If you’re flying somewhere on Valentine’s Day, we hope it’s on a flight that wings you to your sweetheart.
If not, take heart from some of the efforts airports and airlines will
be offering throughout the day.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) will be giving out complimentary chocolates to passengers from world-renowned chocolatiers.
Southwest Airlines will be serving a free alcoholic drink for passengers 21 years older on Valentine’s Day and dishing out “surprise and delight” treats throughout the day.
Phoenix Sky Harbor and many airports around the country will be pressing their therapy dogs into service on Valentine’s Day.
Los Angeles International Airport’s (LAX) Pets Unstressing Passengers Program (PUP) and Southwest Airlines will team up for the annual “Flying Kisses” event on Friday, February 14 from 10 a.m. to noon in the Terminal 1, post-security.
Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) will be handing out boxes of Conversation Hearts on Valentine’s Day, along with airplane-themed valentines. Tampa International Airport (TPA), will be handing out blank Valentine’s Day cards as well.
To accommodate all the lovebirds that fly to Las Vegas to get married around Valentine’s Day, Nevada’s Clark County clerk’s office has a pop-up marriage license office in the Terminal 1 bag claim at McCarran International Airport (LAS) open through the end of the month. Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
And Amtrak is having a buy-one-get-one-free sale in honor of Valentine’s Day from Thursday, February 13 through Monday, February 17. Customers can buy one coach ticket and get the second free for nationwide travel between March 9 and August 30, 2020, with no blackout dates. Use the code V214 at the Amtrak site.
Just for Valentine’s Day, Alaska Airlines is offering a ‘Fly One, Get One’ deal.
Here are the details: This is a one day fare sale on February 14, 2019.
Buy one ticket, get a second one for just the taxes and fees for trips between the city pairs below. Travel dates: February 14 to March 14, 2019 – with no blackout dates.
Use this code: COAST2COAST – as many times as you’d like
Whether you’re winging your way to a sweetheart or on your way to a boring business meeting on Valentine’s Day, airports and airlines have some treats on tap to sweeten the journey.
Marriage licenses at the Las
Vegas Airport
To
accommodate all the lovebirds who want to get married in Las Vegas
around Valentine’s Day, the Clark
County clerk’s office will once again set up a temporary office
February 13-16 in the baggage claim area of Terminal 1 at McCarran
International Airport.
Couples who fill out a marriage license pre-application online receive
a reference number to present (with $77 and proper identification) at the
airport pop-up clerk’s office after their flight. From their it’s an easy trip into town for a
marriage ceremony presided over by Elvis or some other “only in Vegas”
officiator.
Kissing Booths,
free chocolates and live music
At Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) in North Carolina, pups from the Paws for Passengers team of therapy pets will staff a “Smooches from Pooches” kissing booth in the terminal and out at by the gates. Travelers can get stop by to get pictures taken with one of the
therapy dogs and pick up Valentine’s-themed (people) treats and other
giveaways.
Traveling through CAK is easier than making a last minute Valentine's Day dinner reservation! 💕 Make sure to grab a sweet treat after ya pass through TSA tomorrow. #CAKisEasierThanpic.twitter.com/guockw66Vp
Austin-Bergstrom International
Airport passengers are invited to play
Valentine’s Day Plinko and the “Snag A Valentine” game in various spots in the
terminal on Valentine’s Day to win cookies and candy prizes. Random passengers
seated in gate areas will also be surprised with gifts of heart-shaped box of
chocolates or oversized Hershey Kisses.
As part of its 1000
Acts of Kindness Campaign, on Valentine’s Day airport food service
company HMSHost will set up its “Share Your Love” message board at George Bush
Intercontinental Airport (IAH).
