Entertainment

Airports celebrate the holiday with discounts & entertaining diversions

December 9, 2010Harriet BaskasAir Travel, Airport shops, Entertainment, Food, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Holidaysairport events, coupons, Holiday entertainment, TSA

Santa visits Munich Airport Christmas Market

With its full-body scanners and enhanced pat-down procedures, the TSA is a shoo-in this year for the Scrooge role during the busy holiday travel season. As a counterpoint, many airports will be doling out candy cane kindness in the form of festive decorations, dining and retail discounts, giveaways, contests and entertainment.

Here’s a sampling of what’s in store; check your airport’s website – or Facebook page – for more.

Tunes in the terminals

TSA Choir at Austin Bergstrom Airport

Airports stretching from San Diego and Sacramento to Philadelphia and Fort Lauderdale will be hosting holiday carolers, choirs, crooners and yes, Virginia, karaoke.

Nashville International Airport is hosting half a dozen holiday-themed performances between now and December 22^nd, while at Austin Bergstrom International Airport, the holiday entertainment program once again includes the Judy Lee Dancers (all dancers are 60 years old and up) on December 16^th and, on December 22^nd, the Austin Airport TSA Chorus. See the full schedule for Nashville airport and the Austin airport.

LAX TSA CHOIR

Los Angeles International Airport also has a TSA chorus and this year has concerts scheduled December 14^th on the Terminal 2 mezzanine, December 15 in the Tom Bradley Terminal, December 16^th in Terminal 7 and Dec 21 (post-security) in the American Airlines rotunda in Terminal 4. “Our goal is to sing put the human face of the TSA in the public. So it’s not just the ‘Hey, take of your shoes’ image” says chorus organizer and terminal screening manager Raul Matute.

San Francisco International Airport’s ‘You Are Hear’ music program presents free concerts each Wednesday and Friday throughout December (except on the 24^th) from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. in the International Terminal, Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. Apropos of the season, on December 22^nd, the Golden Gate Bellringers will be in the International Terminal. See the full schedule.

At the Philadelphia International Airport, Victorian carolers will sing and stroll through the airport terminals on December 11 & 12; 18 & 19; and 22 & 23. Santa’s PHL strolling stretches from now through the 24^th and, while out and about, he’s happy to stop and pose for photos with travelers.

In addition to its regular Terminal Tunes Entertainment Program, which emphasizes holiday tunes during December, Fort Lauderdale International Airport is hosting its Winter Festival of Music. The program stretches from December 13-17 and features children from local schools dancing, singing and playing instruments during morning and afternoon performances in all four terminals and in the Rental Car Center.

At Montana’s Missoula International Airport, entertainment on tap for December 15 – 24 includes holiday music on piano, harp and woodwinds. Performances will be held in the airport lobby.

Mondays and Fridays through December 17^th, Sacramento International Airport hosts five performers a day in Terminal A, beginning at 6 a.m. and ending at 8 p.m. See the full schedule. And from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on December 18^th, characters from Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer TV show will be at the pre-security Civic Plaza at Indianapolis International Airport taking photos with kids. There will also be a coloring contest and a sweepstakes to win tickets to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. Any adult who fills out an entry form will win free parking.

San Antonio International Airport will have 60 different music groups from local area schools performing everything form choral performance and jazz music to mariachi between now and December 17. At the San Diego International Airport, the monthly calendar of airport entertainment gets a December boost with roving entertainers on December 22^nd (The Rockin’ Cranberries and the Full Measure Carolers) and the San Diego Children’s Choir on December 23^rd.

In addition to musical performances by area high school bands and choirs and occasional visits by Santa, Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport will once again be hosting airport karaoke. All-ages karaoke sessions will take place December 9^th and 18^th and there will be a special kids-only karaoke event on December 22^nd in Terminal A.

And the Fresno Yosemite International Airport is taking over the long-standing Central California Christmas tradition once held by Fresno’s Metropolitan Museum: the display of 12 uniquely decorated Christmas trees. The airport is also presenting a lighted Victorian Christmas Village display, entertainment and surprise visits by Santa Claus.

Coupons and contests

The TSA warns travelers that wrapped gifts may get unwrapped at the security checkpoint, so airports in San Francisco, Phoenix, Philadelphia and several other cities are providing free post-security gift wrapping stations. Travelers will also find some promotions and treats at many other airports:

Through December 31^st, all airport Vino Volo shops that sell wine are offering 10% off on the purchase of 3 or more bottles. And in both the Food & Shops at LaGuardia airport’s Central Terminal and at Philadelphia airports’ Philadelphia Marketplace, travelers who spend $100 or more in the shops can pick up a complimentary silver snowflake necklace from the Taxco Sterling shops in those airports.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is handing out a free coupon book full of almost 80 discounts and/or gift-with-purchase offers for dining and retail outlets throughout the airport. Download the booklet from the airport website or pick one up at an airport information booth. Las Vegas International Airport is also offering travelers a discount holiday coupon book this year. Look for the red Travel Advantages booklet at the airport or download a copy.

