Airports

Latin music concert at San Diego Int’l Airport

Airports, Events, Music, , ,

If you’re anywhere near San Diego International Airport on Wednesday, December 15th between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. head over the baggage claim area in Terminal 2 west.

If you do, you’ll be treated to a Latin music concert featuring Manny Cepeda’s Ritmo Caribe.

The concert is part of the airport’s free performing arts program and will help welcome the  dancers, judges and spectators coming to town for the First Annual World Latin Dance Cup, December 14-18.

To find out about other free performances scheduled at San Diego International Airport, visit the SAN website.


Souvenir Sunday at Newark Liberty Int’l Airport

Airport shops, Airports, Shopping, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs, ,

It’s Souvenir Sunday: the day we look at some of the fun, inexpensive souvenirs you can buy when you’re stuck at the airport.

This week, we have souvenirs spotted at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).

This ashtray is quite fetching, as are the Garden State mints and the Sopranos license plate;

Ashtray - New Jersey

Garden State mints

The Sopranos license plate

But who could resist these cute, baseball-team-themed holiday ornaments:

NY baseball-themed ornaments

Have you found a great souvenir while you were stuck at the airport?  If it’s inexpensive (about $10), “of” the city or region and, ideally, a bit offbeat, please take a photo and send it along to StuckatTheAirport.com.  If you souvenir is featured on Souvenir Sunday we’ll send you a special souvenir.

baseball ornament

Going to the North Pole as an embedded elf

Airlines, Airplanes, Airports, Events, Fun Stuff, Kids, Kids travel, , , ,

Today, about 60 kids from the Spokane, Wa. area will be going on a flight to the North Pole.

Spokane Airport Fantasy Flight to North Pole

Each year, with the help of more than 100 elves and incredible amount of local and regional support, the Spokane Fantasy Flight takes about 60 kids from shelters and community programs in the Spokane area to the airport, onto an airplane and, after about a 30-minute flight, to the North Pole for a full day of magic, complete with reindeer, all the candy you can eat, a visit with Santa and, of course, piles and piles of presents.

I went along as an embedded elf last year and it was so much fun that I’ve signed up to join the elves again.

Before we can get on that flight to the North Pole, of course, we’ll have to get through the security checkpoint at the airport.

TSA sign for North Pole

And then, of course, we’ll have to make sure to find the right gate for our flight.

I’ll report back tomorrow on whether or not jingle-belled elves are subject to enhanced TSA pat-downs and, of course, I’ll let Santa know that you’ve been very, very good.

“Notes,” the embedded elf…

Love is in the air at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport

Air Travel, Airports, Aviation history, Events, Fun Stuff, Weddings, , ,

Throughout the year, Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport is a pretty lovey-dovey place.

marriage ceremony at Stockholm Arlanda

Last Thursday morning, I stopped by the airport chapel just as chaplain Anders Berglund was finishing up a short marriage ceremony for Melitza and Frank Kortman (below).  After chit-chat and champagne, the couple set off for their honeymoon in Bali and Berglund explained that this was the second of three weddings he’d be presiding over that day and just a few of the more than 200 weddings that take place at the airport chapel each year.

Wedding at Stockholm Airport

More than 200 Swedish marriages begin with ceremonies at the airport’s VIP lounge as well.

Wedding at Stockholm Airport VIP Lounge

The folks at Guinness World Records may not be keeping tabs, but I’m pretty sure more wedding ceremonies take place at Stockholm’s Arlanda than at any other airport.

That’s all very romantic. But on Monday, Arlanda is going to be the starting point for what is certainly a world first in weddings.

On Monday morning, December 6, 2010, one of the business class cabins on SAS fligh SK903 from Stockholm to New York will be transformed into a wedding chapel in preparation for the world’s first in-flight, same-sex weddings.

One gay couple and one lesbian couple – winners of a spirited, record-breaking, on-line contest that took place over the last few months – will be married when the plane takes off and while it is still in Swedish airspace. Once the legal business is completed, there will be an in-flight reception, complete with wedding dinner, wedding cake, first dances  and other traditional, and no doubt some non-traditional, wedding celebrations.

I’ll be attending the in-flight weddings as a media guest and will share more details once the flight arrives in New York.

In the meantime, you can read more about the contest and winning couples on the SAS website, where there’s also information about the flowers, the wedding bands and the wedding outfits.

Souvenir Sunday at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport

Air Travel, Airport shops, Airports, Chapels, Design, Food, Hotels, Kids, Restaurants, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs, , , , ,

Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport serves more than 16 million passengers a year with 4 terminals and amenities that include a Sky Clinic, a chapel that hosts more than 200 weddings a year and hotels that range from the short stay “Rest and Fly” to the full-service Radisson Blu Sky City Hotel, which looks out over the transportation and marketplace hub between two terminals.

The Jumbo Stay sits on airport property, just off one of the taxi-ways, and is a unique hostel-style hotel built inside a converted 747.

The airport has more than 100 retail and dining venues, and on my recent 24-hour stay at the airport, I found plenty of items to feature on Souvenir Sunday, the day StuckatTheAirport.com highlights inexpensive, offbeat and “of” the city items you can buy at airports.

The choices included Swedish Herring gift packs and lots of other traditional food items;

and a wide variety of reindeer-inspired items and Lapland souvenirs.

But my choice for this week’s Souvenir Sunday favorites are the inexpensive, brightly-colored sporks and collapsible cups for sale at Terminal 5’s branch of Design Torget .

collapsible cups

If you find a great, inexpensive, “of” the city souvenir next time you’re Stuck at the Airport, please snap a photo and send it along. If your souvenir is featured on Souvenir Sunday, you’ll receive a fun air travel souvenir.