Travelers may pick up “Act of Kindness” cards with directions for performing
“kindness missions” such as giving a rose to an airport employee or buying a
coffee or meal for another traveler. HMSHost will provide the item needed (i.e.
a rose or a gift voucher) for each traveler to carry out the assigned task. In
addition, passengers who add cards to the message board will receive a premium
dark chocolate bar and Valentine’s Day card, plus a 15 percent discount offer
at participating HMSHost dining locations.
Songs of love and free cards
Passengers
at Fresno Yosemite International Airport in California will receive sweet treats
throughout Valentine’s Day and be serenaded by master violinist Patrick
Contreras.
At Chicago’s
O’Hare International Airport, Sarah’s Candies will be sampling Godiva Chocolates between
10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Valentine’s Day and, at Chicago Midway Airport there will
be live entertainment (a Tiny Suitcase Concert), plus free Valentine’s Day cards
(“Love From Chicago”) distributed to passengers during the midday.
From February 12 to 14, London Heathrow Airport will be
celebrating Valentine’s Day with live music, a roving caricaturist to sketch
travelers and Valentine’s Day card-making stations in all terminals.
Travelers doing last-minute Valentine’s Day shopping will find complimentary
treats and special deals on jewelry, gourmet chocolates and other gifts in airport
shops in Baltimore, Phoenix, Chicago and elsewhere.
At Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport,
for example, several
shops will be offering Valentine’s Day samples of “Unreal” Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupsand Tammie
Coe Cakes (in Terminal 4 near Gate A25) will be gifting customers
heart-shaped versions of its Famous Sugar Cookies with every purchase.
If you’re traveling through BNA tomorrow, don’t forget your chapstick! 😘
The BNA Kissing Booth will be set up at the A/B Foodcourt at 11 a.m. tomorrow with (Hersey) kisses and lots of other goodies. ❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/iofm9fiyVS
At Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, staff will be handing out Valentine cards individually signed by airport employees, sweet Valentine treats and a souvenir magnet.
Blind dates on can be awkward, but blind date books are always a good idea–especially on #ValentinesDay! If you are traveling through O'Hare on Feb.14, swing by local #Chicago favorite @barbarasbooks in T3 (Gate H4) to purchase a wrapped book–maybe you'll fall in love! pic.twitter.com/8DwKTPFfsd
In the air: free drinks, free
chocolates and, maybe, a free flight
As is its tradition, Southwest Airlines, whose stock
ticker code is LUV, will serves customers 21 years of age and over one free
premium drink (beer, wine, cocktail) during Valentine’s Day flights.
Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) plans to
give out 150,000 complimentary chocolates to passengers on Valentine’s Day. First
and Business Class travelers on America, Europe and India routes will receive “Orangette”
chocolate from chocolatier Pierre Hermé Paris, while domestic and international passengers
traveling in all classes will receive chocolates from Japan’s Meiji THE Chocolate.
And, if you or your traveling companion is named Valentine, WOW air wants to give
you a free flight to Iceland from Boston (BOS), Baltimore (BWI), Newark (EWR)
or Detroit (DTW).
The offer is good on roundtrip bookings for two passengers through February 14 for travel February 10 to 19, 2019. Passengers who mail Wow air post-flight proof of being named Valentine will be eligible for reimbursement of the outbound portion of their flight. Read the terms and conditions carefully before breaking out the champagne.
Virgin Atlantic clearly has something up its sleeve for Valentine’s Day –
Roses are red Virgin Atlantic is too Come back here tomorrow We have something for you pic.twitter.com/P2V3HAspV8
Emirates has stocked its first and business-class lounges with decadent Valentine’s Day treats for travelers and is offering a companion fare sale through February 17 for travel from Februrary 21 through April 14, 2019 from 12 US gateways.
And for those who would rather take their sweetheart on a train instead of the plane, look for a special sweetheart deal from Amtrak to post on Valentine’s Day.
While I was hanging out at Heathrow Airport on Valentine’s Day waiting for my Virgin Atlantic flight to Seattle, there were lots of lovebirds getting their photos taken with a big heart frame.
