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Steaks on a Plane! Frequent Flyer Tweets, Gets Special Delivery at Newark Airport

Sit back and listen to this tale of social media customer service gone right, where frequent flying combined with brand loyalty and humor equaled genuine surprise:

Peter Shankman is as frequent a flyer as you'll ever find; following him on Twitter you'll quickly get a sense of this, plus his preference for Continental Airlines and Newark-Liberty Airport.

Yesterday, as Shankman relates in his blog post, he flew to Miami for a business lunch and dreaded the hunger that would gnaw upon returning to Newark Airport that night. So he tweeted about it:

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Today's Travel PSA: Charging onto an Airport Tarmac with a Knife Will Get You Arrested

Remember that story we did around Easter, when someone dressed up as a giant pink rabbit and attacked a TSA agent with confetti, and then was promptly arrested because that's something you're not allowed to do? This story is kind of like that, except we also get to use condescending lines like "there are certain people who shouldn't be allowed to run with sharp things."

For reasons that are currently being probed by the psychologists conducting his evaluation, Xiang Xun Shao of Manhattan decided that it would be a good idea to put a knife in his pocket, jump over a barrier at EWR, and run onto the tarmac.

From there things proceeded about how you'd expect, and he was very promptly tackled by a Port Authority policeman somewhere around Terminal C. It all happened so fast that the airport didn't even need to delay any flights, which is quite an achievement given that EWR officials once shut down for a day because someone decided to jump into the sterile area and steal a kiss from his girlfriend.

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Free Cupcakes at Newark Airport This Friday, January 28!

The special-edition Jets cupcake, which sadly probably won't be one of the options at Newark.

Do we have to tell you twice? FREE CUPCAKES AT NEWARK AIRPORT THIS FRIDAY, January 28. Why, you ask? Oh, just because Crumbs Bakeshop, a chain of stores that specializes in cupcakes, is celebrating the opening of a location in the airport's Terminal C.

Here's how to get one: be on a flight into or out of Newark's Terminal C (the Continental terminal) on Friday. The earlier, the better. Crumbs is located next to the C2 checkpoint. They'll start handing out the free sweets at 6am, until all 1,000 are gone. You even get the cupcake of your choice.

If you'd like a recommendation beyond classic chocolate sprinkle, they make a mean chocolate-chip cookie dough cupcake. Or go for one of the New York-centric flavors they've included in combo packs only at this location. There's the New York Collection (Caramel Apple, Madison Avenue, Cosmo, Black and White, Taxi Cab and Blackout) and the Black & White Collection (Blackbottom Cheesecake, Blackout, Black & White, Devil's Food, Squiggle and Artie Lange).

[Photo: Crumbs]

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Newark Airport Starts Off the Holiday Travel Week with a Bomb Scare

‘Tis the season to be jolly, but it’s also the season for bomb scares. Okay we might be a little extreme, but sketchy stuff already went down at Newark-Liberty airport earlier today. One of those ubiquitous “suspicious packages” was found, and the TSA ordered an evacuation of the terminal just in case. It wasn’t anything of particular interest, but it was an old computer monitor leaking little bit of radiation—apparently that’s not a big deal.

Anyway, things in one of the terminals were stopped this morning as a precaution, but the rest of the airport continued to operate as usual. So if you’re stuck in a security line right now at the airport and are reading this, it’s probably due to the leaky monitor.

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The $100 Million Facebook-Newark Schools Deal Went Down in an Airport Lounge

If you watched Oprah late last week or picked up a newspaper, you may have noticed the news that Mark Zuckerberg, founder and current head of Facebook, has made the decision to give some $100 million dollars to the Newark, NJ public school system. It's not just a straight gift however, but a "challenge grant," requiring the Newark school system to match it by seeking another $100 million in donations. Zuckerberg has no history of such philanthropy, so this is a huge deal, and it's a huge deal that was sealed in an airport lounge at Newark International Airport.

If you're ever passing through the Continental Airlines President's Club at EWR, glance towards their private conference, because the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports that a 3-hour-long meeting here made it happen:

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Inside the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at Newark Airport

Tucked behind a Hudson newstand before the security checkpoint in Terminal B at Newark Airport, is the Clubhouse for Virgin Atlantic.

This clubhouse is nowhere near the design spectacular that you will find at JFK, but it still has that certain je ne sai quoi that is unquestionably Virgin Atlantic. It's quite vibrant compared to other airport lounges, which typically go the cookie-cutter route of grey carpeting, brown leather seats, wood-paneled walls and an overall boring, business traveler feel.

