PDX

PDX: 5 Things We Love about Portland International Airport

July 14, 2020Harriet BaskasAirport guidesAirport shopping, PDX, Portland International Airport

Our “5 Things We Love About…” series celebrating cool features and amenities at airports around the country and the world continues today with a visit to Oregon’s Portland International Airport – PDX.

Keep in mind that some of the features we love at PDX may be currently unavailable due to health concerns. We are confident they will be back.

If we have missed an amenity at PDX that you love, please make a note in the comments section below.

And let us know which airports you’d like to see profiled in a future episode of “5 Things We Love About…”

5 Things We Love About Portland International Airport

1. The movie theater at PDX

Portland International Airport is home to a 17 seat, post-security movie theater showing short films by Oregon filmmakers.

A branch of Portland’s historic Hollywood Theatre, the Hollywood Theatre at PDX offers a looped series of free films that change each quarter.

You can see the movies before or after a flight and online.

Here’s one filmed with just a drone that will get you up to date on Portland’s many bridges.

2. PDX Art Program

PDX has an extensive permanent and temporary art program that includes work throughout the terminal, on the airport drive, and out by at the MAX light rail station.

The airport is getting ready to welcome a major new piece by Jacob Hashimoto in the new Concourse E extension, Southwest Airlines’ new home at PDX.

3. The Live Music at PDX

Most every day you can hear and see live music in the PDX terminals.

The musicians are volunteering their time and talent. So, tip well and buy a souvenir CD if you can.

4. Food carts, coffee, and whiskey at PDX

Portland is serious about its coffee, its food carts, and its spirits.

And travelers can sample them all at PDX.

In addition to coffee drinks from Pete’s, Starbucks, Stumptown, Portland Coffee Roasters and Blue Star Donuts + Coffee, PDX has both a kiosk and tasting room for Portland-based Westward Whiskey. Hopworks Urban Brewery serves up seasonal and signature beers as well as grab-n-go beers.

In addition to many great places to eat, PDX also celebrates the local food cart scene with a changing array of food-cart venues in the pre-security Clocktower Plaza.

5. The shopping at PDX

Portland International Airport is a great place to shop.

Not only is there no sales tax in Oregon, but PDX requires its vendors to offer street pricing.

And, unlike many airports these days, many of the shops are in the pre-security area.

As a bonus, PDX has branches of many iconic and popular downtown shops, including Pendleton, Made in Oregon, Powell’s City of Books, Tender Loving Empire, The Real Mother Goose (crafts) and cc McKenzie (shoes and apparel).

And what about PDX’s iconic, much-loved, and replaced carpet?

According to airport spokeswoman Kama Simonds, “The last remnant of the old carpet was removed from the threshold between the old and new parts of Concourse E and temporarily relocated to the space under Jacob Hashimoto’s artwork until the coffee kiosk opens in that space.”

Once that new coffee kiosk opens the last bit of the old PDX carpet will removed.

Sad? Yes. But it’s a good bet shops at the airport will continue to stock carpet-themed souvenirs for a long time to come.

Did we miss your favorite amenity at Portland International Airport (PDX?). Leave a note in the comments section below. And let us know, too, which airport you would like us to visit next.

All photos courtesy of Port of Portland

Pleasant perks at Portland International Airport

July 13, 2016Harriet BaskasAirport guidesPDX, Portland International Aiport

Disclosure: this story was sponsored by National Car Rental

As the author of this blog, a monthly USA TODAY column and various features about how to make the most of your time stuck at just about any airport, I’m often asked which airport is my favorite.

The short answer is always, “The airport where I board the plane that takes me to a new adventure, and the one where I board the plane that takes me home.”

But when pressed, I admit there are a few airports I’ll actually build a trip around.

Oregon’s Portland International Airport is one of them.

Its perks are plentiful and, like the city, PDX airport is super environmentally-conscious and kind of quirky.

For example, an assembly/repair station and a tool check-out where cyclists can borrow a pedal wrench or air pump encourage biking to the airport. And the recently-replaced but hipster-embraced terminal carpet lives on in everything from coasters and caps to dog leashes and luggage tags made from remnants of the old rug.

Shopping for these and other unique-to-the-region items at PDX is a pleasure, in part because Oregon has no sales tax and the more than 60 stores and restaurants must offer their goods and services at prices no higher than what would be charged at off-airport locations.

And there are plenty of Oregon-based venues where you’ll want to spend your money, including the pre-security branches of Oregon-based Pendleton, Nike, Columbia Sportswear and Powell’s Books, the selection of Portland’s favorite food trucks, and at the post-security outlet of House Spirits Distillery, where the makers of Aviation American gin and a variety of other regionally-themed, small-batch spirits offer samples.

