Fun Stuff

Let’s see how airlines and airports marked May the 4th.

Fun Stuff,

Airports and airlines had fun on May the 4th, also known as Star Wars Day.

Here is a round-up of some of the May the 4th Tweets we spotted.

If we missed yours, let us know and we will be happy to add it.

Airports and airlines embrace the Bernie Sanders mittens meme

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Airports and airlines jumped on the #BernieMittens meme along with the rest of the world after he was spotted bundled up at the presidential inauguration.

Here’s a sampling.

If we missed Bernie Sanders and his mittens at your airport or on your airplane, please send a link and we’ll add it to the list. The world is already moving on from this meme, but history will want to know.

https://twitter.com/ChamberlinChris/status/1353132613897080832?s=20

“Smell Your Journey” with YVR’s Eau de Baggage.

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We’re not sure how we missed this one, It’s not like we’ve been too busy traveling.

But we just love this Eau de Baggage video put out by Vancouver International Airport (YVR) back in February that parodies a perfume commercial and urges travelers to ‘smell your journey.’

Evidently, others loved this too, because it just won an award.

Something is fishy at Miami International Airport (MIA)

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Health concerns due to the pandemic may be keeping stress-busting therapy dogs out of most airports right now.

So Miami International Airport (MIA) is helping travelers relax with videos of fish.

Through September, Coral City Camera @MIA is offering travelers a virtual dive into the urban reefs in Miami-Dade County.

The airport has partnered with Coral Morphologic, whose Coral City Camera (CCC) streams live from the east end of PortMiami. 

A selection of the camera’s very best views was chosen for the videos showing near Gate J7 at MIA.

Those not flying out of MIA any time soon can tune in to the very popular live Coral City Camera feed anytime to see what’s swimming by.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/446829288

Signs of the times: cool social distance signs at airports

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Signs and floor stickers reminding travelers to keep their distance in airport terminals are necessary right now.

We get that.

But at least some airports are giving their signs some local character.

In the sign above, you’ll see that Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) is using Chinook salmon as a measuring tool. The airport has also enlisted the help of a moose and a Bald Eagle

These are animals locals will listen to.



Harrisburg International Airport (MDT), which is nearby Hershey Park in Pennsylvania, uses Kisses chocolates as their measuring tool.

We’re curious about how they figured out that 72 Kisses chocolates equals six feet and hope whomever was asked to lay the candies out to figure this out got to eat them.

Springfield-Branson National Airport (SGF) has a long-running thing for plastic pink flamingos. So it makes sense that a flamingo pops up in the airport’s social distancing signs.

In Chicago, they use these cute floor stickers at O’Hare and Midway Airports to remind people to keep their distance.

And at San Diego International Airport (SAN) it makes sense that the measuring stick is a surfboard. Passengers are urged to stay at least one surfboard apart.

We’ll keep adding to this collection of creative airport social distance signs and stickers as new ones arrive.

If you see a one in your travels that you think fits, please snap a photo and send it along.

Do you have your airport socks?

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In preparation for National Sock Day – December 4 – airports around the country took to Twitter yesterday – and today – to show off their airport-themed footwear.

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We’ll add more – including airline socks – as we find them.

At airports: cupcake vending + free Spring Training care kit

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Here at Stuck at The Airport we love two things: cool treats that come out of airport vending machines (looking at you SouveNEAR and Farmer’s Fridge) and free stuff handed out in the terminals.

Today we have both:

For cupcake fans and those in need of something sweet at any hour of the day or night in the airport, Las Vegas, McCarran International has a Sprinkles vending machine that dispenses cupcakes 24 hours a day.

And, through March 31, passengers traveling through Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on their way to Spring Training baseball games can pick up a free care pack filled with sunscreen, lip balm, sunflower seeds and other items that might be useful to have on hand during a baseball game.

The free AZ Care Packs are being offered at the US CareWays Airport Urgent Care center inside Drugs & More (Terminal 4/Pre-Security, near the C gates) to anyone showing an electronic or printed Spring Training ticket.

Inside the kit you’ll find sunscreen, lip balm, tissues, bug repellant, sunflower seeds, Big League Chew gum and a luggage tag.  

And for those who treat Spring Training season like Spring Break from college, the urgent care center is also offering discounts for passengers heading to or from Spring Training on services such as an IV Nutrient “Cocktail” Infusion with an immunity boost to prevent maladies such as dehydration, headaches and illness.

