DEN’s event will take place in the center of the Jeppesen Terminal on Friday, January 31 from 10 a.m. to noon.
Adoptable puppies from Denver’s Dumb Friends League will play in Denver International Airports’ fifth Puppy Bowl. Members of DEN’s Canine Airport Therapy Squad (CATS) will serve as “rufferrees”.
The rules? Who cares – these are puppies.
Here are are few photos from past DEN Puppy Bowls, including some of the fun giveaways travelers can take home.
Long before the final matchup was set for Super Bowl LIV on February 2 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, South Florida airports and security officials were making game plans.
The task: deal with record-setting numbers of arriving and departing fans.
“There won’t be a place on the airport where you won’t see
some reference to the Super Bowl,” said airport spokesman Greg Meyer.
To prepare for and impress sports fans, many of whom may be visiting the airport and the area for the first time, FLL has put 160 live plants throughout the terminals and artificial greenery in the restrooms.
Teams are polishing terrazzo floors, shampooing the carpeting, pressure cleaning the sidewalks, scouring the restrooms and detailing the shuttles that run between the terminals and the rental car center.
“We do much of this cleaning normally,” said Meyer, “but
doing it just prior to the game will make sure we look our best.”
Before and after the big game, FLL will have extra staff on duty and more than 60 volunteers on-site to help guests navigate through the airport.
Airport concessionaires are doing their part too. Store hours are extended hours and there’s plenty of official team and game gear for sale.
Magically, memorabilia to celebrate the winning team will be for sale immediately after the game.
MIA is about 18 miles from Hard Rock Stadium and expects above-average passenger traffic on the three days prior to and the day after Super Bowl Sunday. On Monday, Feb 3, about 90,000 passengers are projected to depart MIA, which would be a single-day record for departures at the airport.
In addition to a pre-game facility spruce-up, MIA is adding some bonus features as well.
Through Super Bowl Sunday, MIA’s public address system will
be playing rotating welcoming messages from three former All-Pros: Miami
Dolphins legends Dan Marino, Nat Moore and Jason Taylor.
And through the end of February, travelers can view Duane Hanson’s iconic, hyperrealist sculpture, “Football Player” on the D Concourse, between Gates D47 and D48.
Also through the end of February, the Wolfson Moving Images exhibition on Concourse F is featuring archive video from past Miami Super Bowls and Miami Dolphins history on a set of old-style flight monitors.
Both FLL AND MIA also have detailed airport navigation information, arrival, and departure tips on their websites. Each airport also has important alerts about human trafficking, on the “Countdown to Takeoff Playbook” posted on their respective websites.
And passengers arriving before the Super Bowl on Thursday and Friday (1/30 and 1/31) at Palm Beach International Airport (PBI), 58 miles from Hard Rock Stadium, will be greeted with special welcoming messages as well as giveaways and promotional items in the Bag Claim level.
Concessionaires at PBI are laying in the
sports-themed memorabilia as well.
TSA gearing up for the game
During the Super Bowl week, TSA, local and county police
departments, Customs and Border Protection, and other agencies will be adding
extra teams and showing a hi-visibility presence at all area airports
And to help with the crush of fans leaving on February 3, some security checkpoints will open early at both FLL and MIA and additional checkpoints will stay open 24 hours.
While not all security precautions being taken can be
shared, according to TSA spokeswoman Sari Koshetz, FLL will have 6 extra canine
teams, additional support from Federal Air Marshals (FAMs) and the Broward
Country Sheriff’s office, and 40 extra Transportation Security Officers on duty
to help at checkpoints and baggage areas.
Koshetz says 10 additional TSA canine teams will also join the eleven TSA canine teams already at MIA. There will be 60 additional TSA Officers to augment the TSA Miami Officer staff and help keep additional checkpoint lanes open on throughout the day.
Follow the countdown plan
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the National Football League, hospitality organizations and the airports are encouraging passengers heading home after the game on February 3 to follow the “5-4-3-2-1” plan.
The campaign encourages travelers to check out of hotels 5 hours before departure flight time; to return rental cars 4 hours before their flights, and to check-in at the airline ticket counters 3 hours before their flights. TSA hopes travelers will go through security at least 2 hours before their flights and be at their gates an hour before flight time.
For security reasons, TSA is
also asking Super Bowl travelers heading home after the big game to pack their
commemorative programs in carry-ons, not in checked bags.
In previous years, the
composition and thickness of these programs prevented TSA’s machines and human
scanners from seeing beneath the booklets in checked bags, requiring those bags
to alarm and be opened.
(My story about airports and TSA getting ready for Super Bowl fans first appeared on USA TODAY in a slightly different format.)
CVG also boasts some new shops and amenities, including a Be Relax spa (at B16), The Scoreboard sports memorabilia shop (B10) and the Gaslight Market for travel necessities.
Walk this
way at SEA
If all goes according to plan, on Thursday night workers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) will hoist this 900-foot long aerial walkway into place 85 feet above an existing taxi lane to connect the South Terminal with the new International Arrivals Facility.
When completed, this will be the longest aerial walkway over
an active taxiway in the United States.
Heading to the Super Bowl in Miami?
To meet passenger demand and help fans get to the big game, some airlines are putting larger aircraft into service on key routes and adding extra flights.
United
Airlines will offer 29 additional nonstop flights to Miami from its seven U.S.
hubs including Los Angeles, plus seven special point-to-point flights between
Kansas City and Miami.
