It was only a matter of time before the faux fro-yo craze that is Pinkberry would hit the airports and we were oh so privileged to see it in action last night at LAX's Terminal 1, known to locals as The Southwest Terminal (although US Airways does have some presence here.)

Wedged in between a Starbucks, a California Pizza Kitchen ASAP and a Gordon Biesch brewery, the Pinkberry seemed to hold its own. We saw many a customer in our 45-minute wait in this airport fast food haven that solely came in to get some Pinkberry.

The bonus? You can also get Pinkberry as soon as you deplane as the location is right before the escalators down to the baggage claim.

Related Stories:
· Pinkberry Coverage [Jaunted]
· An Injection of Frozen Yogurt for Terminal 1 at LAX [Jaunted]]]> juliana 2009-11-06T11:55:54-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/5/85552/4028

There are baggage thieves, like these petty fellows, and then there are compulsive baggage thieves, like the couple who were just caught after having stolen 1,000+ checked bags from the carousels at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport.

Keith King and Stacy Legg-King lived in squalor amongst towers of stolen luggage strewn about their suburban home, the ill-gotten goods pinched by Keith straight from the baggage claims of arriving flights. He was spotted three weeks ago when an airport officer noticed King parking at the airport, taking a bag from the carousel, and then putting it in his car and leaving. After this incident, the police put surveillance on him and caught him in the act again this past Monday. And that's when the operation blew wide open... ]]> JetSetCD 2009-11-05T10:34:22-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/2/6520/81746

The UK's second busiest airport— and a perennial frustration for delayed London travelers having to fly in and out on its single runway—Gatwick Airport is about to come under new management. BAA, which owns six British airports and is in turn owned by the Spanish firm Ferrovial, has sold the facility to Global Infrastructure Partners. Final price: a lot:

BAA has agreed to sell its 100% interest in Gatwick Airport Limited to an entity controlled by Global Infrastructure Partners for £1.51 billion. Of the sale price, £55 million is conditional on future traffic performance and the buyer's future capital structure... Colin Matthews, BAA's Chief Executive, said... 'BAA is changing and today's announcement marks a new beginning for both Gatwick and BAA. We wish Gatwick well for the future and are confident that the airport will flourish under new ownership.'

]]> Omri 2009-11-03T08:46:30-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/28/151215/00

A new survey is out on travelers' favorite airports, this one claiming to be among the most comprehensive to date. 14,500 frequent travelers representing 160 countries from around the world were polled, and after everything was tallied the winner was Singapore's Changi Airport. Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok and Amsterdam's Schiphol were 2nd and 3rd respectively.

We're not sure how actually legitimate these results were and if there was any campaigning in the background. Whoever's responsible for the airport's PR seems to have an ambitious streak, and someone has gone so far as to insert copy into Wikipedia: "the designer airport is one of those anomalies where the phrase 'I spent all my time in the airport' is likely to be a positive."

So maybe this was a commissioned survey. But as the old saying goes, if you've got it flaunt it. And the Singapore Changi Airport certainly seems to have it.]]> Omri 2009-10-29T09:14:18-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/27/175412/33

Discouraging young adults from traveling is apparently becoming kind of a thing, isn't it? Last time it was predatory safety companies trying to convince single women that traveling alone will get them raped and killed, but his time it's a Huffington Post travel consultant giving kids a Don't Let It Happen To You lecture; "It" in this case being an airport-heavy lifestyle that takes them away from The Really Important Things In Life.

The article oozes with awkwardness, from artificially opaque jumbled writing to moments of forced bluntness, and phrases like "a tip of the fedora" (because if you're going to speak to the young hipsters, it's important to be ironic!). There's some corporate branding going on behind the scenes—the author is a Travel Website "punk marketing" specialist and the CEO of the "only independent PR firms that’s actually fun to work with"—but that's an issue better left for another time. We'll even concede that the article has some valuable moments, reminding its audience to keep petulant "pay attention to me" travel demands to a minimum because no one cares.

There's a dangerous underlying hostility to travel, though, that runs through the entire piece. It's not much more sophisticated than "kids these days are just so crazy and naughty and they never appreciate real life" tsk tsk'ing. It even has soccer mom phrases like "Ms. BlackBerry or Sir iPhone." But it's more than enough to raise our ire:]]> Omri 2009-10-28T13:09:17-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/21/8153/5713

Late last year, work began on renovating Terminal 2 at San Francisco International Airport. The terminal used to be the gateway to foreign lands, but after all the new paint and fancy lighting it will be primarily used for domestic adventures. The airport is shelling out nearly $400 million to revamp things, and when complete, it will probably make all the other terminals jealous. Virgin America is especially excited over all this construction, because this will be their official home when all the dust settles.

There will be 14 gates at the new terminal, which should leave a little extra room if another carrier or two wants to sneak into Virgin America’s home turf. The gates will be designed for narrow body aircraft, but they will have the capability for some bigger jets—just in case. Some of the cool new stuff that travelers will experience while waiting for flights includes a wine bar, spa, and over ten restaurants. The airport is even looking to recruit some slow food vendors to ensure travelers are eating healthy, locally grown food—does this include Cinnabon? There will be lots of public art, and for fans of green, the facility expects to get silver LEED certification. ]]> kjb 2009-10-21T09:01:21-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/20/155738/23

Ever the innovators, Virgin America is testing a new boarding scheme for speed and efficiency. They've ordered agents at targeted airports to let people without bags board the airplane first, the idea being to seat them and then let everyone else slow down the line while fighting for overhead space. It's the kind of thing that, if you run it through your mind, seems just crazy enough to work. So naturally everyone, us included, is trying to come up with reasons why the new policy is doomed to failure.

Travel blogger Cranky Flier is worried that overly ambitious, roll-a-board toting business consultants will try to sneak onto the plane along with legitimately carryon-free travelers. That would put gate agents in the awkward situation of either having to contradict a customer or letting them cheat. It's not that these passengers would be jumping the line in the strict sense—they have more of an incentive to do that in the status quo, where they're not assured that the people ahead of them will leave overhead space—as much as a "what do you mean my 'backpack' counts as a carryon?" kind of scenario.]]> Omri 2009-10-20T17:08:41-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/