Entertainment

A few highlights from the APEX EXPO

Air Travel, Entertainment, , , ,

I’m attending workshops and roving the booths at the exhibit hall during the APEX 2012 EXPO, a sprawling event dedicated to exploring and, hopefully improving the airline passenger experience. The exhibit hall is bulging with booths dedicated to movies and other forms of in-flight entertainment and the technology with which that entertainment is delivered.

Here’s a sampling of some of the things that have caught my eye.

Hungry?

Stathis Kefallonitis of branding.aero and Nikos Loukas of inflighfeed.com offered a tasting workshop that explored how flavors and certain brands of food can strengthen an airline’s image and a passenger’s in-flight experience. (Disclosure: I made a dinner of the samples I was supposed to be evaluating during the workshop.)

Need a place for your PED?

Lots of people are traveling with their own portable electronic devices these days and the folks at Smart Tray have a booth with a simple-yet-elegant tray table design that has a slot in it to hold up these devices.

Cramped much?

Much of the in-flight entertainment being flogged consists of Hollywood films. But there are also a fair number of other offerings, including educational programming and wellness instructional videos from the likes of Uplifted, a company from Perth, Australia. In addition to an in-flight workout video, this company has a new in-flight exercise pamphlet that attaches to an upright tray table so you can follow along with the printed exercise instructions.

Spider-Man at JFK airport

Entertainment

As part of the American Airlines JFK Concert Series, cast members from Broadway’s Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark are scheduled to perform at Terminal 8 at John F. Kennedy International Airport on on August 23rd and again on Friday, September 7. While AA’s webpage about the series doesn’t give much information, Playbill lists the performance times as 2:30 and 3:15 pm.

(Past performances in the series have been on Friday’s and Spider-Man is a mysterious fellow, so if cast members aren’t there on Thursday, look for them on Friday.)

When travel gives you lemons, drink free airport lemonade

Entertainment, Food, Free Stuff, ,

To help travelers relax, many airports offer some form of summertime entertainment. For example, San Francisco International Airport has a You Are Hear summer concert series, Dulles International Airport hosts a Jazz Series and Vancouver International Airport offers DJs, live entertainment, free samples of treats and sweets, and $10 lunch specials all summer long during its popular, pre-security Take-Off Fridays celebrations.

Philadelphia International Airport’s summer-long Just Plane Fun program has been treating travelers to everything from free makeovers to live music and a chance to chill out and relax in one of the airport’s two Chillin’ Zones, which are outfitted with sofas, tables and plants.

Now Philadelphia International Airport is going a step further and offering complimentary cool beverages, serving 600 to 700 passengers daily.

“We were thinking of what we could do for people before they get to the security checkpoint, because there’s not much retail before security and all our entertainment is post-security,” said airport spokeswoman Victoria Lupica.

“It’s been a very warm summer and we know that people waiting in line can’t take a beverage with them through the security line,” said Lupica, “So we decided to offer passengers a refreshing complimentary glass of lemonade or iced tea. They can sip that in line and then dump the cup before going through the checkpoint.”

Lupica says the airport staff is monitoring the checkpoint lines, noting the busiest times in each terminal and dispatching the five rolling carts to areas where lines are longest.

“This isn’t something we’re going to stop doing when summer is over,” said Lupica. “When the weather turns cool, we plan to offer travelers hot chocolate to keep them warm and toasty.”

(My story about Philadelphia International Airport’s complimentary lemonade program first appeared on NBC News Travel.)

(Photo courtesy Philadelphia International Airport)

Best strip clubs near airports?

Entertainment, Layover,

Photo from UW Digital Collections, via The Commons on Flickr

 

The “Add your comment here” section of web articles and blog postings certainly has its pros and cons.

The comments I like best (of course) are those that praise my work. But far more valuable messages come from readers who add thoughtful responses, share related tidbits and who are kind when they point out I’ve made a typo or fractured a fact.

Perplexing – to say the least – are people who use the comments section to send me personal advice about my hairdo and to be unnecessarily mean about other people encountered while traveling. Overweight people on airplanes seem to be especially popular targets, but anytime I write about the TSA, venom really starts flowing

But I’m not sure how I feel about the first comment posted on my most recent “At the Airport” column on USATODAY.com.