American Airlines announced extra flights to Miami (MIA) from Kansas City (MCI), San Francisco (SFO) and San Jose (SJC). American will also add larger aircraft — Boeing 777-200s — to Miami from its hubs in New York (JFK), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Los Angeles (LAX) and Chicago (ORD).
Between January 30 and February 3, JetBlue will add more than a dozen flights between San Francisco International
Airport (SFO) and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL).
From January 30 to February 4, JetBlue is adding
ten flights between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
and Fort Lauderdale (FLL).
On Friday, January 31
Southwest Airlines has five nonstop flights scheduled instead of the
regular two from Kansas City (MCI) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL). The airline will
add a bonus nonstop flight between San Jose, CA (SJC) and Fort Lauderdale (FLL)
as well.
On Monday, February 3, Southwest will send five flights from FLL
back to MCI and the bonus nonstop flight to San Jose from FLL.
Spirit Airlines and Delta Air Lines are adding extra flights to and from Miami as well.
— San Francisco International Airport (SFO) ✈️ (@flySFO) January 21, 2020
And the Heinz Ketchup brand is offering to pay all but 57 cents of the $200 airline change fee for 300 Tennessee Titans and Green Bay Packers fans who bought tickets to Miami before their teams lost out.
On Sunday, February 2, the Super Bowl returns to Miami for the 11th time.
And Miami International Airport (MIA) is getting ready to welcome thousands of fans who will be flying in – and out – for the big game.
In addition to special signage throughout the airport and a variety of other special treats, MIA airport is using a bank of old flight display monitors in Concourse F to show vintage film clips from the Wolfson Moving Images archives at Miami Dade College.
The film clips feature scenes from past Super Bowls that took place in Miami as well as Miami Dolphins history.
JetBlue, the Official Airline of the New England Patriots, is celebrating all Pats today (Feb 3, 2019) by giving a free flight to anyone flying into or out of Boston and Atlanta whose first names starts with “P-A-T.”
If your first name starts with P-A-T and you’re flying into or out of BOS or ATL today, this one’s on us! We’re crediting the base fare of your flight to your JetBlue Travel Bank. Check your email for details. #JetBlueOfficialAirlinepic.twitter.com/XL4sEwsDSJ
Many Pats traveling today already got an email letting them know how lucky they are, but announcements are being made at the gates as well.
JetBlue has some other treats for folks flying on Super Bowl Sunday. The airline will discount all inflight beers by $2 after the big game kickoff and serve up complimentary Spicy Queso Popcorners through February 5.
Don’t fumble your plans for the big game. Stream it live on DIRECTV® in flight, with $2 beers and Spicy Queso @PopCorners. (DIRECTV® not available outside the contiguous U.S.) 🙌🏈🙌 pic.twitter.com/EK0V83z3L6
There’s an NFL Wild Card game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday evening and there’s some good natured smack talk and wagering going on between the SEA and DFW airports, and between restaurants in each airport.
Surfer dudes and dudettes take note: United Airlines has dropped the fees it charges to check your surfboard – if you’re flying direct to or from California.
Noting that surfing was recently named California’s official state sport, United Airlines is no longer charging surfers traveling to or from California (only) a $150 or $200 special fee to check surfboards, wakeboards or paddleboards.
Instead, only the regular checked bag fees will apply.
United’s new policy only applies to direct flights into or out of the Golden State.
As California’s global airline, we knew what we had to do when surfing was named the state sport: waive the service fees for surfboards, on all flights, to or from California. #Stoked 🏄♀️🏄🤙
Football season is starting and Seattle-based Alaska Airlines has unveiled a plane bearing a fresh image of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.
https://youtu.be/U4-Oy8rM478
The Boeing 737-800 has Wilson‘s tagline, “Dream Big. Fly High,” above the door.
In celebration of the Seahawks season opener against the Denver Broncos this Sunday, passengers flying on the plane to Denver on Friday, Sept. 7, will be treated to a tailgate party with food, a live DJ and a photo-booth.
Better yet, during the football season, Alaska Airlines will once again be granted early boarding privileges to passengers wearing a Russell Wilson jersey (#3) on all Seattle-departing flights.
Basketball fans will want to keep an eye out for Alaska Airlines’ new specially decaled 737-900ER aircraft featuring the likeness of Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors.
The design is made up of more than 34 giant decal pieces and covers approximately 560 square feet across the fuselage and, according to Alaska Airlines, it took six mechanics and electrical technicians 144 hours to complete this special installation.
Courtesy Alaska Airlines
Why Durant? He teamed up with Alaska Airlines last September to support the airline’s youth and education programs in the Bay Area.
This year, Iceland became the smallest country ever to have its men’s soccer team qualify for the World Cup.
To celebrate, Icelandair, which sponsors the team, is launching a special soccer-themed version of its famed stopover program.
Passengers can apply to participate in Team Iceland Stopover: a selection of 90-minute, soccer-inspired experiences curated by members of Iceland’s men’s and women’s teams and taking place from May 29 through the end of June, 2018.
The experiences range from attending either a National Men’s or Women’s team match and hanging with midfielder Birkir Bjarnason at his favorite geothermal area to attending the June 16 party to celebrate Iceland’s World Cup match.
Anyone can apply to be part of the Team Iceland Stopover experiences, but there are limited spots. You’ll need to be flying on Icelandair and your itinerary will need to match up with the program events. See the Icelandair website for more details.
