Oktoberfest

Suitcases can sing at Munich Airport

Music, , ,

Wheeled suitcases are favored by travelers for their maneuverability.

But during Octoberfest season, a Munich Airport (MUC) installation is proving that wheeled suitcases can also make music.

Sponsored by German brewery Paulaner, the SoundTrack installation between Terminals 1 and 2 at Munich Airport is a walkable track made of acrylic glass with milled grooves.

If a traveler walks along the track with their wheeled suitcase and sets their stride to a strip of lights, the tones made by the wheels on the track will ‘play’ the melody of the well-known Oktoberfest song Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit. During Oktoberfest, whenever the tune is heard, festival participants are supposed to raise their mugs.

The installation works a bit like a record player, with the wheels of the suitcase serving as the ‘needle’ that reads the grooves on the record.

Click on the video below to see how the Suitcase Soundtrack was made and how it works.

Travel Tidbits for trains, planes and cars

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Oktoberfest at Pittsburgh International Airport

Oktoberfest kicks off at Pittsburgh International Airport this Friday with live oompah tunes, classic German brews and dishes, complimentary pretzel bites and more.

Starting at 4 p.m. on Friday Grammy-nominated accordionist Kevin Solecki will be playing oompah tunes in the Center Core.

And throughout the month, the classic German brews at the airport’s Penn Brewery will include Great American Beer Festival medalists, Penn Oktoberfest and Penn Gold. On the menu will be classic dishes like Bavarian Pretzels with German Obatzda dip, Wurst Baguette on a Pretzel Roll and the German Reuben Sandwich.

More Oktoberfest parties are planned at PIT during the weekends of Sept. 20-22 and 27-29.

Amtrak’s BOGO sale

Amtrak has extended its Buy One Get One (BOGO) Saturday companion fare sale for destinations in the Northeast.

The sale applies to tickets booked on Saturday trips on either the Acela service in business class or Northeast Regional service in coach. (Three day advance purchase required).

These trains have stops in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Providence, Rhode Island and Richmond, Virginia. Use the discount code “C222.”

Rather drive?

The premium rental car brand Silvercar by Audi has partnered up with activewear brand Outdoor Voices in Austin to offer renters a cool deal.

Now through October, all Silvercar by Audi rentals at the Austin location come with Outdoor Voices apparel, a “Doing Things” local guide and a discount good for $100 off a purchase of $250 or more at Outdoor Voices.

Oktoberfest events at PIT, DEN, other airports

Beer, , ,

Denver International and Pittsburgh International airports are ready to celebrate Oktoberfest.

 

Denver Airport beer

Denver Airport beer garden

Oktoberfest season is in full swing, giving airports around the country a chance to let their beer-centric bars, restaurants and brewpubs shine.

For the fifth year, Denver International Airport is bringing back  the “Beer Flights” beer garden, featuring some of Colorado’s top micro-breweries and brew masters.

The beer garden is open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Sept. 14 – Sept. 24 (weather permitting) on DEN’s outdoor plaza between Jeppesen Terminal and Westin Denver International Airport. Tickets are available at the door for $10 and include a souvenir glass and ten, 2-ounce samples of beer.  (Entry is 21 or older and the entry fee is cash only).

In additon to beer tasting, the beer garden will have local entertainment daily from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. as well as brew trivia, table games and other activities. Participating brewers will have giveaways for the attendees. And Eldorado Natural Spring Water will provide free bottled water so visitors can stay hydrated while they enjoy the beer garden.

“Beer Flights is such a unique event that does a great job showcasing one of Colorado’s best assets: our craft beer community,” said Colorado Brewers Guild spokesperson Steve Kurowski. “I love it because you just don’t see anything like this at any other airport, anywhere.”

10 Colorado breweries will be represented at the event and each brewery will have two beers to sample. They include:

  • Great Divide Brewing Co – Collete Farmhouse Ale & Heydey IPA
  • New Belgium – Tartastic Lemon Ginger Ale & Honey Orange Tripel
  • Wibby Brewing – Moondoor Dunkel & Wibbly IPL
  • Steamworks Brewery – Colorado Kolsch & Steam Engine Lager
  • Bristol Brewing – Bee Hive Honey Wheat & Laughing Lab Scottish Ale
  • Upslope Brewing – Citra Pale Ale & Pumpkin Ale
  • Denver Beer Company – Pretzel Assassin Amber Lager & Princess Yum Yum Raspberry Kolsch
  • Elevation Beer Co – Elevation Pilsner & Wave Wheel Wit
  • Colorado Cider Company – Radl’ah Session Cider & Mel (Pome Mel)
  • Telluride Brewing Co. – Fishwater, Face Down

On September 20, Pittsburgh International Airport, Penn Brewery and Fraport Pittsburgh join together to host the airport’s first Oktoberfest celebration.

