Air Travel

Tidbits for travelers: seat fees, bag check refunds & fast rail service to ORD.

Air Travel, Airline policies, Airports, Baggage, Check-In, ground transporation, Hotels, , , , ,

Good news, bad news for air travelers today.

In the good file:

IND suitcase art

If you book a 2-night weekend stay (Fri/Sat/Sun) at a IHG hotel (InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, , Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites and others), and check a bag on your flight there, you can get a rebate for up to $50 of your bag check fees. There are restrictions of course – you need to pay with a Visa, stay between Sept 1 and Dec 30th,  and accept your refund in the form of an IHG Visa Prepaid Card – but it’s still a good offer.

Kimpton hotels have had a similar offer for a while. It’s We’ve got your bag program promises a $25 room credit if you show a receipt for a checked bag.

Also: Chicago’s mayor announced the formation of a Blue Ribbon Committee to study whether or not express train service between O’Hare International Airport and downtown Chicago is a good idea.

Do they really need to study this? We say: just do it!  A lot of travelers would happily pay a premium over the current fare on the Blue Line to make it downtown in a hurry.

orange airplane seat

In the bad file: Joining the pack of other carriers, such as United, that will let you buy seats with extra legroom, American Airlines has announced a new fee today for what it calls “Express Seats:” the roomier seats in the first few rows of the coach cabin.

Pricing will be based on distance and range from $19 (i.e. St. Louis to Chicago) to $39 (Chicago to Honolulu) and the seats will be up for sale 50 minutes to 24 hours before a flight.  Buying one of those seats also allows you to board with Group 1.  Here’s their spin.

Cutest airport pet park?

Air Travel, Pets, , , ,
Sculpture at Atlanta Airport pet relief area

Artwork at ATL pet relief area

In response to a law that’s already a year-old, airports throughout the United States are putting in fenced, pet relief areas outside – and in a couple of cases, inside – the terminals.

It’s a welcome amenity for pets and their people. And although they don’t have to make the parks look lovely, many airports have created parks that are doggone cute.

The photo above is from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Cute, right?

Here’s a shot of one of the pet relief areas at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport:

Bone Yard pet relief area at PHX

PHX Bone Yard for pets

I’m gathering up more photos and will share them soon. But in the meantime, please nominate the nicest-looking or most convenient airport pet relief area you’ve found in your travels.  We’ll add it to the list and try to get a photo.

Souvenir Sunday: emergency underpants at the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co.

Air Travel, Airport shops, Events, Layover, Shopping, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs, ,

What would the souvenir stand look like at the airport where flights took off for outer space?

Greenwood Space Travel Supply co.

Shopping at the Greenwood Space Travel Supply co

No doubt just like the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. in Seattle, where there’s an Atomic Teleporter on-site and shelves full of useful and just plain fun and bizarre things for that out-of-this-world trip.

Greenwood Travel Supply Co. space teleporter

Come by later

Unfortunately – or maybe, fortunately – the space teleporter was out of service this weekend when we stopped by, but that just left more time for shopping.

Travel supplies at Greenwood Travel Supply Co.

Our goal on Souvenir Sunday is to find the best and, ideally, the most offbeat items in the under $10 range. Often, that’s a challenge.

Not here.

We found these luggage tags good for intergalactic travel:

Luggage tags for intergalactic travel

Don't lose your luggage in outer space

A useful repair kit:

And the perfect snack food for the ride.

Freeze-dried ice cream

Snacks for the trip

And, because you never know just what will happen on any trip, we stocked up on some emergency underpants in convenient reusable tins.

Emergency underpants in tiny can

Be prepared

Whether the space teleporter ever gets fixed or not, the Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. is an incredibly fun place to stock up on travel supplies for any sort of adventure.  It’s also a good cause: all proceeds from the shop benefit 826 Seattle, a non-profit writing center that helps young people develop their writing skills. When we stopped by there was a neighborhood-wide hang-out-in-the-street-event going on and these young writers were creating and performing poems based on quick interviews with passersby.

Greenwood Space Travel Supply co. front

If you’re stuck at an airport somewhere on earth, take a look in the souvenir shop. If you find something there that’s fun, offbeat and under $10, please take a photo and send it along. Your souvenir may show up on a future edition of Souvenir Sunday. And if it does, we’ll send a special souvenir your way.