Meanwhile, across town, Virgin Atlantic flight VS850P set out from London Gatwick Airport and mapped a heart shape in the sky as part of a training flight.
Air travel isn’t romantic unless you’re flying with your sweetie or are on your way to being with them, but this Valentine’s Day some airports and airlines are doing what they can to make the day special.
Shortcut to marriage
The uptick of couples applying for last minute marriage licenses in Las Vegas around Valentine’s Day usually overwhelms the downtown county’s clerk’s office, so this year there’s a pop-up marriage license bureau set up through February 17 in the baggage claim area of Terminal 1 at McCarran International Airport.
Couples will still need to find someone to perform the legal marriage ceremony, but filling out a pre-application and getting a license at the airport can go a long way in streamlining the process. For lovebirds in a rush, keep in mind that the Terminal 1 baggage claim area at the Las Vegas airport also has 24-hour flower vending machines and a to-go liquor shop.
Flowers and chocolates
(Courtesy PHL Airport)
As they have in previous years, volunteers at both Philadelphia International Airport and Florida’s Jacksonville International Airport will be handing out Valentine’s Day carnations to passengers.
To celebrate the opening of its automated people mover – called SkyConnect – and its new 2.6 million square foot rental car center, Tampa International Airport will be giving out 1,000 roses to passengers and guests who come out for the first ride.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport caps off its fourth “We Love Our Guests Campaign” on Valentine’s Day with key rings and teddy bears for passengers and photo booths and love-themed music playing throughout the airport.
There will be a “Kissing Booth” distributing chocolate kisses and Valentines to passengers at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) on February 14 and a chance to hug and pose with some of the miniature therapy horses that regularly visit the airport.
The horses at CVG will be decked out in their Valentine’s Day attire, as will the therapy dogs at Los Angeles International, Phoenix Sky Harbor and many other airports around the country. The love-fest will continue February 16, when specially-dressed therapy dogs and team-member Lilou the pig help passengers usher in the Lunar New Year at a photo station in San Francisco International Airport.
Heat-shaped lollipops will be handed out to passengers during Valentine’s Day in many terminals at Los Angeles International Airport and in the Hollywood/Fort Lauderdale International Airport they’ll be celebrating the day with a live entertainment, face painting, and complimentary chocolate roses and candy buffets.
Chocolates will be offered to passengers flying through Austin Bergstrom International Airport on February 14 and, for those who still need to purchase a Valentine’s gift before leaving the airport, they’ll be a booth selling chocolate-covered strawberries from local favorite Amy’s Ice Creams in the bag claim area. Shops in most every other airport will have chocolates, heart-shaped bake-goods and trinkets and other romantic items wrapped and ready to go as well.
Valentine’s Day activities at Heathrow International Airport will include live music, free heart-shaped candies, Polaroid photo ops, complimentary caricature sketches and make-your-own Valentine’s Day card stations. And to insure no Valentine’s Day proposals are inadvertently ruined by a shiny engagement ring drawing the attention of a security officer at the checkpoint, officials at England’s East Midlands Airport have been offering “secret codes” to travelers who’d like their bags inspected out of their traveling companion’s line of vision.
Airlines offering Valentine’s Day treats for travelers.
Passengers on Southwest Airlines flights will be treated to a complimentary alcoholic beverage on Valentine’s Day and, at airports across the country, airline employees will be setting up candy and card stations for passengers. Some Southwest flights will be declared “fun flights,” with employees hosting trivia games and giveaways as well.
United Airlines will be setting up Valentine’s Day candy stations in its club lounges on Valentine’s Day, ANA (All Nippon Airways) will be handing out specially-made chocolates to all passengers, and Alaska Airlines will be unveiling a heart-shaped sculpture with a special meaning at San Francisco International Airport.
And Economy and Business Class passengers taking a Valentine’s Day flight from Dubai on Emirates will be served heart-shaped chocolates with their meals.
