yoga

SEA’s Shot Bar & other great airport amenities from 2021

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We love the annual Resolution Wall hosted by Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) around this time each year.

As airport amenities go, it is charming and engaging for travelers. Much like many of the amenities on the list of Best Airport Amenities of 2021 we shared with The Points Guy site this week.

The list of Best Airport Amenities in 2021 includes:

*Wellness Wednesday at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and the free yoga mats they’ve been handing out;

*The growing trend of offering reservation times to do through the airport security checkpoint;

*Robots that deliver food ordered via airport mobile apps;

*The Visitor Toll Pass available at Orlando International Airport (MCO) to help tourists avoid getting gouged by rental car companies;

*And several more.

One other item on our list is the Shot Bar that appeared for several months at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).

The Shot Bar was created by Seattle celebrity chef and mixologist Kathy Casey, a frequent traveler whose company operates some food and beverages outlets at SEA airport.

“With the early covid restrictions on seating, no sitting at the bar, 25% occupancy, and tables 6 ft apart, our seating at Rel’Lish Burger Lounge was very limited,” Casey told us. “Options for travelers were very limited to get a quick drink before their flight. Many folks were also nervous about their first flight in a while, so they were looking for a quick drink.”

The to-go counter at Rel’Lish wasn’t busy, “so I thought, why not provide an area that people could have a quick shot and be on their way,” says Casey. “Our tag line was: order shot – shoot shot – fly off.”

The simple idea took off. Social media loved the concept and the tiny red Solo cups. And the Shot Bar even got a mention by Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show.

The Shot Bar was open from early March 2021 to June 30th, And during that time Casey says about 8,000 shots were sold – far above expectations. Now there are plans are for the Shot Bar pop-up to reopen sometime this spring or summer.

The Shot Bar at SEA

Chill out with Cathay Pacific’s yoga/meditation space at Hong Kong Airport

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Long flights can do a number on your body – and your mind.

Experts prescribe healthy eating and lots of moving around before, during and after you flight.

Now Cathay Pacific, already loved for its amenity-rich lounges at Hong Kong International Airport and elswhere, is offering passengers a tool for mind and body: a space for yoga and meditation in its Business Class lounge at The Pier.

The Sanctuary by Pure Yoga, designed in partnership with The Pure Group, is a 700 square-foot area divided into two zones – The Body Sanctuary, which is dedicated to yoga – and The Mind Sanctuary, which offers a space for meditation.

In the Body Sanctuary, travelers will find guided videos led by Pure Yoga teachers and a more secluded space for self-practice.

The space also offers an option for seated stretching, with chairs overlooking instructions on how to stretch different parts of the body. The exercises are designed to improve circulation, enhance joint mobility and relax the mind for a comfortable and restful journey.

In the Mind Sanctuary there are two types of meditation available:

Audio meditation has four cushioned pods equipped with noise-canceling headphones and iPads offering guided meditation sessions narrated by Pure Yoga’s expert teachers. Gazing meditation has comfortable cushions overlook graphics placed on the wall to facilitate Trataka yoga practice.

These practices help improve focus, memory and visualisation skills, as well as centering the mind in a state of awareness and attention.

Want to try it out? The Sanctuary by Pure Yoga is open to passengers with access to Cathay Pacific’s The Pier Business Class Lounge at Hong Kong Airport; to Diamond, Gold and Silver Marco Polo Club members; and to Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon First and Business Class passengers.

More zen in flight – and on the ground

Once in the air, Cathay Pacific offers “Travel with Yoga,” a series of inflight videos designed to help passengers ease into their journeys with meditation and yoga.

On the ground, the airline also offers its Diamond and Gold Marco Polo Club members arriving in Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon complimentary one-day access to any Pure Fitness centre or a choice of any Pure Yoga class up to 12 times a year.

Cathay Pacific adds in-flight yoga.

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Airport yoga rooms are great amenities, but Cathay Pacific suggests you try doing yoga on the plane.

The airline has partnered with Pure Yoga to offer an inflight “Travel Well with Yoga” program that offers a series of six yoga videos with meditation exercises and tips.

The videos are in English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese and are running on Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon routes in the  Lifestyle section of the inflight entertainment program.

Instructors offer yoga and meditation routines that can be done before, during or after a flight (if you’re not to self-conscious to try it) and are designed to improve circulation, enhance joint mobility  – and relax the mind.

