Sports

Tidbits for travelers: Free Wi-Fi, Olympic travel tips, and in-flight body-mass tax

Air Travel, Baggage, Carry-ons, Charge by weight, Contests, Events, Fees, Food, Free Stuff, Fun Stuff, Obesity, Seatmates of Size, Sports, Wi-Fi, , , , , , , , ,

We want Wi-Fi

Slowly but surely airports large and small are getting with the program and making free wireless Internet access available in the terminals.

The latest major airport to join the party: Boston Logan International Airport (BOS).

Hooray!

Packing tips from Olympic athletes

Curious about what some Olympic athletes do when they’re traveling – or getting ready to travel? Them you may in interested in the video clips the folks at VISA (a 2010 Olympics sponsor) have posted of athletes talking about what they pack, how they prep for a trip, how skier Ryan St. Onge just had to have an airport burrito, and what Olympic Hockey player Angela Ruggiero packs in her carry-on.


Just as interesting, is the fact that the credit card company is giving away a trip to the Olympics – for life. To enter, you just need to charge something on a VISA card.

Seat tax on Air France for Seatmates of Size

And, just a day after announcing that it was introducing “the lightest and most comfortable short-haul seat in the world,” on some of its planes, Air France announced that passengers who cannot fit into a single seat (on any Air France flight) will have to pay for a second seat – at 75% of the cost of the first seat.

The new policy applies to tickets purchased beginning February 1st for flights April 1st and beyond.

Think the new rules may apply to you? Here’s the policy for Passengers with High Body Mass.

What do you think? Should seatmates of size be asked to pay for more than one seat?

Alaska Airlines unveils an Apolo Ohno plane

Air Travel, Celebrities, Fun Stuff, Sports, , ,

Alaska Air Apolo Ono

Seattle is pretty proud of Apolo Anton Ohno, who began his speed-skating career here when he was just 14 and went on to win numerous world and national championships and five Olympic medals.  (Oh yeah, he was also on the Dancing with the Stars TV show.)

Now he’s getting ready for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics games.

To cheer him on, Alaska Airlines has painted one of its Boeing 737-800 with a giant image of Ohno and, during the unveiling yesterday at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, handed out Ohno trading card, copies of Ohno’s signature bandana, and press-on faux facial hair (in honor of Ohno’s infamous “soul patch.”) .

Sadly, I missed that gala event, but like everyone else I can now “Follow Apolo” on a special web site that will track his progress.

Alaska Airlines big OHNO

Baseball exhibit at Philadelphia Airport

Art, Exhibits, Sports, ,

Philadelphia International Airport’s newest exhibit is all about baseball.

“Philadelphia’s Baseball Legends: The Championship Teams,” includes b&w and color photographs that tell the stories of Philadelphia’s champion baseball teams and the individual players, including many who are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The exhibit is located post-security in Terminal A and officially opens today,  Friday, July 3rd, with a special event that includes current and past baseball stars as well as the Philly Phanatic.

Philly Phanatic

Get Olympics souvenirs – and some quiet time – at Vancouver Int’l Airport

Souvenirs, Sports, ,

I’m a big fan of the Vancouver International Airport.

It has lots of great art, a couple of spas, play areas for kids, and a nice selection of restaurant and shops, including (already!) boutiques where you can stock up on official souvenirs, clothing, mascots and collectibles for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

The airport also has a hotel – the Fairmont Vancouver Airport – which showed up as the #4 hotel in Canada on the most recent Conde Nast Readers’ Choice Awards.

What got this airport hotel on the list? I’m not sure, but maybe it’s the 575 cubic-foot, fish freezer for travelers heading home from fishing trips. Or maybe it’s the short-stay “Quiet Zone” floor where everyone tiptoes around from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m and no one is allowed to knock on your door.

Major league baseball – at the airport

Sports, Wi-Fi

Obsessed with baseball – or at least interested enough in the game to invest $4 in watching a game when you’re stuck at the airport?

Boingo Wireless has inked a deal with MLB.TV to offer a four-hour, $4 pass for an “Airport Edition” of the games.

Baseball fans who are Boingo subscribers can buy the pass at 23 different airports and use their phones or laptops to watch any Division Series or American League Championship Series game – live – without blackout restrictions. The pass also offers access to regular season or postseason games from the MLB.com archives on-demand.

Some restrictions apply – you need to be a subscriber – but there are pay-as-you-go-plans.

Participating airports are:

ATL-Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport;
AZO-Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport in Michigan;
BNA-Nashville International Airport;
BWI-Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport,
DCA-Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport;
DTW-Detroit Metro Airport;
EWR-Newark Liberty International Airport;
HOU-Houston William P. Hobby Airport;
IAD-Dulles International Airport;
IAH-George Bush Intercontinental Airport;
JFK-John F. Kennedy International Airport;
LGA- LaGuardia Airport;
MDW-Chicago Midway International Airport;
MEM-Memphis International Airport;
MKE-General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin;
MSP-Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport;
OKC-Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City;
ORD-Chicago O’Hare International Airport;
SDF-Louisville International Airport;
SJU-San Juan (Puerto Rico) International Airport;
SLC-Salt Lake City International Airport;
YYZ-Toronto Pearson International Airport; and,
YOW-Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport.

Now…. who’s on first?

DFW scores a touchdown

Sports

On Monday, at Big 12 media days in Kansas City, Mo, Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach told reporters that he thought DFW airport was “a confusing mess.” Connecting to Lubbock through the smaller Love Field, he said, was a better option for those hoping to interview his team’s two Heisman Trophy candidates.

As you might imagine, that comment didn’t sit too well with the folks at DFW. So airport officials sent out an open letter inviting Leach to stop by for a visit. The letter said “Your comments hit home because we’re very proud of DFW — and most of us are big time college football fans!” and went on to offer the coach and his family a complimentary flight to DFW on American Airlines, a tour of the facilities, and a steak dinner.

Coach Leach called the invitation a “thoughtful gesture” and said he might have time to stop by next December.

The Dallas News has all the details.

Heads up! Volleyball Tournament at Munich Airport

Sports

750 tons of sand will soon be trucked into the Munich Airport Center forum for a volleyball tournament.

From August 1 through the 17th, the Munich Airport Center Forum will host “Rio on Tour,” which will feature professionals and amateurs “digging, volleying and smashing on three courts.”

(Photo courtesy Munich Airport)

For the first three days, volleyball professionals from the “smart beach tour” will be showing spectators how it’s done. Then there’s a week-long tournament for company-sponsored teams, followed by a Family Day (August 10th) when players from the “Rote Raben”, the reigning champions of the German women’s volleyball league will teach visitors the finer points of the art of volleyball.

To close out the Airport Beach Season, from August 15-17, the top volleyball teams in Bavaria will face-off for a three-day tournament for the state championship.

Sounds like a great use for airport facilities. And it’s free! For more information see:www.airport-beach.de.