Free Stuff

Party at Philadelphia International Airport

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Philadelphia International Airport is kicking off its summer-long Just Plane Fun customer appreciation program on Tuesday, June 21, 2011.

 

Tuesday’s event will include Philadelphia-themed activities including a Mummers-style string band, costumed characters, beauty makeovers, a pottery demonstration and a putting contest. Tastykakes, soft pretzels and other popular Philadelphia-style foods will be distributed.

Sound like fun? The program will continue through September 9th and include live entertainment, children’s activities, art demonstrations, pep rallies and special presentations by local pro sports teams and raffles for prizes.

And what’s a party without beer?

While you’re at PHL, be sure to go see the Beer Bottle Clock from Stanley Clockworks in Terminal A-West.

Miami International Airport presents Music in Unsuspected Spaces

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Concert hall or airport terminal?

It may be hard to tell at Miami International Airport (MIA) on Saturday May 14, 2011, when the airport hosts a rare two-hour concert by the Miami Symphony Orchestra (MISO).

 

The 71-member orchestra, led by MISO Music Director and Conductor Eduardo Marturet and accompanied by Russian-born virtuoso Yury Shadrin on piano, will perform Music in Unsuspected Spaces, beginning at 2 pm in MIA’s Concourse J International Greeter’s Lobby.

The pre-security concert, the first in a series of MIA airport concerts, will feature Academic Festival Overture by Brahms, Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor by Rachmaninoff and Symphony No. 8 in G major by Dvorak.

A lot of new services, amenities and events have been popping up at the Miami Airport.

In March, 2011 members of the Florida Grand Opera staged a surprise performance.

And the airport’s Terminal D is now home to a branch of Shula’s Bar and Grill and the first airport outpost of The Counter, Custom Built Burgers. In addition to the zillions of build-your-own burger options, the Counter has a menu with regional dishes and is open for breakfast.

Flowers for moms at Jacksonville International Airport

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Mother’s Day is Sunday May 8th and volunteers at Jacksonville International Airport will once again be on duty handing out about 1000 red, white and pink carnations to moms passing through the terminal.

This flower thing has become a tradition at JAX airport.  Back in 2009, volunteers handed out carnations on Valentine’s Day and again on Mother’s Day and the response was so positive that they decided to keep going.

(From the George Eastman House collection, via Flickr Commons)

Jacksonville International Airport offers travelers some other nice perks year-round. There’s an art gallery that hosts a variety of temporary exhibitions and permanent art that includes the work of Gregor Tuck, who cataloged the wide variety of gendered pictograms and glazed them onto the tiles surrounding the restroom entryways on Concourse C.

And if your mother was here, you’d know what she’d say… “Go before you get on the plane…”

Tidbits for travelers: Please visit Washington State

Contests, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, ,

 

I live in Washington, a budget-weary state that’s home to old growth forests, the Space Needle, Mount St. Helens and Mt. Rainier.

 

It’s also home to a bridge built just for squirrels, the World’s Largest Egg and a few hundred other roadside oddities.

So please plan a visit.

 

You might be getting a lot of these invitations before June 15th.  And it’s not just because Washingtonians are so proud of their state.

 

The Washington State tourism office – set to close at the end of June due to budget cuts – is entering the names of all “inviters” into a sweepstakes for some juicy prizes, including a year’s worth of in-state, unlimited travel for two, courtesy of Alaska/Horizon Airlines AND two tickets anywhere Alaska Airlines flies, which includes Canada, Mexico and Hawaii.

 

I took a look at the rules and it turns out you don’t even have to live in Washington State to enter. All you have to do is visit www.ShareYourWashington.com and send an electronic postcard to someone you think might like visiting Washington State.

And, really, who wouldn’t want to high-tail it over a state where folks turn their hedges into this:

 

Prize Patrol: because you can’t win if you don’t play

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Here’s some free stuff, a few contests and two travel discounts you may want to take advantage of.

If you’re in the Washington, D.C. area this week or in New York City next week, keep an eye out for folks from Austrian Airlines.  As part of their Café in the Clouds promotion the airline will be serving complimentary Meinl coffee – the coffee served onboard Austrian flights – in a different Washington neighborhood each day through Sunday, May 1st. Check here for the Café in the Clouds DC schedule.

In New York, the plan is to have chefs on bikes out delivering Austrian bundt cakes. The schedule for the NY Café in the Sky event will post on May 1st.

Coffee and cake is nice, but what about travel?  If you’re not in New York or D.C., you can skip the cake the coffee and go directly to the entry form to enter a contest to win two round trip tickets from Washington, D.C. or New York to Vienna on Austrian Airlines. (Contest ends May 20, 2011)

File these under “Every bit helps:”

Through April 30th, anyone with a Visa card that has “Visa Signature” printed on it (very common) may be eligible for a 15% discount on Southwest Airlines.

