Wi-Fi

Tidbits for travelers: cool contest, cheap airport food, free Wi-Fi finder

Contests, Food, Wi-Fi, , , ,

Some news you can use today.

The folks at BoardingArea.com, a bundled collection of business travel and frequent flyer blogs (StuckatTheAirport.com actually started there) is running a contest with a really great prize: a trip for two to the Gold Coast of Australia. Deadline is March 28th.  I’m definitely entering.

JiWire rolled out a new free Wi-Fi Finder app that will allow you to search for free and paid Wi-Fi hotspots offline. Very helpful.

And if you’re out and about today, keep in mind that it’s Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream shops and free pastry day (actually sort-of free pastry morning; you’ll  need to buy a drink) at Starbucks.  It’s a fair bet that few airport branches of these outfits will be honoring the promotions, but if you find yourself at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport you can definitely take advantage of the “Flounder’s Day” special being offered at Ivar’s Seafood restaurants throughout Puget Sound.  Today would have been “flounder” Ivar Haglund’s 105th birthdays, so if you buy one entrée, you’ll get a second one for $1.05 by saying “Happy Birthday, Ivar” at check-out.  Even at the airport.

When will all airports have free Wi-Fi?

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This month, my “At the Airport” column in USATODAY.com is all about airport Wi-Fi.

And all about why more and more airports, including those in Denver, Pittsburgh, Orlando and, just recently, Seattle and Boston, offer this welcome amenity for free – and why some don’t.

Here’s an edited version of that column:

Free Wi-Fi was on Sea-Tac’s to do list for years, but the airport had to wait until its contract with AT&T ran out before making the service free. “It’s almost become a required amenity,” says Sea-Tac airport spokesperson Perry Cooper, “Passengers expect it now. Especially in places like Seattle where folks are very tech-savvy. In fact, it’s been our number one customer service request for years.”

Silicon Valley’s Mineta San José International Airport started offering the service back in May 2008, says airport spokesperson David Vossbrink, because “we serve a high proportion of business travelers and road warriors who have laptops and mobile devices surgically implanted and [they] expect to be able to always be connected.”

It’s pretty much the same story across the country. Everyone wants to stay connected and everyone wants the Wi-Fi at the airport to be free. But how can airports afford to make it free?

Advertising and sponsorship may be the way to go.

At Denver International Airport, which began offering free Wi-Fi in November 2007, between 6,000 and 8,000 travelers now sign on to the system each day and revenue from advertisers help offset the cost of the service. Sea-Tac Airport has asked Clear Channel, which already sells advertising space throughout the airport, to find additional ads to support the new, free Wi-Fi service as well. And at San Francisco International Airport, advertising is being considered as negotiations get underway to figure out how to support a free Wi-Fi program as well. If they can figure out how to fund it, representatives from Nashville International and many other airports say they’d offer travelers free Wi-Fi as well.

Like LAX and the airports in the New York and Washington, D.C. areas, the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport still charges passengers for Wi-Fi access. “We know many travelers would love to see free Wi-Fi,” says airport spokesperson Patrick Hogan, “The bottom line is that airports like MSP must generate the funds to cover all airport operating costs…There is no such thing as free airport Wi-Fi. It’s really just a question of who pays to cover the cost of providing the service.”

For the full posted version of this column, read Free airport Wi-Fi takes off in USATODAY.com. And if you’re want to know which airports currently offer free Wi-Fi, the folks at Jaunted.com have been keeping a good tally on their free airport Wi-Fi map.

And if you do use a free Wi-Fi service at an airport, a hotel, a coffee shop or somewhere else, the Wi-Fi Alliance encourages you to use a personal firewall, make sure you have anti-virus software, and keep these other safety tips in mind:

  • Make sure that you are connecting to a legitimate hotspot – those that require a password have more protection than those that do not.
  • Use a virtual private network or VPN, which establishes a private connection across the public network. This may be supplied by your employer, or you can purchase one.
  • Surfing the web and sending e-mail is fine, but doing your banking for example in a public hotspot is not advised.
  • Configure for approved connections: Many devices sense and automatically connect to any available wireless signal. To regain control, simply configure your device to not automatically connect to an open network without your approval.
  • Disable sharing: Your Wi-Fi enabled devices may automatically open themselves to sharing / connecting with other devices. File and printer sharing may be common in business and home networks, but you can avoid this in public networks.

Got that?

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?

Even more airport freebies for Thanksgiving travelers

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In addition to the airport freebies I wrote about yesterday here at StuckatTheAirport.com, we have a few more airport events and giveaways to seek out during your Thanksgiving trek through the airport:

Turkey with hat

If you’re traveling through Boston’s Logan International Airport or Seattle-Tacoma International Airport today (Wed. Nov 25, 2009) look around for the “Fareologists” from Bing Travel. They’ll be answering travel questions (try to stump them by asking where the best place is to buy an extra pair of underwear) and surprising some folks (1,000 in all) in the ticketing areas by giving them a $15 card redeemable for cash anywhere MasterCard is accepted.  Nice!

ROCKETTES

If you’re at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) Wednesday between 10 and 11 am look around for the world-famous Radio City Rockettes, who will be performing -and no doubt posing for photos with travelers – in the Baggage Claim area and at the Security Checkpoint in the Landside Terminal.

THANKSGIVING coin postcard

And between 8 am and 5 pm today (and on Saturday and Sunday; November 28-29, 2009) you can stop by an “Airport Privacy Haven”  in Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) or New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport for a free massage and complimentary Wi-Fi between 8 am and 5 pm.

