First it was Crocs, now it's crabs. Yep, if we were playing Jeopardy, the answer is: What are last-minute purchases you can make at Miami International Airport?

Crabs is no euphemism either, folks. We're talking stone crabs. Those delicious big claws that you can only get in South Florida between October and May. Only now you don't have to hit up the famous joints like Joe's Stone Crab in South Beach to get your claw on. The opening of The Shoppes at Ocean Drive in Terminal D means you can now grab a crab on the way to your gate.

This sprawling, all-purpose store—essentially a glorified NewsLink outlet—sells claws from George Stone Crab, which also takes online orders and ships its crabs all over the U.S. and Canada.

]]> MsRebecca 2012-01-26T13:35:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/11/211515/183

There's quite a lot happening at Miami International Airport. The new MIA Mover is the way, as are more and more shops and good places to eat—what's next? A reality TV show, of course.

We already hinted at it, but now there's a few additional details. Fly through MIA this month and you may just wind up on a new show being filmed at the terminal for the Travel Channel. It doesn't have a title yet, but the show will take viewers behind the scenes of the airport, one of the country's biggest. Producers claim that the show will: "...feature an unprecedented cross section of an exciting airport staff as they deal with the stresses of getting over 100,000 strangers through its airport safely, every day." ]]> MsRebecca 2012-01-12T09:20:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/10/22273/6817
Korean Air and Lufthansa A380s snuggle up at JFK Terminal 1

Look, if you're an airport and you want to have the superjumbo Airbus A380 flying in and out, you can't just be like "hey, airlines, bring that big thang on over." Nope. Instead certain preparations must be made to accommodate an airliner of the A380's size and heft. To effectively manage each plane's 500+ passenger load, more jetways are needed, plus support vehicles to reach the upper deck. In some cases, airport runway indicator lights may need to be moved and the tarmac reinforced.

In other words, A380s can't just fly anywhere and, although the massive planes have been in the air since Singapore Airlines took delivery of the very first in 2007, not all that many airports around the world are treated to them. At least some of those are the United States...

US airports where you'll find A380s: ]]> JetSetCD 2012-01-11T09:28:00-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/2/133250/493

Do you recall the first ever time you watched The Travel Channel? We do. It was a special moment where we went from being stuck in a Sedona, AZ hotel on an uncharacteristically rainy day to being obsessed with watching the room TV for hours and hours. Nothing has changed; the Travel Channel still produces some of the most inspiring programming as far as armchair traveling goes (once they got over that summer where it was like, Las Vegas show after Las Vegas show).

For 2012, the outlook for addictive series looks very good. Of a slew of leaked shows to debut next year, we're mostly salivating over two:

“Baggage Battles” (six half-hour episodes)
This half hour series follows three teams of savvy “auction specialists,” who travel the world looking to snatch up unclaimed and lost personal property in an attempt to turn huge profits. Follow these specialists as they travel to some of the most important and unknown auctions, where pickers and resale experts bid on everything from lost luggage to abandoned personal property to seized goods of unusual merchandise.

“Miami International Airport” (working title) (six half-hour episodes)
Go behind the scenes at one of the busiest airports in the country. “Miami International Airport” features an unprecedented cross section of an exciting airport staff as they deal with the stresses of getting over 100,000 strangers through its airport safely, every day.

A ha! So it looks like BWI won't be the only airport to have their own show in 2012. And if you're into hotel shows as well, HotelChatter has the hot goss on another of Travel Channel's upcoming offerings: "Hotel Impossible." ]]> JetSetCD 2011-12-02T16:12:38-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/8/9739/44989

In our frequent travels through Miami International Airport, we've only been to the American Airlines Admirals Club on a handful of occasions. But what we have learned is that all Admirals Clubs are not created equal.

When you have a choice between three lounges—as you do at MIA if you're flying American—you may just opt for the one closest to your gate. But, not so fast! There are pros and cons to these lounges: size, crowd, amenities, etc.

To help you navigate the sprawling land of AA at MIA, here's a little breakdown of what you'll find at each AA clubhouse:

]]> MsRebecca 2011-11-10T10:26:32-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/10/26/83640/700

If you are flying through or to Miami International Airport, your checked baggage will never be lost again—or at least that the plan. The airport has recently begun to put the final touches on its newest baggage handling system, and officials hope that the more than 10 miles of conveyor belts will work exactly as promised.

The new airport technology arrives at the North Terminal after here and there delays, and of course after spending more money than initially planned. We know that everyone pretty much cares about getting their bag, but this new $212-million system also has the capability to scan and search bags for explosives as well. The goal is to have the system live up to its capacity, and that means it should be sorting and screening around 6,400 suitcases each and every hour. ]]> kjb 2011-10-26T08:36:40-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/10/5/153020/720

TSA has been a veritable mad scientist's laboratory of experiments lately, all aimed—depending on how cynical you are—either at improving security, getting the public to stop whining about intrusive security measures, or some combination of the two (hint: it's some combination of the two).

They're going out of their way not to pat down babies, they're launching Israeli-style security screenings, they're rolling out gingerbread man scanners, and now they're launching a new program to speed frequent fliers through security. Ambitious!

The new program, dubbed PreCheck, is in its pilot phase at ATL, MIA, DFW, and DTW. Selected frequent fliers who shared their information with TSA before they arrived at the airport are being offered—in exchange—a line that allows them get through screening much more quickly. It's kind of "basic trade-off," as the Associated Press writeup so eloquently puts it. ]]> Omri 2011-10-05T15:50:54-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/