Airport visitor pass

Travel Tidbits: Found Dog at ATL + Orlando Int’l Airport’s Visitor Pass

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That dog that escaped at ATL airport has been found

If you’ve been following the story of Maia, the dog who escaped from her carrier at Hartsfield-Jackon Atlanta International Airport (ATL) three weeks ago, you’ll be glad to know that the dog has been found.

Maia, a chihuahua mix, has been AWOL at ATL airport since the middle of August. The dog arrived on a Detla Air Lines flight from the Dominican Republic with its owner, Paula Rodriguez, who was making a connection on the way to San Francisco.

Rodriguez, who had a tourist visa, was denied entry into the United States and had to spend the night in an airport detention center. The dog wasn’t allowed in the center with Rodriguez and somehow got loose from its carrier while in Delta Air Lines’ care.

Orlando International Airport now has a Visitor Pass Program

Orlando International Airport (MCO) is the latest airport to create a program to allow non-ticketed visitors into the terminal.

The Experience MCO Visitor Pass only gives access to Terminal C – MCO’s newest and fanciest terminal – and only permits 50 non-ticketed visitors per day.

As with visitor pass programs at other airports, including Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY), Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW), and others, visitors must fill out an application online and have it reviewed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

My ‘staycation’ at SEA Airport

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It’s not crazy to hang out at the airport if you’re not flying.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) is my home base airport and I’m happy to spend extra time there before, and sometimes after, a flight.

SEA recently joined the list of airports offering visitor passes to non-flying visitors. And so I signed up to find out what it is like to spend a day at the airport just hanging out with no flight to catch.

Signing up was easy: SEA’s Visitor Pass page walks applicants through the process. And once I got my email notice of approval, I had no trouble using my pass, with my ID, to get through the airport checkpoint.

First on my agenda was taking a quick tour of some of my favorite works of art at SEA airport.

There’s art throughout the airport – even in some bathrooms. And SEA’s art collection includes work by noted local, regional and national artists including Trimpin, Frank Stella, Louise Nevelson and Robert Rauschenberg.

On travel days, there’s not much time to stop and appreciate the art. But the visitor pass gave me time to look around.

Detail from Trimpin”s “On Matter, Monkeys and the King” kinetic artwork

Detail from Robert Rauschenberg’s “Star Quarters”

After the art tour, I did some shopping. I didn’t have to worry about squeezing my purchases into my carry-on and that made it easier – maybe too easy – to make purchases.

Then it was time for lunch

Lots of fresh dining options are opening at SEA airport and it was nice to be able to look around and try someplace new.

Learning a new skill at the airport

SEA recently installed a Hands-Only CPR training kiosk in the Central Terminal. And so I used the final part of my visit to get trained in a skill that might someday help me save a life.

Randy Krause, the Fire Chief for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, was nice enough to come by and supervise my session. But the kiosk is designed as a do-it-yourself experience.

The machine gives instructions; users practice on a dummy torso, and the machine lets you know how you did.

I need some practice, and I need to be stronger. So next time I go to the airport I won’t be shy about trying it again.

Bottom line: applying for a SEA Visitor Pass and voluntarily spending much of a day hanging around the airport was a totally fun – and educational – way to spend a rainy day.

And SEA isn’t the only airport to offer this program. Pittsburgh International Airport, Tampa International Airport, Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and Detroit Metropolitan Airport now do it too.