PDX also has a pop-up Farm-to-Table stand offering Oregon produce, wine and cheese; a spa; a barber shop; a great art collection; and an extensive schedule of vendor events and live entertainment that extends through the weekend. And, later this summer, Portland’s non-profit Hollywood Theater will open an 800-square foot in-airport mini-movie theater that will run short films telling Oregon stories.

While spending time inside PDX airport is a delight, you’ll eventually want to head outside and explore.

The MAX light rail line makes the trip to downtown in 38 minutes for $2.50, but renting a car is almost as easy and allows visitors the freedom to explore everything the Portland area has to offer.

On-airport rental car companies are on the ground floor of parking garage P1, across from baggage claim, and the National Car Rental location here has an Emerald Aisle. That means Emerald Club members can bypass the counter, choose their own car and be immediately on their way to the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area just 20 miles away, Mount Hood, an easy 60 miles away, or the Oregon beaches, which are less than 100 miles from the airport.

Or you might not want to drive very far: the Cascade Station shopping center, home to restaurants and shops, including an IKEA, is located just outside the airport grounds.

Snack Saturday: new food cart at PDX Airport

November 22, 2014Harriet BaskasFood, Shopping, Snack Saturday" Portland Int'l Airport, food carts, Love & Whisky, PDX

In October, we learned that Portland, Oregon’s food truck craze had finally made it to the airport, with two food carts making their debut and the promise of more to come.

Promises have been kept and a third food cart operator, Love & Whisky, has opened in the pre-security shopping and dining area known as the Oregon Market.

On the menu: gourmet food with savory burgers and pancakes, all “made with love… and sometimes a little whisky.”

The food cart program at Portland International Airport is designed to feature a rotating selection, so Love & Whisky will be at PDX through May 2015.

The Stuck at the Airport team is planning to check out the PDX food carts next week when we arrive in town for a holiday shopping adventure that takes advantage of local shops that have branches at the airport, the airport’s street-pricing policy and the fact that there’s no sales tax in Oregon.

While in town, we’re also looking forward to shopping at the art and craft-filled independently-owned stores participating in Portland’s post-Thanksgiving Little Boxes shopping event and prize raffle that takes place in the city’s super-hip neighborhoods.

Fresh shops & restaurants for PDX & LAX

September 12, 2014Harriet BaskasAirport shops, Airports, Food, Shoppingairport restaurants, airport retail, LAX, PDX

75 percent of the existing leases for shops and restaurants at Portland International Airport are expiring in 2017 and agreements for many fresh new options are just beginning to be rolled out.

The list kicks off with the recent announcement of leases for 11 new outlets that should be open in early 2015, including Bambuza Vietnam Kitchen, Café Yumm!, Henry’s Tavern, Hissho Sushi, Mo’s Seafood & Chowder, a branch of The Country Cat Dinnerhouse & Bar – and more.

Meanwhile, at Los Angeles International Airport, Terminal 2 is beginning its transformation.

In the video below, Westfield shares information about its plan for 20 new dining and retail outlets and fresh amenities destined for that terminal.

The plan includes doubling the dining options – to 12 – with two Starbucks, SeaLegs Wine Bar, SLAPFISH Modern Seafood Shack The Pie Hole, Pepita Cantina; Pick Up Stix; Fresh Brothers Pizza, Ciabatta Bar; BUILT Custom Burger and Barney’s Beanery, a classic American roadhouse modeled after Route 66.

For shopping, the retail outlets will include a SPANX outlet, a Duty Free shop, 2 CNBC shops and 2 Univision shops, which will carry many products targeted to the Hispanic traveler.

Amenities-wise, we can look forward to gate areas with lounge-style seating, lots more charging stations, new restrooms, terrazzo flooring and new lighting.

Win prizes at BWI and PDX airports

November 18, 2012Harriet BaskasContestsBWI, PDX, prizes, Ravens Football

Baltimore Ravens football fans – and everyone else – can enter the “AIRMALL Purple Zone” contest at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) for the chance to win official Ravens gear and other prizes – including a trip to a Ravens away game during the 2013 season.

Passengers who make a purchase at participating BWI Marshall retail locations will receive a Ravens scratch-off ticket and have a chance at winning prizes that include Ravens t-shirts, hats, polo shirts, and autographed mini-helmets, discounts at some airport shops and – the grand prize : a trip for two to a 2013 Ravens away game, including round-trip airfare, game tickets, ground transportation, hotel accommodations, a Ravens prize pack and lunch. (You can also get a scratch ticket by mail. See the contest details.

And travelers who live in or near Portland, Oregon should definitely enter the Holidays Take Flight contest at Portland International Airport. The winner gets a $1,000 traveler voucher redeemable for round-trip travel from PDX to any Alaska Airlines destination. Enter here.