Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

Fiesta-time at DFW

Free Stuff, Fun Stuff,

Hola!

It’s fiesta-time at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) this month  in preparation for May 1st, when American Airlines begins non-stop service from DFW to Madrid.

Last week, passengers in Terminal D got to nibble on free tapas.  For the next few weeks, the party will feature Spanish dancers, musicians and entertainers performing in Terminal D every Thursday and Friday.

dfwmadridkickoff

Photo: Micheline Gaudin and her husband, Rod Myers of Dallas enjoy complimentary tapas last week at DFW. Photo courtesy of Sarah McDaniel, DFW International Airport

Fry-free food at DFW

Food, Health

Good to know: at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport the new healthy food outlets, UFood Grill and Urban Taco, are fry-free (except for the chips at Urban Taco).

dfw-ufood-grill-b8

And, according to their Web site, the DFW  Cereality Cereal Bar and Café is the company’s only cereal bar not co-located with a Cold Stone Creamery.

dfw-cereality

Cereal and ice-cream?  I hadn’t thought about that, but now that you mention it…sounds great.

Customer Appreciation Week at DFW

Deals, Events

If you’re at Dallas/Forth Worth International Airport (DFW) this week, don’t be too alarmed if an airport employee comes up to you and shakes your hand.

It’s all part of customer appreciation week at the airport and to celebrate they’ll be handing out discounted coupons for parking (the valet parking coupon also offers food and retail discounts inside the terminals), and talking up some new food outlets, including:

In Terminal C: a new Urban Taco restaurant, a Blimpie sandwich shop,  and the Cereality Cereal Bar and Café with, yes, a wide variety of cereals and other foods you can eat for breakfast – or all day.

cereal

In Terminal B (Gate 8), there’s also a new U Food Grill, a popular healthy food option with globally-influenced menu items.

Yum!

Will Santa get stuck at the airport?

Holidays, , ,

It’s been a bad week for air travel and I’m sure everyone who’s been very, very good this year is worried that Santa will get stuck at the airport along with all those other folks who’s flights have been canceled.

Your friends and family may not be able to get a flight in time for Christmas, but Santa should be OK.  At least that’s the message the folks at NORAD and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport are putting out there.

NORAD says today is your last chance to send an email to Santa because Santa and the elves will be too busy tomorrow packing for their big Christmas eve trip.  The DFW Santa Tracker is offering some entertaining fun ‘n games and links to seasonal sites offering recipes, more games, music and other activities.

santa-fruit-label

DFW gets a jackal-headed god

Art,

In some parts of the country the buzz at the airport has been all about the forecast of snow. But at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport they were on the lookout for a giant jackal-headed god.

dfwsanta-with-anubis-plane-1

(Anubis and friends photo courtesy DFW’s Brian Murnahan)

They weren’t disappointed. DFW International Airport welcomed the ancient Egyptian jackal-headed god Anubis, guide and protector of the dead, to the Airport’s Founders’ Plaza. The 10-ton, 26-foot-tall statue has a giant candy cane staff and is on duty to remind travelers that there’s a “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA).

You better watch out for Santa… and Anubis

Art, , , ,

While the folks at NORAD are busy tracking the whereabouts of a roly-poly guy named Santa, folks heading to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport should be on the lookout for a ten-ton, 26-foot-tall statue of Anubis, the ancient god of mummification and the dead.

Airport officials say the statue, complete with a giant candy cane staff, is due to arrive on Friday at the airport’s Founders’ Plaza. It’s role? To amuse holiday travelers and promote the current Tutankhamun exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art. (Tip: check the museum’s Web site to get $10 off the hefty exhibit ticket price; good only on New Year’s Day.)

Can’t wait to see the statue on-site!

Self-parking airplanes at the airport?

Parking

Lexus has those self-parking cars, so why not self-parking airplanes?

According to this article from the Star Telegram.com, the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has equipped about 90 gates with an auto-docking system that allows some American Airlines planes to park at the gates without the aid of ramp workers standing there waving orange sticks.

For now, it seems, the laser-based Safedock guidance system will be used when thunderstorms, lightening, and other conditions make it unsafe for people to be out there guiding planes to the gate.

The system seems to be common in other countries, but still unique in the U.S. But with airlines and airports trying to cut costs any way they can, I wouldn’t be surprised if the self-parking airplane system takes off and the orange wand-people disappear.

That will be too bad. In a world where ticketing has become automated, flight attendants have become sandwich salespeople, and airplane pilots stay locked in their cabins, at least we could pretend that those ramp workers waving at the plane were actually welcoming us to town.

DFW make-out site gets make-over

Fun Stuff, Renovations,

The folks at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) are having a party to celebrate the grand reopening of Founders Plaza, an airport landmark and a great airplane viewing spot the Dallas Morning News once called the city’s “Best Place to Make Out.”

The “new and improved” Founders Plaza covers twice the space of the former site and has 24-hour security, shaded pavilions, and a sound system that will allow visitors to hear the airport’s air traffic controllers direct the aircraft that will to takeoff or land right over the Plaza.

(Illustration courtesy DFW)

The party begins September 17th at 10 am and will include a parade, a cookout, and a concert by Olympic gold-medalist-turned-singer Carly Patterson.

Have you been to Founder’s Plaza? The airport is asking visitors and fans of the Plaza to send in memories and photographs that can posted on its Web site.

Power up at Newark-Liberty International Airport (EWR)

Cell Phones, Power Outlets, , , ,

Goods news for gadget-toting travelers:

There are now 50 free 4-outlet charging stations scattered through Terminals A, B, and C at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).

The charging stations are courtesy of Samsung Mobile, which sponsors similar power charging stations at five other major airports (so far): John F. Kennedy International Airport (54), Los Angeles International Airport (51) LaGuardia International Airport (12), Orlando International Airport (18), and Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (22). In addition, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport has eight Samsung Mobile Travel Centers, which also offer couches and other amenities.

Power charging stations (both free and pay-per-charge), desks with working power outlets, and banks of seats with built in outlets seem to be popping up at more and more airports these days. But don’t leave your extension cord home just yet: during high traffic times a spot at the charging station is harder to get than a seat in the sports bar during a playoff game.

Love the – tax-free – layover at Texas Airports

Free Stuff, Shopping, ,

Several states around the country declare a sales-tax-free weekend at the end of summer. Texas is one of them.

So why not do some back-to-school shopping at the airport?

Today through Sunday (Aug 15-17) travelers stopping at any Texas airport including Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), can buy backpacks, sneakers, dresses, t-shirts, caps, jackets and a variety of clothing accessories without having to pay the regular sales tax on purchases under $100.

At DFW, where the sales tax is usually 8.25%, airport officials point out that it’s a good chance for travelers to get some extra “cowboy bling with less ca-ching.”