Snack Saturday: holiday tamales at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport

Air Travel, Airport shops, Airports, Exhibits, Food, Fun Stuff, Snack Saturday, , , , , ,

If you don’t make your own holiday tamales or know someone who does, then consider making a stop at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

As they do each year, the folks at El Bravo (Terminal 4, in the D concourse) are selling their popular holiday tamales in special holiday bags.

On the menu: green corn chicken, green corn vegetarian, red beef tamales and the seasonal specialty: sweet bean. All are available frozen.

And while you’re at PHX, take a moment to check out the airport’s bug exhibit.

According to the exhibit notes, Arizona has the richest natural endowment of insect life – including America’s biggest, strangest, most beautiful and most poisonous bugs.

The photos and the bug specimens in “Arizona’s Bizarre and Beautiful Bugs” are provided by Kim Wismann, American Home Naturalist, Tempe, Arizona, and will be displayed in a Terminal 3, Level 2, garage exhibit case through April 2011.

Friday is Customer Appreciation Day at Pittsburgh Airport

Air Travel, Airport shops, Airports, Deals, Entertainment, Festivals, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Holidays, ,

People are generally nice at Pittsburgh International Airport, but on Friday, morning December 3rd they’re going to be extra nice.

PIT Customer Appreciation

That’s because on Friday, from 10 a.m. until noon, it’s customer appreciation day at the airport.

In addition to live music and tree decorating in the pre and post-security areas, you’ll find many airlines and car rental agencies hosting activities at their counters and airport ambassadors handing out candy canes and cookies. Anyone who makes a donation (of any amount) to United Way will get a chance to spin a prize wheel for some of the great gifts donated by airport merchants.  Many airports shops will be having special discounts and promotions as well.

Why is the airport being so nice?  Pittsburgh International Airport has trained hundreds of its employees in Resiliency Edge’s N.I.C.E. (Neutralizing Irritations Customers Experience) program, which is designed to solve customer problems.  So having a customer appreciation day is, well, just nice!

To find out more about Pittsburgh Airport’s customer appreciation day and see a list of discounts and specials being offered by various shop,see the notice on the  PIT website.

If there’s any chance you will be at the airport, be sure to print out the page – some extra discounts are being offered to those who show the N.I.C.E. day notice.

Free Santa photos at the airport

Air Travel, Airports, free Wi-Fi, Fun Stuff, ,

This year, when he’s not in malls and department stores listening to children tell him what they want for Christmas, Santa will posing for photos with passengers at airports.

Windows and Southwest Airlines are sponsoring a “Holiday Photos on the Fly” service at more than two dozen airports on Dec 2-5, Dec 9-12 and Dec 17-20.

You and your family can get your picture taken with Santa for free and the Windows elves will walk you through the process of retrieving and printing your picture.

Check here to see if your airport is on the list.

And check here to enter a holiday sweepstakes for cash and airplane tickets.

Free Straight No Chaser concert at JFK JetBlue T5

Air Travel, Airports, Contests, Entertainment, Events, Free Stuff, Music, , , ,

Passengers traveling though JetBlue’s Terminal 5 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday afternoon (Dec 1st) will be treated to one of the airline’s “surprise” Live from T5 concerts.

The a cappella group Straight No Chaser (SNC) will perform a holiday-themed concert in the post-security Marketplace at 1:30 p.m.

The concert isn’t open to the public, but on its website SNC is offering 50 winners and their guests special access to the post-security event.

To win tickets, here’s what you need to do:

1. Tweet: “Want to win tickets to see @sncmusic’s at JetBlue’s T5 on December 1st? RT!”
2. Send an email (using the subject line “SNC T5″) with a link of your tweet to sncwebcrew@gmail.com with  this information:

· Full Middle Last Name

· Date of Birth

· Male/Female

· Passport/driver’s license

· State or country the passport or license is issued in.

There’s no deadline for this contest posted on the SNC website, but if you’re a SNC fan in the New York area, don’t dawdle.

Souvenir Sunday: rechargeable William & Kate batteries

Air Travel, Airport shops, Airports, Shopping, Souvenir Sunday, Souvenirs, , ,

On Sundays, StuckatTheAirport takes a look at offbeat, inexpensive and locally-branded items you can buy at airports.

Souvenirs at Narita Airport

This week I found an item I’m betting will show up in electronics stores in Heathrow, Gatwick and all other airports in Great Britain any moment now – if it hasn’t  already.

Moixa christmad pack rechargable batteries

For a few years now, my travel gadget wish list has included some of these rechargeable batteries from USBCell. They eliminate the need to tote around yet another charger because there’s a USB port under the cap that lets you recharge the battery on a USB plug on your computer or with a USB adapter.

I’ve been waiting for the price to come down on these batteries; they’re a bit pricey (about $18 a pair). But I may have to go ahead and buy a few packets now because  the company has jumped on the Royal Wedding bandwagon and issued William-and-Kate-branded rechargeable batteries.

Corny but cute, yet very eco-friendly.

Santa, are you taking notes?

William and Kate branded eco-batteries

[Note: This Souvenir Sunday post isn’t a benefit-to-me promotion in any way, but when I asked MOIXA Energy for a photo of the royal batteries, they offered to set up a 20% discount code (“Royal120”) for StuckatTheAirport.com readers. If you buy some, let me know how they work and what sort of conversations they ignite at the airport.]

And..

If you find a great inexpensive (about $10), offbeat, “of” a city or region souvenir when you’re stuck at the airport, please take a photo and send it along. If your item is featured on Souvenir Sunday here at StuckatTheAirport.com, I’ll send you a set of ANA (All Nippon Airways) Relax and Refresh aroma cards or some other fun travel souvenir.