The celebration will include traditional food and drink offerings, live music and fun activities with a German/Bavarian twist.

“Oktoberfest is celebrated throughout our region and across the globe,” said Eric Sprys, Chief Commercial Officer, Allegheny County Airport Authority. “We’re excited to host our first official Oktoberfest with one of Pittsburgh’s largest and oldest craft brewers and bring a bit of Deutschtown to the airport.”

On September 20, Pittsburgh’s own Autobahn-The Karl Lukitsch Band will don full lederhosen and play Oktoberest music from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Center Core. Throughough the event, a “willkommen” team will greet passengers with samples of bite-sized hand-baked soft pretzels, give away gift certificates for shopping and dining at the airport and share details about Oktoberfest happenings at Penn Brewery and the other airport bars and eateries.

Penn Brewery

Penn Brewery at PIT

Penn Brewery’s new brewpub Concourse A will have festive décor, plenty of seasonal brews and a special menu throughout October. For the Sept 20 party, guests will be treated to complimentary pretzel-bites and mini-strudel bites.

“We’re thrilled to host our first Oktoberfest at the airport,” said Linda Nyman, marketing director and co-owner of Penn Brewery. “It’s a longstanding tradition at Penn Brewery. Our goal is to give travelers a true taste of Pittsburgh, along with a little dose of local history.”

Keep in mind that lots of airports now have great brewpubs and will certainly be offering special Oktoberfest and seasonal beers right about now.

We’ll add other airport Oktoberfest events as we learn of them. Feel free to send along your finds in the comments section below.

 

Oktoberfest at Frankfurt Airport

Holidays, , ,

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.

Beer garden returns to Denver International Airport

Events, , , ,

DIA BEER GARDEN BEER GLASS

It’s Oktoberfest season and that means the return of the “Beer Flights” beer garden at Denver International Airport.

DEN’s beer garden will be open from 11 am to 7 pm from September 30 through October 10 and not only coincides with worldwide Oktoberfest celebrations but also with the city’s Great American Beer Festival.

In the past, DEN’s beer garden was inside the terminal building, but this year they’re changing things up a bit and holding the event outside on the plaza between the Jeppesen Terminal and the Westin Denver International Airport.

Here’s how DEN’s Beer Flights works: The $10 admission ticket gets you a souvenir glass and 10, 2-ounce samples of Colorado-made beer.

There are more than 200 established breweries in Colorado and the state is home to over 10 percent of the nation’s craft breweries, so savor the carefully-selected samples from the 10 breweries which will be on site. (Each brewery will have two different beers to sample.)

· Avery Brewing – El Gose, Joes Pils

· Boulder Beer – Buffalo Gold, Pulp Fusion

· Epic Brewing – Tart ‘n Juicy, Lil’ Brainless

· Odell’s – Drumroll, Myrcenary

· Oskar Blues – Priscilla, Beerito

· Elevation Beer Co. – 8 Second Kolsch, Apis IV

· Tommy Knocker – Butthead-Bock, Pick Axe

· SKA Brewing – Steel Toe, Modus Mandarina

· Telluride Brewing – Bridal Veil, Wahcked Out

· Renegage Brewery – Pancake Maple, Consilium

The beer garden will also have live musical performances daily from 4-6 p.m., talks by brew masters, brew trivia, table games, giveaways and a Beer Flights “Passport” for attendees to make notes about the Colorado brews they taste.

Should we make this the airport amenity of the week?

Travel Tidbits: mariachi, dirndls & free cheeseburgers

Events, Food, Free Stuff, , , , ,

Some fun Friday travel tidbits for you today…

delta-shake-shack

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First – Sunday, September 18 is National Cheeseburger Day and Delta Air Lines will be celebrating with Shake Shack and giving customers flying Delta One on select flights from JFK to LAX a complimentary ShackBurger.

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But wait, there are more cheeseburgers: all customers flying from JFK to LAX on Sept. 18 will receive a voucher for a complimentary ShackBurger at the LA West Hollywood Shake Shack.

Not up for cheeseburgers? How about some mariachi music at the airport?

las-mariachi

Mariachi music welcomed travelers to McCarran International Airport last year at this time as well. Photo: Mark Damon/Las Vegas News Bureau.

McCarran International Airport is kicking off the busy Mexican Independence Day holiday weekend by welcoming passengers to Las Vegas with a special performance in the Terminal 3 international arrivals lobby on Friday morning by Mariachi Oro Del Rancho – a 19-member student band from Rancho High School.

Mexico is an important market for McCarran: from Thursday through Sunday, 41 commercial flights fly directly from Mexico to McCarran International Airport, including ten charter flights added specifically for this holiday weekend.

 

And Lufthansa is celebrating Oktoberfest season..

