Airport baggage carts can cost a bundle to rent for that short trip from your car to the terminal or from bag claim out to the curb.
Some airports offer them for free in their international terminal areas while a few, including Vancouver International Airport, make them available for free terminal-wide.
Here’s a fun video, done in the style of an automobile advertisement, touting YVR’s 3000 new and improved luggage carts.
Makes me want to go for a test drive…
Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is one of the world’s top notch airports, with amenities that range from the in-airport Vancouver Fairmont Hotel (which has a fish butler), to spas, a dentist, a medical clinic, a liquor store and a 7-Eleven.
There are also, of course, plenty of shops offering everything from maple syrup to high-end handbags.
But, with a four-hour layover in the international terminal I discovered one basic travel amenity that was missing.
Not one shop in the International Terminal sells pantyhose.
I tried leaving the international transit area to go the pre-security side so I could pick up a pair at the 7-Eleven, but no dice.
“Once you’re in the transit area, you cannot leave,” the staff person at the Information Desk told me. “But there are several stores that sell woolen socks.”
I tweeted my frustration while walking in and out of every single shop. And I received no outpouring of empathy and support.
Just this Tweet:
Today – a few tidbits from the inbox at StuckatTheAirport.com:
First up: there are some very interesting comments to my story from earlier this week about the Virgin America flight attendant who says she was fired for asking a breastfeeding passenger to cover up.
KLM is asking travelers to send in photos for consideration for the KLM 2013 wall calendar. Upload a image from a place KLM travels to and get your friends to vote – all before June 29th. Winning images will show up on the KLM Fan Calendar, which you can then purchase (of course…) in the KLM webshop. One fun item for sale in the shop: Stewardess Yourself mugs made out of the image you create with the Stewardess Yourself program.
And a couple of things to look forward to at a couple of airports:
Indianapolis International Airport (IND) announced that Airport Plazas will build a 2.5 acre, multi-function service plaza near the airport that will include pumps for gasoline and natural gas fuels, a convenience store, car wash, auto service bay (a tune-up while you’re waiting for your loved one to arrive? Great idea!), fast food restaurants and a new airport cell phone parking lot. Opening date: mid-2013.
Sound like a useful idea? Airport Plazas is currently operating, building or in negotiations to build service similar facilities at Newark (already built and operating), JFK, Ft. Myers, Cleveland, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Dallas/Ft. Worth.
And the Vancouver Airport Authority has announced that it is planning to develop a luxury designer outlet center near Vancouver International Airport.
The new center will open in phases, beginning in the fall of 2014, and feature European and North American luxury, designer and mainstream brands.
Jaeger Mah has just 10 more days to spend inside Vancouver International Airport. He’s spent 70 days there so far and he’s looking forward to being able to do his laundry when he wants to and being able to buy fresh fruit at non-inflated prices.
This past summer, Mah won a contest to be an in-residence citizen reporter at YVR. And, armed with a video camera and a few dozen bold Hawaiian shirts, he moved into the airport in mid-August.
His assignment: to spend 80 days – and nights – on-site, chronicling life at the airport via regular video reports, blog entries and on Facebook and Twitter.
Mah got a room at the on-site Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel and $50 a day in “YVR bucks” for snacks and meals. He’ll also be paid about $15,000 when he moves out.
I spoke with Mah before he started his adventure and checked back with him yesterday to see how it’s all turned out.
He told me about spending a day with a veteran pilot as he prepared for a flight to Tokyo. About attending liquor tasting at the duty free store and getting to ride along with the airport emergency crew. During his time at the airport he’s visited the on-site dentist (“Turns out I have five cavities,”), learned how to de-ice airplanes and spent an evening with his dad at the airport’s Flying Beaver Pub, where they play a “Name that tune” game every Saturday night.
As his live-in assignment winds down, Mah says he’s going to miss all the friends he’s made at the airport. But he knows he’ll be back soon: Mah and his girlfriend have tickets to fly to Maui at the end of November. “I can’t wait to fly,” said Mah, “Because now I know everything that goes into flying. I know what the flight crews are doing, how the airplanes are prepped, how they push planes back from the gate and what the pilots have done to get ready to fly.”
Day 68 – De-icing Crew from Live@YVR on Vimeo.
Wednesday was move-in day for Jaeger Mah at Vancouver International Airport.
The 29-year-old Vancouver, B.C. resident won the Live@YVR contest to be an in-residence citizen reporter at the airport and, armed with a video camera and his skateboard, he’ll spend the next 80 days – and nights – right there on Sea Island, the airport’s home.
Mah will get to sleep, swim and, we hope, do his laundry at the on-site Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel and will have $50 a day for snacks and meals. He’ll also be paid about $15,000 when he moves out. In return, he’ll prepare regular video reports about what goes on at the airport, including behind the scenes, and share his observations on Facebook and Twitter.
I interviewed Mah before he moved in for msnbc.com’s Overhead Bin:
Q. What did your friends say when they found out you’d be doing this?
A. At first they were worried I’d be lonely at the airport, but I don’t think that will be an issue at all. There will be thousands of people around 24/7. They also thought I’d be bored, but I don’t think I’ll have time. I’ll have to shoot, edit and produce the videos and it will be quite a bit of work to get the right shots and do the stories.
Q. What will you bring with you?
A. A picture of my girlfriend. Some Hawaiian shirts and a nice suit. Binoculars. My skateboard. And some wigs.
Q. Wigs?
A. Yes, some of my interviews are going to be heartfelt, but we’re going to have fun. I’m going to give away prizes for games such as ‘Guess what’s in the suitcase’ and ‘How fast can you put on the clothes in this suitcase.’ I may also give prizes for the best travel tips.
Q. What types of stories are you planning to do?
A. I had a pocket-knife that had sentimental value taken away from me at an airport, so I want to do a story about what happens to things that get confiscated. I also want to go behind the scenes and see how airplanes get fueled and how the windshields get cleaned.
And I want to see where the airplane food is made – and do some taste tests.
Q. What about meals?
A. That’s going to be a big thing. I only get $50 a day for meals and we all know airport food can be expensive. I like to have a good dinner, so maybe I’ll go to Tim Horton’s for breakfast, snack on a few things during the day and save $25 each day for dinner. It will also help that my girlfriend, who has her own cooking blog, is going to bring some dinners.
Q. Will you get to leave the airport?
A. I can leave the terminal, but must stay on Sea Island, which has a beach I haven’t been to yet, an elementary school, and a fire hall staffed by an emergency response team. There’s also a pub in the South Terminal that has live music on Saturday nights and, supposedly, the best nachos. I’m definitely going there.
I’m also going to visit the plane spotters who hang out near the airport. I hear it’s a pretty tight knit group and I will try to win their hearts over. I’ve been told in order to do that I’ll need aviator sunglasses, a Dodge minivan, binoculars and a mustache.
Q. In your contest entry video you said you’d be “the Anderson Cooper of YVR.” What does that mean?
A. Anderson Cooper brings a lot of personality to his interviews, has a charismatic approach and a certain level of ethics to his reporting style. That’s what I’m all about. Also, if there’s a big event in the world, he’s the one covering it. And during the 80 days I’m at YVR, if there’s a big event at the airport, I will be there to cover it. If it means getting up at 3 a.m. in the morning or staying up for two nights, I’ll do it. I want the story.
Good luck, Jaeger!