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Tags: Airport Shops / Shopping Travel / ORD / Airports / Airport News / Chicago Travel / Chocolate Travel / → All Tags
Sweeten Up Your Layover In Chicago-O'Hare At Vosges Chocolate Shop
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.
Tags: Prime-Plane-Spotting-Map / Plane Spotting / ORD / United / Chicago Travel / → All Tags
How About A Little Ice Hockey With Your Plane-Spotting?
We love airplanes, you love airplanes, so let's go look at airplanes! In our Prime Plane Spotting series, we'll let you in on all the best spots to whip out your cameras and binoculars for a piece of the aviation action.
Next up in our burgeoning series of Prime Planespotting Locations, we take you to the city of Chicago, where United Airlines rules the skies and it's easy to watch most takeoff and landings at O'Hare Airport from the comfort of the ground.
Actually, it's the comfort of a parking lot; Allstate Arena, which hosts ice hockey games and major concerts, sits just on the other side of the expressway from one of O'Hare's main runways. Parking in its lot during an event—the lot is closed if nothing is going on at Allstate—gets you as close as possible to the tarmac without being a threat to the flights.
Tags: Airport News / Airport Services / ORD / Technology / → All Tags
Chicago's O'Hare Airport Gets 'Touchy' With New Technology
It takes a serious stretch of imagination to think up anything more gruelingly frustrating than having to wait out a snow delay at Chicago's O'Hare Airport while resisting the temptation to purchase the Boingo wireless in the terminal. These days, the good old crossword puzzle is replaced by iphone checkers and thankfully, some airports are recognizing this and installing new technological entertainment outposts in their concourses.
Now instead of impulse buying a Tom Clancy paperback for your 45-minute flight, you have the option to chill in "Explore Chicago" lounges at O'Hare, equipped with new HP TouchSmart PCs and a plethora of Windy City-specific activities for passing the time.
Tags: Airport News / ORD / Airline News / Airports / Delta / Continental / American Airlines / Virgin America / → All Tags
Airlines Play Hopscotch at Chicago's O'Hare Airport
There is possibly nothing more annoying than having to get all the way out to Chicago's O'Hare Airport early in the morning for a domestic flight, and then trudging out to the furthest gates while whiffs of McDonald's McGriddles come at your nostrils from every angle. If the carriers soon get their wishes to shuffle down a few gates, then this may be a problem of the past as you'll be at the gate in no time.
According to the Chicago Tribune, falling passenger counts and airline alliances are about to cause an earthquake amongst the gates at O'Hare as airlines give up a few jetways and shuffle in closer to their comrades. Among those most affected are Delta and Continental, whose future vacant gates are already drawing greedy glances from American Airlines and (finally!) Virgin America, who had abandoned Chicago as a destination because of gate occupancy issues in the past.
Look O'Hare, all we ask of you is a little space for Virgin America and perhaps some closer gates for JetBlue, whose two current jetways are practically way out in Minnesota. Perhaps maybe then we'll stop ditching you for Midway...perhaps.
Related Stories:
· Gate crashers: O'Hare Terminal Moves Expected [Chicago Tribune]
· Carriers poised for major moves at O'Hare [SmartBrief]
· Airport News coverage [Jaunted]
[O'Hare from the air: caribb]
Tags: Architecture Travel / Chicago / ORD / Airport Art / O'Hare / Mies van der Rohe / → All Tags
O'Hare Airport Stars in Chicago Photography Exhibition
It just may be the original airport photoshoot: Chicago's Architecture Foundation is paying homage to O'Hare Airport, that great hub on the city's western fringes that usually only receives bad ratings for security wait times. The FREE show, "ORD: Documenting the Definitive Modern Airport," is displaying the vintage photographs from O'Hare's shiny past, before it became the bottleneck it is now.
On display through May 1, the exhibit wants you to get a feel for the buildings of O'Hare free of the departing flight bustle. Influenced by Mies van der Rohe (wasn't everything in Chicago in the '50s and '60s?) yet conceived by Helmut Jahn, O'Hare is known as "Chicago's Versailles," even though we think it's more akin to Chicago's Grande Arche de la Défense; something through which many people pass, but few stop to recognize.
