Rightly so, given the “stay home” orders we are all following, if we can.
But, like us, airports still want to play.
So, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) has put together a suitcase full of fun activities, videos and even a cut-and-play board game to keep us entertained and engaged.
First up: these cute minute-long video check-ins in with team members form the LAX PUPs (Pets Unstressing Passengers) program.
Next up: LAX at Home – the GAME
If you need a break from video games, try this ‘LAX At Home‘ board game.
The goal of the game is to be the first to travel around the horseshoe layout of LAX, which in normal times can get take a half-hour or more.
LAX game creators promise that playing the game you will feel as if you are at LAX: “Experience the excitement of world-class restaurants, catch a performance or check out the celebrity sightings. Just watch out for traffic, paparazzi and leave two hours before your flight.”
Miss the LAX experience? Introducing LAX the Game! Just print, cut and see who can make it in and out of LAX the fastest! Experience the excitement of celebrity sightings, food and more! But watch out for traffic – oh no! It’s all the fun of #LAXatHomehttps://t.co/YRUGRzbxpRpic.twitter.com/eIQMkszslG
LAX also has downloadable coloring pages with airport themes, digital puzzles and a playlist of travel songs to keep you entertained and thinking about how much fun you’ll have when we can all get back out on the road.
Even when you can't travel, we are still a part of the community. Visit our new page for educational and fun at-home activities, starting with these downloadable LAX-themed coloring pages! Show us your work and tag #LAXatHomehttps://t.co/ygHwuFYO8ypic.twitter.com/t2rVZBqRCI
Live-streamed concerts, courtesy of San Antonio International Airport
Not many passengers are making their way to and through airports these days.
But that doesn’t mean airports aren’t engaging with their communities.
The San Antonio Airport System, which operates San Antonio International Airport (SAT) is offering the ambitious “SAT Live-Stream Concert Series” of live streaming musical performances by local artists.
The SAT Live Stream Concert Series features both well-known and new San Antonio artists and a wide variety of music styles including Texas Blues, Rock, Jazz, Country, Soul and Acoustic Pop.
The concerts are being streamed during both afternoon and evening spots to target all audiences.
“This is an opportunity to introduce some of the musicians to an entirely new audience. We already have 80 performances on the lineup and we anticipate adding even more,” said Matt Evans, Arts & Culture Manager.
San Diego International Airport (SAN) is offering streamed concerts too:
Tho' the Arts Program is not currently holding concerts at SAN, many of the artists we’ve featured are holding concerts at home. One of those musicians, Nico Hueso, has played w/ numerous groups including Placido Domingo. Catch him live today @ 5pm PST 👉 https://t.co/pAaAUzYbIopic.twitter.com/m5XNcgjiRU
“Flight of Lights” will feature six different light displays, including tributes to first responders; Wisconsin sports; animals and nature; tropical and nautical; and popular non-stop destinations from the airport.
The drive-through event is free and social-distancing approved for households to visit altogether, with a route right by the airport.
“Flight of Lights” starts Saturday evening April 18th and will run daily from 7:30 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. through May 10, 2020.
We’ll get photos as soon as they turn on the lights.
Help us honor our First Responders and Healthcare Heroes. Don’t miss the FLIGHT OF LIGHTS displays dedicated to them! Pilot your family through six dazzling International Lane displays and enjoy FLIGHT OF LIGHTS starting April 18th from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. #flightoflightspic.twitter.com/dDo25cYUPw
It’s only Monday, but we may already have a nomination for Airport Amenity of the Week.
Especially if you’re a fan of Star Wars and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Passengers traveling through Orlando International Airport (MCO) will find that some of the tram shuttle stations are now decorated to evoke Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the new 14-acre land inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
Arriving passengers getting ready to board the shuttles for the airport’s Main Terminal will see life-size depictions of characters and scenes from Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
One scene creates a dimensional landscape that feels as if visitors are standing inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. They’ll see the iconic Millennium Falcon and other landmarks from the new amusement park land.
In another scene, it will appear to passengers as if First Order Stormtroopers are waiting to step off the shuttle as the train arrives in the station.
Make way…
There’s more.
At the Magic of Disney store located inside the main terminal in the pre-security West Hall, there’s now a fun new photo op location featuring droids from the Star Wars galaxy.
And when the airport’s second Magic of Disney store reopens on November 22 in the Main Terminal East Hall, an exterior wall will feature a 36-foot-long video screen showing scenes from Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Should we just go ahead and make this the Airport Amenity of the Week?
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.
The fourth annual “hometown salute” features popular attractions, activities for the family, special guests and treats that showcase the region.
Here’s the line-up:
Wednesday, Sept. 26: Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s Professor Wylde Traveling Show will be on site with artifacts and appearances by a variety of zoo animals, including a bearded dragon, an armadillo, a hedgehog, a kookaburra, a sand boa and a python. Find them at Gate C4 and at the beginning of Concourse A.
Thursday, Sept. 27: From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Cleveland Indians’ beloved mascot, Slider, will visit with passengers and treat them to Malley’s CLE chocolate bars. (While they last.)
Friday, Sept. 28: Mitchell’s Ice Cream Social, with free scoops from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. inside the security checkpoint on Concourse B.
While you’re at CLE, be sure to check out the permanent and temporary art exhibits, including 10-ft tall versions of Fender Stratocaster guitars that have been transformed into works of art by local artists and national celebrities. (Cleveland is, after all, the home of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum).
And while at CLE, be sure to visit the baggage claim area to see an exhibit devoted to Superman. The caped hero was created in the early 1930s by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, who lived near each other in Cleveland.
