Siesta, a collection of hand-woven products featuring ceremonial hammocks and bags by the Wayuu people from the region of La Guajira in northern Colombia.

Tags: Airport amenities, Airport art, Continental Airlines, Miami International Airport, Portland International Airport
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As you set out for weekend adventures…here’s a reminder to keep an eye on all your stuff at the airport. And another reason why carry-on only is a good option.   From the Portland Business Journal:

Two Northwest Airlines baggage handlers have been charged with stealing more than 200 items from passenger luggage at Portland International Airport…

The arrests are the result of a two-week investigation by Port of Portland police, which recovered 200 stolen items ranging from laptop computers and jewelry to hand bags and clothing, the port said.

Travelers who believe items were stolen from their baggage at PDX are asked to call port police at 503-460-4747.

Tags: Airport security, Northwest Airlines, Portland International Airport
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The Oregonian is reporting that Portland International Airport (PDX) is back in business after diverting 18 flights Saturday night due to fog and a problem with a malfunctioning computer-operated navigational tool.

As the impressive photo from the Oregonian’s article shows, fog isn’t all that rare in Portland this time of year.  But broken navigational systems are.

While we’re stuck at  PDX, if you’re a resident of Oregon or Washington you have until March 20th to enter the PDX  “Be a local super hero” video contest.

All you have to do is make a 60 second video about the airport’s non-stop international service.  Contest entrants are encouraged to wear their own super-hero costume (!), but steer clear of doing anything dangerous.

First prize:  four coach tickets to fly – non-stop- from Portland to Frankfurt, Tokyo or Amsterdam, plus $2,000 spending money.  Second and third place winners get two coach tickets to Frankfurt, Tokyo or Amsterdam, but no spending money.

Sounds like fun.  Here’s a link to enter the PDX Be a local super hero contest.

Tags: Airport or airline contest, Free stuff, Portland International Airport
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(Yummy stuff from Phoenix Sky Harbor Int’l Airport)

It may seem unnatural to blend a holiday shopping excursion with a trip to the airport, but this season many airports are working overtime to court you and your gift-buying dollars with prizes, promotions, festive décor, and lots of top-notch entertainment.

(A TSA choir -really- will perform at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport)

There are plenty of other reasons to shop for holiday gifts at an airport. Over the past few years, airports have been steadily upgrading the quality and variety of their concessions. Stores generally open early and close late to accommodate travelers’ wacky schedules. And many airports impose a “street pricing” policy, which means that the prices charged inside the airport must closely match the prices at local malls. Besides, if you travel by air, you’re already spending a lot of time hanging out in airports. So you may as well be merry while you multi-task.

Where are the best deals? At the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the Sacramento International Airport you can pick up discount coupon books. Oregon’s Portland International Airport has a holiday festival with food sampling, demonstrations and a drawing for tickets on JetBlue. (You can enter on-line.) And check out the Frankfurt Airport’s Web site for a chance to win a big diamond.

There’s lots more information about airports offering holiday shopping specials and entertainment in my “At the Airport” column posted today on USAToday.com

Tags: Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Frankfurt Airport, Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport, Portland International Airport, Sacramento International Airport, airport shopping
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Travelers arriving at Oregon’s Portland International Airport (PDX) on international flights now get welcomed to the arrivals area by a flock of birds.

Not real birds, but life-size images of birds representing 34 species of birds seen in the Portland area. A new art installation, “Flight,” has a blue-sky back drop, white clouds and copies of illustrations by artist David Allen Sibley, the writer and illustrator of Audubon’s The Sibley Guide to Birds, a comprehensive resource for bird identification.

Birds are fine inside the airport. Outside, they’re a hazard to aircraft. So to keep birds away from a water containment pond, the wildlife management department floats thousands of black plastic balls on a pond at one end of the airfield.

What does that do? According to an airport newsletter:

“The black balls completely cover the water so, to birds flying overhead, it looks like solid ground – so much so, they don’t even circle around to check it out.”