During its annual Holidays Take Flight festival (now through Jan. 2) Oregon’s Portland International Airport offers food and beverage samplings, store promotions, live entertainment and special events. With Air Canada, the airport is also giving away a pair of round trip airline tickets from Portland to Toronto. Enter at the airport or on the PDX website through January 2nd.

Christmas Market and a Magical Teapot

The holiday spirit extends beyond US airports.

The Christmas Fantasy at Singapore’s Changi Airport includes giveaways, song and dance performances, activities for kids and fanciful décor that includes a ‘magical teapot’ that lights up with special effects and dispenses colored balls that can be exchanged for prizes.

While the traditional Christmas Market is no longer held at the Frankfort Airport, the airport continues the tradition of hosting a holiday sweepstakes for a car. This year, airport shoppers can Win the Fastest Christmas Mini.

Through January 2^nd, the Winter Market at Munich Airport, underneath the roof of the Munich Airport Center features nightly entertainment, free ice-skating and curling rinks, 300 Christmas trees and 45 booths selling Bavarian specialties and handicrafts.

This article was originally prepared for USAToday.com.

More airport holiday events listing tomorrow….

Friday is Customer Appreciation Day at Pittsburgh Airport

December 3, 2010Harriet BaskasAir Travel, Airport shops, Airports, Deals, Entertainment, Festivals, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Holidayscustomer appreciation day, Pittsburgh International Airport, prizes

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

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 Straight No Chaser concert at JFK JetBlue T5

November 29, 2010Harriet BaskasAir Travel, Airports, Contests, Entertainment, Events, Free Stuff, Musicfree concert, JetBlue T5, JFK, Straight No Chaser, win tickets

Passengers traveling though JetBlue’s Terminal 5 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday afternoon (Dec 1^st) 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.

Look for Santa at Indianapolis International Airport

November 26, 2010Harriet BaskasAir traffic control, Airports, Entertainment, Events, Kidsairport events, Indianapolis International Airport, kids t, kids travel, Santa

You may still be eating Thanksgiving leftovers at your house, but at Indianapolis International Airport they’ve already moved on to Christmas.

On Saturday, Santa Claus will arrive at the airport at 11 a.m. and hang out for a few hours in the airport’s pre-security Civic Plaza.

While he’s there, he’ll pose with kids for free digital pictures. There will also be a cookie and ornament-decorating station as well as a chance to enter to win tickets for entry to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and other attractions. And everyone who enters the contest ‘wins’ free parking.

Holiday treats for air travelers

November 24, 2010Harriet BaskasAir Travel, Airport shops, Airports, Entertainment, family travel, Food, Free Stuff, Holidaysairport entertainment, free concerts, kids travel, music at airports, Tastycakes, Thanksgiving travel

Lines will be long, tempers will be short, but there will be some entertainment at many airports this holiday weekend.

On Wednesday (November 24^th) four members of the world-famous Rockettes (not necessarily the Rockettes pictured above) will pose for photographs with holiday travelers at Nashville International Airport (BNA) from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the ticketing and baggage claim areas.

Wednesday is also Passenger Appreciation Day at Philadelphia International Airport. Entertainment will include strolling entertainment, a PGA Tour Shop putting competition, Body Shop makeovers and skin consultations for men and women and food sampling – including the distribution of 2500 TaskyKakes in the B/C Food Court between noon and 5 p.m.

In Chicago, blues and jazz bands will perform at O’Hare International Airport on Wednesday from 2 to 4 p.m. Look for stages beyond the security checkpoints in each domestic terminal and in the Arrivals Level of International Terminal 5. Staff from the Chicago Children’s Museum will also be on hand to host special activities in the “Kids on the Fly” play area in Terminal 2 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

At Chicago Midway Airport on Wednesday, there will be live entertainment in the Baggage Claim area from 2 to 5 pm and, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., complimentary hot cocoa just past the security checkpoint. (Look for hot cocoa on Sunday as well.)

The Thanksgiving music series at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport concludes today (Wednesday) with a performance by Johnny Roquemore and the Apostles of Bluegrass from 5 to 7 pm in the Atrium.

And on Thanksgiving Day, travelers flying on Southwest Airlines will be served a complimentary adult drink!

