YVR

Now: Yoga at Vancouver Int’l Airport

YVR YOGA

Vancouver International has joined the list of airports offering travelers a yoga space.

A yoga program – “YYoga@YVR” – will be offered on Fridays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. from July 15 to August 26 and will be open to any passenger departing to a Canadian destination in Domestic Terminal C-Pier, across from Gate 46.

The program is being offered as part of YVR’s Take-Off Fridays, the airport’s summer event series of music, entertainment and family-friendly activities in the terminal.

The yoga pilot program is offered through a partnership between YVR and YYoga, a Canadian yoga and wellness company.

Passengers can use the yoga space to practice their own yoga flow, for meditation or for simple stretching.

A YYoga instructor will be on hand to welcome passengers, answer questions and suggest poses and stretches that are particularly beneficial during travel. Mats are provided.

“Yoga can offer tremendous benefits to travelers,” says Berk Kansu, Marketing Manager for YYoga. “It can help passengers feel relaxed and centered and help them move to their next destination in a refreshed, calm way.”

Test drive Vancouver Airport’s new baggage carts

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…

Fish valet and other posh airport amenities

Spas, saunas, swimming pools, giant slides and sunflowers. That could be a list of swanky amenities to look for at upscale resorts or hotels. But it’s actually a sampling of some of the Posh Airport Amenities I featured in a slide show for Bing Travel.

Here’s a sample.

Fairmont Vancouver Airport fish valet

Travelers at Vancouver International Airport can take care of dry cleaning, shoe-repair and medical/dental services during a layover in the terminal. But those heading home from a fishing trip with a 100 pound halibut in tow can seek out the services of the Fish Valet and the special “visiting fish” freezer at the on-site Fairmont Vancouver Hotel.

Hong Kong airport gold course

There’s a putting green in the terminal at Florida’s Palm Beach International Airport, but the USGA-approved, nine-hole Sky City Nine Eagles Golf Course adjacent to Hong Kong International Airport’s Terminal 2 out-poshes that. Nine Eagles has a Thai restaurant, club house, putting greens, and plenty of night golfing opportunities. Soon Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport will have a golf course next door too.

LAX Theme Building

When it comes to posh airport bars, GateGuru data analyst Zachary Einzig gives high marks to the Encounter Restaurant, perched on top of the recently-restored Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Inside, the Encounter’s space-age décor is something the Jetsons would appreciate. Outside, the views of the airfield are out of this world.

There are more… check back to find out which airports offer libraries, saunas, exotic gardens, bike rentals, museums, breweries, make-your-own sundae machines, and weekly tributes to Frank Sinatra.

Have a favorite posh airport amenity? Please add your comment below.