Oakland International Airport

At the Airport: private workplaces that also work for napping

Jabbrrbox has installed two of its private workspace pods by Gate 25 in Terminal 2 at Oakland International Airport (OAK).

Each booth has a desk and seating, Wi-Fi, USB charging, flight-tracking tools and terminal maps.

There’s also a built-in photobooth app – for entertainment, we assume.

You may see these Jabbrrbox booths elsewhere. Booths are also installed at Laguardia Airport’s Terminal B, in JFK Terminal 4, in Terminal B at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) in Concourse B and in Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) in Concourses B and C.

The private work (or napping) spaces rent in 30-minute increments. Cost is $15 per 30 minutes. A Wi-Fi password and a door code are provided at the time of reservation.

Stuck at the airport: news from LAX, FAT and OAK

Lovely LAX

Here’s a lovely spring report from Los Angeles International Airport.

Heavy rains have left behind a rare super bloom of wildflowers.

LAX reports that the flowers are located across the airfield complex, with the highest concentration on the north airfield – between runways 24L and 24R. The bouquet of flowers spreads along the length of those runways, approximately 10,885 feet.

New arts lounge at Fresno Yosemite International Airport

Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT) has added an arts lounge to its art exhibitions program.

Over the past year, the program has expanded to include larger works of art, live music performances and a partnership with a local art gallery featuring local photographers.

Travelers love the offerings so far. So the airport is adding more features. FAT’s new arts lounge has tables and chairs, couches, charging ports and “offers a friendly airport environment for travelers,” said FAT’s Director of Aviation, Kevin Meikle.

Showing now: Leslie Batty’s large scale works, including a painting of Lewis Carroll’s Alice Through the Looking Glass and “Projections” by John Moses, a series of photography images blending iconic films with ghostly images from some of Hollywood’s most acclaimed films.

Oakland International Airport celebrates Southwest Airlines first flight to Hawaii

On Monday, the first Southwest Airlines flight to the Hawaiian Islands arrived in Honolul after leaving Sunday evening from Oakland International Airport.

Scores of passengers, airline and airport staff, officials and hula dancers crowded Terminal 1 at the Oakland International Airport for a send-off of the long-awaited launch of Southwest Airlines’ inaugural service from the US Mainland to Hawaii.

And there was cake.

Oakland Int’l Airport gets a souvenir vending machine

KCI_SouveNEARVendingMachine

I became a big fan of the folks at SouveNEAR back in 2014 when they began installing vending machines at Kansas City International Airport to sell very reasonably-priced jewelry, original art, small-batch hand-printed T-shirts and a wide array of travel-sized mementos by Kansas City-based artists and makers.

oak-souvenear

Now the company has added 3 art-filled SouveNEAR vending machines at Oakland International Airport : by Gate 7 in Terminal 1 and by Gates 24 and 28 in Terminal 2.

SouveNEAR’s Oakland collection includes bottle cap magnets, flour sack dish towels, jewelry, t-shirts, notecards and more.

Here’s what I’d buy from the machine if I was passing through…

san-francisco-note-card

Tidbits for travelers: airports roll out fresh amenities

Here’s a quick round-up of some fresh amenities airports are offering.

On Wednesday, May 18th, 2011, Oakland International Airport will put into service eight ChargePoint networked charging stations for “new generation” electric vehicle (EV) such as the Chevrolet Volt, the Nissan LEAF, Tesla Roadsters and others.

 

 

Los Angeles International Airport now has a cadre of bomb-sniffing canines on duty who are trained not just to sniff out explosives, but to pick up the scent of explosives in the air and track down the person who may be carrying the explosive material -even if that person is on the move.

 

And some time next year there will be a new food hall on Delta’s Concourse G at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport filled with new food and beverage outlets that are branches of, or partnerships with, local favorites.

 

The $2 billion concourse upgrade will include a Media Bar that OTG Management is billing as the first virtual newsstand. Passengers will be able to rent an iPad and download publications, movies, music, apps and other items before boarding a plane. (Those with their own iPads will be able to download material as well.) If you do rent an iPad, you’ll be provided with a postpaid envelope so you can mail the iPad back when you’re done.

The OTG Media Bar is going launch at MSP airport, but plans are already in place expand the program to other locations.

Las Vegas Airport contest; Phoenix Airport thank-you

Here’s another reason to pay attention to airports: you could win a free trip. Or at least some free popcorn

Oakland International Airport just announced the winning photos in its What You Do With The Extra Hour Is Up To You photo contest. Three winners won vacations just for sending in photos depicting how they’d spend the extra time they supposedly got by choosing OAK over other airports.

Oakland International Airport

You missed that contest, but to celebrate four years of Korean Air service from McCarran International Airport to Incheon Airport in Seoul, Korea, there’s a contest to give away two sets of round-trip tickets from Las Vegas to Seoul.

Las VegasAirport

First prize is a pair of business class tickets. Second prize: a pair of economy class tickets.  Enter here.  Deadline is December 8, 2010.

Next week is National Customer Service Week, so on Tuesday, October 5th, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is having its 2nd annual Customer Appreciation Day.

Phoenix Sky Harbor airport mascot

The airport’s mascot, Amelia the Airplane, and Paradise Bakery’s giant cookie mascot will be on hand to greet travelers and pose for photos.  And many of the shops, restaurants and rental car outlets will be handing out small gifts ranging from stickers, magnets and beanie babies to food samples and bags of popcorn.