Coming soon – if you’re lucky – to an airport near you

October 14, 2010Harriet BaskasAir Travel, Airport shops, Airports, Entertainment, Food, free Wi-Fi, Layover, Lounges, Pets, Sleeping, Wi-FiAirport food, amenities, Sleeping at airports, smoking at airports, smoking lounges, vending

My At the Airport column for USAToday.com this month, Coming soon – if you’re lucky – to an airport near you, features some of the new amenities I saw on exhibit in Philadelphia at the recent conference of Airports Council International – North America, or ACI-NA.

During the conference, workshops were offered on everything from saving energy to dealing with security threats and how to get more passengers to “follow” airports on Twitter. But the real fun was on the exhibition hall floor. There, vendors displayed everything from the latest in airport seating (cup holders and USB plugs, thankfully, seem to be the next big thing) to new, high-tech machinery for shooing wildlife off runways. But here are the amenities I found most intriguing.

Napping nooks

Last year, Minute Suites debuted “sleep rooms” at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (Concourse B, next to Gate B15). Each room has a day bed, work desk, complimentary Wi-Fi, a 32” HDTV, and sound masking system tools. The company is opening another branch at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) in March 2011, and is in talks with at least three other airports for more.

Minute Suites airport sleep room

Unique Retreat, another company making napping nooks, should be opening its first branch at San Francisco International Airport before the end of the year in the International Terminal, Boarding Area A.

Cigar lounges

Bahamas-based Graycliff cigars opened boutiques with specially-ventilated cigar lounges attached at Nassau International Airport last November and at Nashville International Airport in March.

Each lounge has an admission fee ($10 in Nassau; $4 in Nashville) and Graycliff reps say they’re exploring setting up this type of smoking lounge at other airports as well.

Eat, buy, play

The Food Network is bidding on several airport locations for themed restaurants that will be called Food Network Kitchens. And ZoomSystems, which makes those oversized airport vending machines (officially: “automated shops”) to sell products from Best Buy, The Body Shop, Sephora and other retailers will soon be installing airport ZoomShops to dispense apparel associated with a major sport.

Skip the cellphone lot; park at the plaza

“Cell phone lots on steroids” is how the folks at Airport Plazas are marketing the service centers they’re planning to build on airport properties but separate from the terminals. Patterned after highway plazas offering fuel and food, these 24-hour service centers might have amenities ranging from a gas station, a food court, a car wash and a convenience store to free Wi-Fi, a pet hotel, a pharmacy and a bank.

The company opened its first airport plaza recently at Newark Liberty International Airport. There, amenities include an environmentally-friendly gas station, a dual-bay car wash, a service station bay and a 7-Eleven convenience store.

Future airport plazas are planned for New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Southwest Florida International Airport (Fort Myers) and Utah’s, St. George Municipal Airport.

Sound promising? What should they work on next?

Two new, slightly naughty, Air New Zealand videos

October 10, 2010Harriet BaskasAir Travel, Entertainment, Fun StuffAir New Zealand

These new Air New Zealand videos are hysterical, adorable and a wee bit naughty…

Where to celebrate John Lennon’s legacy

October 9, 2010Harriet BaskasEntertainment, Events, Exhibits, Free Stuff, HistoryJohn Lennon, Lennon's Birthday, The Beatles

If he hadn’t been shot and killed outside his New York City apartment on December 8^th, 1980, John Lennon would have been celebrating his 70^th birthday today.

The day is being marked around the world with concerts and exhibits that include a bed-in and a photography exhibit that includes this iconic photograph, snapped on July 6^th, 1957 on the day Paul McCartney met John Lennon in what’s considered to be the “Big Bang” moment that led to formation of The Beatles.

(by Geoff Rhind. Courtesy Paley Center for Media)

Taken by one of Lennon’s schoolmates, the snapshot above is part of an exhibition that opened this week at the Paley Center for Media in New York City. The show is filled with early, rarely-seen images, including one taken by Paul McCartney’s brother, Mike.

As they do every year on his birthday and on the anniversary of his death, Lennon fans will also gather at Strawberry Fields, the memorial site within New York City’s Central Park.

Tonight there will also be a free Central Park screening of LENNONYC, a new film by Michael Epstein with concert footage and home movies documenting Lennon’s life in New York City after the break-up of the Beatles. The film will air nationally on PBS as part of the American Masters series on November 22^nd.

Here’s a preview:

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio is holding a John Lennon Weekend through Sunday that includes a concert, the sealing of a time capsule filled with Lennon’s music and items contributed by fans, as well as film highlights from both the Beatles’ and John Lennon’s inductions into the Hall of Fame. The weekend also features tours of the museum’s Beatles exhibit, which includes Lennon’s 1979 Yamaha Upright piano, his Sgt. Pepper outfit, one of his electric guitars and the 1964 Gibson J 160E acoustic guitar he and Yoko had with them for the two “bed-ins” for peace in March and May of 1969.

