Frankfurt Airport

Bottle refunds at Frankfurt Airport. Drop-off fee at Heathrow.

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We keep an eye on airport trends and creative airport amenities.

We love that Frankfurt Airport has bottle refund machines security checkpoints where passengers may turn in an empty and donate the bottle deposit to charities. As noted in FRA’s tweet, the airports has gathered 370,000 euros (about $428,000) for charities since 2013.

Below FRA’s tweet is an alert from London’s Heathrow Airport announcing a new £5 Terminal Drop-Off fee (about $6.70) for cars entering the airport drop-off zones starting November 1, 2021. Scofflaws will get an £80 (about $107) parking fine, which would result in a £40 fee ($53) if paid within 14 days. London’s Gatwick Airport already imposes this fee. (These drop-off fees don’t go to charities).

“Our car parks remain open, where normal parking charges apply. The drop-off charge does not affect passenger pick-ups, which will continue to take place via the car parks. You cannot pick up passengers from the drop-off zones.”

Souvenir Sunday at Frankfurt & Austin Bergstrom Int’l Airports

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Today is Souvenir Sunday – a day to look at some of the fun things you can buy – or just look at – when you’re stuck at the airport.

This week’s treats come from Frankfurt Airport, where I ended up spending the night on my way home from a visit to Florence, Italy, where I spotted these champagne cork-shaped seats at a bar in the Amerigo Vespucci Airport (FLR).

At the Frankfurt Airport, I came across plenty of Christmas-themed souvenirs, including nutcrackers and ornaments shaped like pickles. Why pickles? Evidently the tradition of hiding a pickle-shaped ornament in your Christmas tree and giving an extra present to the first person who finds it orginated in Germany.

And lucky travelers on one special Southwest Airlines flight from Austin Bergstrom International Airport to Chicago last Thursday got some great souvenirs.

The airline teamed up with Austin-based jeweler Kendra Scott and gave all passengers on the flight a free drink, goodie bags and gift boxes filled with – you guessed it – jewelry! – at baggage claim delivered by a yellow-clad Santa.

If you see a great souvenir when you’re stuck at the airport, please take a photo and send it along. If your photo is featured on Souvenir Sunday I’ll send you an aviation-themed souvenir.

 

Oktoberfest at Frankfurt Airport

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It’s Oktoberfest season and a good time to check out pubs and tap rooms in airports.

I’m making a list of some travelers’ favorites – so send in y our suggestions, please.

In the meantime, if you’ve got a layover coming up this month at Frankfurt Airport, you can grab a beer in the airport’s traditional beer tent and be entertained daily by Bavarian brass bands.  There’s evidently even a ‘high striker’ on site where guests can test their strength.

Restaurants and bistros throughout the airport are serving special Bavarian specialties, including white sausage, giant soft pretzels and one-liter mugs of fresh tap beer and there are some Oktoberfest-themed items in the shops, including this Minnie Mouse in a dirndl and Mickey Mouse in leather trousers.

Free movies & games at Frankfurt Airport

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If you have to get to the airport really early – or wait around for a few hours during a layover – why not take in a movie?

You could watch it on your computer or tablet of course, but an increasing number of airports are showing movies – for free – in their own movie theaters.

The latest to add this cinematic amenity is the Germany’s Frankfurt Airport, which has set up two “Movie World’s” in Terminal 1, on Piers A and Z, to show full-length movies, documentaries and some popular series.

The screening areas don’t have rows of seats, but are set up in a living-room style, with carpeting, couches and small niche seating areas, with TV screens. Each theater can accommodate 22 people in eight separate viewing niches and, like airplane entertainment systems, travelers can choose what language to watch a film in and when to start it.

There are a handful of other airports that offer movie theaters for travelers,  including Portland International Airport, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, Sinagpore’s Changi Airport, Hong Kong International Airport and some others. I’ve wrote about airport movie theaters in one of my “At the Airport” columns on USA TODAY.

No movies? How about gaming?

For those who would rather play computer games than watch a movie on a layover, Frankfurt Airport has also opened a second Gaming World offering free, controller-based, interactive games such as FIFA, NBA and racing and a variety of others. “Scientists have shown that playing video games helps overcome jet lag,” says Frankfort Airport operator, Fraport, and these games “have the extra benefit of reactivating tired limbs after hours of sitting still in the plane.”