Since nothing excites us more than the combination of free and vintage airport art, we recommend getting down to 224 South Michigan Ave. They've even got a pair of the Eames O'Hare tandem sling seats on display, as well as historical documents and an acoustic installation of airport sounds. Checking out the exhibit may not get you to your flight any faster next time you're at O'Hare, but perhaps it will make you look up and around, quieting your anxiety, and that makes all the difference.
Related Stories:
· ORD: Document the Definitive Modern Airport [Official Site]
· O'Hare Having a Party, No One Coming [Jaunted]
· Architecture Travel Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Hedrich Blessing]
Tags: New Routes / Virgin America / David Cush / BOS / ORD / Travel News / Airline News / → All Tags
Sorry, Chicago: Virgin America Is Headed To Boston
Just three days after scrapping plans to touch down at Chicago O'Hare, Virgin America has announced it will start flights to Boston Logan on February 12, 2009. Three flights a day will connect BOS and LAX, and two round-trips daily will link Boston to San Francisco. Sorry, New York: No shuttle flights for you just yet.
While hyping low fares (starting at $149 each way for BOS-LAX) and the fact that this is the carrier's eighth city (!), Virgin also managed to get in a few digs at Chicago, the city that apparently couldn't bully the majors into giving up a few of their precious gates at O'Hare. Says CEO David Cush:
We thank the state, city and airport for their support and warm welcome, and we can’t wait to introduce our upscale, high value service to Boston travelers--especially on the SFO-BOS and LAX-BOS routes that until today offered no low fare competition.
So while Boston will likely now see fares drop, passengers flying out of O'Hare will continue getting hosed. If you're looking for someone to send those angry letters to, Chicago, your Department of Aviation commissioner is Richard Rodriguez--and here's how to get in touch with him!
Related Stories:
· For Lack of Gates at O'Hare, Virgin Cancels Chicago Flight Plans [Jaunted]
· The History of Virgin America's "Expansions" [Jaunted]
Tags: New Routes / Virgin America / Travel News / ORD / → All Tags
Virgin America Could Scrap Chicago Plans
After announcing big-time plans to crack a market not on the coasts, Virgin America says it may decide not to fly into Chicago O'Hare. If the carrier can't work out a way to lease gate space at the airport soon, it may give up the effort, despite having already secured the right to five takeoff and landing slots.
CEO David Cush told the Chicago Tribune:
I'm guessing we're a couple of weeks away from making a tough decision. ... There is a solution to this problem. I just don't know how we get there.
City officials say they're doing their best to broker a deal, but it seems United, American and Delta, all of which have cut back service to ORD over the past few years, aren't ready to rent gates to the competition. If Virgin can't crack the legacies soon, Cush says his airline will simply grow its operations on the East Coast instead.
Related Stories:
· No Gates at O'Hare Leaves Virgin in Lurch [Chicago Tribune]
· Virgin America Pushing First Flights to 2009 [Jaunted]
Tags: Airports / T5 at JFK / T2 at RDU / ORD / SEA / LAS / IAD / → All Tags
Why Are Passengers Footing The Bill For All These Shiny, New Terminals?
Chicago O'Hare, Washington Dulles and Seattle-Tacoma are all paving new runways. The airport in Detroit just opened a new terminal, as did JetBlue, of course, with its long-awaited T5 at JFK (pictured). Since airlines seem to perpetually do the exact opposite of what’s good for them, we have to wonder whether pouring money into cushier digs on the ground really improves the process of flying for those who matter: Us.
Since congestion seems to be easing on its own, what with the increasing popularity of the delusional "staycation," it seems a bit frivolous for struggling airlines to continually unveil glistening, futuristic new terminals every few months. Passengers end up paying for these sweeping structures filled with interlocking corrugated iron and panoramic views of the tarmac. Whereas landing fees were less than $5 per ticket a few years ago, now they’re up to about $8. At the airport in St. Louis, with one of the most underused terminals anywhere, passengers end up paying an extra $13.
Executives at Southwest Airlines, which slowed its terminal expansions in the late 1990s, are particularly critical of the trend. Bob Montgomery, Southwest's VP of Properties, argued that the third terminal planned for McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas will basically screw over struggling consumers with unnecessary fees. The projects are "spending other people's money," added the company’s CEO, Gary Kelly. You tell ‘em, Gary.
