vending machines

Travel Tidbits from here and there

Macaroni and cheese is a classic comfort food and a dish many people turn to when they are stressed.

So where better to open a restaurant with a full menu of mac and cheese dishes than in an airport?

San José Mineta International Airport (SJC) is now home to the first airport mac and cheese restaurant: San José Mac + Cheese Kitchen.

Located in Terminal B, across from Gate 19, the restaurant is serving up a Signature Mac along with a wide variety of customizable mac and cheese dishes with cheddar cheese sauce, 5-cheese white sauce, grilled chicken, smoked bacon, and BBQ pulled pork.

The menu also includes Grilled Mac + Cheese Sandwiches, Breakfast Mac + Cheese Burritos, and a full bar.

Very comforting!

More airport comfort

Speaking of comfort, we spotted some comforting touches at South Carolina’s Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) Sunday morning as we made our way to a very early flight.

First, we spotted these very comfy chairs right by the baggage claim carousels.

Then, once through security, we made our way down a hallway filled with useful – and tempting – vending machines.

We’ve seen the Fuel Rod machine that dispenses handy fully-charged chargers in quite a few airports. But the machine that’s ” a carwash for glasses and jewelry,” and the one that dispenses tins filled with licorice aren’t as common. Yet.

And how’s this for service?

We saw a gate agent sprint off towards the security checkpoint and wondered what was up. In just a few minutes she came running back with a young man in tow who would have missed his flight had she not rushed over and hustled him to the front of the security checkpoint line.

Airport amenity of the week

It is definitely a sign of the times. And the airport amenity of the week.

To help passengers and employees comply with the face mask covering requirement at Denver International (DEN), the airport now has two vending machines that sell face masks as well as sanitizing wipes.

The vending machines are stocked with:

  • Two-pack disposable mask with one gel sanitizer packet and two single-use alcohol towelettes: $6/package
  • Two-pack KN95 mask with one gel sanitizer packet and two single-use alcohol towelettes: $12/package
  • 10-pack full-sheet sanitizing wipes: $4.25/package

Travelers will find the vending machines at the North end of Level 6 near the restrooms on the west side and on the South end of Level 5 around the corner from Boulder Beer Tap House on the west side.

Several DEN airport shops are now selling face masks and other hygiene items as well.

DEN isn’t the first airport in the United States to install a vending machine stocked with masks and sanitizing items.

That title goes to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas (LAS), which installed two such machines in mid-May.

No doubt these machines will soon pop up at airport everywhere.

In New Orleans: vending machines in cabs

New Orleans_Taxi Vending Touch Screen

 

There’s no need to go thirsty in New Orleans.

Bars sell drinks in to-go cups so you can have your beer or a cocktail on the street. And now there are vending machines in some city cabs to ensure that parched passengers can sip soda in the back seats.

“You make a choice from a screen, swipe a credit or debit card and, for 99 cents, a cold soda pops out from a slot in the shelf behind the passenger seat,” said Simon Garber, the owner of New Orleans Carriage Cab and Yellow-Checker Cab. “It almost places the can in your hand.”

Garber told NBC News that it was his teenage son who first suggested the idea and, after several years of tinkering with the concept and the machinery, Garber figured out a way to install a vending unit in a cab trunk that can deliver cold soda to the back seat. About 40 of his city cabs have started testing the units.

We took a morning “ride-along” — by cellphone — with cab driver Kirk Lee and Kelly Robin, the first thirsty passenger of the day.

Robin, a server in a French Quarter restaurant, ordered a Dr. Pepper from the five choices on the screen during her short trip to work.

New orleans cab customer

 

“Cool, cold and convenient,” she said, popping the top on the can that she watched appear from a rectangular metal slot in the shelf behind the seat. “This is going to be a very nice customer service.”

Her driver agreed. “People come to New Orleans to have a good time and do something different than normal. Having this novelty in the cabs, especially on the ride in from the airport, is a great way to start,” said Lee.

He thinks cab drivers might come to appreciate the unusual amenity as much as the passengers.

“I can see building up the fact that we’re the only taxi company offering this service, and on a hot day buying my customer a soda,” said Lee. “Or let them use my swipe card and offer to just add the cost of a soda to their bill. It will be part of an enhanced cab experience and I think it will increase tips.”

New Orleans Dr. Pepper Pops Out of Dispenser

It will also help reinforce the city’s reputation as a hospitable place to visit, said Mark Romig, president and CEO of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation. “It really adds to the visitor experience, especially when you consider that 50 percent of our visitors arrive by plane,” and that most tourists take cabs into the city, a ride that typically takes between 20 and 30 minutes.

While the in-cab vending machines only sell sodas right now, “just think where this can go,” said Romig. “Other companies will likely embrace this technology. I think it’s an idea that will catch on.”

If it does, Garber is ready. He plans to install vending machines that will sell soda and, someday maybe cologne, small umbrellas and other items, in all 250 of his New Orleans cabs and, soon, in the hundreds of cabs he owns in New York City and Chicago, too.

“It’s something to improve our service, make the ride more enjoyable and our cab company more memorable,” said Garber. “And, of course, encourage people to choose our cabs over others.”

(My story about vending machines in New Orleans cabs first appeared on NBC News Travel)