If you’re flying somewhere on Valentine’s Day, we hope it’s on a flight that wings you to your sweetheart.
If not, take heart from some of the efforts airports and airlines will
be offering throughout the day.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) will be giving out complimentary chocolates to passengers from world-renowned chocolatiers.
Southwest Airlines will be serving a free alcoholic drink for passengers 21 years older on Valentine’s Day and dishing out “surprise and delight” treats throughout the day.
Phoenix Sky Harbor and many airports around the country will be pressing their therapy dogs into service on Valentine’s Day.
Los Angeles International Airport’s (LAX) Pets Unstressing Passengers Program (PUP) and Southwest Airlines will team up for the annual “Flying Kisses” event on Friday, February 14 from 10 a.m. to noon in the Terminal 1, post-security.
Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) will be handing out boxes of Conversation Hearts on Valentine’s Day, along with airplane-themed valentines. Tampa International Airport (TPA), will be handing out blank Valentine’s Day cards as well.
To accommodate all the lovebirds that fly to Las Vegas to get married around Valentine’s Day, Nevada’s Clark County clerk’s office has a pop-up marriage license office in the Terminal 1 bag claim at McCarran International Airport (LAS) open through the end of the month. Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
And Amtrak is having a buy-one-get-one-free sale in honor of Valentine’s Day from Thursday, February 13 through Monday, February 17. Customers can buy one coach ticket and get the second free for nationwide travel between March 9 and August 30, 2020, with no blackout dates. Use the code V214 at the Amtrak site.
In 2020 the Chinese New Year – also known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival – falls on Saturday, January 25 and will be followed by 15 days of celebrations marking the transition from the Year of the Pig to the Year of the Rat.
While
this is a major family-oriented holiday for many Asian communities, all are
welcome at the colorful parades, festive pageants and impressive fireworks
displays that will take place in Hong Kong, Singapore, San Francisco, Las
Vegas, New York and many other cities.
Hotels,
restaurants, museums and other venues will be offering special packages and
events as well to welcome travelers and “consumers
who are increasingly embracing their own and others’ multi-cultural
backgrounds,” said Joy Lu, assistant professor of marketing at Carnegie Mellon
University’s Tepper School of Business.
Here’s a sampling of celebrations we gathered first for CNBC.
Lunar New Year in New York City
Lunar New Year, Chinatown, NYC. Walter Wlodarczyk _NYC & Company
Many Chinatown neighborhoods
throughout New York City will host Lunar New
Year events, but two of the key celebrations are the Firecracker Ceremony
and Cultural Festival on January 25 and the Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade &
Festival in Lower Manhattan on February 9.
The Mandarin Oriental, New York is
offering a Celebrate Chinese New Year package from January 24-February 9, 2020 that includes
daily breakfast for two, $50 dining or spa credit and other perks. Rates start
at $745/night. The hotel will host a traditional Lion Dance in the lobby at
noon on January 24(complimentary) and a special cocktail called The
Jade Rat ($24) will be on the menu throughout the month in the Aviary NYC bar.
Celebrate in San Francisco or Oakland
Dragon mural sketch – Artist David Cho, The Dragon School affiliate
In San Francisco, which boasts the largest Chinatown outside
of Asia, the Chinese New Year Parade
dates back to the 1860s. This year’s parade takes place Saturday, February 8
with elaborate floats and costumes, lion dancers and a 288-foot-long Golden
Dragon carried by a team of 180 people.
The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, located near
Chinatown, will offer a special Chinese Afternoon Tea ($80) on Sunday, January
26 and a Lunar New Year Tasting Menu ($155/per person) on January 31 and
February 1, 7 and 8. On January 20, artists from Oakland’s Dragon School will begin painting a dragon-inspired
mural across multiple interior and exterior hotel walls.
And the Oakland Museum of California will hold its annual Lunar New Year Celebration on Saturday and Sunday, February 8 and 9. The event is free with museum admission and includes live cultural performances, demonstrations, hands-on activities, food, traditional and contemporary music and dance, a petting zoo and more.
Lucky Lunar New Year in Las Vegas
Courtesy Las Vegas News Bureau
As is their tradition, many Las Vegas venues commemorate the Chinese New Year in an over-the-top way, with decadent culinary offerings, impressive décor and lots of live entertainment.
The Las Vegas
Spring Festival Parade takes place on January 25 in downtown Las Vegas as part
of the Chinese New Year in the Desert festivities, with elaborate floats and
costumes and dragons.
The Forum Shops inside Caesars Palace will welcome
back the 22-foot-long celebratory, good-luck dragon adorned with 30,000
flickering red and amber LED lights.
From January 11 to March 7, the Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens will
honor the Year of the Rat with elaborate creations made from flowers, seeds,
silks and plants. In addition to a gilded gold rat sitting on gold ingot bowls,
the gardens will feature four other golden rats bringing more ingot bowls up a
gold staircase, as well as two 20-foot gold coin trees.
