This week we’ll be covering October Airport Restaurant Month returning to an airport near you. Last week we wrote about the DEN Oktoberfest beer tent coming back to the airport, and this week’s October Airport Restaurant Month blog extends the foodie theme one step further. This year’s October Airport Restaurant Month will also be at DEN, in case you’re looking for another #layovertip after you check out the beer tent. You can follow the conversation on Twitter through the hashtag #AirportRestaurantMonth, and participate in person October 1 – 31 this year.
Archive for airports
DEN Beer Garden – it’s back!
Just in time for the Great American Beer Festival AND Oktoberfest, DEN Airport unveils it’s annual tradition – the DEN Beer Garden! For the third year, from September 30 – October 10, 2016, you will be able gain admission for $10. In exchange, you will get get a souvenir glass and 10 2oz samples (Beer Flights) from a variety of Colorado breweries at the DEN beer garden.
Aircraft Paint Jobs – Top 5 Best Liveries
For this week’s blog, we’ve decided to roll-up the commercial aviation industry’s best aircraft paint jobs. More and more airlines are using their planes’ exteriors as yet another means of marketing and brand expression. Some are serious and iconic, like American Airlines’ new livery, and some are more playful, like Air New Zealand’s “The Hobbit” themed aircraft paint jobs, and All Nippon Airlines rendering of Pokemon Go on its exterior. This is the next wave of airline/aviation marketing after the latest foray into novel, cool, and sometimes downright hilarious in-flight safety videos (like Delta’s “find the meme” video”).
Here’s our favorite five best aircraft paint jobs in the industry over the course of the last five years – tweet us if you’ve flown in any of these planes (#picturestoproveit)!
- Air New Zealand (NZ). Arguable my personal favorite since it’s a continuance of the Lord of the Rings theme that NZ has taken on over the years, this “The Hobbit” themed Boeing 777-300 livery is probably my top pick for best aircraft paint jobs. Even though it debuted in 2012, it is still arguable one of the best. NZ’s cohesive brand marketing and associating with the Lord of the Rings dynasty was a bold move to encourage travelers to get out and tour New Zealand. A wonderful example of destination marketing partnering with an airline.
- Kulula Airways. We rank Kulula’s “Flying 101” livery as one of our top picks of best aircraft paint jobs for use of humor and risk-taking. This plane was apparently designed in-house by Kulula’s graphic design team as part of the airline’s greater strategy to demystify air travel. You can learn more about it here.
- All Nippon Airways. NH had a grand plan to piggyback off of the success of Pokemon and launch a livery under the brand Pokemon Jet. The airline even has an official website that details the various Pokemon-themed aircraft paint jobs and characteristics.
- GOL. Brazil’s Low-Cost Carrier G3 put together a creative and football (soccer) themed Boeing 737 livery with aircraft paint jobs focusing on the World Cup. The carrier was also named the official transport for the Brazilian national football team. The exterior was creating with the help of local street artists Os Gêmeos painting portraits representing the people of Brazil.
- Norwegian Airlines (DY). Although not out yet, DY plans to unveil a Roald Dahl tail-fin “hero” on its Boeing 737-800 planes later this year. Roald Dahl, while not Norwegian (he’s British), is of Norwegian descent. He is famous for writing children’s classics like James and the Giant Peach as well Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dahl was also an aviator. Maybe it’s a bit of a stretch for association, but it’s still cool either way. According to Norwegian Airlines:
Roald Dahl is widely regarded as the world’s number one storyteller. Many elements of his universally-loved stories are said to have roots in the Norwegian tales that he heard from his family and from visits to Norway as a child
Well, those are tripchi’s top 5 best aircraft paint jobs. As always, feel free to leave a comment and let us know if we’re missing one. Or, tweet us @tripchi with some pictures of you with your favorite aircraft paint job. Keep calm and fly on!
Airport napping pods – now at AUH
If you’ve been traveling a lot lately, you may have noticed a recent airport trend where you can grab Zzz’s in airport napping pods.
Checking in to an airport hotel is one way to catch some zzz’s in between flights. But, this method has been around for decades. Check out this tripchi blog where we discuss the opening, for example, of the latest DEN Airport hotel. Other airports that feature airport hotels include DXB and Changi – airports outside of the US have actually been the most on the forefront when it comes to airport napping trends.
Heathrow children’s activities
One of the best airport rewards program is the London Heathrow loyalty program. We are a member and also subscribe to its monthly newsletter that covers all the LHR #layovertips and airport happenings. In this month’s newsletter, LHR covered a slew of Heathrow children’s activities. A lot of readers ask us for advice traveling through airports with the kiddos, and especially are looking for children’s play areas or other kid-friendly activities to bide the time during a long layover.
Pokémon Go Airport Edition
Pokémon Go airport edition started to blow up several weeks ago, when airports realized it was a great way to engage their passenger base and incentivize guests to visit more spots in the airport. This blog rolls up all the ways you can play Pokémon Go airport edition.
Delta system meltdown
Today’s Delta system meltdown comes just weeks after the Southwest debacle, that led to the cancellation of more than 2,000 flights across the U.S. Technology problems are to blame in both circumstances.
Devaluing Award Miles on Partner Flights
In the past year, we have a seen a glut of airlines devaluing award miles that we worked so hard to accumulate. Back in the day, award miles were a great way to fly for free, when miles often were worth more than dollars, and we could actually redeem them without paying more than $10 for processing. Alas, gone are those days of yore. This blog explores a scenario where airlines have been devaluing award miles in alliance conversion accrual, and what it means for the traveler. A follow on blog will explore the business motivations around why airlines do this, and the recent trend around airlines devaluing their own award miles in redemption scenarios.
Jul 2016 tripchi airport app #traveltips
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Airports Celebrating Independence Day 2016
We are delighted to see the patriotic spirit lives on as airlines and airports celebrating Independence Day 2016 continue with gusto. If you flew through the following airports, you might have noticed a celebration or two. At least you might have seen some patriotic signage. Although we’ve noticed airports celebrating Independence Day 2016 were markedly less than last year – hip hip hooray for the ones that got in the spirit this past weekend. Here’s a list of airports that had special celebrations. And, a special shout out to Harriet Baskas for rolling up a few of these.