Not sure if that’s true, but free games – and movies – are certainly welcome airport amenities.

Look for Movie World at Frankfurt Airport in Terminal by Gate A58 and Gate Z58 and find the Gaming World areas in Terminal one by Gate A52 and Gate Z54.

 

Frankfurt Airport has pink parking spaces for women

Airports, Parking, , ,

The 250 “Ladies Parking” spaces have been scattered throughout the garages at Frankfurt Airport since 2013, but suddenly they’re super controversial and in the news.

Chalk it up to the internet (someone incorrectly dubbed them ‘new’ in a blog post and the story took off) and to our collective “Are you serious?” reaction when stereotypes surface.

Here’s some of what I wrote about Frankfurt Airport’s “Ladies Parking” for USA TODAY:

There are 14,000 parking spaces at Frankfurt Airport, but if you want one that’s “bigger, nicer and closer to the terminals,” look for spots reserved for women only.

The specially designed parking sections are scattered throughout the airport’s parking garages and are easy to find: a pink ribbon of paint on the floor marks off the wider-than-average parking spots and the pink-painted walls.

Why are they there?

“In Germany, it is a legal requirement to provide these designated parking spaces for women,” said Frankfurt Airport spokesman Robert Payne.

Why are they painted pink? “For quick and easy recognition by women drivers, who are sometimes traveling with children,” he said. And to let other drivers — i.e. men – know not to park in those spot. “They cannot say they didn’t notice the bright pink area designated for women drivers,” said Payne.

Rules requiring women-only parking sections in many parts of Germany were created more for safety than for convenience back in the 1990s.

Today many consider these set-asides patronizing and truly sexist.

#NoFilter Frankfurt with London City Airport

Travel tips, ,

london-city-airport

London City Airport contacted me a few months back to ask if I’d be a judge for the latest chapter of a photography contest they host called “#NoFilter.”

Having been on an enjoyable and educational all-area tour of London City Airport  a while back, and knowing that the airport is innovative in its social media projects, I of course said yes.

I was even more interested when I learned that photos and blog posts I’d be judging would be featuring travel photography from Frankfurt – which is home to another airport I’ve had the pleasure of touring.

The #NoFilterFrankfurt contest asked a group of bloggers to share photos of the city with no Instagram-type filters applied.

Here’s a selection of some of the best photos from the competition, along with some of the #NoFilter photography tips and advice for visiting Frankfurt.

All the entries were great and it was difficult to pick just one winner, but you’ll see my top pick at the end.

Yolande’s #NoFilter Frankfurt

NoFilterYolande

On Chronicles of Yoyo, Yolande suggests that time-pressed tourists “hop on the Ebbelwei-Express, which brings you on an hour-long journey to cover all the main sights in Frankfurt.”

Kate’s #NoFilter Frankfurt

NoFilterGhosts

Along with her Frankfurt photos on Relokate, Kate said that the contest not only gave her a chance to “go out and capture the beauty of Frankfurt,” but taught her that “the ‘A’ setting on my camera would automatically adjust the aperture, which I found worked best given the sunlight I was working with in most of them.”

Menorca’s #NoFilter Frankfurt

NoFilterBooks

In her Europe Diaries, Menorca noted that “Frankfurt is such a city of contrasts,” with “all the skyscrapers, banks and financial institutions, and …history, old architecture, plentiful museums and parks.”

Lauren’s #NoFilter Frankfurt

nofiltersun

On Belle du Brighton , Lauren’s suggested that “looking at your surroundings from different angles can really help to get a good photo without the need to edit. Sit on the ground, look at the ground! Get high up, whatever works! Thankfully in this day and age of digital photography you can snap away till you get the perfect photo, and sometimes the ones that you think won’t turn out okay are the best ones!”

John’s #NoFilter Frankfurt

NoFilertLocks

On Continental Breakfast Travel, John let loose about those love locks. “I’ll be honest, I hate the things (and was very pleased the other week when they were removed from Pont des Arts Bridge in Paris) but I’ll admit: they do take a very good photo. I particularly like how the locks in the foreground make a heart-shape. Or at least I would if I wasn’t such a bitter person.”

