travel

Travel Tidbits from IAD, ORD and Midway Airports

Airports, Events, Music, , , , ,
ARPAN

Indian Classical and Bollywood dance performances from the ARPAN Dance Academy at Dulles Int’l Airport on May 17

Dulles International Airport is marking Asian-Pacific Heritage Month with a series of musical performances and educational events, including girl groups from South Korea, traditional Japanese Taiko drums; Gangnam Style dancing and other traditional Filipino, Afghan and Indian performances.

The full schedule is listed here.

May is also Military Appreciation Month at Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway Airports.

The airports, the United Service Organization (USO) and airport concessionaires are sponsoring events and programs for passengers and special discounts for military personnel and their families.

On Tuesdays donation bins will be set up at USO centers at both airports to accept food items, phone calling cards, video games and personal care items for use by military personnel and their families traveling through Chicago’s airports. There will also be information tables set up where passengers can fill out “Thank A Hero” note cards for those serving in the military. And there will be live entertainment provided by high school drill teams, blues and jazz bands and samba dancers at both airports on Fridays, May 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31 from 2 to 5 p.m.

Long flight? How to sleep, have fun and get work done

Health, Jet Lag, Travel tips, , ,

The folks at Air New Zealand have run the numbers, tallied the comments and somehow interpreted the pie charts and pictures from the in-flight focus group about jet-lag (and more) that I participated in on an ANZ flight from Los Angeles to London.

Here’s a handy infographic of our group’s advice on packing, dressing and preparing in-flight activities for a long flight, making the most of the in-flight time and merging seamlessly into the day once you touch down.

air new zealand infographic

Surprising best-sellers at airports

Airports, Food, Shopping, Souvenirs,

SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA

Although it’s been 20 years since the debut of the romantic comedy film Sleepless in Seattle, gray and pink nightshirts sporting the movie’s title are still among the bestsellers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), with 9,000 of the shirts sold last year.

“Some of us scratch our heads about its appeal,” said Randi Sibonga, who has been an airport retailer for over 25 years, a period she measures as “since the days when souvenir spoons were hot items.”

Beyond the night shirts, SEA concessions director Deanna Zachrisson reports that top sellers at the airport are boxes of smoked salmon (46,000 sold in 2012) and the best-selling, erotic novel Fifty Shades of Gray. “20,000 copies were sold at the airport last year, said Zachrisson. “The fact that the book is set in Seattle helps.”

Bottled water, diet Coke and neck pillows are – no surprise – among the best selling items at most airports, but “although some have officially laid magazine sales to rest, hard copies of magazines are still a top seller at Hudson News,” said Hudson Group spokeswoman Laura Samuels.

Nashville Goo Goo sampling

Samuels confirms that around the country, many airport bestsellers are tied to local culture. For example, during 2012 Nashville International Airport stores sold over 67,000 Goo Goo Clusters, a locally-produced treat that doubles as an inexpensive souvenir. “Customers also snap up anything with the likeness of popular country singer Taylor Swift,” said Samuels.

Since 9/11, FDNY and PDNY souvenir apparel is a strong seller in the New York City airports and Samuels said sales of teddy bears from the Vermont Teddy Bear Company are so popular at the Burlington Airport that the Hudson Group will soon expand sales of the bears to airports around the country.
Hot in Cleveland – and Chicago, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh

At Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE), the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Museum Store sold more than 4,500 Rock Hall inductee t-shirts in 2012. With Heart, Donna Summer and Albert King among the 2013 inductees being honored on April 18th, sales should certainly remain steady.

CLEVELAND MUSTARD

Another CLE bestseller: Bertman Ball Park Mustard, a condiment served at Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians. More than 1,500 containers of the locally-made mustard were sold at the airport last year.

CHICAGO STYLE HOT DOG

At Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, two things that sell exceptionally well are Chicago Style Hot Dogs and Chicago-themed coffee mugs. According to Sarah Cody of the HMSHost Corporation, more than 500,000 Chicago Style Hot Dogs are sold annually at the various HMSHost venues throughout the airport and more than 50,000 Chicago-themed coffee mugs are sold in airport Starbucks stores each year.

BWI Obrycki's - Crab Cakes on the Fly

At BWI Airport, thousands of travelers stop by the airport branch of Obryki’s, a local favorite, just to get crabs. During the month of February 2013 alone, travelers bought more than 4,000 crab cakes and an equal number of deviled crab balls.