Greetings from Earth

Wish you were here

Polar Bears and Musk Ox at Anchorage Airport

Air Travel, Airports, Art, Exhibits, Layover, Sports, , , , , ,

Ted Stevens, the former senator from Alaska who died in a plane crash earlier this week, had the pleasure of seeing a lot of things named for him while he was alive.

The Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is one of them. 

Ted Stevens Anchorage Airport

The terminal offers free wireless Internet access and is home to the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame and an impressive display of Alaska Native Art.

Alaska Native Art at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport

photo courtesy Kathy Gronau

Photo courtesy Kathy Gronau

It’s been a while since I’ve been up there, but I’m planning to head that way soon.

If for no other reason than to wander the terminal checking out the airport’s collection of taxidermy Black Bears, Kodiak Brown Bears, Polar Bears and a Musk Ox.

Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport Polar Bear

Who says airports must be boring?

Musk Ox on display at Anchorage International Airport

Fresh art at Phoenix and Austin airports

Air Travel, Art, Exhibits, Layover, Museums, , , , ,

Stuck at the airport?  Look around. You may find an art exhibit right around the corner.

A new exhibit at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport- Fiber Art Unraveled: Material and Process – features work by 19 Arizona artists.

Here are a few samples:

Nick Georgiou’s Green Reindeer is made from newspapers and discarded books;

Clare Verstegen’s Compass is made with screen-printed wool, felt and birch plywood;

And Carol Eckert’s, The Raven Addresses the Animals is made with cotton embroidery thread and wire.

Fiber Art Unraveled: Material and Process will be on display until September 21, 2011 at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), Terminal 4, Level 3 in eight display cases outside the security checkpoints.

At Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS), the newest exhibit shows off beads and beadwork from members of the Austin Bead Society (ABS) and includes vintage African trading beads, handmade jewelry  and the work of 20 Austin artists, including this polymer clay face framed with bead embroidery by Laura Zeiner.

AUSTIN Airport beadwork on display

The beadwork exhibit at Austin Bergstrom International Airport will be on display through October 18, 2010 in the airport concourse showcases, post-security, across from gates 7-11.

Have you seen some great art while you were stuck at the airport?

Palm Springs International Airport: Pretty as this picture

Air Travel, Layover, ,

I was calling around to airports today, trying to track down some information for a column about golf courses and a friend reminded me that there used to be an outdoor putting green at Palm Springs International Airport in California.

Thomas Nowlan, the current executive director of the Palm Springs airport, told me that because the putting green was post-security and because the airport kept a bunch of steel shaft golf clubs on hand as loaners, the TSA asked that the putting green be shut down after 9/11.

I was getting set to be all sad about that, even though I’m not a golfer and even though this fine amenity has been gone now for quite some years.  But then this picture arrived, with an explanation that this what travelers see now when they pass through security.

Somehow I don’t think many people are missing the putting green.

Have you been to Palm Springs International Airport lately? Tell us what you think.

Museum Monday: 1940 Air Terminal Museum, Houston Hobby Airport

Air Travel, Airplanes, Airports, Art, aviation, Aviation history, Exhibits, History, Museum Monday, Museums, ,

There are close to 700 aviation and space museums in this country. Each Monday, we take a look at one of them.  Stick around. Eventually we’ll visit them all!

This week: The 1940 Air Terminal Museum at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport.

Vintage view of Houston Hobby Airport terminal

Greetings from Houston Hobby Airport

Housed in the airport’s original art deco air terminal,the museum is dedicated to showcasing the city’s aviation history.

In addition to this classic, restored terminal building, the museum has historic aircraft on display in the restored 1928 Carter Field Airmail Hangar.

Restored 1928 Carter Field Airmail Hangar

1928 Carter Field Airmail Hangar

The 1940 Air Terminal Museum recently raffled off an airplane and is now accepting entries for a “Flying Times” art exhibition featuring artwork and objects relating to Commercial aviation, General Aviation, or Space.

Not sure if you want to enter? Consider this: cash prizes will be awarded for the best work (1st prize: $500, 2nd Prize: $250, 3rd prize: $100) and for the work that best depicts the terminal building ($50 prize.)  Cash prizes will also be awarded in several other categories. The deadline for entries is September 1, 2010 and the show will run from September 17 through October 31, 2010.  Look here for entry forms and more information about the 1940 Air Terminal Museum’s art contest. And good luck!