Tom’s #NoFilter Frankfurt:

NoFilterStation

And on Anita’s Feast, this photo of a unusual subway station entrance by Tom really caught my attention.

“The entrance depicted against a backdrop of a modern high-rise building shows that this is ‘city art.’ Keeping the background mostly in focus allows you to see the details of the buildings,” said Tom.

This was the winning image I chose for the competition, in part because it shows two very different sides of Frankfurt: the sleek architecture associated with city’s financial reputation, alongside what is clearly a fun, artistic vibe.

Thanks London City Airport, for asking me to be a judge for the #NoFilterFrankfurt contest.

 

(Note: I received a small honorarium for being a judge in the the #NoFilterFrankurt contest.)

Lost and found at Frankfurt Airport

Air Travel, Airlines, Airplanes, Lost and Found, , ,

I’m tickled to be one of Lufthansa’s guests for a ride on the Airbus A380 airplane traveling from Frankfurt Airport to San Francisco International Airport on May 10th, the first day the giant airplane begins regular service to SFO.

Airbus A380 at Frankfurt

I’ll have lots of photos and details to share after my 10-hour ride, which comes after many hours spent touring Frankfurt Airport.

Among my stops today was the airport’s Lost and Found department, where Mr. Wallrodt (pictured below) was kind enough to take a moment away from his task of trying to find the rightful owner of this backpack.

Wallrodt told me that the airport’s Lost and Found department receives about 80,000 lost items a year, and an average of 300 lost laptops each month. Many of the items do end up being returned to their owners, but every three months the airport holds an auction to get rid of unclaimed items.

The strangest item Wollrodt remembers being turned into his office? A parrot that didn’t say too much and was quickly reunited with its owner.

Fun stuff at Frankfurt City Airport

Kids

Frankfurt bags

Last week, while on a very long layover at Frankfurt Airport, I spent a few hours shopping, snoozing, snacking, and hanging around the upstairs food court in Terminal 2 waiting for someone to show up at the Czech Airlines ticket counter. Just beyond the food court, there’s an outdoor Visitor’s Terrace.  And, after writing a story about the rare – but free – (for now) outdoor observation decks at some U.S. airports,  I was surprised by how many people were willing to pony up five euros for the privilege of getting on the other side of the window and just a wee bit closer to the action on the airfield.

Frankfurt termI was wondering why they’d pay extra just to see pretty much the same thing I could see for free from inside the terminal and worried a bit about how noisy it must be outside when airplanes took off and landed.

But then a bunch of kids showed up to play with this rocket ship in the middle of the food court and I realized it was probably much noisier inside.

Frankfurt Airport kid's play areaAll in all though, a fun way to spend a few hours stuck at the airport.

Prize patrol: airports and airlines giving away great stuff

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Wish you could drive a cool car or fly to some cool places? Then stop playing solitaire on your computer and enter some of these contests:

american-airlines-777_flagshipsuite_7

Through June 29, 2009, American Airlines is running a “Capture the Flagship Experience” game.   Top winner gets two round-trip Business Class tickets to anywhere American flies in Europe, Asia or South America and a HD video camera.  21 first place prizes come from this list:  membership to the airline’s club, 50,000 AAdvantage miles or Bose headphones.

Nuts About Southwest

Southwest Airlines is giving away a family four-pack of airline tickets to any destination the airline serves.  To enter: let them know you’ve posted one of the airline’s “My Peanut and I Fly Southwest” buttons  on your blog, Facebook profile, and/or other social media sites. Contest ends May 31, 2009.

camera

Each month through August, 2009, the folks at Airport Parking Reservations.com are giving away prizes (cameras, cashmere travel pillows and solar chargers) for the most creative parking lot photos. (And if you have a photo of the person who scratched my car at an airport parking lot in Seattle, let me know….)

alfa-spider

And, for those who don’t have cool cars to take pictures of, the folks at Frankfurt Airport are giving away an Alfa Romero Spider. Go on a virtual shopping spree before May 31, 2009 to get a chance to enter.

Good luck! Let me know if you win!