Virgin America will give you a promo code good for 20% off a flight if you vote for your favorite photo or video in a contest the airline is having in connection with new service to Chicago. Deadline to vote is May 11.

And you have until May 27, 2011 to enter the American Airlines anniversary miles giveaway sweepstakes. The prizes: they’re giving away 30,000 miles a day.

Tidbit for travelers: MREs and more at Reno Airport

Air Travel, Airport guides, Free Stuff, Gambling, Layover, Stuck at the Airport, Wi-Fi, ,

If you’re at an airport when disaster strikes, would you go hungry?

Not, apparently, at Reno-Tahoe International Airport.

According to the airport’s newsletter, there are always MREs (meals ready to eat) in storage in case there’s an emergency and people are stuck at the airport.

Happily, no recent emergencies warranted opening those packages, so as the expiration date on 1400 of the ration packages neared, the airport decided to donate the meals to the local food pantry.

MREs form Reno Airport

MREs from Reno Airport on their way to the food pantry

 

Don’t worry: the airport has ordered a fresh batch of MREs to put back in storage in case there’s an emergency in the future.

If you’re stuck at Reno-Tahoe International Airport when it’s not an all-out emergency, there’s still plenty to do. In addition to slot machines, art exhibits, pubs, free local calls and free WiFi, passengers who show a same-day boarding pass can squeeze in some free skiing or snowboarding at nearby Squaw Valley USA.

Tunes for travelers: Irish Festival at JFK

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JetBlue is putting on an Irish heritage festival in the post-security Marketplace area at JFK Terminal 5 this week.

On Wednesday (March 16) and Thursday (March 17), JetBlue and its party-partners Aer Lingus and Tourism Ireland promise Irish step-dancing performances, traditional Irish music, complimentary shamrocks and Irish chocolates and “some of Ireland’s great mythological and folklore characters including Fionn Mac Cumhaill, Grainnuaile, Molly Malone, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, and W.B. Yeats.”

Not sure about the folkfore characters part – but the complimentary chocolates sure sound like fun.

On Thursday Irish Artist Julie Feeney “a dramatic and stylish chamber-pop singer, composer, orchestrator and producer and the winner of the Choice Music Prize for ‘Irish Album of the Year,’” will stop by T5 for a concert.

Samba at Singapore’s Changi Airport

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This sounds like fun:

To celebrate Singapore Airlines’ new direct service from Singapore to Sao Paolo, Brazil, Changi Airport isn’t just having a kick-off party; it’s staging a month-long “Fly to Brazil” carnival, complete with exhibits, attractions and prizes throughout the airport.

The celebration will include booths offering a chance to play Brazilian games, opportunities to get photographed wearing Brazilian party clothes, and regular performances of Brazilian music and dance, with instructors on hand to teach samba and other Brazilian dance moves.

And anyone who spends S$10 in the airport shops and restaurants  will get an entry in a “Fly to Brazil” ticket raffle.

Changi’s “Fly to Brazil” carnival runs through March 27th, in the Departure Hall of Terminal 3 and the Departure Transit Mall of Terminals 2 and 3.

Tidbits for travelers: Merlion Hotel and other offers

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A couple of fun, hotel-related, tidbits for you today:

MERLION

If you’ve been to Singapore – or seen photos from there – no doubt you’ve seen the country’s mascot: an imaginary animal that has the body of a fish and the head of a lion. The sculpture sits in Merlion Park, overlooking Marina Bay.

For the upcoming Singapore Biennale, – an arts celebration running from March 13 through May 15, 2011 – Japanese installation artist Tatzu Nishi has created the one-room Merlion Hotel: an upscale, temporary suite with a double-bed, a bathroom and a full-range of amenities, including a Merlion Hotel Butler.

Here’s what it will look like:

(artist’s rendering, detail), 2011. Image courtesy of the artist.

Reservations for Merlion Hotel opened last week and sold-out immediately, but you can still get a look inside: the suite will be open to the public each day of the Biennale.

Can’t fly to Singapore right now? Here are a few other unusual hotel events in other cities:

Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants is hosting a Paw-parazzi Pet Photo Contest: You have until May 31, 2011 to submit a photo of your pet and, every two weeks, prizes will be awarded to the five photos that get the most ‘Like’ votes.  At the end of the contest, one lucky pet (and their persons) will win the grand prize, which will include airline tickets, a hotel room, dining credit and assorted goodies. Here are the details about the Paw-parazzi Pet Photo Contest.

Prefer watches to watchdogs? The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas may be able to help. Once each month from now through Labor Day, a guest booked at the Suite Dreams rate will be find a complimentary Bulgari watch under his or her pillow.