Here at Stuck at the Airport, we are all about cool amenities and shops and restaurants that reflect the local community.
So, we’re curious to check out the newest addition at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport: The Cocktail Room at 18th and Central in Terminal 1 Concourse A.
A collaboration
between HMSHost Tattersall Distilling, The Cocktail Room at 18th and Central shows
off the craft distilling movement in Minnesota and beyond.
The new bar gets its
name from Tattersall Distilling’s location in Northeast Minneapolis, and one of
its most popular drinks.
Tattersall Distilling is a nationally acclaimed Minneapolis-based craft distiller, which makes organic vodka, straight rye whiskey, apple brandy, aquavit, gin and an extensive portfolio of liqueurs, all with an emphasis on using local ingredients and sustainable practices.
In addition to the unique drink options and specialty cocktails on the menu created for the MSP venue, many of the bar bites and plates are made from locally sourced ingredients.
Signature items menu items include smoked salmon, lemon pepper wings, house-made onion dip, and chicken bacon flatbread.
There’s also house popcorn, so we’re totally
there.
More than a million cruise passengers pass through Seattle on their way to and from Alaska each summer and they bring a lot of luggage with them through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
To keep out all those bags out of the airport check-in halls, the Port of Seattle offers Port Valet. The complimentary service allows passengers to check in for their flights and check in their bags on board their cruise ships and then explore the city luggage-free before heading to their flights. The luggage transfer is free; but regular checked bag fees apply.
Learn how to save a life while waiting for a flight
Los Angeles International is the latest airport to get a Hands-Only CPR Training Kiosk from the American Heart Association.
More than a dozen other airports have these kiosks as well and just five minutes – the time it takes scroll through your Instagram feed again – you can watch a short instruction video (in English or Spanish), practice on a rubber manikin, get feedback on your technique and learn how to save a life.
Get coffee made by a robot
In two locations at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, and one brand new one in Terminal 3 at San Francisco International Airport, travelers can order coffee drinks prepared and delivered by a robotic barista in a Briggo automated Coffee Haus kiosk.
Orders can be sent ahead via the app, no pre-caffeine chit-chat is required, local coffee blends are features, and there’s a robot on duty 24 hours a day.
Food and sundries
delivered to you at your gate
You found an empty seat by a working power plug near your gate and now you’re hungry.
Lucky for you gate delivery services are available in an increasing number of airports. The fast-expanding, app-powered airport order and delivery service At Your Gate rolled out this month in Terminal A at Boston Logan International Airport with plans to expand to Terminal C by the end of summer.
The service is also available in all or parts of Newark (EWR), JFK, LGA, MSP, PDX and San Diego International Airports (SAN) with more on the way.
Tour Tampa
International Airport without a ticket
Go to the airport – and through the TSA
checkpoint- if you don’t have to?
You might say yes if you wanted to greet or say goodbye to a friend or family member at the gate. Or if you wanted to check out the art, shopping, and the bars and restaurants inside the airport.
Since May, the All Access program at Tampa International Airport has been giving passes to 100 non-ticketed visitors each Saturday (25 per airside terminal). Pittsburgh International Airport’s MyPIT Pass program issues passes for post-security access on weekdays.
Free do-it-yourself piano concerts
Many airports
provide live music in the terminals during busy holiday periods and year-round.
Some also provide pianos and invite passengers to make their own music before or after a flight.
St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) recently installed a “Play Me” piano in Terminal 1. And Los Angeles International Airport recently debuted to new Kawai G-40EP manual and self-playing baby grand pianos; one in the Terminal 4 connector and one on the Upper Level of Terminal 7.
Just Plane Fun at Philadelphia International Airport
It’s
like a summer camp at the airport.
The summer-long Just Plane Fun program at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) offers travelers an eclectic schedule of free activities that includes live music, magic shows, artist demonstrations and workshops, beauty demos, local celebrity appearances, and, our favorite, free sips and food samples.
Check the PHL website for scheduled events or pick up a flyer at an airport information counter.
Airport trading
cards – collect them all
They’re cool.
They’re collectible. They’re free. And they can be a challenge to find.
Over the past
few years, more than 70 airports have created trading cards as part of the North
American Airport Collectors Series trading card program. The 2019 series is
scheduled to debut in September.
There doesn’t
seem to be a master list of participating airports, nor a formal way to acquire
the cards. But to start your collection we suggest stopping by an information
desk in any airport you happen to be traveling to or through this summer.