You can own artwork honoring the famed PDX carpet

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Remember the ‘celebrity’ carpet at Portland International Airport?

Portlanders loved the PDX carpet. But it was old and worn and had to be replaced.

Now a large scale artwork celebrating that carpet is up for auction.

 

People loved taking pictures of their feet on that carpet.

The pattern showed up on caps, cups, neck pillows, jam, beer and all sorts of other items.

And, in 2015, not long after the Port of Portland announced it would be replacing all the carpeting in the airport, the carpet (yes the carpet) was named the Grand Marshal of Portland’s Rose Parade.

Now the large-scale carpet-centric artwork titled “Carpet Diem” by local artist Nancy Wilkins  that was commissioned by the airport and which has hung on Concourse ‘D’ at PDX since 2014 is being replaced as well.

The artwork is being surplused and is now up for auction.

Last we looked the highest bid was only $110!

Take a look and see if you’d like to own this homage to a quirky carpet,  and if you’ve got room for it in your home, office, bowling alley or airplane hangar.

 

 

 

 

A craft beer airline? Brewdog has a special flight planned

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Fun Friday? How about a ride BrewDog’s beer flight?

The folks at BrewDog – a wild Scottish beer company with a brewery in Columbus, Ohio (of all places) – have chartered a Boeing 767 to fly a special beer-themed flight for its supporters and investors (called Equity Punks) from the London’s Stansted Airport to Columbus,Ohio in February 2019.

Check out this cheeky video for the flight:

Interested?

There will a be a special food and beer pairing menu served during the flight and plenty of BrewDog beers to sample, including a special limited-edition brew designed to adapt to the challenges high altitudes present to taste and smell sensitivity.

The round-trip adventure includes a four-night stay in Columbus, a tour BrewDog’s Columbus brewery, a visit to the The DogHouse Hotel, time at BrewDog’s beer museum, and tours of breweries in Columbus and Cincinnati.

Tickets are only being sold to BrewDog’s community of “Equity Punks” – but they’re also going to offer five plus-one tickets to contest winners via social media.  Find details on how to enter via BrewDog’s presence on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

KLM’s Delft Blue House #99: The White Ox

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It is KLM’s 99th anniversary and the carrier is celebrating with 99 hours of special flight offers (deals end October 9) and a new miniature Delft Blue house in the airline’s series of collectible miniature houses.

This year’s Delftware miniature house represents the first store of Douwe Egberts in Joure, Holland.

The house was chosen, in part, becase at the end of October, 2018 KLM will begin serving Douwe Egberts’ sustainable UTZ-certified coffee on all its European and intercontinental flights.

The shop is now part of a museum and was where grocer Egbert Douwe laid the foundation for the well-known Douwe Egberts brand of today.

“Choosing the first store of Douwe Egberts in beautiful Joure serves to highlight the excellent cooperative relationship shared by our two established brands,” said KLM President & CEO Pieter Elbers. “Good coffee is important to our customers,” he added, “And KLM also considers it crucial to serve sustainable coffee. Two typically Dutch brands with a rich history, both placing quality first, can only serve to strengthen one another.”

KLM’s tradition of presenting Delftware miniatures to passengers traveling in the business class cabin on intercontinental flights began in the 1950s. The houses are replicas of notable buildings in the Netherlands and the number of houses in the collection has corresponded with KLM’s age since 1994.

The carrier now adds a new house to the collection each year on or around October 7.

So we’re already anxious to see which house will be honored on October 7, 2019 when KLM celebrates its 100th anniversary.

While we wait, take a look at this short video that tells the story of KLM’s Delft Blue House #99:

 

You can also read my stories about being on hand for the festivities surrounding the reveal of KLM’s Delft Blue miniature houses #98 and #97.

House #98 depicts the family home of aviation pioneer Antony Fokker in Haarlem  (near Amsterdam) and was presented at an event in Haarlem’s historic St. Bavo Church.

 

 

KLM’s mininature Delft House #97 depicts the Hotel New York in Rotterdam, which occupies the grand structure built in 1901 to house the headquarters of the Holland America line.

Do you have a collection of KLM’s Delft Blue miniature houses (gin-filled or not)? Feel free to boast about it in the comments section below.