Wi-Fi

Travel tidbits: Free Wi-Fi at Houston Airports & Bigfoot at Sea-Tac

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Free Wi-FI at airport

Yay! Free Wi-Fi is coming to Houston’s Hobby and George Bush Intercontinental airports.

Currently, travelers at these airports can get 45 minutes of complimentary Wi-Fi via Boingo, but according to this article in the Houston Business Journal, the Houston airport authority, is looking at getting a new Wi-Fi provider and offering free Wi-Fi by the end of the year.

SEA BIGFOOT

And good news for Bigfoot fans. A StuckatTheAirport.com reader wanted to know if the Bigfoot mugs I wrote about a while back were still for sale at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA). According to Jeff Martin, the general manager of the Hudson Group shops at Sea-Tac, the mugs – and some other Bigfoot finds – are for sale at Discover Puget Sound [Central Terminal] and in the Hudson news locations at A-3, B-6, and the North and South Satellites. A line of Bigfoot coffee should also be for sale soon. Martin says “Apparently Bigfoot prefers a dark French Roast…but we’ll also carry a Breakfast Blend.”

No word on how many Bigfoot mugs or bags of my favorite Seattle souvenir, Space Noodles, have been sold, but the airport recently shared some surprising statistics about other items sold on-site.

Anthony’s Restaurant, the main sit-down restaurant in the central terminal, is the highest grossing airport restaurant in North America. During 2012 revenues totaled $12.8 million.

Notable product sales at Sea-Tac airport include:
1.7 million bottles of water
230,000 bags of M&Ms
90,000 neck pillows
20,000 copies of the best-selling book “Fifty Shades of Grey”
And nearly 10,000 “Sleepless in Seattle” nightshirt and pajamas.

spacenoodles

FCC eases up on in-flight Internet & TSA finds more guns

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Some end-of-the-year tidbits for air travelers:

gogowifi

On Friday, December 28, 2013, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued some new rules designed to “speed the deployment of  Internet services onboard aircraft.”

In its release, the FAA explained that, since 2001, it has been authorizing companies to offer in-flight broadband service on an ad hoc basis. It will now allow airlines to “test systems that meet FCC standards, establish that they do not interfere with aircraft systems, and get FAA approval…up to 50 percent faster, enhancing competition in an important sector of the mobile telecommunications market in the United States and promoting the widespread availability of Internet access to aircraft passengers.”

Spokane Airport TSA

And, as the TSA winds up the year, the ever-shocking and entertaining TSA Blog reports in its Week in Review that this week “only” sixteen guns (nine of them loaded) were discovered at airport checkpoints. That’s on the low side for the weekly gun finds, but clueless travelers were also nabbed this week for trying to take hand grenades, razors and other weaponry through the checkpoints. And, as the folks at Skift reported earlier this week, this year TSA discovered more than 1,500 guns at airport checkpoints, a new record for the agency.

Are more people traveling armed, or are more armed people traveling and simply “forgetting” that they’ve got loaded guns in their purse or carry-on bag?

Flight schedules reviving; relief efforts rewarded

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The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey tweeted this photo of Teterboro Airport and said while water is receding, “in this photo, you can see debris, and even fish, on the taxiway.”

In the New York area, JFK, Newark-Liberty and LaGuardia airports are all expected to be open on Thursday morning, although on reduced schedules, and passengers “displaced” by Sandy throughout the country – and the world – are slowly making their way to their destinations – or giving up altogether and making plans for another time. Buses in New York seem be running, Northeast train service is still suspended but, according to this Washington Post article, subway service may resume in New York City sometime on Thursday.

Meanwhile, United Airlines and American are offering bonus miles to those who donate to programs raising money to help those in need after the storm.

United Airlines Foundation is matching up to $50,000 of donations by United customers to the American Red Cross, Americares and Feeding America. The airline is also offering MileagePlus bonus award miles for cash donations of at least $50 to these organizations. MileagePlus members who give a minimum of $50 will receive 250 bonus miles; those who contribute $100 or more will receive 500 bonus miles. Find details about United’s Superstorm Sandy Relief efforts here. The airline has put aside 5 million bonus miles for this program.

