Air Travel

Airports remember 9/11

9/11, Air Travel, Airports

Airports around the country will join in the observation of the anniversary of 9/11 today.

At Indianapolis International Airport, for example, a section of the World Trade Center steel recovered from Ground Zero will be on display in the Civic Plaza.

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The steel artifact was presented to the Indianapolis International Airport fire department by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to honor local public safety responders, including airport employees, who deployed to the attack sites.

Year-round, the 9/11 Memorial at Boston Logan International Airport offers a place of reflection and remembrance. It’s located on a 2.5-acre site between the airport terminals and the Hilton Logan Airport.

The Place of Remembrance honors the passengers and crews of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, which were the two flights that left Logan Airport the morning of September 11, 2001 for Los Angeles.

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Travel Tidbits: Free Wi-Fi & More Fees

Air Travel, Airports, Rules, Wi-Fi, , , , ,

There’s good news and bad news for travelers this week.
Alaska Electronics

In Japan, rules have been eased so that airlines may allow passengers to use their personal electronic gadgets from gate to gate.

Free, unlimited Wi-Fi was introduced last week at Amsterdam’s Schiphol.

But as of today Allegiant Air follows the lead of Spirit Airlines in adding a fee to have an agent print out a boarding pass for you.

Here’s a link to my story about that Allegiant fee on USA TODAY, where I’m filling in on the Today in the Sky blog.

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Clowns on a plane

Air Travel, family travel

Keeping young kids entertained on long plane rides is a challenge for many parents. Some airlines are getting creative about helping out.

EL AL CLOWN

Courtesy El Al Airlines.


El Al Airlines, the national carrier of Israel, is famous for its stringent security measures.

That hasn’t kept clowns—loved by most children, yet terrifying to some adults—from boarding some planes.

As part of an expanded family entertainment program, the airline has added a clown to the cabin crew of select long-haul flights from Tel Aviv to New York and several other cities.

The complimentary program runs all summer and was featured on some El Al flights during the recent unrest that caused other airlines to temporarily halt flights to and from Israel.

On clown-enhanced flights, the fright-wigged temporary crew member roams the aisles, telling stories and riddles to children and handing out coloring books, crayons and games. The clown also selects 10 children on each flight to serve as clown assistants and, as a reward for completing a variety of assignments, those children get to visit the captain in the cockpit.

“The clowns and all the extra giveaway items are an additional expense for the airline,” said EL AL spokeswoman Sheryl Stein, “but it brings happiness to families during a busy travel season and we want the kids, who are our future customers, to remember El Al.”

Nannies, not clowns, help care for children year-round on some other airlines.

In 2003, Bahrain-based Gulf Air introduced a team of Sky Nannies to help with boarding and disembarkation and to “give parents that much needed break during a long flight and generally provide a watchful eye on the little ones.” The complimentary service was so successful that nannies now help out in the airline’s lounges as well.

SriLankan Airlines has a designated Child Care Stewardess on board many flights and, in September 2013, Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, introduced its own Flying Nanny service for long-haul flights. Each of the Etihad’s 500 Flying Nannies (identifiable by their orange aprons) is equipped with a goody bag of games and activities and has completed courses in child psychology and sociology.

“Airlines are also taking more initiatives to entertain kids with one-off surprise in-flight events that see cabin crew painting the faces of young passengers, offering a tour of the aircraft or hosting an in-flight drawing competition where kids proudly parade the aisle showing their creations to fellow passengers,” said Raymond Kollau of airlinetrends.com.

These kind of events not only keep kids busy, but “create a cozy atmosphere,” said Kollau, so both parents and fellow passengers are happy.

While surely helpful for some travelers, in-flight clowns and nannies don’t interest Karim Kassam, a clean-energy executive based in Vancouver, British Columbia, who travels often with his 8-year-old son.

“As a parent it’s my job to keep my son entertained when we travel,” said Kassam. “If he’s not sleeping, reading, watching TV or on his iPad, we play games or do the unimaginable—talk.”

To assist travelers who would rather not be seated near children, several airlines offer—or are considering offering—special sections.

Virgin Atlantic President Richard Branson has floated the idea of creating a separate, supervised kid-only section on his company’s airplanes.

Singapore Airline’s budget carrier, Scoot, currently offers a “ScootinSilence” section on its Boeing 777s where children age 12 and under are not allowed. Air Asia X has a quite zone only open to passengers age 12 and older. And the upper decks of Malaysia Airline’s Airbus A380s are designated as kid-free.

(My story about clowns on a plane first appeared on CNBC Road Warrior.)