John Lennon's guitar. Courtesy Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

Here’s a short video clip about that guitar by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame curatorial director Jim Henke.

Fans can learn more about John Lennon’s political activism in Give Peace a Chance: John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Bed-In for Peace, a traveling exhibit opening at the Lake County Discovery Museum in Wauconda, Ill. today.

John and Yoko recording Give Peace a chance

On display through January 2^nd, 2011 will be more than 40 large-format photos taken during the bed-in for peace John and Yoko held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal from May 26^th to June 2nd, 1969 and a re-creation of the room where the bed-in took place.

In Los Angeles, the GRAMMY Museum has opened John Lennon, Songwriter, an exhibition that displays some of John Lennon’s guitars, his signature round, wire-framed eyeglasses, his typewriter, some of his original drawings and handwritten lyrics, and photographs, posters and other artifacts and memorabilia loaned to the museum by Yoko Ono.

And in Liverpool, England is kicking off an event-filled John Lennon Tribute Season that will last through December 9^th. In addition to rock, pop and classical music tributes, there will be art exhibitions, city tours, a poetry slam, lectures, an exhibition of early Beatles photos taken by Astrid Kirchherr (the girlfriend of Stuart Sutcliffe, the original Beatles’ bass player), and a Bed-In endorsed by Yoko Ono in which a curated group of participants will perform serious, humorous, commemorative or provocative actions in a publicly-sited bed over the course of 62 days.

[The original version of this story is on msnbc.com.]

Photo of John Lennon by Astrid Kirchherr

Souvenir Sunday at London Heathrow Airport

September 26, 2010Harriet BaskasAir Travel, Airport shops, Airports, Celebrities, Entertainment, Exhibits, Fashion, Food, History, Hotels, Restaurants, Shopping, Souvenir Sunday, SouvenirsAfternoon Tea, Heathrow Airport, Jimi Hendrix, London, Souvenir Shopping

There’s never enough time to do everything I want to do in London, but on my most recent visit I managed to squeeze in quite a lot in just three days.

Activities were wedged in between a meal seasoned with performances by contortionists and flame-embellished dancers at a West End cabaret bar named Circus, Afternoon Tea at The Langham’s Palm Court and whiskey tasting (before and after dinner) with the whiskey sommelier at The Athenaeum Hotel.

Forks-down highlights included a visit to the funky top floor apartment Jimi Hendrix lived in from 1968-1970 (more about honoring Hendrix here); a Fat Tire Bike Tour past iconic monuments, memorials and palaces (more about that here), and walking tours of upscale, low-key Primrose Hill and East London, which is brimming with hip art galleries and stores chock-full of clothing by up-and-coming designers.

Hendrix fan waiting for tour of Hendrix's flat

Hendrix fan waiting to tour Jimi Hendrix's London flat

I couldn’t afford to buy anything in any in-city shops, so that left souvenir shopping at Heathrow Airport.

Souvenir Sunday was coming up – the day Stuck at the Airport looks at fun, inexpensive items for sale at airports – so I focused on items selling for under £10, which right now equals about $16.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Souvenir at Heathrow - Princess Di Postcard

Giant Princess Diana postcard

Heathrow Airport Souvenir - post box banks

And of course:

Meet the (scary-looking) Beatles. That's not really Ringo is it?

If you find a great souvenir while Stuck at the Airport, please take a photo and send it along. Your souvenir may be featured on a future edition of Souvenir Sunday.

[Note, my trip to London was part of a research trip for several articles in progress unrelated to whiskey, cabarets and shopping and was hosted by Air New Zealand, Visit London and The Athanaeum. Thank-you.]

Dancing at San Diego Airport; Cleaning up in the Housekeeping Olympics

September 14, 2010Harriet BaskasAirports, Baggage, Entertainment, Events, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Hotelsdance performance, Hotel housekeeping, Housekeeping Olympics, San Diego International Airport

If you happen to be traveling to or through San Diego International Airport on Tuesday morning (September 14, 2010) between 10:30 am and 12:30 pm, make your way to the Terminal 2 West baggage claim area.

There, against the backdrop of travelers going about the business of grabbing their bags and greeting their loved ones, you’ll get to see the Malashock Dance Company perform a travel-themed modern dance.

And, if you’re checking into a hotel this week, keep in mind that it’s International Housekeepers Week. This ‘holiday’ is celebrated each year in the second full week of September and in many cities the week is marked with Housekeeping Olympics competitions that include laundry folding, bed making, toilet bowl bowling, vacuum cleaner racing and other events.

The folks at the Four Season Austin were kind enough to share this photo of their general manager (the guy with the boxing gloves) fighting to keep the Housekeeping Champ title.