PHX_Petting cactus

Cactus is the big-seller at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), with over a million dollars worth of the plants and plant-related items sold each year. “Products include potted cactus gardens specifically boxed for the plane, live cactus refrigerator magnets and cactus candies made from the fruit of prickly pear cactus,” said airport spokeswoman Heather Lissner. “Some airport shops even sell what is called a Petting Cactus, which comes in a hand-painted terra cotta pot and is friendly to the touch.”

El PASO POPS ELP

Scorpion lollipops (hard candy with a scorpion in the center) are also popular at PHX and at El Paso International Airport. JoAnn Kirkland, general manager of the El Paso airport Paradies Shops says up to 300 scorpion and tequila worm suckers, priced at $3.99 each or 3 for $10, are sold each week.

Towels, t-shirts and brisket

PIT_Terrible towel

During 2012, Hudson News and Gift shops at Pittsburgh International Airport sold about 3,000 Pittsburgh Steelers souvenir “Terrible Towels” and earlier this month the PIT TGI Friday’s accommodated its largest group ever: on March 13th a group of 120 people stopped by for a sit-down breakfast.

Throughout the year, shops at Missouri’s Kansas City Airport (KCI) do a brisk business selling cow-tipping t-shirts and souvenirs relating to the Leavenworth penitentiary. The Kansas City, MO metro area includes parts of Kansas, so with opening of the new Disney Oz movie, sales of Wizard of Oz-related items such as Dear Dorothy t-shirts have spiked.

Austin_Keep Austin Weird

Down in Texas, more than 17,800 “Keep Austin Weird” t-shirts were sold at Austin Bergstrom International Airport last year while travelers tucked into more than 498,000 breakfast tacos and, at the airport’s Salt Lick Bar-B-Que, more than 54.5 tons of brisket in the form of tacos, platters, sandwiches, and whole frozen briskets to go.

At Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport (MSP) the popular dish at many restaurants is walleye, the state fish of Minnesota. At least two hundred walleye dishes are served throughout the airport each week, said Kate Dougherty, MSP concessions marketing manager, and stores report brisk sales of Minnesota-made items such as blueberry and chokeberry syrups and “anything with a moose on it.” During 2012, MSP airport shops also sold more than 22,500 packages of Pearson’s Nut Goodie, a candy that originated in Minnesota over 100 years ago.

“With the increasing popularity for the ‘local’ food movement, all of these items are quintessential Minnesota,” said Dougherty. And like the Goo Goo Clusters sold at the Nashville Airport, “the Nut Goodie, with its 100 year-history, is an ‘oldie but goodie.’ No pun intended.”

MSP_nut Goodie

(My story – Surprising best-sellers at airports – appeared as an “At the Airport” column on USAToday.com, with a lovely slide-show version of the images.

Travel Tidbits: Symphony at IND + “Creeper” at BNA

Airports, Art, , , ,

Art and music in an airport is always a great idea.  Here are two fresh offerings:

To help ease passengers into Spring Break travel, Indianapolis International Airport (IND) will be hosting a performance by a quintet from the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra on Monday afternoon, March 11 from  5:3o to 6:30 pm. The quintent will  perform Antonín Dvořák’s String Quintet in G Major and a selection of Chinese folksongs in the pre-security Civic Plaza.

And a large and very colorful temporary artwork has appeared in north ticketing lobby of Nashville International Airport (BNA). Created by Heather Deyling, “Creeper,” is made of large felt leaves.

BNA LEAVES ONE

 “Invasive plant species such as kudzu are referenced in the artwork, which grow and mutate to claim the space, much like vines that cover buildings and trees… The felt leaves are a physical manifestation of the takeover of space, forming an immersive environment of mysterious, colorful mutations.”

BNA LEAVES TWO

“Creeper” is one of the pieces in BNA’s current Flying Solo installation, which runs through September 3, 2013.

 

More stuff spotted at the Travel Goods Show in Las Vegas

Fun Stuff, luggage, , , , , ,

Darling

I spent two full days this week walking up and down the aisles of the giant Travel Goods Show in Las Vegas.

A few of the fun items soon to be in stores and gift shops – including 3-D rolling bags featuring SpongeBob Squarepants and friends – were posted yesterday here on StuckatTheAirport.com.