Let’s all go to the movies – at the airports
The 17-seat free Hollywood
Theatre micro cinema at Portland International Airport (PDX) has
a fresh reel of short films by Oregon filmmakers, including Rob Tyler’s “The
Way We Melt,” starring brightly-colored, rapidly thawing frozen confections.
Summer travelers may also watch free films at
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) courtesy of the SFO Museum’s Video Arts
Program, at Minneapolis-St. Paul International
Airport (MSP) in the See
18 Film Screening Room on Concourse C, near Gate C18.
Sensory-friendly
Space with real airplane seating
Going to the airport and getting on a
plane can be stressful for anyone, but kids or adults with autism or other
special needs may need extra help acclimating and adjusting.
To help out, Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) just opened Presley’s Place, a 15,000 square-foot sensory-friendly space in Concourse A, by Gate 9. In addition to a calming transition foyer, family room, soundproof adult area, and restroom with adult changing table and adjustable sink, Presley’s Place is the first airport sensory room to also have the walls and floor of a real jet way and a seating section from a realistic airplane cabin, courtesy American Airlines.
Have a favorite airport amenity? Let us know; maybe it will be featured here on Stuck at The Airport.
Welcome to all the new Stuck at The Airport subscribers who have signed up over this past week. We suspect many of you found us through the mention of our site in this recent New York Times article about airport lounges.
But however you found us, we’re happy you’re here.
Here are some airport amenities we’re been researching this week.
Cruise to SEA airport
luggage-free
Thnking abot taking a cruise to Alaska? Good for you!
More than a million cruise passengers pass through Seattle – and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) on their way to and from Alaska each summer.
And they all seem to bring along a lot of luggage.
When all those people finish their cruises and head back home, the bag check-in lines at the airport get really, really long.
In fact, Port of Seattle officials often point out that it is cruise season, not the Christmas/New Year holiday when the airport experiences its peak passenger count.
A good solution is the complimentary Port Valet service.
Cruise passengers can check-in for their flights and check their bags before they get off the ship. Port Valet does the bag transfers and the cruisers can hang around the city luggage- free before heading to the airport.
Whle the luggage transfer is free; regular checked bag fees apply.
Learn how to save a life while waiting for a flight
Los Angeles International is the latest airport to get a Hands-Only CPR Training Kiosk from the American Heart Association.
More than a dozen other airports have these kiosks as well and in just five minutes – the time it takes scroll through your Instagram feed (again) – you can watch a short instruction video (in English or Spanish), practice on a rubber manikin, get feedback on your technique and learn how to save a life.
Get coffee made by
a robot
In two locations at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and, starting this week, in Terminal 3 at San Francisco International Airport, travelers can have coffee drinks prepared and delivered by robotic baristas in a Briggo automated Coffee Haus kiosk.
Orders can be sent ahead via the app, no pre-caffeine chit-chat is required, local coffee blends are featured, and there’s a robot on duty 24 hours a day.
Sensory-friendly Space with real airplane seating
Going to the
airport and getting on a plane can be stressful for anyone, but kids or adults
with autism or other special needs may need extra help acclimating and
adjusting.
To help out, Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) just opened Presley’s Place on Concourse A.
In addition to a calming transition foyer, family room, soundproof adult area, and restroom with adult changing table and adjustable sink, Presley’s Place is the first airport sensory room to also have the walls and floor of a real jet way and a seating section from a realistic airplane cabin, courtesy American Airlines.
Have you come across a new airport amenity during your travels? Let us know in the comment section below. If your tip is featured, we’ll send you a fun travel-themed souvenir.
The 5,770 square foot east terrace patio is located post-security on the mezzazine level between Gates 1-2.
To reach it, walk up the stairs or take the elevator to what the AUS airport calls its “hip terrace patio.”
The space is open 24 hours, is non-smoking and is located adjacent to the new Detla Sky Lounge.
The patio has a view of the 9,000-foot east runway and offers a great opportunity for plane spotting as well as a view of ramp and apron-level airport activities.
Austin can get very hot, so there’s an air-conditioned section of AUS’s patio.
In the outdoor section, patio is partially covered with sunshade blade panels to mimic the wings of an airplane.
The décor of the patio is modern-outdoor round tables, patio-furniture type seating and awnings that cover the family-style bench picnic tables.
Landscaping includes water-friendly native drought-tolerant plants.