Museum Monday: Hawaii by Air exhibit

Air Travel, History, Museum Monday, Museums, , , ,
Hawaii by Air

Courtesy National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution

Dreaming of a trip to Hawaii?

So, evidently, are the curators at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

They’ve put together “Hawaii by Air,” an exhibition featuring Hawaiian travel posters, photographs and ephemera that explores how air travel to Hawaii developed and grew, how the travel experience evolved along with the airplane and how air travel changed Hawaii.

Also on display: airplane models, airline uniform badges, historic film footage, a high-resolution satellite image of the islands, broadcasts from a vintage Hawaiian radio show and live Hawaiian plants.

pan am brochure

National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution

Hawaii, exhibition notes remind us, is one of the most remote places on Earth. It got its first air service in 1935 and, by 1936 Pan American Airways was delivering passengers on its famous flying clipper ships.

From the exhibition notes:

“Flying to Hawaii was luxurious but expensive; most people still traveled by ocean liner. That changed after World War II, when new propeller-driven airliners and then jets made travel to this remote destination much more common, comfortable and affordable. Hawaii experienced a tourism boom that exceeded all expectations.”

The exhibit runs through July 2015.

Continental Hawaii

National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution

TSA fee hike around the corner

Air Travel,

TSA PINK 2

Starting with tickets purchased July 21, air travelers will be paying higher security taxes when they fly.

But the money won’t necessarily go to improve airport security.

The government is hiking the mandatory security fee, first put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, to fund the Transportation Security Administration.

The fee originally had been pegged at $2.50 per leg of a connecting flight, capped at $5 per one-way trip. The new fee will be a flat $5.60 per one-way trip — that is, if you take direct flights or have layovers on domestic flights no longer than four hours.

Some travelers may end up paying a higher fee — as much as four times that amount — because the definition of a one-way trip has been altered and the fees are no longer capped.

Under the new rules, if you have a layover of more than four hours on a domestic flight (or 12 hours in a domestic airport while traveling to an international destination), that will be now be considered a separate leg of your trip, and you’ll be hit with an extra $5.60 fee.

Fly round-trip with a layover each way of more than four hours in Chicago, Las Vegas or Dallas (not that unusual with some budget carriers) and the bill for TSA fees, to be collected and forwarded by your airline, would be $22.40.

“It’s a huge money grab and we’re against it,” said Sharon Pinkerton, senior vice president at Airlines for America, the trade group representing most large airlines.

Passengers will end up paying over a billion dollars more per year in added fees, said Pinkerton, “and the icing on the cake for air passengers is that most of those fees aren’t going back into the TSA program to improve security.”

Most of the money from increased fees, TSA officials point out, will be going to help the government work off the deficit as mandated by Congress in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013.

“In accordance with Federal Law, the revenue generated from the security fee will be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury. The revenue is to be used to offset TSA costs for providing civil aviation security services, after stipulated amounts are applied to reduction of the federal deficit,” TSA said in a statement.

While all air travelers will be subject to the new rules, those most likely to end up paying more are those who book round-trips with long stopovers for business meetings or touring in multiple cities and those with journeys that start at small airports and require one or more connecting flights with layovers of more than four hours.

“With fares going up 5 to 6 percent and airline fees going up, this latest tax will probably whittle away demand for air travel,” said George Hobica, founder of AirfareWatchdog.com. “People hate the TSA and they are going to hate paying more for it.”

(My story about the TSA fee hike first appeared on NBC News Travel).

Countdown to opening of Heathrow T2

Air Travel, Airport shops, Architecture, , ,

London’s Heathrow Airport is putting finishing touches on T2 – The Queen’s Terminal – which is set for a soft opening on June 4th with the arrival of the first United Airlines flight.

Her Majesty the Queen will be on hand to cut the ribbon and officially open the terminal on June 23rd and by November all 23 of the Star Alliance airlines, as well as Aer Lingus,Virgin Atlantic Little Red and Germanwings carriers, will be operating out of this building.

Heathrow Terminal

As you might imagine, Star Alliance officials are tickled about the project and on Wednesday they led a group of journalists through the terminal. And, as a treat, building architect Luis Vidal, who suggests the building be considered a “destination” rather than a “terminal,” was on hand to share some of his thinking behind the design focused on an improved passenger experience and point out some of his favorite features.

“The building and the roof guide you towards the plane and encompass three defined spaces, the last of which is the idea of the plaza,” said Vidal. There, “the roof seems to vanish as you look up and see what the weather is outside and you are free to rest, read, shop, dine, work – whatever you want to do.”

