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American Airlines / Airlines / Airline News / AUS / Checked Baggage / Luggage / Baggage / → All Tags

American Airlines Testing Out Do-It-Yourself Bag Tags at Austin's Airport

We knew airlines wanted you to start tagging your own checked baggage, and it now looks like testing will finally begin in the Lone Star State. If you’re flying out of Austin anytime soon—say to head back from SXSW—American Airlines is asking you to be their self-tagging guinea pig.

Tagging your own bags is nothing new overseas, but here at home, it’s always been up to airline employees. For whatever reason it’s like the law or something for airline agents to do all the tagging, but apparently American Airlines got the go-ahead to let us crazy passengers do things ourselves.

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JetBlue / New Routes / AUS / Airlines / Airline News / Texas Travel / → All Tags

JetBlue May Add a 'Nerd Bird' Between San Jose and Austin This Year

The head honcho at JetBlue—CEO David Barger—has been completing layovers at each and every of his airline’s destinations in celebration of the airline’s first decade in business. There’s probably a lot of hand shaking and airport tours taking place at most, but it looks like those at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport got a little extra information.

Last week during his visit to Texas, JetBlue’s CEO mentioned that the airline might be looking at new routes from Austin in the near future. Specifically Washington and Cancun were mentioned, so if you need still need to plan that winter vacation you might want to watch for an official announcement.

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Airport Food / Ice Cream / Airports / AUS / Travel Tips / → All Tags

Awesome Airport Ice Cream Is Available At Amy's In Austin

Sometimes we need a little more than a Frappuccino to satisfy our sweet tooth while waiting for a flight. With SXSW coming up in only a few weeks, we’ve got to nominate Amy’s Ice Cream as one of the best airport treats in the country. There’s plenty of locations in Austin as well, so you don’t have to wait until your flight out of Texas to make a stop for a little bit of ice cream.

Amy’s makes all their own ice cream, and with a butterfat content starting at 14 percent all flavors are creamy, delicious, and nutritious. The place always has seven standard options that are always available, and you’re welcome to add anything you’d like into flavors like sweet cream, white chocolate, Belgian chocolate, and Mexican vanilla. They mix the toppings right in front of you, and if you’ve got a skilled scooper, they might just do a trick or two while getting things ready. Think Tom Cruise in Cocktail, but with ice cream.

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In-Flight WiFi / Alaska Airlines / Airlines / Airline News / SJC / AUS / PDX / → All Tags

Alaska Launches Daily "Nerd Bird" Between San Jose And Austin

Silicon Valley commuters were positively inconsolable earlier this summer when American Airlines put an end to their "nerd bird" flights, the route between San Jose and Austin. Happy times will soon be here again, though, because Alaska Airlines has committed to picking up the slack:

Alaska Airlines today will inaugurate nonstop service between San Jose, Calif., and Austin, Texas, officially resurrecting the popular "nerd bird" route. The flight will originate in Portland, Ore., and the airline will add another daily flight between the three cities starting March 14, 2010. "This route is a natural extension of our network and provides a vital link between these high-tech hubs," said Steve Jarvis, Alaska Airlines' vice president of marketing, sales and customer experience.

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Airport WiFi / Airport-WiFi-Map / AUS / → All Tags

Austin Airport WiFi Now Through Boingo, Just As Weird

It's the death of the mom-and-pop store, gone wireless: After its contract lapsed with local WiFi provider Wayport, Austin Bergstrom International Airport has signed up with near-ubiquitous Boingo for terminal service.

The move has been a few months in the making as Wayport, which formerly partnered with T-Mobile, was acquired by AT&T in November. Travelers have to go to downtown Austin to connect to the city's free public hotspots, although Boingo is looking into free access via kiosks in the terminal.

We still think WiFi should be free, but we'll say this for Boingo: We've never had trouble connecting to one of their hot spots, nor, once we've paid, have we been charged multiple times for closing and re-opening our browser on the same day. And a free hotspot one can't connect to for love or money is almost worse than having to fork over $7.95 for an hour of 'Net access. Almost.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story reported that wireless access used to be free in the terminals, which was not true. Thanks to Jim Halbrook of ABIA for the info.

Related Stories:
· Austin's airport gets Boingo as new WiFi provider [Statesman Business Blog]
· Participating Hotspots [Austin Wireless City]
· Airport WiFi Map [Jaunted]

[Photo of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport: kirkh]

New Routes / Virgin America / David Cush / AUS / ATL / → All Tags

The History of Virgin America's "Expansions"

While newly wireless Virgin America is holding off on acquiring new planes for now, that didn't stop CEO David Cush from talking up some new cities that his airline is eyeing. Where might we see VA in the next couple years? Austin-Bergstrom International and Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta.

Back in 2007, all the speculation was focused Miami and Boston, two cities that Virgin still says might be on the route map in the future. Then, of course, there's the Chicago situation, which VA says should be resolved soon.

Even more esoteric expansions we've heard mentioned in the past include Vancouver and Cabo; haven't seen flights to either of those cities yet, despite previous claims that Virgin would be in 10 cities by the second half of this year. Heh: This recession is killing everyone!

Related Stories:
· Virgin America Raises More Cash [Aviation Week]
· What's Next for Virgin America? [Jaunted]

[Photo: davitydave]

New Airlines / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / Viva Aerobus / GYY / AUS / → All Tags

Viva Aerobus Update: "Madness" in Austin

Relatively new Mexican LCC Viva Aerobus made its first flight into Austin, Texas on May 1, and the early reviews are fairly decent. And the airline is certainly thrilled, says a spokesman:

The Austin-Cancun route has been madness. We underestimated the potential of the American market.

Flights between AUS and CUN have been close to capacity all month, says the airline. (Maybe those promotional fares of $10 each way helped?) Monterrey has proven less popular, with only about 55 percent of the seats sold on a given flight.

Apparently unconcerned about fuel prices, Viva Aerobus is looking to expand to Chicago this summer and Las Vegas this fall. The carrier needs DOT approval first, and there's one other little problem at Gary/Chicago International: The airport still needs to build out an international arrivals gate and staff it with customs agents before Viva Aerobus lands at GYY.

Related Stories:
· $8.3M Needed to Make GYY "International" [NWI P-T]
· Gary Airport Keeps Hanging Hopes on LCCs [Jaunted]
· New Airlines: Que Onda, Viva Aerobus? [Jaunted]

[Photo: Charlie_tj]

Celeb Travel / Angelina Jolie / Brad Pitt / Super World Travelers / Airport Photo Shoots / AUS / → All Tags

Super World Travelers Don't Even Need Luggage

Super World Traveler Angelina Jolie flew out of Austin-Bergstrom International on Tuesday with her son Maddox as Brad Pitt worked away on his latest project, "The Tree of Life."

We've gotta hand it to Jolie for classing up the airport with such a fancy dress. And Maddox is looking pretty flash, too. Course that's easy to do when you're not schlepping a bunch of carry-on bags.

But our favorite thing about this airport photo shoot? The dude on the left who's completely unmoved by a crush of paparazzi and one of the most famous mom-and-son couples on the planet. Homeboy is just trying to make his flight.

Related Stories:
· Super World Travelers Aren't Fooling Anyone [Jaunted]
· Super World Travelers Fly Luton Just Like Us! [Jaunted]
· Super World Travelers coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Gossip Girls]