And, for those of you into statistics: the airport tells us the patio flooring is covered with 428 wood pavers and 276 concrete pavers. Each concrete paver weighs 150 to 206 pounds and is 30 inches wide x 30 inches long and 2.25 inches thick.
Enjoy! And please send StuckatTheAirport.com a photo of what you see when you’re enjoying this new outdoor space at AUS airport.
The full story has more than 30 photos, so be sure to take a look over there, but here are some of my favorite photos shared by airports.
Observation Deck at Friendship International Airport – now Baltimore/Washington International Airport. Observation Gallery at BWI Airport – now Missoula International Airport. Courtesy Dan NeumanOklahoma’s City’s Will Rogers World Airport once had an Observation Tower When the Central Terminal opened in 1954, the building included an Observation Deck – look for the railings on the upper level. SFO’s brand new observation deck has plants, art and chaise lounges. Nice, right?
Where are your favorite airport observation decks?
Paying close attention to legislation that requires large and medium airports to provide lactation areas in every terminal by October 2020, the Port Authority of NY/NJ has upgraded the Mamava lacation pods in its four commercial airports.
The new, post-security nursing facilities are larger versions of the previous pods and include 12 at JFK, nine at Newark Liberty International Airport, six at LaGuardia Airport, and one at New York Stewart International Airport.
More in-airport gyms on the way
ROAM Fitness, which has an in-airport gym at Baltimore/Washington International Airport, has a contract to open a second location this summer at San Francisco International Airport Terminal 2 in collaboration with XpresSpa.
More app-powered gate-delivery meals on
the way
At Your Gate, which currently provides app-powered gate delivered meals at five airports – San Diego International Airport, Newark International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, JFK T2 and Minneapolis Int’l Airport – will soon add Portland International Airport as its sixth location.
And Airport Sherpa, which currently offers a similar app-powered gate delivery service for meals at Baltimore/Washington International Airport, has inked a deal with airport restaurateur HMSHost to offer on-demand mobile ordering and food delivery at all the North American airports where HMSHost operates. No word yet on the timetable for the roll-out beyond BWI, only that the plan is to “quickly introduce the technology with strategic airport partners throughout the United States,” says HMSHost.
As the tweet above notes, the in-airport gate delivery app service called AtYourGate is marking the one-year anniversary of its debut at San Diego International Airport with a $5 off promo (AYGFREE), plus free delivery.
The promo code is good for use on Tuesday, February 5 in all the airports AtYourGate now serves.
Since its debut at SAN a year ago, AtYourGate has expanded its service beyond SAN to Newark Liberty International Airport (Terminals A and B, and the pre-security area of Terminal C), LaGuardia Airport (Terminal B), JFK Airport (Terminal 7) and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
How does AtYourGate work?
Say you (or you and your kids) go through the security checkpoint and find a nice spot to sit by the window near your gate.
Rather than gather up all your things to go get something to eat, AtYourGate lets you open an app, check menus of restaurants in your terminal and (nice touch) in others.
When you make your choices, the app lets you place your order on your phone. Someone picks up the order and delivers it to you where you’re sitting.
In most of the airports they serve, AtYourGate will also delivery non-food items, such as neck pillows and phone chargers as well.
There’s a small delivery charge (waived on Feb 5), but otherwise you’re paying the posted menu prices. You’re also getting the convenience of not having to roam the terminals. And it means you’re not limited to the options in the concourse or terminal you happen to be leaving from.
I’ve been covering AtYourGate since before its roll-out. Last week I walked Newark Airport Terminals 1 and 2 with a representative of AtYourGate (Thank-you, Mike, for your time) and learned some bonus details about how the service operates. And I got to see the team in action.
A few things I learned:
*Orders you make via the AtYourGate app go to the front of the line at the concessions you’re ordering from.
*The AtYourGate delivery team is dispatched by app as well and is ready to grab the order the moment it is ready so they can hustle it over to you in an insulated bag.
*Because TSA employees have learned how great it is to get a meal delivered to where you are in the airport, the AtYourGate employees get VIP treatment at the security checkpoints.
*I followed along for a couple of deliveries between terminals and had to hustle to keep up with the delivery people. AtYourGate promises delivery within a certain timeframe, so the hustle wasn’t to impress me.
Besides being a nice sweet snack to have with a cup of coffee, the stroopwafel offers passengers something to do: United tells passengers to warm up the stroopwafel by taking it out of the package and setting it on top of their coffee.
