Every few years I do a review of the state of smoking lounges in airports.

The last one – for my “At the Airport” column on USATODAY.com – was back in 2009. Times – and rules about smoking in public places – change, so I’m planning to do another airport smoking survey soon.

It clearly remains a hot topic. Here’s an excerpt from a note Ramona Mccarty sent me recently after finding that 2009 column.

I am a smoker and have been for a long time, you are right when you said that rudeness is part of the problem trust that! DFW is one of the main airports I use and it is not smoker friendly, if I could get into Dallas another way I would where smoking is not considered a crime! only an addiction, an addiction that needs to be fed otherwise you get grumpy, mean people, who otherwise are not like that, but because they can’t support their addictions this is how WE turn out. I am going to try Dallas Love Field because they are smoker friendly without harming non-smokers, because that is not our intentions.

Our money for buying and flying is just as good as non smokers so wheres the beef?! we aren’t asking to blow smoke in peoples faces we are just asking for a right to feed our addiction, like people eating and diners, drinking coffee and cafes, alcoholics and bars, shopaholics and clothes stores, smokers and smoking designated areas, snap! Helllooo.

What do you think? Should more airports offer smoking lounges for passengers?  Should cities that ban smoking in public places make exceptions for airports?

(Photo courtesy State Library of  New South Wales, via Flickr Commons)

Categories: Smoking
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It’s Souvenir Sunday – a day to take a look at some of the fun and inexpensive items you can pick up when you’re stuck at the airport.

This week’s treats come from Anchorage International Airport.

From the wide variety of Alaska-linked items for sale in the airport gifts shops, we chose a few favorites, including these tiny figurines of Alaska Bush Babies,

this Alaska sausage with added reindeer meat.

And easy-to-carry, single-serving portions – just $2.95 – of yummy salmon jerky.

Did you find a great souvenir when you were stuck at the airport? If you find something that costs around $10, is somewhat offbeat and “of” the city or region, please take a photo and send it along.

If your souvenir is featured on StuckatTheAirport.com, you’ll get a travel-related souvenir in your mailbox as a thank-you.

Categories: Airport shops, Airports, Smoking, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs
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Maybe it’s the heat. Or the humidity. Whatever it is, there are some wacky travel stories floating around out there today.

A naked swimmer was nabbed near JFK airport, a mom was briefly jailed in Tennessee for yelling at TSA staff at Nashville Airport and refusing to let her child go through the scanner or get a pat-down and, my favorite, the FBI was called in to meet a Southwest Airlines flight arriving at Salt Lake City Airport and arrest a passenger who got unruly when told repeatedly that he could not “smoke” his electronic cigarette.

And then there’s the threat of this weekend’s “car-maggedon” in Los Angeles.
Gridlock – and worse – is predicted due to the scheduled 53-hour closure of a chunk of Interstate 405.

The highway shutdown will certainly disrupt traveler to and from Los Angeles International Airport and, on its website, the airport has a 405 Freeway Alert page offering tips and advice. In addition to suggesting that travelers take the Flyaway bus to the airport or get a hotel nearby, the advisory lists four different helicopter companies that will provide special weekend service to and from the airport.

Unfortunately, one alternate transportation option offered by JetBlue is already sold out.

The airline was offering $4 flights (each way) between Burbank and Long Beach Airports.

See – sometimes the truth IS stranger than fiction.

Categories: Air Travel, Fun Stuff, ground transporation, Smoking
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I don’t smoke cigars and I probably would have been scared to smuggle it back to Seattle from Vancouver, but if they weren’t so darn expensive, I’d have bought a Cuban cigar there at the liquor store (yes, they have one, right next to North America’s only in-airport 7-Eleven store) at Vancouver International Airport.

Categories: Airport shops, Alcohol, Smoking
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There were stories in the news this week about the Department of Transportation (DOT) clarifying whether or not the ban on smoking on airplanes extends to smokeless electronic cigarettes.

It does.

And according to this story, to make sure there are no ifs, ands or, yes butts about it, this spring the DOT  will issue an official ban on the use of those electronic devices on airplanes.

The story reminded me of another alternative nicotine-delivery-system I saw in mass quantities at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport: snus.

In 2009, Arlanda opened a duty-and tax-free store featuring the world’s first “snusidor,” which stocks and displays dozens of different brands and flavors of snus, which is a traditional Swedish smokeless tobacco that, unlike American-style chewing tobacco, doesn’t involve a lot of spitting.

I can’t tell for sure if I’ve ever sat next to a snus user, but I do know that snus is a truly popular Swedish souvenir.

Categories: Airport shops, Smoking, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs
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