And starting
January 15, the waterfall atrium between The Venetian and The Palazzo will sport
a 2,000-pound, 18-foot tall golden
rodent sculpture surrounded by a garden filled with red and orange bromeliads,
golden yellow chrysanthemums and red and yellow orchids.
Celebrate Lunar New Year in Rhode Island. Or Dallas
Courtesy Castle Hill Inn
Castle Hill Inn, a Relais & Châteaux property in
Rhode Island, is offering a two-night Chinese New Year Travel Package January 24 through February 2 that
includes a special Cantonese-inspired Chinese New Year dinner for
two, a Chinese-inspired welcome amenity, gourmet breakfast and
afternoon tea. Rates start at $525+/night mid-week and $595+/night weekend, based on a two-night
stay.
And why not celebrate the Chinese New Year
with skating and shopping?
From January 14 through February 8, look for a
striking display of more than 250 giant red lanterns hanging over the
ice-skating rink at the Galleria Dallas mall in Texas, which has the Westin Galleria Dallas on-site.
Chinese New Year in London, Hong Kong or Singapore
A wide variety of Chinese New Year events and festivals
will take place in Singapore, including the Mardi
Gras-inspired Chingay Parade, January 31 to February 1, with fireworks,
firecrackers, laser lights, pyrotechnics and performances.
And if you do make it to Singapore to welcome the Year of
the Rat, Stephen Scott,
Luxury Travel Advisor at Protravel International, recommends dinner at the iconic Fullerton Hotel
Singapore. In addition to a wide variety
of Chinese New Year feasts being offered now through February 8, the hotel’s
Jade Restaurant is serving a special edition Gold Rush Salmon Yu Sheng adorned
with an image of a rat and a traditional gold coin made from white, green and
pink radish strips. The dish must be ordered three days in advance and costs
about $287.
We’ve been reading some charming and heartwarming stories from airports and airlines this holiday week.
Sweet Virgin Atlantic seat-swap
First, there is a viral post on Facebook by a Virgin Atlantic flight attendant relating the story of a passenger named Jack swapping his business class seat on a flight from New York to London for the economy seat booked by 88-year-old Violet.
“Of the hundreds of flights I’ve operated, I’ve had the pleasure of looking after footballers, supermodels and some Hollywood movie stars but let me tell you about my two favourite passengers EVER!,” wrote Leah Amy, “Jack and Violet 💜 (I wish she was called Vera or Rose 🤣)”
She went on to explain that Jack’s entire family was booked in business class. But Jack decided to swap seats with Violet. He then “sat on the row of seats directly next to the economy toilets and never made a peep or asked for anything the rest of the flight. No fuss, no attention, literally did it out of the kindness of his own heart, no one asked him to.”
A great story, right?
Well, the story gets a bit better. In response to the story of Jack and Violet, Virgin Atlantic announced it will be offering complimentary upgrades to “the most seasoned person” on board all its flights through January 1, 2020.
Here’s another heartwarming holiday-season travel story. This one from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (AMS) documenting a great birthday treat they were able to arrange for 94-year-old Granny Miep.
Hip hip hurray! Granny Miep turns 94 today! She has been our neighbour for over 90 years. Of course, we couldn't refuse when we received a message from her grandson to make her greatest wish come true…https://t.co/vcs0srEQSV
Community helps stranded passengers on Christmas Day. (courtesy Karen KayCee/Facebook)
According to the CBC, when 75 passengers got stranded in Deer Lake, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada on Dec. 25, the community came together in “Come from Away” style.
The town welcomed the passengerw, put together a Christmas dinner and made sure they got on their way.
The CBC notes that what happened in Deer Lake is reminiscent of what happened in 2001, when townspeople rallied to welcome thousands of passengers on planes diverted to Gander – which is also in Newfoundland and Labrador – due to the attacks on September 11.
That real-life story is the inspiration for the Tony Award-winning musical “Come From Away.”
In Deer Lake’s case, a plane full of WestJet passengers left Toronto for St. John’s late Christmas Eve but got diverted by bad weather.
Deer Lake isn’t a regular stop for WestJet flights, so there was little in the way support for the passengers once they were on the ground and sent over to the local Holiday Inn Express.
But this was Christmas Day. So local townspeople responded to a call-out on Facebook and rustled up a Christmas Dinner that included everything from sandwiches and cookies to turkey dinner and gravy and homemade rabbit stew.
All great stories, right?
Here’s to great travel and more heartwarming travel stories in 2020.
If, like us, you’ll be traveling on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, be sure to watch out for elves, Santas of all stripes, and lots of other travelers hoping to get where they need to go for the holiday.
If you need a few extra gifts, keep in mind too that lots of airport shops open early and close late – even on Christmas Day – and many have some pretty cool gifts all wrapped and ready to go.
