Airports

The Beatles – and others – at MSP International Airport

Airports, Events, Exhibits, History, , , ,

The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport’s Terminal 1- Lindbergh turns 50 this month and, to celebrate, there are special events, shopping discounts and a call for travelers to share memories on the MSP Facebook page.

Here are few highlights:

“A marriage proposal in the rotunda at the F and G concourses. The guy got down on one knee right in the middle of traffic. The couple told us (Travelers assistance) that they had meet in the MSP Airport and that is where he wanted to propose. She said yes…..”

“I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, but moved up here in the early 70’s when I was in college. I recall at that time that the Lindbergh Terminal had pay toilets. $.10 to use a stall! …”

“I remember when they filmed Airport there- mom & dad brought me to the airport to watch them film the scene where Van Heflin buys the insurance at the little insurance kiosk, which was located in the upper level where the shops are all located now (If I recall correctly). Can’t watch the movie without recognizing ‘my’ airport.”

MSP has also posted some photos from its archive. My favorite is this one of the Beatles arriving at the airport in 1965.

And, if you read through the list of 50 ‘fun facts’ about MSP’s Terminal 1 – Lindbergh, you’ll learn that there was once both a drugstore and a children’s nursery in the Ticketing Lobby, that the first baggage carousels were installed in 1970 and that the pay toilets weren’t removed until the mid-1970s.

The TSA’s Top Ten List for 2011

Airports, ,

Everywhere you look right now there are Top 10 lists. So it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that the TSA’s “Blogger Bob” put together one too.

Here are his picks for 10 ‘catches’ that were dangerous, looked dangerous, caused major delays or were “just plain weird.”

 

Snakes, turtles, and birds were found at Miami (MIA) and Los Angeles (LAX).

A science project shut down a checkpoint at Omaha (OMA).

A concealed non-metallic martial arts weapon known as a “Tactical Spike” was found in the sock of a passenger at Pensacola (PNS) after being screened by a body scanner.

Inert landmines were found at Salt Lake City (SLC).

A stun gun disguised as a smart phone was found at Los Angeles (LAX).

A flare gun with seven flares was found in a passenger’s carry-on bag at Norfolk (ORF).

Two throwing knives concealed in hollowed out book were found at Washington National (DCA).

Over 1,200 firearms were discovered at TSA checkpoints across the nation, many loaded with rounds in the chamber that most passengers said they “forgot” they had a gun in their bag.

A loaded .380 pistol was found strapped to passenger’s ankle with the body scanner at Detroit (DTW).

Small chunks of C4 explosives were found in passenger’s checked luggage in Yuma (YUM).

Blogger Bob also listed some honorable mentions, including Invisible Space Aliens detected at checkpoints, five inert grenades found in passenger’s bag at Newark (EWR) and 240 live fish found swimming in 4 checked bags at Los Angeles (LAX).

That’s quite a list…. Let’s hope the things the TSA picks up this year are not truly dangerous but just “plain weird.”

 

World on a string at Atlanta’s airport

Airports, Art, Exhibits, , ,

A new exhibit on Concourse T at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport features 51 puppets from around the world, all on loan from the Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts.

In addition to the chickens (above), you’ll see traditional puppets, such as Punch and Judy, marionettes, hand-puppets and string puppets and non-traditional ones, such as those used for traditional Vietnamese water puppetry, in which puppeteers stand in chest-high pools and use the water as a stage.

Where to eat when you’re stuck at the airport

Airports, Food, Restaurants, , ,

There are a plenty of things to do when you’re stuck at the airport: wait, walk, talk, shop, work, nap, get a flu shot, check out other people, see some art, drink and, of course, eat.

But how will you choose where to dine at the airport?

You can line up behind scores of other travelers at McDonald’s or some other chain outlet. But why do that when you can nibble on something truly tasty and local?

Here are a few resources – and resource people – who can help steer you in the right direction.

Over at Portfolio.com, Joe Brancatelli has published his excellent, updated, two part guide offering tips on “Where to Eat Before You Fly.”

Part one lists his picks for places to eat in and near airports in Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago/O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit/Metro, Houston/Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York/Kennedy, New York/LaGuardia, New York/Newark, Philadelphia and Seattle.

Part two focuses on dining options in and around smaller airports, including Austin, Boston, Chicago/Midway, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Honolulu, Memphis, Nashville, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Portland, Maine, Portland, Oregon, Raleigh/Durham, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Francisco Bay Area (3 airports), St. Louis, Tampa, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore (3 airports). See the full list here.