Here are a few more:

Among the many new designs from Heys USA is this set of pieces called Divas –

DIVA LUGGAGE SET

And this one called Travel :

TRAVEL SUITCASES

The folks at Visionair have several pieces of luggage featuring Felix the Cat:

felix

And these retro tags from Retro Tags are so… retro:

Retro Tags

And, because no trip to Las Vegas is successful without an Elvis sighting, here’s “Zebra Elvis” – spotted while I was in the van on the way to the airport.

elvis

Airports & airlines work hard to return lost items

Lost and Found,

As a recent NerdWallet study points out, the amount of luggage lost by airlines spikes during the holiday travel season.

But passengers do their fair share of losing things on airplanes and in airports year-round.

In 2011, for example, the lost-and-found department at Portland International Airport (PDX) logged nearly 16,000 misplaced objects. So far this year, passengers have left behind almost as many items, and the hectic holiday travel season hasn’t even begun.

And it’s not just cell phones, chargers, laptops and eyeglasses that distracted and exhausted travelers leave behind.

“We’ve had dentures, a spare tire, a live fish – in water – and a Crock-Pot with food still inside” turned in, airport spokesperson Kama Simonds told NBC News.

A quick review of the searchable database at San Diego International shows a colander, a piñata, a poster of a U-boat, handcuffs and scented, colored pencils among the items waiting for their owners’ retrieval.

At Denver International, items left behind have included chainsaws, a 60-inch flat screen TV and the back seat of a passenger van, spokesperson Laura Coale said.

“We do everything in our power to locate the person and connect them with their lost item,” Coale said. “If the item has a name or state listed on it, we will conduct a search for them. If cell phones are unlocked, we will call the last number and also look for an ICE [In case of emergency] contact,” she said.

Airports and airlines typically have a set time limit for how long an item will be retained. Southwest Airlines states that it will spend 30 days looking for a passenger’s lost item and once all efforts have been exhausted to find the owner of a found item, the item will be “salvaged” and all proceeds donated to charity.

Denver International stores items for 30 days. Beyond that, clothing is donated to Denver Human Services; everything else becomes surplus and goes to auction.

The Transportation Security Agency also has a 30-day time limit for items left at airport security checkpoints. After that, items are shipped to a state-by-state designated collection facility and “are considered nonreturnable,” said spokesperson David Castelveter. Travelers who have left something behind should “contact the lost-and-found number for the respective airport.” Start by calling TSA (866-289-9673) or looking for a specific lost-and-found contact on its website.

Acting fast is essential, but figuring out where you may have lost something and where to file a claim can be confusing. Items lost on airplanes (and sometimes in gate hold areas) are delivered to the airlines. In some airports, such as PDX, items left at TSA checkpoints and on shuttle buses are brought to a central office; in other airports everything is kept separate. Some large airports have sophisticated, searchable databases; others require that you file a claim with a phone call or e-mail, and keep calling back to see if your item has been found.

Websites such as AirportLostandFound.com – which currently displays details for several lost Kindles, a pair of customized earplugs and more than 200 other lost items – promises to search for matches in the lost-and-found databases of multiple airports and airlines as well as those of food and retail outlets within airports. If they find your item, the site will try to organize a reunion, but there may be a fee.

As the busy holiday travel season approaches, here are a few basics for finding your stuff – and not losing it in the first place.

  • Identify cell phones, laptops, books, raincoats and other items with information (phone number, address sticker) that will help someone return a found item.
  • Don’t put anything in the seatback pocket of an airplane. It’s just too easy to leave something behind.
  • If you lose something, act fast. Retrace your steps, call in or log a claim with the airport and the airline as soon as possible.
  • Don’t give up hope. It may take a few days for an item to be found, turned-in and logged into a database.

(My article: Airports & Airlines work hard to return your lost items first appeared on NBC NEW Travel)

 

TSA finds are frightening

Airports, , ,

I’m just now getting around to taking a good look at the TSA Week in Review from last week

Inert hand grenades, inert training detonators, knives hidden inside the lining of someone’s carry-on… it’s all getting to be so strangely familiar. The same goes for last week’s tally of loaded (25) and unloaded (4) guns.

Still, there continue to be some surprises. Take a look at some of the items the TSA shared with me for this Weird, Wacky and Just Plain Dangerous TSA Finds slide-show on MSN.

Explosives? Yup.

Spear guns? You betcha.

Knives hidden inside hairbrushes? That too.

See the full slide-show here.

The future of in-flight entertainment? Sort of up in the air…

Entertainment, , ,

While a short promotional movie called Howdy Chicago was shown to passengers on an plane that flew over the Chicago World’s Fair in 1921, there were no regular in-flight movies until 1961, when Trans World Airlines (TWA) began offering that novel perk to its first-class customers.