On New Year’s eve, Las Vegas McCarran International Airport offered travelers a silent disco in the bag claim area.
Going forward, the folks at 10Best have teamed up with Airport Experience News (AXN) to ask travelers to weigh in on some of the best airport amenites in North America.
Categories include Best Airport Bar, Best Airport for Dining, Best Airport for Shopping, Best Airport for Local/Regional Dining – and more.
Cast your vote – once a day through January 28 – here.
Here at StuckatTheAirport.com we have some favorite airports and airport amenities, but we’re always on the lookout for airport offerings that are brand new.
What amenities do you hope to see at airports in 2019? Let us know!
If you travel you’re going to end up spending a lot of time in airports.
And if you spend a lot of time in airports, you’re going to spend a lot of time sitting around.
And once you’re done with that, you’ll hopefully start taking a look around at the shops, the restaurants, the views out the window and the often truly creative amenities designed to make your dwell time more enjoyable – or at least a bit less unbearable.
For my USA TODAY column, called “At the Airport“, I do a round-up of the best amenities rolled out by airports each year.
For 2017, celebrated perks included the 24-hour ‘microcinema’ at Portland International Airport, Pittsburgh International Airport’s introduction of “MyPITpass,” which allows the non-flying public to visit the secure side of the airport, and the opening of ROAM Fitness, an in-airport gym at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
The 2018 list of “Best Airport Amenities” is full of fresh new amenities and creative bonus activities.
Here are some of the best. Drop a note if I missed one of your favorites:
Go with the glow
Airport restroom lines get long when users can’t tell which stalls are empty.
To solve that problem, in April, Los Angeles International Airport debuted a pilot program in one set of Terminal 4 restrooms using Tooshlights’ smart latches on stall doors. When a door is closed, a light over the stall turns red; when the latch is open, the light turns green. The latches are paired with the Infax smart restroom technology, which tracks usage and real-time feedback to improve restroom cleaning schedules.
In July, a set of restrooms at ATL got smart
technology in a set of loos too.
See
ya’ later alligator
The list of airports welcoming therapy dogs into the terminals keeps expanding. In 2017 Denver International Airport for upping the ante by adding Xeli the cat to its Canine Airport Therapy Squad known as CATS. This year Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport raised the bar by scheduling weekly visits with baby alligators. What’s next?
Start the vacation at the
airport
Airports say they’re the front doors to their cities. Louisville International Airport takes that to heart with HMSHost’s new Book & Bourbon Southern Kitchen, which features more than 85 bourbons and qualifies as an official stop on Kentucky’s Urban Bourbon Trail.
Travelers can pick up a trail passport and get their first stamp before they leave the airport or top off their stamps on the way home.
This year HMSHost also opened the Whiskey River restaurant and bar at Raleigh-Durham International
Airport, offering music six days a week, a wall covered in belt
buckles and a selfie-friendly stationary bull.
New ways to work & play at
DFW Airport
In July, two Gameway video game
entertainment lounges opened at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, by Gates B42 and E16. Each of the 36
gaming stations is equipped with a leather chair, an Xbox One loaded with 19
games, a 43” TV, noise cancelling headphones, charging ports and space to store
luggage.
For those who need to get work instead of play, Varidesk just launched a free, staffed co-working space at DFW (by Gate C12) with a conference table for meetings and 24 workstations outfitted with power hubs and adjustable standing desks.
Hungry gate huggers have more
options
This year OTG expanded the gate areas where passengers use iPads to
order food and drinks and At Your Gate joined Airport
Sherpa in offering food delivery to passengers anywhere in the
airports they serve. Airport Sherpa is still only at BWI Airport, but during 2018
At Your Gate
began running food and drink orders to gates at both San Diego International
and Newark Liberty International Airports.
Early bag drop service at Denver
International Airport
Self-service bag check offers convenience at the check-in counter, but in May remote bag drop off service was introduced at the car rental center at Tampa International Airport.
Denver International Airport introduced the service in November and now allows travelers to drop their bags off at shuttle parking lots and the airport transit center. The drop off service is free, but airline bag fees still apply.
Free drop off service is available to DEN passengers arriving at least 90 minutes before their flights and traveling domestically on Southwest, United, Delta and American Airlines. At DEN’s Pikes Peak and Mt. Ebert shuttle parking lots, personnel greet arriving cars, remove luggage from the car, check in passengers and print out boarding passes. Then passengers park and jump on the shuttle to the terminal.