As someone who also spends a lot of time in these same airports and who researches the local options for the airport guides I put together for USATODAY.com, I can tell you that Brancatelli has got the airport dining thing down.

Another resource: Eater.com, a national restaurant and dining blog. Ron Holden, a Seattle-area food writer who blogs at Cornichon.org, sent me a link to Eater.com’s listing for where to eat at my hometown Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and I see that there are also listings for close to two dozen other airports.

And, for dessert, here’s a link to a Food & Wine article posted on msnbc.com’s Ovherhead Bin today describing America’s best new (and some not so new) airport restaurants.

And, if you don’t have time to sit down and enjoy a great airport meal, don’t forget you can always stop into one of the growing number of airport shops selling locally-made, snacks and gourmet treats to go.

Moon Pies at Nashville International Airport. Sold individually and by the box in many flavors.

 

 

Hungry yet? This should get you started.

Have your own tips on where to eat when you’re stuck at the airport? Please share them here.

Travel tips from an airline gate agent

Air Travel, Airports, Security, Travel tips,

Christopher Schaberg, who’s lovely, brand new book “The Textual Life of Airports” showed up in the mail today, was curious about my post here yesterday about surprising advice I received on Christmas Day from an airline gate agent at Washington’s National Airport.

Spokane Airport TSA

 

My husband had gone back out through security to buy a book and was very late getting back to the gate.

I waited and worried. And as the doors for the flight were about to close,  I asked the gate agent about my options. His response: “If ever thought about leaving your husband, this is your chance.”

Schaberg wrote to ask: “So what happened?!?”

I’m happy to report that I didn’t leave my husband behind at the airport.

In a ‘saved by the bell’ moment, he appeared at the gate – shoes in hand – having raced down the concourse after being re-scanned at the security checkpoint.

The gate agent looked a little disappointed, but he winked, ushered us onto the plane and wished us a Merry Christmas.

Have you gotten advice from someone who has seen it all at the airport? Please share your story.

 

 

 

Marriage advice from the airline gate agent

Air Travel, Airports, Travel tips,

The security checkpoint lines at Washington’s Reagan National Airport weren’t terribly long when we began our trip home to Seattle on Christmas Day, so my husband thought he had plenty of time to go back out through security to pick up something to read at the bookstore.

To save time on the way back, he left his carry-on, his coat, his cell phone and buckle-heavy belt with me by the gate.

But as the plane began – and finished – boarding and the gate agent made a ‘last call’ announcement, there was no sign of my husband.

I imagined him blissed-out there among the bestsellers, not paying attention to time. Then I thought perhaps he’d left his boarding pass behind along with his phone.

Irritated and a wee bit concerned (Was he passed out in the terminal? Sick in the bathroom?) I asked the gate agent for some options.

He didn’t skip a beat.

“Well,” he said, “If you were ever considering leaving your husband, this is your chance.”

Microscopes on display at SFO Museum

Airports, Exhibits, Museum Monday, Museums, , ,

Flying lifts you above it all, offering a chance to take in the big picture from the sky.

But travelers who touch down at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) now have an opportunity to get down to specifics with a new exhibition exploring the history of microscopes.

Simple microscope with case 1673–1748; Courtesy SFO Museum

“From mid-seventeenth-century simple microscopes to the modern compound optical devices by German makers during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these are the instruments that revealed the long-held secrets of the natural world—the existence of microorganisms, the structure of biological cells, and the composition and operation of a variety of previously unseen life forms. Nearly 350 years after Robert Hooke introduced a ‘newly visible world,’ we continue to rely on the microscope in our eternal quest to better understand the world we inhabit and the challenges posed by that which remains invisible to the unaided eye.”

[From the exhibition release]

If you can’t make it to the airport, you can view a selection of microscopes and other objects from the exhibition online.

Detail of specimen slides with seeds c. 1820; courtesy SFO Museum

A World Examined: Microscopes from the Age of Enlightenment to the Twentieth Century is on display pre-security in the International Terminal Main Hall Departures Lobby, at San Francisco International Airport through June 24, 2012.

Best airports for skiers

Airports, Sports, ,

Courtesy UW Digital Collections

 

Some airports are kid-friendly; others seem made for the business traveler.

But as winter approaches, it may be helpful to know which airports savvy skiers and snowboarders seek out — and where a boarding pass may be exchanged for a free lift ticket.

Grab ‘n’ go
No one wants to spend the first hours of a ski vacation hanging around the baggage claim area waiting for their gear to arrive.

