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Travel Tidbits from DFW, YYZ & Delta

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North Pole ice santa

A few travel tidbits for a Friday in December

Dallas Fort Worth International (DFW) Airport and Coca-Cola have teamed up to bring some holiday cheer to travelers this holiday season with surprise give-aways of Coke products, Coca-Cola bears and other gifts delivered by the Coca-Cola Polar bear – who will be hidden inside giant gift boxes.

Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) is holding its fifth annual citizenship ceremony on Friday for 50 of the countries newest citizens and marking a milestone with the commemoration the first government-sponsored Syrian refugee flight at the airport on December 10, 2015.

Many of those refugees are now obtaining Canadian citizenship.

And good news for snack-lovers flying Delta Air Lines

Starting December 14, Delta will roll out a new, complimentary Main Cabin snack line up – with larger-size portions – of Snyder’s of Hanover pretzels, Squirrel Brand Honey Roasted peanuts and NatureBox Apple Cinnamon Yogurt Bars – along with the carrier’s signature Biscoff cookies.

The complimentary snacks will be available in the Main Cabin on all flights over 250 miles.

Passengers on shorter flights within North America from 251 to 599 miles will now receive a choice of Biscoff cookies or Snyder’s of Hanover® pretzels; before this they were only only offered one choice.

Passengers on flights over 600 miles will have four choices of snacks instead of three. And customers on international flights will receive a choice of Snyder’s of Hanover® pretzels or Squirrel Brand Honey Roasted peanuts.

To celebrate the new snacks, Delta has set up branded vending machines in Los Angeles, Seattle and New York to offer complimentary samples.

Souvenir Sunday: coffee from 1st airport Starbucks

Food, ,

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One thing air travelers need is coffee.

And many airports have Starbucks coffee shops where weary fliers can grab an espresso drink between flights.

Where – and when – did that trend start?

You guessed it: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where HMSHost and Starbucks Coffee Company just celebrated the 25th anniversary of not only the first airport Starbucks, but the first Starbucks licensed location, which opened in 1991.

https://twitter.com/HMSHost/status/804721918159048704

 

 

 

 

Salad-dispensing vending machine at O’Hare Airport

Food, ,

The week is not yet over, but we’ll have to declare this fresh salad-dispensing vending machine spotted at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport as the Airport Amenity of the Week.

Farmer’s Fridge  – found on the F Concourse (by a shoe shine stand) – is filled with jars of fresh salads, tofu and other toppings and a variety of healthy snack items – each packaged in a clear jar that can be seen behind the machine’s window.

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Salads cost about $8 each and – nice touch – there’s a little door for returning empty jars for re-use.

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Free meals for military at airports over Thanksgiving week

Food, Free Stuff,

THANKSGIVING postcard

In what has become a holiday tradition, Paradies Lagardère, which operates many retail and restaurant outlets in North American airports, will be offering active or retired military a free meal during the week of Thanksgiving ( Sunday, November 20, through Sunday, November 27 ) in almost 50 airport restaurants listed below as part of the Treat our Troops program.

A “meal” includes one menu item, which can be an appetizer, salad, sandwich or entrée and a non alcoholic beverage.

In “coffee” or “grab & go” locations, the meal can be one prepared grab & go item, such as a pastry and a prepared coffee or bottled/fountain beverage. (Bagged candies, chips, granola bars, etc., aren’t included.)

Active and retired military service men and women just need to show their military identification when ordering or checking out to take advantage of this promotion, which is limited to one meal per customer per day.

Asheville Regional: Blue Ridge Tavern Long Beach: Long Beach Burger Bar
Asheville Regional: Blue Ridge News Long Beach: Taco Beach Grill
Aspen–Pitkin County: Aspen Bar & Grille Long Beach: Taco Beach Cantina
Aspen–Pitkin County: Aspen Kiosk Long Beach: Long Beach Marche
Austin–Bergstrom: Ruta Maya Coffee Long Beach: 4th Street Vine
Austin–Bergstrom: ThunderCloud Subs Long Beach: The Boathouse
Dallas/Fort Worth: Whitetail Bistro Northwest Arkansas: Smokewood American Grill
Denver: Say Si Bon! TravelMart Northwest Arkansas: Say Si Bon! Gourmet Market
Denver: Auntie Anne’s Pretzels Northwest Arkansas: Mountain Bird Coffee/CNBC
Denver: Big Bowl Northwest Arkansas: Jammin’ Java
Denver: The Magic Pan Crepe Stand Northwest Arkansas: Auntie Anne’s
Denver: The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Northwest Arkansas: Core Brewing Co.
Denver: Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs Pittsburgh: Bar Symon
Eagle County: Mountain Java Pittsburgh: Bottega dei Sapori
Eagle County: Alpenglo Express Reagan National: Say Si Bon! Gourmet Market – Center Pier
Eagle County: Townie Tavern Reagan National: Say Si Bon! Gourmet Market – North Pier
Eagle County: Alpenglo Grille Reagan National: The Magic Pan Crepe Stand
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta: Sweet Auburn Market Reagan National: Wow Bao
Long Beach: Polly’s Gourmet Coffee N. Terminal Reagan National: Washington Pour Bar
Long Beach: Polly’s Gourmet Coffee S. Terminal Reagan National: U Street Pub
Long Beach: George’s Greek Café

 

 

 

Restaurant week at PHL Airport

Food, ,

 

PHL TastyKakes

 

If you’re traveling to or through Philadelphia International Airport October 20-26, be sure to pack your appetite and maybe save that Tastycake for later.

