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Load Up on Pinkberry Before Your Southwest Flight

November 6, 2009 at 11:55 AM | by juliana | 0 Comments

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]

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Cops Nab Phoenix Airport Baggage Thief; Is Your Missing Luggage In His House?

November 5, 2009 at 10:34 AM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

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...

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How Much Would You Pay For One Of London's Airports?

November 3, 2009 at 8:46 AM | by Omri | 0 Comments

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.'

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Confirmed: Singapore's Changi Airport Is Absurdly, Famously Decadent

October 29, 2009 at 9:14 AM | by Omri | 1 Comment

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.

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Is There A Such Thing As 'Travel Addiction?'

October 28, 2009 at 1:09 PM | by Omri | 3 Comments

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:

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Construction Under Way At Virgin America's Future Home: Terminal 2 At SFO

October 21, 2009 at 9:01 AM | by kjb | 2 Comments

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.

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Virgin America Tests Allowing Baggage-Free Passengers To Board First

October 20, 2009 at 5:08 PM | by Omri | 3 Comments

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.

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Sweeten Up Your Layover In Chicago-O'Hare At Vosges Chocolate Shop

Where: O'Hare International Airport [map], Chicago, IL, United States
October 16, 2009 at 1:44 PM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

Chicago's O'Hare International Airport might be known as one of the country's most congested airports, but thanks to the arrival of a new shop in Terminal 1 (B Concourse), ORD is also on the map for something else: designer chocolate.

The terminal has a Vosges Haut-Chocolat (pronounced "voge") shop, and although it was installed before Christmas last year. it's better late than never to pass on any chocolate news, especially with another round of holiday travel looming. Vosges, a Chicago-based company started by a world traveling woman inspired by the flavors of the world, now has two shops in NYC and one in Vegas in addition to the Windy City, and the treats continue to evolve.

Bacon and chocolate, after the jump.

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Think Tank Finds Solution To Flight Delays: New Fees On Passengers

October 8, 2009 at 4:33 PM | by Omri | 0 Comments

Researchers over at the top-ranked Brookings Institution have taken a look at the airline industry and at airport congestion, and they'd like you to know that they're very concerned. They note that airline delays have increased dramatically over the last decade, until now more than one in ten planes is over two hours late. Very true and very concerning, and thank you for bringing that to our attention, though it's hardly news.

Their solution, which is to raise fees in order to discourage travelers from flying during peak congestion times, seems to us much less smart:

The researchers said much of the problem is due to heavy concentrations of short trips between big cities, but they also cited an "ill-equipped" air traffic control system and other factors. They suggested increasing high-speed rail service to offer travelers alternatives to short flights. They also recommended letting busy airports charge fees on rush-hour flights to make airlines spread trips more evenly through the day.

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Brad Pitt And Angelina Jolie Have Had Enough Of Commercial Airports

Where: France
October 6, 2009 at 9:13 AM | by JetSetCD | 2 Comments

Some of us are looking forward to remodeling our bathrooms, others can't wait to upgrade their laptop, and then there are those who are champing at the bit to get started on building their own personal airstrip in France. Of course we refer to the one and only Super World Travelers, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

According to Private Jet Daily (which is just our favorite daily), Brangelina are sick and tired of paparazzi hounding them from both sides of the airport security check when they fly from commercial airports. Now that they've both got their private pilot licenses and plenty of space on their Chateau Miraval estate in France, an airstrip is the next logical step.

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Listen In On Air Traffic Control From Your iPhone

September 4, 2009 at 12:28 PM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

Noting that Labor Day weekend means one of the busiest travel times of the year, we're tuning in to something other than our iTunes on our iPhone. It's a newish app, released this summer, and it comes from the great people behind LiveATC.net, which lets you tune in to streaming air traffic control at select airports around the world.

At $2.99, it's the most expensive app we've bought, but there's just something exciting about listening in on JFK's Tower as flights depart and arrive for everywhere from Nice, France to Rochester. A few mornings ago, we even caught the air traffic controllers wrestling with some Coast Guard traffic and the occasional helicopter.

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Atlanta's AeroClinic Will Hook You Up With Flu Shots In The Airport

August 31, 2009 at 1:19 PM | by Omri | 0 Comments

When last we checked in on ATL's AeroClinic, it had just opened and was offering travelers diagnoses and scripts at $80 a visit. A couple years later and they've expanded into the flu shot market. They're even gearing up to ride swine flu all the way into profitability. Or at least news coverage:

The clinic dispensed about 10,000 flu shots last year, and ... the company is offering the shots starting Sept. 15 'to accommodate people who want to get a jump-start on flu season.'... Kelly says the AeroClinic hopes to get an allocation of H1N1 flu vaccine when it becomes available, which is estimated around mid-October.

The standard flu shots they're giving right now cost $35, with H1N1 vaccine pricing to be announced later.

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