Luis vida

The last time I passed through the building, just about a month ago, the spaces for the shops, restaurants and amenities were empty. But now inventory is being put on store shelves, severs are being put through their paces in the restaurants and amenities, such as banks of terminals offering free internet, are being installed.

cath kitson

restaurant

yo sushi

please respect

Whales, sales & soccer at MIA airport

Air Travel, Airports, Art, Shopping, Sports, , , ,

All sorts of news this week from Miami International Airport (MIA).

There’s a new exhibition of photography and video documenting the migration of whales from Alaska and Hawaii to Latin American, including Argentina, Columbia, Mexico, Panama and Peru.

Look for Giants/Rutas de Gigantes in the airport’s South Terminal international greeter’s lobby.

MIA WHALE Jason Isley

Jason Isley/Scubazoo/Fundación Albatros Media

This week MIA also opened an online store to sell caps and mugs with the airport’s classic logo.

MIA MUG“We actually got the idea from a celebrity we saw online wearing an imitation cap with our logo,” said MIA spokesman Greg Chin. “After we tracked down the store and took legal action against them to stop selling the merchandise, our Airport Director got the idea to sell the real merchandise ourselves!”

And, to celebrate the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, which kicks off June 12 in Sao Paulo, MIA has an ambitious line-up of activities for all the fans that will be flying to Brazil through MIA.

 

MIA GATEWAY LOGO

From late May through mid-July, the airport will be hosting interactive pop-up soccer fields with professional soccer players, soccer-inspired artwork by local students from Miami’s Design and Architecture Senior High, surprise musical performances (with a Brazilian beat) and Nintendo Wii Soccer game stations.  Shops will be selling soccer team souvenirs and gear and many of the shops will be having special offers.

Etihad Airways rolls out 3-room “Residence” on A380

Air Travel, Airplanes, ,

You’ll likely be hearing quite a bit this next week about the ‘revolutionary’ new lay-out and products being rolled out by Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, on its Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 airplanes.

Most talked about will be the The Residence – a 3-room, 125-square-foot upper-deck cabin on the A380 that accommodates one or two people and has a living room, separate double bedroom, shower – and a personal butler who has been trained at the Savoy Butler Academy in London.

For those who don’t want to shell out for The Residence, Etihad’s A380s will also have “First Apartments,” which are private suites with a separate reclining lounge seat and full-length bed, a chilled mini-bar, vanity unit and wardrobe.

Here’s the airline’s promotional video about the new cabins on the A380 and a video tour of The Residence apartment by the Etihad guest ambassador who is, as you might imagine, very enthusiastic.

SWISS planes certified as “allergy-friendly”

Air Travel, Health, ,

Air travel can be a challenging and, at times, life-threatening situation for the millions of people with allergies or sensitivities to pet dander, strong scents and certain foods.

Some airlines have responded by replacing peanuts with pretzels, including a few gluten- and lactose-free dishes on in-flight menus and offering to create buffer zones of seats around concerned passengers.

peanuts

Now Swiss International Air Lines, which offers long-haul flights to Switzerland from seven U.S. cities, is promoting its certification as the world’s first “allergy-friendly” airline from the Berlin-based European Center for Allergy Research Foundation.

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ECARF, which awards its allergy-friendly seal to cosmetics, food, vacuum cleaners and other products, has a list of criteria its advisory board uses to evaluate hotels and airlines.

For example, ECARF requires that hotels keep allergy-causing green plants out of guest rooms and that airlines have hypoallergenic soaps in the lavatories and no snack bags containing peanuts on board.

“All certifications are valid for a period of two years and need to be recertified afterwards,” said Torsten Zuberbier, ECARF’s director. “In addition, members of the foundation or authorized persons make unannounced checks during the period.”

While Swiss has met ECARF’s two-page criteria for airlines, “we are not an allergy-free airline, but allergy-friendly,” said Sarah Klatt-Walsh, director of in-flight products and services for Swiss International Air Lines.

The distinction is important.

SWISS AlllergyFree Pillows

The airline has removed fresh flowers from the cabins and, starting May 1, all Swiss flights will offer lactose- and gluten-free food and beverage alternatives, a choice of pillows stuffed with synthetic materials as an alternative to down-filled versions, and unscented soaps in the lavatories.

And while the airline does not serve peanuts, it cannot claim to be peanut-free because some food items might be prepared using peanut oil. However, “pets are not a problem on board as we have a special air filter that pulls particles and animal hair downwards and out of the cabin,” said Klatt-Walsh.