The airport is hosting its sixth annual Restaurant Week, during which 10 restaurants throughout the airport will be offering two and three-course menus for $20 per person.

The deals may be a bit different at each of these participating restaurants:

· Cantina Laredo (Concourse E)
· Chickie’s & Pete’s (Concourse A West, C, D & E)
· Cibo Bistro & Wine Bar (Concourse B)
· Jack Duggan’s Pub & Restaurant (Concourse A East)
· Jet Rock Bar & Grill (Concourse B & D)
· Legal Sea Foods (B/C Connector)
· Local Tavern (Concourse F)
· Re:Vive (Concourse F)
· Sky Asian Bistro (Concourse C)
· Vino Volo (Concourse A West, B/C Connector & D/E Connector)

Travel Tidbits: mariachi, dirndls & free cheeseburgers

Events, Food, Free Stuff, , , , ,

Some fun Friday travel tidbits for you today…

delta-shake-shack

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First – Sunday, September 18 is National Cheeseburger Day and Delta Air Lines will be celebrating with Shake Shack and giving customers flying Delta One on select flights from JFK to LAX a complimentary ShackBurger.

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But wait, there are more cheeseburgers: all customers flying from JFK to LAX on Sept. 18 will receive a voucher for a complimentary ShackBurger at the LA West Hollywood Shake Shack.

Not up for cheeseburgers? How about some mariachi music at the airport?

las-mariachi

Mariachi music welcomed travelers to McCarran International Airport last year at this time as well. Photo: Mark Damon/Las Vegas News Bureau.

McCarran International Airport is kicking off the busy Mexican Independence Day holiday weekend by welcoming passengers to Las Vegas with a special performance in the Terminal 3 international arrivals lobby on Friday morning by Mariachi Oro Del Rancho – a 19-member student band from Rancho High School.

Mexico is an important market for McCarran: from Thursday through Sunday, 41 commercial flights fly directly from Mexico to McCarran International Airport, including ten charter flights added specifically for this holiday weekend.

 

And Lufthansa is celebrating Oktoberfest season..

Trachten 2016, Trachtencrew

Keep an eye out for Lufthansa crew members dressed in special anniversary in traditional attire at many  passenger service stations in Munich and on some flights, including Munich to Shanghai September 20, Munich to Denver October 2 and Munich to Boston October 3 and, at the end of the Munich Oktoberfest, to European destinations  Belgrade, Birmingham, Cluj, Nice, Olbia and Sylt.

This is a Lufthansa tradition and over the past ten years the carrier has had different fashion houses design the yellow, blue and white dirndls.

This year’s costume is once again designed and tailored by the Angermaier fashion house, based in Munich.

 

(Dirndl descriptions: Outside and in the center: current anniversary costume. Other costumes from left: Traditional blue print dirndl from 2006, costume from 2009, dirndl from 2012 and the traditional dirndl from the 50s (2015 costume). Courtesy: Lufthansa/Stefan König)

Wayne Gretzky restaurant at Edmonton Int’l Airport

Food, ,

Edmonton Gretzky Restaurant

It’s not unusual for noted sports figures to open restaurants or lend their names to one. And you’ll see some of those restaurants at airports.

There’s Elway’s (named for former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway) at Denver International Airport and golf legend Jack Nicklaus’ Golden Bear Grill at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport – to name just two.

Now there’s a new one: hockey legend Wayne Gretzky has opened a Wayne Gretzky’s Wine and Whiskey at Edmonton International Airport, with HMS Host.

On the walls: lots of Gretzky memorabilia.

On the menu: breakfast options, appetizers, sandwiches, main entrées and a full list of wine from Wayne Gretzky Estates Wines – and his line of whiskey.

A monkey, a missed meal and guns

Animals, Food, Security, , , ,

Some of the guns found at airport checkpoints Aug 5-11

I’m on fill-in duty this week on the Today in the Sky blog over at USA TODAY and having fun working up a variety of both serious and off-beat stories relating to airports and airlines.

Monday’s line-up:

An update on the “monkey on a plane” story that was all over the news last week;

A story about British Airways replacing a second meal service with tiny chocolate bars and other small snacks on some longhaul flights between London and the east coast;

And a look at the new record set by TSA for most firearms found at airport checkpoints in one week.

Pirate ship at Tampa Int’l Airport

Food, , ,

TAMPA PIRATE

Pirate season will soon be upon us – with Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19 and the Pirates of the High Seas Fest scheduled for Panama City Beach, Florida October 7-9.

Now pirates and pirate fans will feel welcome year-round at Tampa International Airport (Airside F), where HMSHost recently opened the Gasparilla Bar, a single-masted wooden pirate ship-shaped restaurant.

On the menu: pirate’s roast beef sandwich, Black Beard bean salad and “Gaspar’s grogs” with Captain Morgan Rum-based cocktails.