Phoenix Sky Harbor began offering a similar early bag
drop service back in 2013, eventually extending it to the rental car center,
but discontinued the program last year.
Getting to the gate without a
ticket
In what we hope may signify a trend, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport ran a pilot program to allow the non-flying public to go beyond the security checkpoints.
The SEA Visitor Pass pilot program worked much like the year-round, TSA-sanctioned “myPITpass” program that Pittsburgh International Airport debuted last year. At SEA, access hours were limited and visitors had to apply for a pass and go through the security checkpoint just like regular passengers. But once “in” the pass holders could shop, dine, check out the art and entertainment, accompany a loved one to the gate, or be there waiting when they get home.
Can’t miss airport art
The new Concourse A expansion at Charlotte Douglas
International Airport is home to “Interconnected,” a giant digital
artwork made up of three hi-definition LED media walls measuring over 2,000
square feet. The largest public artwork of its kind in the country, the media
walls display constantly changing abstract images derived from airport
operations data, including flight arrivals and departures, baggage handling and
ground transportation.
Bonus activities and great ideas
Once again, our list of special events, pop-ups and cool ideas is long.
In February, just in time for Valentine’s Day, a
pop-up license bureau opened in the baggage claim at McCarran International
Airport in Las Vegas to help lovebirds streamline the process of
getting married in Sin City. Couples couldn’t get married at the airport but
picking up the license at the airport meant they could skip stopping at longer
line at the clerk’s office in town.
This year New York’s LaGuardia Airport and Pittsburgh
International Airport each welcomed their first artists-in-residence.
PIT airport also introduced a 6-month pop-up of the do-it-yourself paint studio
called Paint Monkey. And in March, to mark what would have been Fred Rogers’ 90th
birthday and the issuing of a Mister Rogers Forever stamp, PIT Airport held an
event that included red cardigan-wearing employees, complimentary red shoelaces
and “You’re special, too” buttons, and a ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’ memory
board.
Also in March, San Antonio International Airport
marked Dr. Seuss Day with an event that included airport and airline employees
and passengers reading Dr. Seuss books to children.
On April 1, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport raised eyebrows,
and dashed some travelers’ hopes, with the April Fool’s Day announcement of an
aircraft viewing area with an outdoor pool.
We're excited to announce our new aircraft viewing area with an outdoor pool! Tickets for entry will be available later this year. Check out https://t.co/qYS9EZv0f7 for more information. pic.twitter.com/rKqwuYdiuL
In August, Philadelphia
International Airport installed a short story dispenser in the
airport’s Virtual Library in the D/E Connector. Kiosks users press a button to
request a print-out (on eco-friendly paper) of a fiction story that can be read
in one, three or five minutes.
And we’re happy to report that Denver International Airport continues to make good use of the outdoor plaza between the terminal and the Westin hotel. A pop-up park, complete with native Colorado trees and plants, showed up in July, the “Beer Flights” beer garden returned in September (to coincide with worldwide Oktoberfest celebrations) and a free ice-skating rink, with free skate rentals, is open now through January 6, 2019.
Here’s to a great 2019 filled with even more cool airport amenities!
New York’s LaGuardia Airport is in the midst of an $8 billion makeover and the first 11 gates are now open in the state-of-the-art Terminal B.
Airlines operating out of this new concourse include Air Canada, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines. They’ll be joined by United Airlines in 2019.
The space includes soaring ceilings, a colorful children’s play area, charging stations throughout the seating areas and a nursing room.
The kids’ area has a 16-foot interactive display that allows users to design their own aircraft on a tablet and watch it come to life on a giant digital wall. Next to the kids area is an indoor green space with greenery, benches and plenty of natural light.
A slection of New York-inspired food, beverage and retail offerings include a branch of toy store FAO Schwarz and dining options such as Shake Shack, La ChulaBar & Taqueria (Mexican taqueria), Osteria Fusco (Italian), Kingside Bar & Restaurant, Irving Fam Coffee Roasters and Five Boroughs Market.
In-airport food and retail delivery service ‘At Your Gate’ is up and running in LGA Terminal B as well.
The terminal also has an Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, with a United Club scheduled to open in 2019.
Other retail offerings include independent bookseller McNally Jackson, Hudson, LaGuardia Dufry Duty Free Shops, Spa Here, M∙A∙C, and District Market, with specialty Made in Queens products.
“You’re going to love the new LaGuardia Airport,” New York governor Andrew Cuomo said in a tweet.
