Jaunted

Tags: Drug Travel / Drugs / SFO / Marijuana / → All Tags

San Fran Lets Medical Marijuana Take To Its Skies

Thanks to the TSA, travelers have all kinds of hoops to jump through when it’s finally time to catch your flight. Everyone knows there’s some math formula with the number three and something about one ounce when it comes to the rules regarding liquids and plastic baggies. Well if you have something else that weighs an ounce and comes in a plastic bag you won’t have to do much to get through security. Medical marijuana patients can now pass through the San Francisco International Airport and other Bay Area airports without any issues, or so they say.

As long as you have the proper paperwork you can carry up to eight ounces of marijuana with you. That’s the city’s policy, and it’s up to city police to make the final ruling. The TSA kind of has no authority over the issue, but if we had some healing hooch we’d still probably be a little discrete when going through airport security. The US Department of Justice pretty much told US attorneys to not bother passengers when they are just following the state’s rules and regulations.

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Tags: SFO / Airport News / Virgin America / Airports / San Francisco Travel / → All Tags

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

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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Tags: Airport News / SFO / JFK / DFW / Travel Health / EWR / → All Tags

Pill Popping And Flight Hopping: Airport Pharmacies Proliferate

It's crunch time for your flight and you're desperate to pick up your prescription or some nasal spray or just some St. John's Wort *wink*, but you know the airport is notorious for having lots of only one thing: a greasy, overpriced food court. Thankfully, this is no longer the case as some airports welcome Harmony Pharmacies, regular pharmacies stocking necessities and more when you don't have the time to hook yourself up with some last-minute NyQuil.

Back in 2007, Newark International was the first United States airport to welcome a functioning pharmancy with on-site nurse practitioner and prescription service, all of which is still located in Terminal C1, near Gate 91.

Then, during last fall when T5 at JFK opened, another Harmony moved in near Gate 7. And now the health has spread to San Francisco Intl Airport and it won't stop there; Dallas/Ft. Worth, Cleveland-Hopkins, and Baltimore-Washington Intl should all have their own Harmony airport pharmacies by the end of next year.

Until then, feel free to fill your Viagra Clarinex prescriptions with the full-time pharmacist or check your blood pressure; SFO's Harmony Pharmacy is located in the "F" hub of Terminal 3.

Related Stories:
· SFO Welcomes Airport Pharmacy [SFO Press Release]
· Harmony Pharmacy [Official Site]
· On the fly and forgot to pack your meds? San Francisco Airport's new on-site pharmacy [Examiner]
· Airport News Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Harmony Pharmacy]

Tags: Upscale Airport Restaurants / SFO / → All Tags

On The Lighter Side with Ebisu

You've already bought your ticket to get in here, so why feel excluded all over again? SFO's Ebisu draws lines around the block for dinner in the city, but a recent visit revealed no line in the Terminal G food court for its noodles and sushi.

Actually, the San Francisco airport is the only place where you could get Ebisu for a while. Named for the Japanese god of fishermen and good luck, Ebisu's current location on 9th Avenue was closed for the last two months of 2008 for renovation, which means no oysters with ginger and no sweet shrimp on the tables. And even an over-order of sushi goes down easier than the usual greasy airport fare.

Related Stories:
· Celeb-Stalking Maps, Restaurant Edition [Jaunted]
· Bistrotek Is Not Your Usual Airport Hotel Restaurant [HC]
· Upscale Airport Restaurants coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Alaina B.]

Tags: New Airline Routes / Virgin America / Charles Ogilvie / BOS / LAX / SFO / → All Tags

Virgin America Lands in Boston, Jaunted Gets a History Lesson

If you have been following our tweets, you know that last night we attended Virgin America's "Revolution is in the Air" @ the Liberty Hotel in Boston. The event marked the beginning of Virgin America service from BOS to LAX and SFO (we found fares yesterday for as low as $198 round trip).

Last nights party featured some New England Patriot cheerleaders, Richard Branson, and other "local celebrities" as they were billed, which much to our surprise turned out not to be a Wahlberg of any kind (Maria Menounos was the aforementioned celebrity). However, the big news for long time Jaunted readers is that Virgin America's original director of in-flight entertainment, Charles Ogilvie, cirrently Panasonic's Executive Director in Shanghai was in town and able to chill with us at this event.

Charles brought his Mom Ann Godfrey (pictured here) to the soirée. Turns out Charles has quite a history in the aviation world. Ann's Dad founded Godfrey Field, which is now BGR (Bangor International). Back in the day, Edward Rawson Godfrey welcomed Amelia Earhart to his airport. Very cool.

Tags: Virgin Atlantic / WiFi / Free WiFi / Virgin America / Richard Branson / Airport Lounges / SFO / → All Tags

The Virgin Clubhouse at SFO: Futuristic, with a Bong

Before our recent Superfly flight, we had the opportunity to spend some time in the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at SFO. We were greeted by a woman who looked like a missing character from an "Austin Powers" movie. She was older, just a hair over five feet tall with big red hair, even bigger glasses and a vague English accent. She said things like "Welcome love, great to have you here!" Good start...

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Tags: Airport Security / Security Theater / SFO / San Francisco / California / TSA / → All Tags

Airport Security Photo Shoot: Invasion of the Body Scanners!