Trachten 2016, Trachtencrew

Keep an eye out for Lufthansa crew members dressed in special anniversary in traditional attire at many  passenger service stations in Munich and on some flights, including Munich to Shanghai September 20, Munich to Denver October 2 and Munich to Boston October 3 and, at the end of the Munich Oktoberfest, to European destinations  Belgrade, Birmingham, Cluj, Nice, Olbia and Sylt.

This is a Lufthansa tradition and over the past ten years the carrier has had different fashion houses design the yellow, blue and white dirndls.

This year’s costume is once again designed and tailored by the Angermaier fashion house, based in Munich.

 

(Dirndl descriptions: Outside and in the center: current anniversary costume. Other costumes from left: Traditional blue print dirndl from 2006, costume from 2009, dirndl from 2012 and the traditional dirndl from the 50s (2015 costume). Courtesy: Lufthansa/Stefan König)

Lufthansa’s dirndl crews are back

Uniforms, , ,

Lufthansa Drindl

Lufthansa’s “Dirndl crews” are back and this year they’re celebrating their 10th anniversary.

The Oktoberfest season is kicking off in Munich and that means some Lufthansa cabin crew members will be swapping their regular uniforms for the traditional Bavarian Dirndl dress on flights to selected destinations, including four North American cities.

Look for the special outfits if you’re flying to Munich from Toronto and Washington, D.C. on September 16, and from Denver and Boston on October 4.

Oktoberfest at CVG Airport

Festivals, , ,

It’s Oktoberfest season and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport (CVG), is helping kick off the city’s 40th Annual Oktoberfest Zinzinnati today (Friday, September 18) with Bavarian pretzels, soft-drinks and a band playing polka music between 8 and 10 a.m.

Fritz, the Oktoberfest Wiener Dog Mascot, will also be greeting passengers.

Oktoberfest is also being celebrated at Denver International Airport this year, with the temporary “Beer Flights” beer garden on-site for a full week.

Beer garden at Denver Int’l Airport

Airports, Festivals, , , ,

DIA BEER FLIGHTS

Just in time for Oktoberfest season, Denver International Airport has brought back “Beer Flights,” the temporary beer garden in the center of the Jeppesen Terminal.

The beer garden will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily from Sept. 19 to Sept. 27 and coincides with worldwide Oktoberfest celebrations and Denver’s Great American Beer Festival. Tickets are available at the door for $10 and visitors must be 21 or older with a valid ID to enter.

The $10 admission includes a souvenir glass and 10, 2-ounce samples of beer from the 20 Colorado breweries and special brews represented:

· Avery Brewing – Liliko’i Kepolo

· Big Choice Brewing – #42 Poblano Stout

· Boulder Beer – Shake Chocolate Porter

· Bristol Brewing Company – Red Baron Octoberfest

· Crooked Stave – Colorado Wild Sage Mountain Saison

· Dry Dock Brewing Co. – Apricot Blonde

· Elevation Beer Co. – 7437 Double IPA

· Epic Brewing Co. – Escape to Colorado IPA

· Fate Brewing – Laimas Kölsch Style Ale

· Funkwerks – Tropic King Imperial Saison Ale

· Great Divide Brewing Company – Hibernation Ale

· Hall Brewing Co. – Juicy Peach Blonde

· High Hops Brewery – The Golden One

· Odell Brewing Company – Odell IPA

· Oskar Blues – Oskar Blues IPA

· Pikes Peak Brewing Co. – Devil’s Head Red Ale

· Pug Ryan’s – Hideout Helles Lager

· Sanitas Brewing – Sanitas Saison

· Station 26 Brewing Co. – Colorado Cream Ale

· Telluride Brewing Co. – Fishwater Barrell-Aged Double IPA

The beer garden will feature eight picnic tables decorated by local artists, live music, talks by brew masters and brew trivia.

Passengers who post photos of their “Beer Flights” experience on social media using #BeerFlightsDIA will be eligible to win prizes that include T-shirts and commemorative glasses, VIP brewery tours and more.

Cheers!

DIA BEER GARDEN

Lufthansa rolls out the dirndls and lederhosen for Oktoberfest

Holidays, , ,

Oktoberfest season is getting underway and that means many passengers on international Lufthansa flights from Munich to New York, Charlotte, Hong Kong and other destinations will have a chance to be served by crew members dressed in special Oktoberfest costumes. It’s a tradition that’s been going on for the past 50 years.

Lufthansa reports that this is the seventh year there will be a special crew of 14 team members dressed in dirndl costumes designed by the Munich-based Angermaier Trachten company, which specializes in these traditional costumes.

Here’s what the women will be wearing: a dirndl in Lufthansa colors – royal blue, yellow and white; a yellow blouse with a blue floral print; and a blue-and-white striped skirt with a blue silk apron. Male flight attendants will be wearing lederhosen, combined with a janker – the traditional Bavarian jacket – and waistcoat, with ties that match the women’s dirndls.