Some moves work on the plane – even in economy, says the airline – others you can do when you unfold from your seat and get to your hotel.

Here’s a sample.

Denver Int’l Airport getting a pop-up yoga studio

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Although bars and restaurants will beckon, travelers at an increasing number of airports have  plenty of places to stretch and work out.

Baltimore-Washington International Airport has an airport gym, Phoenix Sky Harbor International and many other airports offer marked walking paths, and San Francisco International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway Airports and others have free-to-use spaces set aside, with loaner mats, for yoga.

Now Denver International Airport gets its chance.

Courtesy Yoga on the Fly

For 90-days, starting November 6, Denver International Airport will have a pop-up guided yoga studio on Concourse A where travelers can pay to use private mini-studios for yoga sessions lasting from 15 to 60 minutes.

With each rental, Yoga on the Fly will provide instructional videos, yoga mats and wireless headsets. Sessions will costs $15 for 15 minutes, $20 for 20 minutes, $30 for 30 minutes, $45 for 45 minutes and $60 for 60 minutes. Each studio with have a ‘beauty bar’ with cleansing towels, face mist, hand sanitizer and lotion where customers can freshen up after their session and there will be a retail section at reception offering travel accessories.

If this first Yoga on the Fly pop-up is successful over this holiday season, company founders hope to make it a permanent amenity at Denver International Airport and other airports.

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Travel Tidbits from MIA, LAS & LAX

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If you’re going to be stuck at the airport, every amenity counts.

Here are a few new amenities that may come in handy, including a yoga room at Miami International Airport, a cool new floor mosaic at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas and indoor pet relief areas at Los Angeles International Airport

LAX PET RELIEF AREA INDOORS

This week Los Angeles International Airport celebrated the opening of seven post-security, indoor animal-relief stations, which join an existing one in the Tom Bradley International Terminal.

LAX officials say this brings the total number of service-animal/pet relief stations at LAX to 11 – more than any other U.S. airport.

Yoga rooms now at Frankfurt Airport

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FRANkFURT YOGA

The airport yoga room trend has now spread to Germany – where yoga fans will now find two yoga rooms at Frankfurt Airport.

Each room has yoga mats, blocks, cushions and pad and a floor-to-ceiling mirror. Monitor screens have videos explaining exercises, with music and there are also flyers with instructions.

Look for these new 24-hour spaces in Terminal 1 past the security checkpoint near gates C14 and C16 and in Terminal 2 past the passport checkpoint near gates D1 to D4.

Travel Tidbits: airport yoga & tarmac delays

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I’m doing a fill-in stint over on the Today in the Sky blog at USA TODAY this week. Here are are some of the stories I’ve been working on over there:

Airport yoga studio round-up

DFW YOGA STUDIO SIGN

New Year, new resolutions: lots of travelers have vowed to be healthier, less-stressed when out on the road this year and, next to measured walking paths and restaurant menus with tasty vegetarian and gluten-free options, yoga rooms are some of the best tools airports have to offer.

Yoga aficionados encourage travelers to relax and stretch anywhere they can, but here’s a snip-n-save list of official yoga spaces currently at U.S. airports:

San Francisco International Airport : SFO kicked off the airport yoga room trend back in January 2012 and has yoga rooms in Terminal 2 (in Boarding Area D) and Terminal 3 (Boarding Are E, near Gate 69). Both are open 24 hours. Mats provided.

Chicago O’Hare Airport: Located on the mezzanine level of the Terminal 3 Rotunda, near the urban garden. A video monitor offers yoga exercise techniques and a public restroom for changing clothes is nearby. Mats provided. Open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Chicago Midway Airport: Located on Concourse C, next to Mother’s Room. A video monitor offer yoga instruction tips. Mats provided. Open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Burlington International Airport, Vermont: Located on the second floor, near a family bathroom and across from the airport Observation Tower. Mats provided.

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport: Yoga studio spaces open 24 hours at Gate D40 and at Gate E31. Mats provided. The Gate E31 yoga space is fairly new and is tucked beneath the Skylink escalator. In addition to exercise balls and stretch bands, DFW plans to create its own set of videos to offer yoga instructions for beginners and advanced yoga students simultaneously.

Tarmac Delay Study

Pittsburgh Airport clearing snow

The tarmac delay rule put in place in 2010 by the Department of Transportation to protect fliers from being stranded for hours on airplanes during long delays has actually made travel delays longer, a new study finds.