The column is titled Top 10 attractions to visit on your way to the airport, and includes museums, gardens, parks, walking paths and other diversions near airports around the country.

The first comment? A reader’s list of what appears to be strip clubs near airports.

Visiting a strip club is not something I’d considered including in my list of suggestions and at first I was a bit offended. But I’m sure strips clubs near airports are where some business travelers spend their extra time before checking in for a flight.

So, should the title of my column be “Top 20 attractions to visit on your way to the airport? And did that reader compile a useful list?

Attractions to visit on your way to the airport

Airports, Entertainment, Museums

I call it “Do I dare?” time.

That hour or two at the end of a business trip when I’ve wrapped up my work, packed up my stuff, printed out my boarding pass and don’t really have to leave for the airport just yet.

Do I dare use that time to squeeze in a visit to a museum, garden or some other attraction in town? And if I do, where should I go?

Cloud Nine Media, one of the companies that provides free Wi-Fi sessions to those willing to take a short survey, posed that question for me recently to passengers waiting at a half-dozen airports.

The responses included visiting Universal CityWalk Hollywood near Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, Calif., the Mounts Botanical Gardens near Palm Beach International Airport in Florida, the American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, near Washington Dulles International Airport.

Here are some suggestions for attractions and adventures near 10 other U.S. airports:

1. The Cincinnati Art Museum, which offers free admission and has a 12-foot tall bronze sculpture of Pinocchio outside the front entrance, is 20 minutes from the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG). The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is also just 20 minutes from the airport. General admission is $15, but if you think business will bring you back to town, consider the Reds/Zoo combo ticket ($32) that includes a Cincinnati Reds baseball cap and tickets to the zoo, the gardens, a Cincinnati Reds baseball game and a visit to the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum.

2. A free shuttle bus (Route No. 66) that leaves from Boston Logan International Airport, will take you to the nearby water-transportation terminal. There, a paved, 3/4-mile Harborwalk offers great views of the Boston skyline. You can also hop on a water taxi for a 10-minute ride to Boston’s Rowes Wharf, for a stroll around Faneuil Hall and a quick visit to the New England Aquarium and other attractions. (Fare: $17 roundtrip)

3. A free aviation museum, the Flight Path Learning Center, is located on the south side of the Los Angeles International Airport and the 18-hole, par 64 Westchester Golf Course adjacent to LAX is open daily until 10 p.m.. For a taste of a local specialty, a branch of In-N-Out Burger is nearby as well and is adjacent to a small park popular with plane spotters. (Take the free shuttle to Economy Lot C and cross the street at 96th St. and Sepulveda Blvd.) Dockweiler State Beach, under LAX flight paths, is a 7-minute cab ride from the terminals.

4. The Carolinas Aviation Museum is located adjacent to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport and is now home to the US Airways “Miracle on the Hudson” airplane from Flight 1549. In addition to photo, videos and artifacts from that airplane, the museum displays many other military, civil and commercial aircraft. Admission: $12.

5. The 15,000-acre Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge Center, once the site of a chemical weapons manufacturing facility, is near Denver International Airport. In addition to a visitor center filled with interactive exhibits, there are walking and biking trails, catch-and-release fishing, site tours and opportunities to spot wildlife that includes wild bison, deer, coyotes and bald eagles. Admission: free

6. The National Park Service operates the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center, the USS Arizona Memorial and several other Pearl Harbor historic sites just three miles from Honolulu International Airport. Tickets are free for the 75-minute program that includes a 23-minute film and a Navy-operated shuttle boat ride to the USS Arizona Memorial. Admission is charged for the other Pearl Harbor historic sites, which include the Battleship Missouri Memorial, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park and the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor.

7. In Milwaukee, the Harley-Davidson Museum is a 15-minute drive from General Mitchell International Airport. Through September 3rd, the museum is featuring Worn to be Wild, an exhibit celebrating the iconic black leather jacket, a wardrobe must-have for early pilots. (Admission: $18)

8. 32 Boeing 747s could fit inside the Mall of America, which is a 15-minute light-rail ride away from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. In addition to the more than 500 stores and more than 50 restaurants, the mall is home to a 14-screen movie theater, the SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium (with a 300-foot glass tunnel), a Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park and other attractions.