Houston Hobby Airport opening day

Houston Hobby Airport - Opening Day

Do you have a favorite aviation or space museum?  If so, nominate it here and it may be featured on a future edition of Museum Monday here at StuckatTheAirport.com.

Souvenir Sunday: SUX Souvenirs from Sioux Gateway Airport

Air Travel, Airport shops, Fun Stuff, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs,

Airports everywhere are scratching about for new sources of revenue, but few have gone the route of marketing a line of airport-specific souvenirs.

And who can blame them? Most people just wouldn’t pay good money for a memento to remind them of time spent stuck at the airport.

SUX post card from Sioux Gateway Airport

Greetings from SUX

But for several years now the Sioux Gateway Airport in Sioux City, Iowa has been doing a brisk business in t-shirts, caps, mugs, luggage tags, sweatshirts, pins and other airport-branded memorabilia.

Their secret?  Their airport code: SUX

SUX Bumper sticker

I featured some of these items on Souvenir Sunday more than a year ago and back then, the Fly SUX balsa wood glider, the Fly SUX t-shirts and the Fly SUX caps were at the top of my shopping list.

But looking back again this week, I noticed a few other items available for under $10 (our Souvenir Sunday limit) that I want to add to the ‘must have’ list:

This FLY SUX Winged Lapel Pin ($3)

And this Joy of SUX mug:

Have you found a great souvenir while you were stuck at the airport?  If it costs around $10, is “of” the city or region and is, ideally, a bit offbeat, please snap a photo and send it along. Your souvenir may end up featured on a future edition of Souvenir Sunday. And if it is, we’ll send you one of our favorite souvenirs.

Ironing things out at Philadelphia International Airport

Air Travel, Airports, Art, Exhibits, Layover, ,
Vintage clothes irons on display at Philadelphia Airport

Vintage clothes irons on display at Philadelphia International Airport

A new exhibit at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) might make you a bit self-conscious about your wrinkled travel outfit.

The exhibit features classic, streamlined clothes irons made in the 1930s and 40s, on loan from the collection of Jay Raymond, who has written a book on the subject.

Why irons at the airport?

“Like aircraft, streamlined irons were based on the principles of aerodynamics – they were shaped to enhance the flow of air around them, increasing their ability to move more efficiently. It is their purposeful design and resulting aesthetic that made streamlined irons different from irons that preceded them.”

Look for these cool irons in the Philadelphia International Airport on the C/D walkway, post-security.

vintage irons on display at PHL airport

More cool, classic clothes irons

Good restrooms; bad airports

Air Travel, Airports, Assistance, Bathrooms, ,

Sometimes the yin/yang of the inbox is entertaining.

yin/yang symbol

Today, for example, I received an urgent reminder to vote for America’s Best Restroom and a warning about staying away from the World’s Scariest Airports.

Let’s do both.

Each year Cintas takes nominations for the Best Restrooms in Canada and in the United States.

You can see all the past winners in the Hall of Fame, but here at StuckatTheAirport.com we’re still celebrating 2005, when Fort Smith Regional Airport in Arkansas took home the potty-prize.

Award winning bathroom room Fort Smith Regional Airport

Winning bathroom at Fort Smith Regional Airport

This year, no airports are on the list of ten finalists, but the restrooms at Santa Monica Pier are on the list as are those at New York City’s Muse Hotel and Bryant Park, where the amenities include attendants, flowers, scented oils and electronic seat covers  – amenities we’d be happy to see at all airports..

Take a look at the best-loo finalists and cast your vote for America’s Best Room by August 31st.

Once you’ve voted for the best restroom in the U.S., take a look at the airports SmarterTravel.com has put on its list of World’s Scariest Airports.

old airport photo

In my book, scary airports are those with icky bathrooms, overpriced food or pay-to-use-WiFi. But this list defines scary airports as those where geography and/or weather make take-offs and landings dicey.  Which airports are on the list? In the U.S. the authors list New York’s LaGuardia Airport, Yeager Airport in West Virginia, John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, CA. – and the airport in Nantucket, MA.  International airports that make the list are in Guatemala, Scotland, New Zealand, Bhutan, Gibralter and Honduras.

What makes an airport scary for you?