I knew airports were becoming more posh, but installing a giant 40-foot-tall slide takes it to another level. Just pay $16 and you'll be able to have two gos at swooshing down the slide at an alarming 19 feet per second. Apparently Singapore's Changi Airport also has a butterfly garden, a movie theater, and a Balinese-themed swimming pool. They'll make the airport so good, you won't ever want to leave.
What's the most over-the-top thing you've seen in an airport?
If you've decided to skip the open road and head up to the friendly skies this Summer, it's pretty likely that you'll be spending some time lounging in the airport waiting for flight delays, transfers, or even cancellations. If you're taking along a portable netbook or WiFi-enabled iPad, you can tick away the time by catching up on the news, tech developments, and of course, the latest on Kristen and Robert's are-they-or-aren't-they relationship.
To do this, you'll need some sweet WiFi access. If you can't find a Starbucks in your terminal, not all hope is lost! Check out this list of 15 US airports that offer free WiFi, and chime in if you've found any others!
See the rest of the WiFi-friendly list after the break.
One of my favorite features about Google Maps is the traffic feature. I can't tell you how many hours I've avoided being stuck on the freeway because of its brilliance. So if you could get that kind of advance notice on what the current wait time is at your airport security checkpoint, would you want it? How about if getting that kind of data meant recording your cell phones' serial number when you enter and clear the checkpoints in order to get accurate wait times?
That's exactly what happened during a TSA mandated test-run of the Google Maps-like program at the Indianapolis International Airport last year. Whether you realize it or not, your cell phone broadcasts your serial number every 20 seconds or so when turned on. So when researchers at Purdue University placed a small receiver at the entrance of the airport's security checkpoint, they could see exactly how long it took for passengers to enter and exit the security line. Seems simple enough, right? Question is: do you really want government agents knowing your every move while at the airport (or anywhere else one of these receivers can be placed)? It comes down to privacy over convenience. So tell me — do you love this idea, or would you rather leave it?
Source: Flickr user dan paluska
Taking off for a trip? If you're flying Alaska Airlines, forget printing out your boarding pass to get to your seat — Alaska announced new mobile boarding passes for their tech-savvy passengers earlier today. Check in at home, or on your smartphone, then bookmark your boarding pass page for easy boarding. Airports dotting the Northwest get first dibs on the simplified boarding process, while more will be rolling out over the next year.
Other airlines tested the eTicket waters a few years ago, but with the amount of smartphones in our hands these days, eTicketing and electronic boarding passes will be much easier to use today. Will you (or do you currently) use eTickets or mobile boarding passes when you catch a flight?
I'm so used to seeing the cast of Mad Men interact with such awesome vintage tech that I almost didn't recognize January Jones in her natural state (you know, not as Betty Draper), and toting a laptop as she went through LAX security on Sunday. The amazing season finale of Mad Men was packed with lots of retro typewriters, phones, and office tech, but January takes it to the 21st-century off set with her shiny new MacBook Pro — a powerful alternative to the MacBook Air I'd wire her with.
Unfortunately, we have to wait until next year to see what's next on the Mad Men tech horizon, but in real life, a girl's gotta stay connected — even if her day job is to play a woman who doesn't know what a cell phone is . . . yet!
Juicy Couture's latest destination is the airport. The bubbly brand is setting up four airport boutiques starting December. The first will be inside the American Airlines terminal at Miami International Airport. Next stop? The British Airways terminal at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport in January. Then Taiwan TaoYuan International Airport’s Terminal II in February. Lastly, the fourth shop is set for a Spring launch in the Athens Airport Duty-Free area.
"We know that our customer is traveling and she’s in the airports. Women are always wearing our tracksuits, especially to travel in. We just don’t think she’s being targeted by other retailers in these airports, so there’s a real opportunity there for us," said Ellen Rodriguez, senior vice president of global licensing and international for the brand. What do you think of Juicy's new venture?
Taking flight this Summer for an action packed vacation? Or maybe you're off to visit friends and family? Whatever the case, I'm going to make sure to equip you with all the geeky tools you'll need to have an amazing and stress free vacay. I've already listed tech travel tips to remember before you leave the house and websites to visit before you bon voyage, but what about those few hours before you jet off? Here are some of my favorite websites that you may want to check out before flying up up and away.
Did you have aspirations of being a Clear pass holder — the paid service that let you breeze through airport security? Every time I went to the airport and saw the empty Clear Lanes line — contrasted with the long line of all us regular peoples, I promised myself: One day, I'd have a Clear pass. Well, my dream will never come true, because Clear and its parent company, Verified Identity Pass, Inc., have just filed for bankruptcy and are closing down.
On their website, they assure their current customers (whoever you lucky dogs were) that your information will remain secure, but that they won't be able to issue refunds. And you'll have to go back to waiting in the security line with us regular folks and our cats.
Hopefully, you've learned to pack by now. But once you've rolled up your socks perfectly and handed your suitcase off to an airport employee, you don't have much control over where it goes. Sometimes luggage disappears, and when that happens, Is This Your Luggage is there to save the day. The mysterious person behind this website collects lost luggage, photographs it, and then tries to find its owners.
Where does the luggage come from, you ask? Well, apparently, after a bag sits at an airport for a certain amount of time unclaimed, and its owner can't be identified, the airline will auction it off and send the profit to a charity. Then this odd, voyeuristic, web-savvy person, goes to these auctions and buys those suitcases in hopes of returning them to owners through the site. So, if you've lost luggage and the airline has had no luck in tracking it down, check out Is This Your Luggage.
Earlier this year, Northwest Airlines announced that they would be offering E-Boarding passes to select cities offering nonstop flights.
Wondering how it works? When you check in to your flight on nwa.com, just select the E-Boarding Pass option from the drop down on the "Completing Your Check-In" page. From this page, you will be prompted to enter your cell phone information, and your E-Boarding Pass will then be sent to your phone. Once you get to the gate, you will have to show your screen with the 2D barcode and scan it right there.
So far, people have reported that it works great — minus the TSA part since they usually check your paper boarding pass with your ID as you walk through the security X-Ray Machine — something they'll have to work on improving.
