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Where to Smoke, Drink and WiFi When Flying Out of Nassau

Where: Nassau, Bahamas
February 9, 2012 at 1:45 PM | by | Comments (0)

Work on the new international arrivals hall at Nassau's Lynden Pindling International Airport is still underway—but the departures areas are looking pretty nice and, as far as we could tell when flying out on Monday, functioning faster than they did in the past.

One improvement you may be interested in if you like a cigar or a stiff drink before waving goodbye to the Bahamas is the Graycliff Divan Airport Lounge.

This spinoff of the Graycliff hotel, restaurant and cigar company opened its double lounge—one smoking, one non-smoking—last spring opposte Gate C41 in the US departures terminal.

You may not realize it's an airport lounge at first because it looks like a tschotske-filled boutique—and in fact it is. To register for access to your lounge of choice, you must enter through the gift shop.

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Angry Birds in an Airplane! Kinda Sorta.

February 9, 2012 at 11:40 AM | by | Comments (0)

We're not going to lie, but Angry Birds might still be our favorite game to play on a plane. It can be played when in airplane mode (ahem, Alec Baldwin) and is the only game that makes us occasionally laugh aloud, all while flinging birds towards mean little pigs. Well, the creators of the game have already announced opening up theme parks designed around the game, but there's more (of course).

If you're huge fan and you've already got Angry Birds flip flops, hoodies, keychains and all those little tchotchkes, our recommendation for your next layover in Helskini is to stop pulling the slingshot and hit the new shop for your favorite characters. The Finnish masterminds behind the game have opened up a little plane-shaped Angry Birds kiosk-shop in the middle of Helsinki International Airport.

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Sugar High, Up High: Five Exceptional Airport Candy Shops

February 9, 2012 at 9:30 AM | by | Comments (0)

If you’re flying next week, beware the red and pink cheap chocolates of the Hudson News airport outlets. While sending something in advance of Valentine’s Day is probably the best idea, you can always grab something nice for him or her on your way home from the airport, and no we're not talking about flowers from an arrivals hall vending machine. Here’s five airport candy shops that should satisfy any sweetie’s sweet tooth:

Sugar Pop - Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport

Even if you don’t need something for the upcoming Hallmark holiday, it’s worth it to stop in at Sugar Pop within the mall section of Terminal 1-Lindbergh. The place is loaded with different colors and sugary options, and they even have some teddy bears and other cuddly critters to go along with all those calories. This isn’t exactly the place for gourmet confections, but if you’re looking for oversized lollipops or personalized treats, it'll more than do.

Candy Empire – Singapore-Changi Airport

Sitting within the basement level of Terminal 3 is the spot you need to visit for chocolates, cookies, and everything in between. They promise stuff from Australia, Europe, and the United States, so if you can’t find something that fits your needs, you don’t know what you need. A few pieces of foreign candy from Candy Empire should hopefully smooth over any sort of trouble caused by not being home on Valentine's Day.

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Hanging Out at Singapore's Changi Airport: So Many Gardens

February 7, 2012 at 10:24 AM | by | Comments (0)

There's a reason Singapore-Changi International Airport consistently wins awards; it's because the place is ah-may-zing. After spending much time at the three main terminals earlier this week, we're sharing with you our favorite, can't-miss bits of this massive travel hub.

Today: The variety of indoor and outdoor gardens in Terminals 1 and 2

So a weird thing happened while we were at Changi. Well, we were chilling in a cactus garden watching a Qantas 747 taxi around the tarmac when it suddenly began raining in a soaking downpour that nearly ruined our passport. What's odd about this isn't the raining on the cacti, but the fact that all this was happening in an airport.

Changi is a massive airport of four terminals, but only three are worth talking about (the fourth is a tiny terminal for budget, regional airlines). The main three are packed with all kinds of shops, all kinds of eateries, a flume slide, a pool and lovely, lovely gardens:

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Bad News for Aussie Airports: No Body Scan, No Fly

Where: Australia
February 7, 2012 at 9:16 AM | by | Comment (1)

It seems so long ago that American airports began introducing full-body scanners for passengers to be randomly selected before passing into the secure gate area. What also seems from long ago is the issue of privacy the machines posed with the revealing images. Well, after our outright concern, abhorrence, acceptance, and return to the concern, another continent joins the scanner controversy: Australia.

Down Under follows the US and Europe, and will adopt the same "gingerbread man person" technology, which displays an outline of a gender-less person only highlighting areas of risk. Parliament also promises that all images are discarded after each passenger. We have heard this all before.

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Up Close with the Annoying, Magic Ad Mirrors of Chicago-O'Hare Airport

February 6, 2012 at 4:56 PM | by | Comments (0)

We said they were coming, and lo, they have come. Yesterday, flying from Chicago-O'Hare, we encountered the dreaded advertising mirrors—bathroom mirrors that double up as screens for advertisements.

How are they in real life? Way more imposing/annoying than you'd expect. They work by sensing when someone's at the mirror, so if you're waiting in line for a cubicle, all you see is moving adverts. Which, we suppose, isn't too irritating, but it does mean you can't check yourself out carry out quick makeup touch ups as you wait.