The green light was on, but a sad and lonely GE EntryScan machine waited for no passengers at San Francisco International on Monday night. We peeked ahead trying to see if we would be shunted through the machine, but to no avail!

While SFO wasn't on the list of airports getting body scanners, apparently the hulking machine that could destroy our privacy but allow us to keep on our clothes arrived early for its date with the TSA. Its presence suggests that despite security concerns raised by the ACLU, among others, body scans or required pat downs are in the future for air travelers.

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Tags: Airports / SFO / STL / → All Tags

Ghost Terminal Travel: SFO's "New" Terminal 2

Terminal 2 at San Francisco International, which was closed in 2000, will re-open by 2010. It will host domestic flights from Virgin America and both JetBlue and Southwest may also move in, making it a veritable LCC battleground.

Aside from generally modernizing T2, which opened in 1954, SFO will add four gates to the 10 already present. And since this is the Bay Area, construction materials will be green whenever possible, high-effeciency lighting is going in and there will be priority parking outside for hybrid cars.

For now, passengers interested in seeing the abandoned terminal can, though it will eventually be closed as work proceeds. You can also find a similar ghost terminal at Lambert-St. Louis International. Concourse D is almost completely vacant, and it makes for some cool photos.

Related Stories:
· SFO Brings Ghost Terminal Back from the Dead [SMC Times]
· SFO's Old International Terminal to Fly Again [SF Chronicle]
· Airports coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of T2: misterbisson]

Tags: Airport WiFi / Southwest Airlines / SFO / WiFi / → All Tags

Southwest at SFO Breaks Our Free-WiFi Hoping Heart

Last week we did a day trip up to San Francisco. We were hoping that on our way back to Los Angeles that we could log on before our Southwest flight.

Sadly, this is what greeted us when we tried to surf the web at our gate at SFO. However, the gate did have a nifty seating area with a long desk-type table so passengers had a place to work. There were even some outlets readily available.

But we still couldn't bring ourselves to cough up the $7.95 one-day fee. Maybe if we had an hour or more to kill. And that's a big maybe...

Related Stories:
· Our Guide to Free Airport WiFi [Jaunted]
· Airport WiFi coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Airport Hell / Airports / SFO / Strikes / → All Tags

SFO Food Workers Threatening Strike

About to get more popular...

Hundreds of food service workers at San Francisco International have authorized a two-day strike if their demands for more pay and better benefits aren't met. That would mean no dry turkey sandwiches and no wilted caesar salads for the hundreds of thousands of travelers who would land at SFO during the potential work stoppage.

All 48 of the restaurants, bars and other food service outlets at the airport would shut down if a strike is called. Negotiations continue today and tomorrow, so workers likely won't walk out before the weekend, if at all.

We don't normally buy food at the airport, but a long delay--always a possibility at SFO--could quickly put a dent in our stash of trail mix. What could possibly make waiting out bad weather at the airport worse than no food? No bars!

Related Stories:
· Food Worker Strike Could Hit Traveler Bellies at SFO [Inside Bay Area]
· Food Workers Planning a Strike [Gridskipper]
· Airport Hell coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: matsuda.yukihiro]

Tags: Virgin America / SFO / SEA / → All Tags

Virgin America Service Sneaks Into Seattle

Virgin America is announcing today that tickets are on sale for service to Seattle from both Los Angeles and San Francisco. Flights between SFO and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) will begin on March 18, 2008, with three daily roundtrip flights. In addition, three daily roundtrips between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and SEA will begin on April 8, 2008.

Virgin America's SFO-SEA fares start at $77 one way in the Main Cabin and $177 one way in First Class. LAX-SEA fares start at $99 one way in the Main Cabin and $199 one way in First Class.

We totally called it. This makes us two for two on nailing VA destinations before they are officially announced -- San Diego and now Seattle. Actually, a huge assist on this one goes to Jaunted member herz, who stuck with the VA to Seattle call out, even after SEA airport spokesman Perry Cooper denied that Virgin to SEA was a done deal. Oh, and to all you unnamed email tipsters and accidental tipsters -- hats off to you as well.

Port of Seattle Commission President John Creighton said:

Virgin America will offer Puget Sound travelers an additional airline choice with some unique, tech-driven features and flight amenities. The addition of Virgin America to Sea-Tac Airport will help further economic development and tourism for the Seattle region and the state.

This will be the first new destination under new Virgin America President and Chief Executive Officer David Cush.

Bonus shot of the VA team toasting in the aisle post jump.

Related Stories:
· Virgin America coverage [Jaunted]

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Tags: New Routes / Virgin America / SAN / SFO / → All Tags

Virgin America Announces San Diego Service

Virgin America will fly three flights a day between SFO to San Diego International starting February 12 of next year. That frequency will increase to five flights a day on March 9.

Fares start at $39 each way, and first class starts at $149 one way. Obviously, the aircraft will all be outfitted with VA's standard in-flight entertainment options. (The standard options don't include lingerie models.)

We have to brag a bit that we called this last month. Now that it's official, we can start snooping around to dig up the next new route for VA.

Related Stories:
· Service Coming to San Diego [Jaunted]
· Virgin America coverage [Jaunted]