Air Travel Archives - Page 43 of 47

More fun freebies at airports

01/14/10

Free is good. And these days many small and mid-size airports are trying to build loyalty by offering travelers free amenities. In my At the Airport column this month on USAToday.com, I write (again) about the free cookies they hand out at Indiana’s Fort Wayne International Airport as well as some of the fun freebies →

Fun free stuff you’ll find at airports

01/12/10

Google’s “Free WiFi for the Holidays” program – the one that made wireless Internet access free at a boatload of airports – ends on January 15th. But don’t fret. Too much. Plenty of airports had free Wi-Fi before the promotion and continue to offer it. And once the Google airport promotion ends, you’ll find a →

Cleansing the palate after a wild weekend

01/11/10

Between following the fallout from that kiss that forced the shutdown of Newark-Liberty International Airport (EWR), various airport power outages, airplane wheel collapses, and the numerous cases of “unruly passengers” that caused several pilots to turn their planes around and go back to the airport last week, we’ve gotten a real case of whiplash here →

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Barking up the wrong tree: air travel just too bizarre

01/07/10

As this New York Times article describes, the new era of security at airports is all about contradictions, confusion and delays. Also this week, bad weather in the U.S. Midwest and Southeast, and in Europe, is forcing airlines to cancel flights and strand passengers at airports. If that’s not bad enough, today a few “unruly” →

Love the layover: slots at SFO

01/06/10

Most people try to avoid connecting flights when they’re flying from one part of the country to another. But if I can book a trip that offers the chance to spend an hour or two at San Francisco International Airport, I take it. That’s because, with an airport museum program that organizes a few dozen →

Christmas karaoke at Detroit Metro Airport was a big hit

01/05/10

Right now, when most of us think of Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW) we think about that failed attempt to blow up an airplane on Christmas Day. But a few days before that awful event, the Detroit Airport hosted a four-day karaoke fundraiser. Performers were asked to contribute at least $5 for each song and, thanks →

Dancing up a storm at Lisbon Airport

12/29/09

Here’s something we need more of at airports: dance numbers! Imagine being at the Lisbon Airport during the Christmas rush when a voice on the public address system announces Flight 0000: a special flight on which “No sad children or adults are permitted” and where “Only happiness is allowed on board.” And then, all of →

Flying today? Be ready for long lines and confusion

12/28/09

Last week’s fizzled Christmas Day terrorist attack on Delta/NW Flight #253 from Amsterdam to Detroit ignited a wave of new security measures at airports and on airplanes. Airport and airline spokespeople and TSA officials say domestic passengers will likely notice some heightened security procedures, such as explosive-sniffing dogs and added law enforcement presence at many →

Santa’s Flight Path According to NORAD

12/25/09

On Christmas Eve, NORAD, the military organization responsible for the aerospace and maritime defense of the United States and Canada, focused its high tech resources on tracking Santa’s flight path around the world. Why do they do that? According to the NORAD Web site: The tradition began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck →

NORAD Tracks Santa

Embedded with the elves: North Pole Fantasy Flights

12/24/09

The security checkpoint at Spokane International Airport is usually a quiet, orderly place. But earlier this month “It was a mad house,” says TSA screener Julee McCully. Carolers were crooning Christmas classics in the terminal lobby. Eighty of Santa’s elves were trying to get sixty kids from this year’s “nice” list through security for secret →

Stuck at the Airport

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