Related Stories:
· US Airports Grow Apace, but the Timing Seems Off [IHT]
· New Terminals Travel: A Sneak Peak at T2 at RDU [Jaunted]
· New Detroit Terminal React-O-Matic [Jaunted]
[Photo: interpolactic]
Tags: New Routes / Virgin America / Travel News / ORD / → All Tags
Virgin America Pushing First Chicago Flights To 2009
Earlier this year, Virgin America announced its intentions to start service to Chicago, potentially before the end of this year if the FAA was game. And now that O'Hare will open a new runway and lift flight caps in the next three weeks, it seems like we should be flying VA to ORD any day now.
But the airline, which is burning through money while expanding service to other cities, has pushed back its Chicago debut, says USA Today:
Virgin America now hopes to launch service to Chicago O'Hare in early 2009, though the carrier does not have a firm date targeted for the beginning of that service.
The problem, it seems, is finding gate space at the airport. Probably because they're insisting on something near the disco!
Related Stories:
· Virgin America's O'Hare Launch Slides to 2009 [USA Today]
· Virgin Wins Best Domestic Carrier from Conde Nast Readers [Jaunted]
Tags: ORD / Bobby Sturgell / Airports / Airline Analysis / Virgin America / → All Tags
O'Hare Having a Party, No One Coming
While the government is maintaining caps on takeoffs and landings at New York area airports--and some aviation insiders pray for re-regulation--officials at Chicago O'Hare are rolling out the welcome mat. The head of the FAA, Bobby Sturgell, says there will be no more flight caps at ORD, citing a new runway that's scheduled to open this fall.
But airlines aren't exactly clamoring to fill the extra capacity, says the Chicago Tribune:
The flight caps are no longer necessary, or even relevant, because the airline business is in the midst of an unprecedented downturn spurred by record fuel prices and a weak economy.
Both American and United, big-time carriers at O'Hare, have recently announced major cuts in service. JetBlue has all but halted growth--save for some new flights in the Caribbean.
This should help Virgin America with its planned expansion at the airport, right? Possibly, says spokeswoman Abby Lunardini:
[It's] encouraging, but we don't have official word back on our FAA filing yet.
UPDATE: Now Virgin America says it will cut capacity by 10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, due to higher fuel costs.
Related Stories:
· Flight Caps to Vanish at O'Hare [CT]
· O'Hare coverage [Jaunted]
· New Airline Routes coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo of the ORD disco lights: diongillard]
Tags: Travel Snapshots / ORD / Airports / Art / Airport Art / Public Art / Layovers / → All Tags
Travel Snapshot: The Futuristic Disco at ORD
When we found out one of our recent flights went through O'Hare International on the way to Boston we got cold chills and our spine tingled. ORD is rightly notorious for delays and canceled flights. Given the violent weather that's been sweeping the Midwest, we crossed our fingers and stayed as positive as a meadowlark in a field full of flowers.
Not only did our flight go off without a hitch, we got to experience the awesomeness of the pedestrian connector between Concourses B and C in Terminal 2.
It was like walking through a futuristic disco version of Captain EO. All that was missing to make this the coolest transfer ever was roller skate rentals and 3-D glasses. Next time you find yourself stranded at O'Hare, head down to the moving walkway and relish the pretty lights.
Related Stories:
· Travel Snapshots coverage [Jaunted]
· Airport Art coverage [Jaunted]
Tags: Virgin America / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / New Routes / ORD / David Cush / Jaunted Interviews / → All Tags
Jaunted Interview: Chatting with David Cush
A Jaunted Exclusive
Virgin America will ask the FAA for a share of the Chicago market this week, and if all goes well, VA will be flying to O'Hare by November.
After Virgin confirmed the expansion plans, we were excited to talk with CEO David Cush, posing here with Cisco Adler, about the future of the airline, how the FAA allocates landing rights and what it's like to compete with a former employer.
Jaunted: We've been hearing rumors about Chicago for months. Why make the move into that new market now?
DC: You're not an airline until you fly to Chicago. We want to fly four flights a day from LAX and SFO to ORD because this is third largest travel market in the US and we think Chicagoans are going to love our product.
Currently, Chicago/O'Hare has virtually no low-fare competition to the West Coast and none from SFO or LAX. We think we can compete with the big guys and inject a little healthy competition into a market that desperately needs it.