That’s why John Hanna, CEO of NimbleTravel.com, recommends Denver International Airport for its “wonderful, dedicated ski baggage return” and “easy transport to the slopes on the Colorado Mountain Express.”

Michael Bociurkiw, founder and editor of My Savvy Traveller, gives props to Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and any airport in a city that’s hosted a Winter Olympics. “You can be sure they are well set up to handle winter sports baggage,” said Bociurkiw. “YVR, for example, has a dedicated pickup area in international arrivals for oversized items, including skis.”

Another perk for skiers at YVR is the frequent bus service to Whistler Village, B.C., via Pacific Coach’s YVR Whistler SkyLynx.

Ski-friendly airlines
When it comes to ski-friendly airlines, Bociurkiw gives a nod to Alaska Airlines. “They fly to many ski destinations and, like Air Canada, know how to handle checked skis and boards, including special packaging, handling, tagging and dedicated drop-off and pickup stations. Air Canada gives you the option of declaring oversized baggage during online check-in.”

Travelzoo’s senior editor Gabe Saglie notes that while most airlines impose strict dimension restrictions on ski equipment, a handful stand out for making it easier to take along skis and boots. “Delta and JetBlue allow skis to go on simply as checked baggage, with standard weight limits,” said Saglie. “And skis are free if they are your first — or only — checked piece of baggage on JetBlue.”

Liftopia co-founder and CEO Evan Reece ranks Southwest Airlines as particularly ski-friendly. “The airline considers a ski bag or snowboard bag, plus your boot bag, an equal trade for a single piece of luggage,” said Reece. “So with a ski bag/boot bag and one other piece of checked baggage, there are no fees on Southwest.”

Fly in. Ski free.
The special section for ski and snowboard bags at baggage claim gets high marks at Salt Lake City International Airport, as does a program that allows arriving passengers to ski for free. Via the Park City Quick START (Ski Today and Ride Today) Vacation program, travelers may convert their airline boarding pass into a same-day lift ticket at Canyons Resort, Park City Mountain Resort or Deer Valley Resort.

Skiers arriving at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport can also swap their boarding passes for free ski-lift tickets at Squaw Valley, on the north shore of Lake Tahoe, and at its sister resort, Alpine Meadows, just north of Tahoe City.

This story first appeared on msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin

Talking about airports

Air Travel, Airport shops, Airports, Food, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, , ,

I spend a lot of my time interviewing other people for the stories I write for various outlets and it always feels a bit strange when people turn the tables and ask to interview me.

But probably because this is the hectic holiday travel season, I’ve answered questions posed by Travelocity’s Roaming Gnome, Travergence, Rudy Maxa’s radio show (the podcast should be posted shortly) and, now, the Moodie Report’s Foodie Report. (Go to pages 24 & 25 to hear the audio clips, or read the story below.)

No ads for airport control tower in Medford, Oregon

Airports, aviation, , ,

The director of the Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport in Jackson County, Ore., has decided that the proposal to sell advertising space on the airport control tower is a bit too controversial right now, so he’s dropping the plan.

“There were some in the community that didn’t think it was a good idea,” airport director Bern Case told msnbc.com. “I could see the writing on the wall, so this morning we withdrew our application.”

The airport had been seeking a change in the city code so that a 675-square-foot sign could be placed on each side of the airport control tower. Negotiations were underway with an aviation company that would have paid $3,000 a month for tower ad space, or $360,000 over the course of a 10-year lease.

The Medford City Council had approved the idea on Nov. 17, citing the economic benefits of additional advertising income for the airport, but local and national controversy about the decision caused some councilmembers to reconsider.

“For crying out loud,” said Mike Boyd, an aviation consultant with Boyd Group International. “A control tower isn’t exactly a work of art not to be messed with. I think an ad for Pepsi or Levis, or even an air sickness potion, would be a great way of getting another revenue stream.”

If the project had gone through, the Medford airport would have been the first to have advertising on the control tower. “We were leading the way a little bit,” said Case. “But we all have political bodies to deal with, and it was their call. We’ll be fine.”

While tower ads are tabled for now in Medford, don’t be surprised if the idea pops up somewhere else.

“Non-aeronautical revenue generation is a never-ending effort for airports,” said Sean Broderick, spokesperson for the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE). “If an airport can generate revenue from something that doesn’t cost it much to provide, that’s a win-win for everyone.”

This story first appeared on msnbc.com Travel’s Overhead Bin.