slot machines

LAS has the airport amenity of the week

McCarran International Airport (LAS) has lots going for it.

Besides being in Las Vegas.

McCarran has a liquor store in the bag claim area. It has an aviation museum in the terminal. It has vending machines that dispense everything from cupcakes and Legos, to artist-made souvenirs and – sign of the times – hand sanitizers and masks.

McCarran International Airport also has about 1200 slot machines.

But those have been shut down for weeks along with all the casinos in town.

But now that the city’s lockdown has been lifted, the slot machines at LAS airport are turned back on.

So we will declare this our Airport Amenity of the Week!

Millionaire at Reno-Tahoe Airport and fun with lost baggage

According to recently released statistics from the Department of Transportation (DOT),  airlines appear to be getting better at keeping track of checked bags.  Plenty of bags still go missing. And some bags do get stolen.  But according to the Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), in 2009 the mishandled bag rate was 3.91 per 1,000 passengers, down from 2008’s 5.26 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers; and the lowest rate of lost bags in quite some time.

The numbers are going in the right direction, but it may be because fewer people are traveling and many travelers are doing whatever they can not to pay a checked bag fee.

But just about everyone will get a big kick out of this YouTube video of Rhod Gilbert talking about his luggage problems.

And while Mr. Gilbert may have had bad luck at the airport, on Sunday, February 21st, Denver resident John Johnson had some very good luck at Reno-Tahoe International Airport. Johnson, his wife, and his bowling team went to Reno for the US Bowling Congress Open Championship and, after putting $20 in a Megabucks machine at the airport, Johnson won $10.4 million.

Classic games of chance at SFO International Airport

SFO PINBALL CONTROL TOWER

If Lady Luck is on your side, then your next plane trip will include a long layover at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

Thanks to the San Francisco Airport Museums program, SFO always has about two dozen temporary and permanent exhibitions on display to keep travelers entertained. Two of the current shows are thematically linked – and especially intriguing.

SFO PINBALL BALLYHOO

The colorful history of pinball is explored in Pinball: from Bagatelle to Twilight Zone, on display in the International Terminal through April 2010.

Games on display are from the Pacific Pinball Museum and various private collections and range from the earliest and very basic pinball games from the late 1800’s to the multi-player,  feature-filled games of the 1970’s and 80’s.

SFO PINBALL FIREBALL

Over in Terminal 3, there are more games.  

SFO SLOTS 3

For Amusement Only: Slot Machines and Other Gambling Devices of the Mechanical Age includes more than 90 slot machines, guessing banks, coin drops, poker machines and punchboards from the late 19th to mid 20th centuries.

SFO SLOT one

These objects are courtesy of Joe Welch’s San Bruno American Antique Museum and are located post-security in Boarding Area F until May, 2010.

You can find out more about these and other exhibitions at San Francisco International Airport on the San Francisco Airport Museums Web site.