But this clubhouse is full of pinks and purples and flat-screen TVs, not to mention little nooks for a library and a computer work area. All in all, it's a perfectly pleasant place to while away an hour or so before your flight. We managed to get in about 30 minutes in the Clubhouse and this is what we found:

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Southwest Goest Northeast with New 2011 Routes from Newark

It was only a year plus two months ago that Southwest Airlines first rolled into one of the big three New York City Airports, buying 14 slots for flights at LaGuardia Airport from bankrupt ATA Airlines (RIP). But now, the low-coast airline is bracing for a huge landing at Newark Liberty International via a nice little agreement with Continental to take over 36 of their slots at their busy airport for about 18 daily flights.

Southwest plans to bring their red-bellied planes into EWR as soon as March 2011, and although no route decisions have been made, we think it's safe to say that there'll be a Texas city in there, probably a Florida one and here's hoping Chicago-Midway as well. But hey, we wouldn't be opposed to some unique routes either. And yes, even though Southwest plays with the big boys at Newark, the airline will bring its low fares along for the ride.

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Where You Can Find Healthier Grub in Airports

There's a barely perceptible movement happening in airport these days but if you look very, very closely on your next layover or while waiting for your plane, you will see that airport shops are starting to offer some healthy food alternatives.

Ok, slow your roll. The majority of airport restaurant and bars and sundries shops are still selling to put it bluntly, crap, like fried foods, caloric drinks, and every kind of potato chip, candy and chocolate bar imaginable.

But lately, we've been seeing a healthy effort, albeit it on a very small scale. Check out these fruit cups, string cheeses, yogurts, soy milks and Odwalla juices which we snapped at Newark Liberty International Airport in the US Airways terminal. (Terminal A.) Yes, please ignore the Apple Jacks, Fruit Loops, Cocoa Krispies, Nesquik and the sodium-loaded Lunchables. This was taken in a Hudson News shop after all. But still, A for effort right?

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Inside the SAS Business Class Lounge at Newark Airport

It feels like just yesterday that we were lifting off of the runway onboard the First Flight of Lufthansa's New A380, even if it was a couple weeks ago. Still, before we flew from Hamburg down to Frankfurt on the A380, we had to get to Germany in the first place, and we managed to peek in at the SAS Business Lounge at Newark-Liberty International Airport, which Lufthansa shares, before a direct to Deutschland.

Although the SAS Lounge is of a nice size, you will find every seat filled (and some people standing) before the first evening flights leave, due to the fact that this lounge can be accessed by Business and elite members flying on SAS, Lufthansa, Air India, Continental, United, and all other Star Alliance airlines. For example, passengers of LOT Polish Airlines will mingle with those setting out on Swiss, and it does get noisy.

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Newark Airport Kisser Sentenced for 'Defiant Trespass'

Remember back in January when that romantic fool crossed through security at Newark Liberty International Airport to give his honey a little smooch? Well, last week he pleaded guilty to defiant trespass. His lawyer was quick to point out that it’s really no big deal, and that it is even considered a crime in the state of New Jersey. No hard time for this guy, but we’re sure there are a few people that were stuck at the airport that day that would have liked to see him picking up trash on the NJ Turnpike.

The sneaky kisser—Haisong Jiang—is really sorry about the whole incident and is prepared to pay up. He’ll be slapped with a $500 fine, some court costs, and he will be assigned to 100 hours of community service. Right now the community service specifics haven’t been figured out, but he’s hoping it will be at a hospital or soup kitchen.

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What It Was Like To Go Through Airport Hell In Newark On Sunday

Sunday sucked for departing passengers on flights from Newark International Airport, thanks to the small security snafu that sent everyone in a terminal out and back through security. Flights were delayed around five hours, everyone's patience was tried to the max, and they still didn't find the guy who walked the wrong way through the exit doors.

On the ground in the melee, we had a friend who spent the night waiting in middle of the airport mosh pit as she went out and back through security, only to endure the long delay for her 6-hour-long flight to San Diego. It sounded painful. But what were things like from the other side—for arrivals? Just as insane and unorganized, according to a Jaunted commenter.

Read her story of true airport hell, after the jump

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This Weekend in Security Breaches: Newark Airport Evacuates Terminal

It's too bad that Thanksgiving was over a month ago, because we've got some things for which to declare our thanks. The biggest? Well, we are thankful that we weren't flying out of Newark International Airport last night, but that a friend was so that we could hear all about the security breach and resulting airport evacuation from the front lines.

Here's what happened: yesterday evening at approximately 5:30pm, a male passenger walked the wrong way through the security checkpoint; skipping search by heading into the terminal via the "exit" doors. It's not known who he was, if he was a threat or simply a confused traveler, but a search for the man yielded nothing and so the entirety of Terminal C, including planes at gates, was evacuated so that everyone had to go back through security. The issue delayed flights at least three hours, and our friend had her six-hour flight from Newark to San Diego delayed for 5 hours.

A new TSA slogan, after the jump...

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