The study compared actual flight schedule and delay data before and after the rule went into effect and found that, while it has been very effective in reducing the frequency of long tarmac delays, the rule has raised cancellation rates overall and created longer travel times.

“Cancellations result in passengers requiring rebooking, and often lead to extensive delay in reaching their final destinations,” the study conducted by researchers at Dartmouth College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology concluded.

The tarmac delay rule was put into place after a series of highly publicized incidents left passengers stuck in airplanes during ground delays for lengthy periods of time and, among other provisions, imposes hefty fines on airlines that violate a three-hour tarmac delay limit.

The study proposes a modified version of the DOT’s rule that increases the tarmac limit by a half-hour, to 3 ½ hours, and applies it only to flights with planned departures before 5 p.m. The study also suggests that the tarmac time limit to be defined as “the time when the aircraft begin returning to the gate instead of being defined in terms of the time when passengers are allowed to deplane.”

“Passengers overwhelmingly support limiting tarmac time to no more than three hours,” said Kendall Creighton, a spokeswoman for FlyersRights.org, one of the groups that first urged DOT to create protective rules.

But Airlines for America, an industry trade group, would like to see these reforms.

Yoga: now at Chicago’s Midway Int’l Airport

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Midway Yoga Room

September is National Yoga Month, which makes it great timing for the Chicago Department of Aviation to open the promised yoga room at Midway International Airport.

Located on Concourse C, Midway’s new yoga room has a sustainable bamboo wood floor, floor to ceiling mirrors on one wall, exercise mats and an area to store personal articles and garments. There are frosted windows on one side of the room to let in natural light and to provide a bit of privacy. There’s also a wall-mounted video monitor showing yoga exercise techniques and nature scenes, all with an audio plays soothing sounds.

Next door to Midway’s yoga room there’s a new room set aside for mothers who’d like some privacy while nursing a baby.

Midway mothers room

But, since it is National Yoga Month, let’s get back to yoga.

Here’s a list of other airports that offer yoga rooms for travelers:


Chicago O’Hare International Airport -opened in December 2013. You’ll find it on the Mezzanine Level of Terminal 3 Rotunda, near the airport’s urban garden.

San Francisco International Airport has two yoga rooms.
SFO YOGA ROOM

SFO’s Yoga Room in Terminal 2 (which was the world’s first yoga room in an airport) is closed until November 4, 2014 to accommodate a construction project. The airport’s second yoga room, located in Terminal 3, Boarding Area E, remains open.

AT Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, there’s a yoga studio located near Gate D40 in the hallway connecting Terminals B and D.

There’s also a space set aside for yoga at Burlington International Airport in Vermont.

Burlington yoga

At all of these airport yoga studios, soothing ambiance – and mats – are provided.

Meanwhile, at Helsinki Airport in Finland, Finavia’s TravelLab initiative has been testing out a variety of yoga offerings, including a Yoga Gate, yoga lessons and the sale of yoga-related items, including mats and clothes.

The summertime project also surveyed passengers about the whether or not they’d be interested in paying for taking a yoga lesson at the airport. Would you?

Helsinki_Airport_Yoga_Kainuu_TravelLab

(All photos courtesy of the respective airports)

Airport amenity of the week: yoga room at Burlington Int’l Airport

Airports, Health, Kids,

Vermont’s Burlington International Airport (BTV) has joined San Francisco International Airport and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in offering passengers a space to meditate and practice yoga.

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Evolution Yoga opened a yoga space on the second floor of Burlington International Airport, offering travelers a place to stretch out and relax before or between flights and enjoy a calm, quiet space.

That’s lovely to hear, but poking around the BTV website today I noticed some other welcome and calming amenities that were already available at the airport for passengers.

The airport’s mezzanine area is outfitted with couches, coffee tables and easy chairs and there are white rocking chairs set up in an area the airport calls the Skyway, so travelers can get a good view of the runway and aircraft. There’s also a green roof on the airport parking garage with plenty of alpine plants as well as benches and a picnic table. And – an added bonus: the airport has an Observation Tower and, located across from it, a family bathroom with a shower.

In addition to free Wi-Fi and power charging stations, BTV has a photography exhibit tracing the history of the airport and, on its website, offers relaxing activities such as a crossword puzzle, links to websites kids might enjoy and a link to a series of videos offering a few moments of guided relaxation at calm.com.