“It’s certainly a step in the right direction, but I feel it doesn’t go far enough,” said Amy Wicker of Allergy Safe Travel. “There’s still a lot of ambiguity, especially for people with severe food allergies, but clearly every step they take to help mitigate those things will help people in the long run.”

SWISS believes the allergy friendly certification will help the airline stand out in a crowded field. “It strengthens our market positioning, which focuses on Swiss quality, hospitality and care,” said Klatt-Walsh.

In the United States, an estimated 50 million people suffer from allergies. But it’s unlikely the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, which also certifies asthma and allergy-friendly products, will be giving its seal of approval to domestic airlines anytime soon.

To certify an airplane as allergy friendly, said spokesman Mike Tringale, the organization would have to look at every item in the plane and take into account its allergy-friendliness, including the seats, an airline’s peanut policy, their policy about serving shellfish and their policies for pets in the cabin.

“I’m not saying airplanes and airlines have a problem,” said Tringale. “But as a patient advocate, when you call something allergy friendly, you better be darn sure you’ve taken these things into consideration and have a standard comprehensive enough to really pay off the promise of being allergy friendly to the consumer.”

(My story about the first certified allergy-friendly airline first appeared on NBC News Travel)

CheapAir.com & other travel companies accepting bitcoin

Air Travel, Shopping, , ,

Santa cruz photo

Bit by bit, fans of bitcoin—the virtual currency currently experiencing wild fluctuations in value—are finding ways to use the digital dollars for travel.

On Thursday, November 21, on-line travel agency CheapAir.com announced it would accept bitcoin as payment for flights booked on its website. Soon the company plans to accept bitcoin for hotel reservations and flights via its app as well.

Scroll through the Bitcoin.Travel website or Facebook page and you’ll find an eclectic listing of other real-world cafes, transportation companies, hostels and tour companies around the world advertising the fact they’re willing to accept bitcoin payments.

Among those is New Jersey-based A Class Limousine, which provides sedans, limousines, vans and shuttle buses for airport and point-to-point travel in its region.

The company has been accepting bitcoin payments since January “because it is cheap, quick, and virtually risk free,” said accounts manager Aaron Williams, “and because it helps us grow our client base.”

The benefit to travelers, said Williams, is that bitcoin is now an internationally accepted currency “so there is no currency to exchange before getting in your car or credit card forex fees. The long and the short of it is that people spend it and we want them to spend it on our services.”

In and around Santa Cruz, Calif., travelers are welcome to use bitcoin to pay for airport shuttles, wine tours and other services (even weddings) offered by Santa Cruz Experience or one of the other companies operated by Norcal Transportation Corporation.

Company CEO Austin Twohig said he added the bitcoin payment option in part because the fees charged to merchants are lower than those charged for credit cards and because there are no worries about charge-backs.

So far, though, he’s had no takers. And even though he’s been watching the value of bitcoin fluctuating wildly, “if someone called today and wanted to pay with bitcoin, I would not hesitate at all.”

Mike LaGrotta, CEO and co-founder of New York- and London-based Techno Tourist travel company is also a big fan, mostly because bitcoin helps avoid bank or credit card fees that can hover around 10 percent for clients sending payment from places such as North Africa and Eastern Europe.

“In terms of speed of payment and accessibility for people to use it to pay us, it’s just easier in every single way imaginable,” he said.

“It’s just a no-brainer for us to offer customers this option.”

Road warriors have another option for turning bitcoin into travel: gift cards.

Among the more than 150 brands of gift cards available through online gift card company, eGifter are cards from American Airlines, BedandBreakfast.com, Carnival and Celebrity cruise lines, Hyatt and Marriott hotels and the Global Hotel Card from Orbitz. Gift cards for meals, gasoline and other consumable travel items are also offered.

“One of the advantages to accepting bitcoin is that it has attracted a whole new market of early adopters,” said eGifter CEO Tyler Roye. “There aren’t a lot of places to spend bitcoins now and we provide a whole bunch of options in one move.”

The company has been accepting bitcoin since August through Coinbase, a company that creates a digital wallet for users and a secure way for merchants to get their cash at service charge rates below what most credit card companies charge.

“They accept the bitcoin and convert them to cash so that we never have to touch the bitcoin or figure out what to do with them,” said Roye.

The pass-through shields the company from market fluctuations and other risks associated with taking bitcoin.

“It’s just a no-brainer for us to offer customers this option,” said Roye.

(My story about using bitcoin for travel first appeared on the CNBC Road Warrior)