Video games (1975), seat-back video (1991) and live in-flight television (2000) followed, and today passengers in all classes, on both long and short haul flights, have come to expect some sort of airline-provided, in-flight entertainment.

And they get it. Often on personal, seat-back multi-channel systems that deliver everything from creatively produced safety videos to movies, games, live television, shopping opportunities and, increasingly, access to the internet.

But tech-savvy passengers toting tablets, laptops, smartphones, e-readers, and other portable electronic devices are giving airlines and the traditional in-flight entertainment systems a run for their money. This has forced providers to re-think how they use technology to entertain and interact with passengers in the sky.

I got a good look at how that process is evolving earlier this month in Long Beach, Calif., when I served as one of the judges for an award given out by the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) at its annual expo. The event also featured educational sessions about the wide variety of technological changes coming to in-flight entertainment systems, plus a giant hall filled with exhibitors representing products, services and content you may experience on a future flight.

Breaking down all the tech-talk , the good news is that from the latest movies and games to documentaries, kids programming and health and wellness videos, there will be no shortage of in-flight entertainment options. Seat-back screens and systems are unlikely to go away, and in fact they may soon get even snazzier, with high definition, 3-D movies and games, and even holographic offerings on the horizon. But airlines are also scrambling to work out how to deliver that same programming, plus Wi-Fi, streaming and internet-delivered content, to travelers on their own or airline-provided devices.

For example, JetBlue just announced that in early 2013, it plans to offer free in-flight Wi-Fi, with plans to equip 30 planes with what it promises will be super-fast service. After that, checking e-mail and touring the internet should remain free, but there will be a fee for watching films.

Delta Air Lines also recently announced plans to upgrade its Wi-Fi equipped airplanes and offer passengers the ability to stream programming directly to their personal devices using a service called Gogo Vision. Fees for that programming will start at $.99 for TV shows and $3.99 for full-length movies. And here’s a nice touch: If you don’t finish watching something on the plane or want to download another program to watch at home or in your hotel later, you’ll have access to that material on that same device (if you’ve got access to the internet) after your flight for 24 hours. Look for that on 800 of Delta’s two-class domestic aircraft by the end of 2013.

Of course, accessing all this programming on your personal electronic devices means you’ll be asking your batteries to give it their all, unless you’re lucky enough to have a (working) USB port or power outlet at your seat. And that brings up another issue: Will airlines add the juice to power devices to the menu of items for sale in-flight?

Don’t be surprised if it comes down to that. The airline industry already earns more than $32 billion a year in ancillary revenue from ‘unbundled’ services such as baggage fees, change fees, in-flight meals and Wi-Fi, and in one of the expo workshops a presenter pointed out that airlines have a “prime opportunity to monetize the onboard experience” because passengers are easily influenced on board and “have a higher propensity to spend.” So if you’re going to spring for the movie, perhaps you’ll won’t mind paying a bit more to make sure you’ll be able to watch that movie the entire way through.

Not everything on view in the Expo exhibition hall was super high-tech.

Recognizing that so many passengers now travel with their own tablets, e-readers and other portable electronic devices, Smart Tray International was there to introduce a tray table with what seemed to be a common-sense, built-in groove for holding those devices upright.

And while Uplifted, a fitness company from Perth, Australia, had rented a booth in hopes of selling airlines a nicely-produced exercise video that mixed in moves from yoga, Pilates and Tai Chi that passengers can do at their seats, company founder Sally Dollas also had a stash of instructional workout pamphlets on heavy paper that were a snap to hang on the latch of an upright tray table.

Museum Monday: Louise Nevelson sculptures at airports

Art, ,

For years, this work by Louise Nevelson titled “Night Flight 1” has been on display at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Louise Nevelson’s “Night Flight 1”

The work used to be in a very public part of the terminal but, while still accessible, is now located in the lobby area of the airport’s conference center on the south mezzanine.

Now another airport is going to get a work by this important artist.

Last week it was announced that Nevelson’s ‘Dawn Forest,’ a giant 12-piece abstract sculpture that weighs more than three tons and is owned by the Naples Museum of Art in Florida, will be loaned to the Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) in Fort Myers for a two-year exhibit that should begin at the start of the busy winter holiday travel season.

Before Louise Nevelson’s ‘Dawn Forest’ was given to the Naples Museum of Art it was displayed at Georgia-Pacific’s Atlanta headquarters.

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.