Tags: Airport art, Portland International Airport
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I got a chance to visit Oregon’s Portland International Airport yesterday and ventured just beyond it to be on hand for the opening ceremony at the new aloft Portland Airport at Cascade Station.

aloft is Starwood Hotels’ new uber-hip, high-tech line of hotels. This one has a cool bar complete with weekend DJs, loaner bikes for use on the nearby bike trails, plug and play gadget boxes in the well-insulated rooms and, soon, an in-room feed from the airport control tower so guests can identify the planes taking off and landing out front.

The hotel is part of the “Lifestyle Center” of shops (including an IKEA) and amenities that has popped up right next to the airport.  And while the hotel is brand new, it has a reassuring “old” Portland connection. The local company that built, owns and manages the hotel – Pollin Hotels – also built, owns and manages the Sheraton Hotel at the airport, which was the first hotel built at Portland International Airport, about 35 years ago.

Tags: Portland International Airport
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At Oregon’s Portland International Airport, (PDX) travelers can enter a contest to win a pair of round-trip tickets from Portland to any Southwest Airlines destination. The contest is part of the airport’s Summer Splash celebration and runs until Labor Day.

You can enter the contest in person at the airport or on-line here.

If you did visit the airport in person, however, you’d have a chance to see an exhibit of 10 bicycles designed and built by Oregon craftsmen and craftswomen, on display in the E Concourse through September. Included are a broad range of machines, including a steel pursuit bike, folding bike, recumbent cargo trike, steel freakbike – also known as tall bike – and a bike with a frame made from Douglas fir.

Even better: PDX is one of the few airports in the country with a multiuse bike and pedestrian path connecting regional trails to the terminal. So you can ride your bike to the airport!

Photo courtesy Portland International Airport

Tags: Airport art, Portland International Airport
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Had a nice talk with Jesse Leavenworth, a reporter from the The Hartford Courant, a while back about my favorite topic – airports with great amenities – and see that his article has hit the paper.

I chatted with Leavenworth about some of my favorite airports to spend time in – including San Francisco International Airport - SFO (great art and food choices in the Int’l Terminal), Oregon’s Portland International Airport- PDX (great shops and no sales tax), and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (a casino, lots of art, on-site museum, and loads more).

Leavenworth was especially pleased to hear me praise Schiphol, because his paper’s hometown airport, Hartford’s Bradley International Airport (BDL) has a direct flight to Amsterdam. Oops.. not any more.. Northwest Airlines just announced that it is dropping that route as of October 2.

Bradley still has loads to offer, including a free parking coupon for folks who sign up for the airport’s frequent-parker program and free Wi-Fi for all.

Last time I went through BDL, they were still displaying something truly unusual: three patch-sized embroidered scenes created by Raymond Materson to honor the 1994 Special Olympics. Materson was in prison when he made the patches and unraveled his socks to get the colored thread to use in his artwork. Once out of prison, Materson kept sewing. His work is now highly prized and displayed in museums and in art galleries.

Materson is currently in his first major overseas exhibit at the Compton Verney Gallery in Warwkickshire, England. To celebrate, he made this portrait of Queen Victoria and was kind enough to let me share it with you.

Courtesy and copyright: Ray Materson

Tags: Air France, Airport amenities, Airport art, Airport music, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Bradely International Airport, Cell phones, Portland International Airport, San Francisco International Airport
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Hungry, environmentally-conscious travelers at Oregon’s Portland International Airport (PDX) now have another place to drink organic beer and dine on organic meals, including the “Tree Hugger Scramble.”

Already wildly popular in Portland, the Laurelwood Public House and Brewery has just opened a second airport branch. This one is on Concourse E. The menu includes Oregon-brewed organic beers and dishes prepared with beef, chicken, pork and produce from local farmers.

It’s a good fit for PDX, which is already known as one of the most environmentally-friendly airports. In addition to an aggressive recycling program, the airport turns used cooking oil into biodiesel fuel and converts table scraps and coffee grounds into compost.

Tags: Airline amenities, Portland International Airport, Uncategorized
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