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Inside Dragonair's G16 Lounge at Hong Kong International

February 6, 2012 at 4:20 PM | by | Comment (1)

We've given you a glorious tour of the unbelievable Cathay Pacific airport lounges at the Hong Kong International Airport from The Wing to The Pier but today we're taking you inside the less-exciting G16 Lounge of Dragonair, a regional carrier of Cathay Pacific.

Located at, as its name indicates, Gate 16, the lounge overlooks the gate area up on high—sort of like a Loft Lounge. The seating areas are very traditional (no Solus pods here) although plentiful. The self-service refreshment counter features plenty of drinks and finger snacks (both Western and Asian, alcoholic and non) as well as coffee and cappuccino.

There's also a kitchen with an on-site chef to prepare Hong Kong specialties like fishball noodles. (We were hoping for some Dan dan noodles like the ones we ate at SFO but alas, we were out of luck.)

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Hungary's Malev Shuts Down after 66 Years, LCCs Rush In

February 6, 2012 at 1:56 PM | by | Comments (0)

Hey, remember when journalists started weirdly declaring that everything was fine with the airline industry? And then travelers took that to mean that good times were here again while the government swooped in with expensive new regulations? And then remember how American Airlines went bankrupt and then Spanair shut down and then Hungary's Malev shut down? Good times.

There's not much to say about this latest casualty of the global economic crunch. Hungary really, really wanted to keep Malev operating, with the government declaring the airline to be a "priority objective." But they just couldn't make the carrier viable—specifically, they couldn't convince suppliers that the government would be able to pay them for services—and thus ended the Malev's 66 years of almost continuous service. Sad.

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Inside the Oasis Lounge at New York-JFK's Terminal 4

Where: JFK International Airport [map], New York , NY, United States
February 6, 2012 at 10:24 AM | by | Comments (2)

So you're flying Business Class on the Singapore Airlines A380? Or maybe you're heading out in business class on any of the other airlines that call JFK Terminal 4 home, among them Aer Lingus. After checking in for your flight but before heading through security, you'll be directed to chill in the Oasis Lounge on the mezzanine above the main hubbub of the terminal.

On your walk over to the lounge, you'll see the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse (don't get too jealous; it's going to be replaced by an even better Clubhouse soon) and you'll pass near the four prayer rooms of JFK. That's about the end of the excitement, however, as the Oasis Lounge is pretty standard lounge fare with the exception of free booze and stellar views of the tarmac.

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Hanging Out at Singapore's Changi Airport: The Outdoor Pool. Yes, a Pool.

Where: Singapore-Changi International, Singapore, Singapore
February 2, 2012 at 5:38 PM | by | Comments (0)

There's a reason Singapore-Changi International Airport consistently wins awards; it's because the place is ah-may-zing. After spending much time at the three main terminals earlier this week, we're sharing with you our favorite, can't-miss bits of this massive travel hub.

Today: The famous pool atop Changi Airport's Terminal 1

Look, you have to believe us when we say that one of the terminals at Changi Airport has a swimming pool. Why? Because, crazily enough, it's true. You'll find the clear blue waters of the outdoor pool above Terminal 1, just follow the "swimming pool" signs and an escalator to reach it.

Technically, this pool (and whirlpool) is part of a hotel in the terminal—the Ambassador Transit Hotel—but it's actually situated across a landing from the hotel reception and, thus, quite easy to check out on your own before paying the $13.91 SGD ($11.15 USD) to actually use the facilities and take a dip.

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It's Official, Just Blame Your Airline Delay Squarely on New York City

February 2, 2012 at 9:08 AM | by | Comments (0)

The next time you’re stuck in the terminal—or on the tarmac—with nowhere to go, there’s now officially someone to blame for your delay and disturbance. It’s actually not a person but more of a place, as it’s New York City that’s likely the spot causing all of the trouble.

The New York Times looked into the causes behind a lot of these airport and airplane inconveniences, and they found that the city’s busy air traffic and multiple airports are the places to blame. There’s been different flight plans from the FAA and even less planes overall thanks to the dip in the economy, but that still hasn’t helped the congestion up in the skies above the greater metropolitan area. Apparently the city’s three major airports—along with the airport in Philadelphia—accounted for around 12 percent of all the country’s domestic flights, but those few flights created like half of all delays.

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Peeking into JFK Airport's Religious Prayer Rooms

Where: JFK International Airport [map], New York, NY, United States
January 31, 2012 at 6:42 PM | by | Comments (0)


The Catholic room

Got some extra time at New York-JFK Airport? Instead of grabbing another Auntie Anne's pretzel or buying an "I <3 NY" magnet for your second cousin, perhaps wander on over to the prayer rooms instead. Yes, prayer rooms.

The departures level at Terminal 4, before security, has four prayer rooms for different religions: Muslim, Protestant, Catholic and Jewish. When we passed by recently, we noticed that the Catholic one was in the middle of actual mass, and indeed they offer it daily excepting Wednesdays (M: 5pm, Tu: 12:15pm, Th: 5pm, F: 12:15pm, Sa: 5pm, Su: 1pm).

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