Enjoy!

Free Wi-Fi at Cleveland Airport and new napping suites at Atlanta Airport

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Cleveland Rocks!

Kudos to the Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport  (CLE) and the non-profit group OneCommunity for working together to bring permanent free Wi-Fi to the airport.

Cleveland Airport joins many other smart airports that offer travelers free Wi-Fi year round.  And, lest you forget, from now through January 15, 2010, Google is covering the Wi-Fi fees at a 47 airports, from Seattle to Miami.  Here’s a full list of the participating airports . Let’s hope those airports continue offering the service for free after that.

Nap Time at ATL

ScreenHunter_01 Nov. 19 00.13

You can now make a reservation at the first Minute Suites, at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL). These “suites”, located inside the terminal on the B Concourse have daybeds, pillows and blankets, sound masking systems, and a “napware” audio program.  Each suite also has a a TV, desk, phone, and a computer.   How much will you pay to snooze in a “suite”?  The minimum reservation accepted is 1 hour and costs $30. After that it’s $7.50 each 15 minutes.

If you try this out, please let us know what you think!

Free in-flight Wi-Fi offers

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I’m a big fan of free wireless Internet at airports.  Now I’m also a big fan of free wireless Internet on airplanes.

Especially these free in-flight Wi-Fi offers that have popped up recently:

This Saturday, October 31, 2009, Gogo Inflight Internet will be free on all Gogo-equipped Delta flights. To access the service use the code GOPINK.

Delta pink plane

It’s great that Delta passengers can spend Halloween using Gogo for free.

Even better: for each free session that day, Aircell (the company that brings us the Gogo service) will be donating $1 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, up to $10,000. They’re also going to give all Gogo proceeds from Delta’s Pink Plane for the month of October to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Gogowifi

It seems first timers might also be able to get free Wi-Fi on Delta through the end of the year with the code: deltatrygogo and on Airtran with airtrantrygogo. (Let me know if this works for you.)

But wait! There’s more:

From November 1 – 7, 2009, there will also be free Wi-Fi on Wi-Fi-equipped American Airlines flights, courtesy of the folks at LEXUS.  To access that service use the code: 2010LEXUSLS. ( No car purchase necessary.)

And one more: from November 10, 2009 all the way through the holidays and until January 10, 2010, you’ll get free Wi-Fi on Virgin America flights, courtesy of the folks at Google. Details about free Wi-Fi on Virgin America here.

Have you found some other free in-flight Wi-Fi offers? Let us know.

Greetings from Changi Airport: butterflies and free coffee

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I had loads of fun touring Singapore’s Changi Airport today and wanted to share a few photos of the some of the fun, unusual, and very useful amenities this airport offers.

In addition to free wireless Internet access and more than 500 free Internet terminals, Changi Airport has five lovely and restful gardens, including a cactus garden, a fern garden, a sunflower garden, an orchid garden and, my favorite, a butterfly garden:

Changi butterflies

There are napping areas throughout the airport, including some lounge chairs that include alarm clocks (!)  and I found these ladies enjoying some of the airport’s complimentary foot and leg massage machines.

Changi leg massage

And, in case you’re not quite awake, I guess, this giant coffee cup is around to remind travelers that on Monday mornings through mid-February, there’s free coffee for everyone.

Changi - free coffee

Tidbits for Travelers: Music at MIA, Power at SAN, celebrities at ORH

Celebrities, Music, Wi-Fi, , , ,

MUSIC AT MIA

MIA

If you’re traveling through Miami International Airport (MIA) between now and September 21 and have some time to hang around, head on over to the South Terminal.  Afternoons, between 1 and 4 pm, there will be a steel drum band on Concourse H and piano music in the food court between Concourses H and J.

Power at SAN

SAN SOCKET

At San Diego International Airport (SAN), where there’s free Wi-Fi all the time,  there are now some new chairs with built-in electrical sockets in the Southwest Airlines boarding areas of Terminal 1 and upstairs, in Terminal 2 West.

Star power at ORH

And, according to this article, the mostly unused airport in Worcester, Massachusetts is going to be used to film some scenes for a movie starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.  A great use for an empty airport!

Tom Cruise

Greetings from Prague Airport

Observation Decks, Wi-Fi

I spent two hours touring the Prague Airport recently and found loads of welcome amenities; many of them brand new.

In addition to the free Wi-Fi service rolled out a few weeks ago (there are still a few kinks to work out; we couldn’t get it to work), the airport has a museum with vintage photos, documentary film footage and a replica historic aircraft that you can climb into.  The three-month old “Sky Relax” center offers salon services, showers, manicures and massages, while two new childrens play areas provide a fun place for kids to work off energy before their flights.

Prague kids play area

And both terminals have outdoor lookout terraces accessible before security.

Prague observation deck

Why all these fresh amenities?  “We started doing surveys and asking travelers what was missing from the airport and these were some of the things they mentioned,” my airport guide told me, “So we gave it to them.”

Makes sense to me.

Free Wi-Fi coming to Seattle-Tacoma Int’l Airport

Free Stuff, Wi-Fi

I’m a firm believer that wireless Internet access should be a basic free amenity at every airport. Especially since travelers are asked to show up hours early for a flight and are often made to wait around hours longer due to weather, mechanical issues or who knows what.

So, I’m delighted to learn that beginning early in 2010, when the contract with the current Wi-Fi provider runs out, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) will join the growing number of airports that offer travelers free wireless Internet access in the terminals.

laptop-wifi

Earlier this year, Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) announced that they’d be doing the same.

Let’s hope this is a trend!