Heathrow

Travel Tidbits: free inflight wif + a call for your vacation audio

August 30, 2018Harriet BaskasFree Stuff, Music, Wi-FiFree in-flight Wi-Fi, Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi, Heathrow, Music, T-Mobile, vacations

As we head into the Labor Day holiday, here are some travel tidibts for you.

Free Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi on Labor Day

Here’s a nice Labor Day perk for anyone flying on a Gogo-equipped domestic flight:

On Monday, Sept 3, you can get 30 minutes of free Wi-Fi, courtesy of T-Mobile. The off is good even if you’re a Verizon or AT&T customer. (T-Mobile customers get a free hour, as always; a great perk!)

Get more details about the free Gogo in-flight Wi-Fi offer from T-Mobile for Labor Day.

Heathrow Airport seeking your vacation sounds

Pictures from vacations help us remember a great adventure, but so do sounds.

Studies show that the same part of the brain in charge of processing the senses is also responsible for storing emotional memories. That means sounds, noises and songs you might hear on your trips will be part of travel memories that will be able to transport you back in time.

Think: waves lapping on the beach; the “Mind the Gap” announcement on the London Tube; and that street busker you stopped to listen to in Paris.

Heathrow Airport has decided to capture the essence of great vacations by gathering audio from travelers and commissioning a composer to create a collection of travel mood music and vacation sounds.

Heathrow says submissions sent in by the public will be turned into a “captivating and immersive soundscape” by British Academy Award-winning composer and sound artist Nick Ryan.

“We all record holiday memories with pictures, yet listening to the sound of a voice or a place can trigger far more intense emotions than a photograph on a phone,” Ryan said in a statement.

Travelers are invited to submit their holiday sounds over the next four months as an mp4 clip at soundescapes@heathrow.com.

Ryan will collection the audio, do this thing with it and release the inaugural Sound Escapes audio installment in January 2019.

What vacation sounds will you send in?

Watch for the Easter bunny at the airport

March 25, 2016Harriet BaskasHolidaysEaster, Heathrow, latte art

Keep an eye out for the Easter bunny in airports over the holiday weekend – in all sorts of places.

At London’s Heathrow Airport, the Easter bunny will be handing out treats in the terminals – and there will be bunnies in some coffees.

Four coffee companies, including Costa and Starbucks, are showing off their foam art skills and offering customers an extra treat through March 28.

And here are some Easter snaps from the Stuck at the Airport archives – from JFK and Singapore’s Changi airport.

Stephen Fry offers etiquette tips at Heathrow

January 6, 2016Harriet BaskasAirports, Etiquette, Fun Stuffetiquette, Heathrow, Stephen fry

Worried about fitting in or understanding the local customs when you get to London?
Don’t fret: Heathrow Airport has enlisted the help of British actor, writer and comedian Stephen Fry to share some tips and advice.

Take a look:

YO! Sushi at Copenhagen Airport

March 1, 2015Harriet BaskasFood, HotelsAirport food, Copenhagen Airport, Gatwick, Heathrow, YO! Sushi, YOTEL

What’s better than really fresh and really tasty sushi at the airport?

Sushi that comes to you on a conveyor belt.

YO! Sushi, the ‘running’ sushi restaurant that started in London and now has 74 restaurants worldwide, just opened a branch at Copenhagen Airport. There, the sushi moves along a 230-foot-long conveyor belt at just over 3 inches per minute – giving diners time to peruse the offerings, make a decision and pick up a dish – or wait a few seconds for something tastier-looking to come along.

Sound like fun? This entertaining dining option is also available at Edinburgh Airport and and Heathrow Airport T2 and T3.

The people who invented Yo! Sushi didn’t stop with restaurants. They’re also the folks behind the Yotel – the hotels located at Heathrow, Gatwick and Amerstardam airports that offer cabin-like rooms where you can relax and refresh before, after or between flights. The concept has been so popular that there’s now a Yotel in New York City and plans to open additional Yotels at Singapore Changi and Paris Charles DeGaulle Airport and addiitional off-airport Yotels on Orchard Street in Singapore, in Brooklyn, NY, San Francisco, and Miami within the next two or three years.

Heathrow offering Boarding Bon Bons

December 23, 2014Harriet BaskasFood, HolidaysAirport food, Boarding Bon Bons, Christamas dinner, Heathrow

On Christmas Day, more than 100, 000 travelers are expected to pass through London’s Heathrow Airport and during lunch time an estimated 16,000 of those travelers will be in the air, unable to sit down to a traditional Christmas meal.

Too bad? Not at all, says Heathrow Airport. They have an – unusual – answer:

The airport asked a candy maker to create sweets they’re calling Boarding Bon Bons that will be handed out to travelers.

According to the airport, “the Christmas pudding has hints of brandy butter, raisin and Christmas spices while the turkey and sage and onion stuffing sweets taste surprisingly like a real Christmas meal.”

Yum??