The service is set up inside the Summerfest Marketplace store, which is located pre-security in the airport’s concession mall and is available to all travelers on all flights, seven days a week.
The coat check service means travelers heading to warm climates can wear their coats to the airport, leave them at the coat check and then pick them up at MKE when they fly back home.
Better yet: checking a coat is just two dollars per day, with a maximum charge of ten dollars.
So snow birds can leave their coats behind for the entire season.
We think other airports could and should offer this helpful amenity.
And, as we have for several winters, we’re declaring MKE’s coat check service the Airport Amenity of the Week.
We take a break today from sharing the latest details on the Southwest Airlines debacle to celebrate the Airport Amenity of the Week.
Free coat check at Wisconsin’s Appleton International Airport (ATW) isn’t brand new. But we just learned about it. And want to celebrate it as a great amenity that we hope other airports might adopt.
Knowing that traveling in the Midwest can be tough in the winter, Appleton International Airport offers free coat check service to all travelers.
Passengers can drop off jackets at the ATWExpress Park desk in the terminal before heading to their gates and pick them up at that desk on their return. Coats are kept safe in a storage room.
The free coat check service is separate from the ATWExpress Park service, which is a valet service that costs just $8 a day.
Coat Check Service at Milwaukee Mitchell Airport Too
Winter coat check service is offered at another Wisconsin airport too. For the fourth year, Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport (MKE) is offering a coat check service at the Summerfest Marketplace shop. Coats are placed in protective plastic before being stored away.
The service is not free. But it is a great deal at just $2 per day and a maximum of $10 per trip.
Here’s to many more great airport amenities that we can celebrate on Stuck at The Airport.com in 2023.
If you have a nomination for Airport Amenity of the Week, be sure to let us know.
“This nonstop service on Flight CHBZ will depart from the Manyard H. Jackston International Terminal from Gate F8 at 7:30 p.m,” the airport said in a statement,” adding that concessions were going to be serving “Wakandan-inspired dishes pre-flight.”
That flight number, CHBZ, was unusual. But it was a nod to the late Chadwick Bosman, the actor who played film protagonist King T’Challa.
🗣Breaking News: Hartsfield-Jackson announces the return of direct flights to Wakanda! pic.twitter.com/EEkMPFYsJt
This isn’t the first time ATL got into the Wakanda spirit. Back in 2018, when Black Panther debuted, the airport announced that Flight 1234 would be heading to Wakanda as well.
The service is available inside MKE’s Summerfest Marketplace, which is located presecurity in the Airport’s concession mall.
Passengers heading to destinations where the weather promises to be warm can check coats, gloves, and other cold weather gear and travel lighter. When they return, their coats will be warm and waiting for them.
The service is available seven days a week, and is open through the last flight of each day from now until April 1.
This is the fourth year the service is being offered and the cost remains a reasonable $2 per day, with a maximum of $10 per trip.
PDX Carpet Gets Sporty
Courtesy Portland Trailblazers
The iconic carpet pattern that once graced the terminal floors of Portland International Airport (PDX) lives on. And on.
The latest tribute to the flooring design comes from none other than city’s professional baskeball team, the Portland Trailblazers.
They team’s new City Edition Uniform bears a teal sash that is an homage to the PDX Carpet pattern that represented the view of the North and South runways as seen overhead by air traffic controllers. The carpet gained cult status in the 1990s and was replaced in 2015. (But it’s coming back...)
The @trailblazers’ new City Edition Uniform has landed and it pays homage to our iconic carpet ✈️
You may notice the heartwarming news and social media posts about airports working hard to reunite left behind stuffed animals with their rightful owners.
Teddy and 5-year-old Ezekiel have been REUNITED! Thank you @SouthwestAir and the 4 million people across the globe who followed along on Teddy's journey. We're so glad he's home! pic.twitter.com/UWv9cI7m8G
Or, the story that likely started the heartwarming “airports goes-all-out-to-reunite stuffed animal with child” trend. Back in 2015, Tampa International Airport took a stuffed tiger named Hobbes on an airport adventure before sending Hobbes home.
— Tampa International Airport ✈️ (@FlyTPA) June 15, 2015
We love these stories.
So, when making our way through Norway’s Bergen Airport (BGO) last week at about 5 am we did a double-take when were spotted a stuffed rat taped to a lane post.
It was very early in the morning. But we did notice that Bergen Airport is spotless. So it didn’t seem likely that the stuffed rat was there as a social comment. Nor did it seem like an official guidepost to point travelers to their gates.
So all we could conclude was that this stuffed rat had been left behind by a small child. And that it may soon show up on Bergen Airport’s social media feed in search of its owner.
We’ll check back to see.
Other amenities spotted at Bergen Airport
Besides the stuffed rat, there are some other sights at Bergen Airport that made us smile.
The sign for the bathroom employs the hard-to-miss universal symbols for “gotta go, now.”
And the kids’ play area in the main terminal area has this fun hopscotch board with an airplane, of course, in the top box.
Have you spotted a cool amenity (or a stuffed rat) and an airport? Send us a photo and we’ll try to include it in a future post on Stuck at the Airport.
The service is back for the third winter season and means passengers setting out from MKE for warm weather destinations don’t have to lug their bulky winter jackets, scarves, and gloves with them on the plane.
They can instead check these items inside Summerfest Marketplace, which is located pre-security and open 7 days a week, and available for all flights.
The cost to check a coat is a reasonable $2 per day, with a maximum charge of $10 per trip.
Great idea! Maybe other airports will begin offering this service as well.