American Airlines is also offering bonus miles for donations to storm relief efforts.
Through Nov. 30, 2012, AAdvantage members will earn 250 AAdvantage miles for a minimum donation of $50, or 500 AAdvantage miles for a donation of $100 or more to American Red Cross Disaster Relief. Find more information here.

Boston Logan International Airport is offering a parking fee rebate for customers delayed returning to Boston Logan as a result of Hurricane Sandy. The rebates will be made for the period of time that exceeds the customer’s original ticketed date of return.

And, whenever there’s a long delay at an airport, it’s always really helpful to have complimentary access to a wireless Internet signal so you can take care of business. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, a major airport that still charges for Wi-Fi access, is now moving closer to offering free Wi-Fi access.  The day rate to access the Internet at ATL will drop to $4.95 on November 1, 2013 and be eliminated entirely by the fall of 2013.

 

Tidbits for travelers: MSP Wi-Fi, JetBlue election protection

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Travelers with lots of time between flights at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) can now surf the internet for free.

To get a 45 minutes of complimentary WiFi service, you’ll need to watch a short ad or take a quick survey, but there’s a timer that will let you know how much time you have left and you can get another session by watching another ad or taking another survey. Not all airports will give you another session, so this is a good compromise.

And it means you can also wait until you’re at the airport to log onto the MSP website and download the coupon booklet that offers discounts in many of the food and shops.

And here’s a nice touch: if you want a commercial-free, faster, premium service, the cost is just $2.95 for 24 hours. Before this new service, that fee was $7.95.

And here’s another (potentially) great deal: JetBlue has a fun contest running called “Election Protection,” which invites people to cast a vote for president in an on-line poll and enter a contest to win a free trip out of the country if you choose the losing candidate. Destinations include the Bahamas, Mexico, Costa Rica, Turks & Caicos, Grand Cayman, the Dominican Republic, St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados, Aruba, Columbia, Bermuda and Jamaica.

Cheaper – and free – airport Wi-Fi

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Free Wi-FI at airport

[Updated: 8/24/12 at noon]

Boingo Wireless and Google Offers are teaming up to offer discounted Wi-Fi access at 16 airports around the country that currently either charge for Wi-Fi services or offer limited free Wi-Fi sessions.

To take advantage of the offer, you may have to sign up for Google Offers (a Groupon-like deal service) and then purchase the discounted Boingo AsYouGo 24-hour deal, which is limited to one per person.

According to Boingo spokesperson Katie O’Neill, the length of the discount offer depends on how many people in the 16 participating airports purchase the passes, so the promotion may be withdrawn before the end of September.

Here are the participating airports:

  • Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
  • O’Hare International Airport
  • Chicago Midway Airport
  • Denver International Airport
  • Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
  • William P. Hobby Airport
  • George Bush Intercontinental Airport
  • Milwaukee General Mitchell International Airport
  • Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport
  • John F. Kennedy International Airport
  • New York LaGuardia Airport
  • Newark Liberty International Airport
  • Will Rogers World Airport -Oklahoma City
  • Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
  • Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
  • Dulles International Airport

Before you hit “buy,” keep in mind that some of these airports, such as Denver, Dulles and Ronald Reagan Washington National, already offer a complimentary Wi-Fi service. Others, such as Austin-Bergstrom and Houston’s Hobby and George Bush Intercontinental, offer complimentary sessions of 30 to 45 minutes. The Detroit Metropolitan Airport recently announced that it would be offering complimentary limited sessions as well, beginning in September.

Why would you buy a discounted day pass when you can get Wi-Fi service at an airport for free? Only if you need more time than the free limited-time offers give you and if you want your Wi-Fi signal to be more robust than what others in the airport are getting.

“[M]ost complimentary Wi-Fi sessions have restrictions placed on them — either in terms of duration or bandwidth or both. The 50% offer from Google Offers and Boingo is for half off the premium sessions that are good for 24 hours at the top speeds available,” says O’Neill.

And don’t forget sponsored, 40-minute sessions of complimentary Wi-Fi are also rolling out at Dallas-Fort Worth International in September, courtesy of AT&T.  (More details about that here) .