9. A free shuttle bus runs regularly from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport to the Metro light-rail transfer station, which is across the street from the Pueblo Grande Museum Archeological Park. The 95-acre park grounds are on the site of a 1,500 year-old Hohokam Indian Village and include an 800-year old platform mound, an excavated ball court and two full-scale reproductions of Hohokam homes. Admission: $6.

10. Country music fans might enjoy a quick visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on the way to Nashville International Airport. The museum features video clips, recorded music, live performances and exhibits that celebrate country music stars such as Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, Chet Atkins, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and Taylor Swift.

For more ideas see the “Nearby layover option” in the 50 Airport Guides I maintain for USA TODAY. And if you have a suggestion for an activity or attraction nearby an airport, please add it to the comment section below.

[This list originally appeared in my “At the Airport” column for USA TODAY.]

Kid Band Week at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport

Entertainment, Music, ,

Each week, travelers passing through Austin-Bergstrom International Airport have 15 chances to enjoy live music..

Next week there’s an extra special treat: the Austin airport is hosting the sixth annual “Kid Band Week.”

From Monday, July 16 to Friday, July 20, 2012, young bands will play on the Asleep at the Wheel stage at Ray Benson’s Roadhouse (post-security) near Gate 10.

There will be five performances, one each day, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Here’s the 2012 Kid Band Week line:

Monday: Mikah Young (Singer Songwriter)

Tuesday: Broch Evans and Greyson Weedman from the band Taco and the Enchiladas (Tunes You Know)

Wednesday: Charlie Belle (So Pop)

Thursday: The Aviators (Rock and Roll)

Friday: The Peterson Brothers (Down Home Blues)

 

At some airports: iPads, balloons and movies

Airports, Entertainment, ,

Who says airports aren’t full of entertainment?

iPads for everyone

JFK DELTA


The company that installed complimentary iPads for passenger use near some gates in Terminals 2 and 3 at JFK and in LaGuardia’s Terminal D, plans to expand the concept to other areas of LaGuardia and to Minneapolis-St. Paul International and Toronto Pearson International airports within the next 12 to 18 months.

The currently installed iPads allow passengers to check email, play games, browse the web and order up a meal or snack from a nearby eatery.

Now, this  GigaOM article  tells us, OTG Management, which operates a variety of dining outlets at nine airports  plans to expand the program considerably, with up to 100,000 iPads installed in airports throughout the U.S.

BNA’s Big Balloon

As part of its 75th anniversary celebration, Nashville International Airport (BNA) will have balloon artists on site on June 17 to build a half-scale balloon model of a DC-3 aircraft, the first plane to land at the airport. The completed sculpture, to be made of environmentally friendly balloons, will stay in the terminal for about a month.

Movie night at SFO

And, Thursday evening, June 21st, will be movie night at the aviation museum inside San Francisco International Airport. On the schedule: The High and the Mighty, starring John Wayne, who plays Dan Roman, “a troubled commercial airline pilot who finds personal redemption when a Honolulu to San Francisco flight turns out to be anything but routine.” Admission to movie night is $10 and includes airport parking and, we hope, complimentary popcorn.

IMAX movies coming to Hong Kong Airport

Entertainment, Movies, , , ,

Here’s a great idea: movies at airports.

Changi Airport – which has a butterfly garden, free Wi-Fi, a giant indoor slide, lounge chairs with built in alarm clocks and pretty must everything a traveler on a long layover could want – also has free movies theaters on site.

Open 24 hours, the movie screening area in Terminal 2 features movies available on the Fox Movies Premium website. The theater in Terminal 3 shows six different movies throughout the day. The line up right now includes Captain America, the Green Lantern, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Ice Age, Johnny English Reborn and Kung Fu Panda 2.

Coming soon: an IMAX theater at Hong Kong International Airport.

Scheduled to open this spring, this will be the first IMAX theater at an airport.

Admission will not be free. However, “Cinema-goers will be fulfilled by the extraordinary enjoyment when watching 2D or 3D movies,” the airport announced on Facebook.