There are a number of things to look forward to travel-wise this holiday season, holiday airport celebrations being one of them. This blog takes a look at what airlines and airports are cooking up to spread some holiday cheer in the coming weeks ahead.

HMS Host is one of the first airport restaurateurs to jump in to the holiday airports celebrations game. The company is spreading holiday cheer by surprising travelers as part of the HMSHost Holly Jolly Holiday Takeover program, already underway starting December 1st and running until December 8th.

Holiday airport celebrations will be taking place at three of the country’s busiest airports. Travelers at airports will be invited to spin a prize wheel to see if they are naughty or nice. They will receive corresponding gifts from the HMSHost Holiday Elves (read our blog on last year’s holiday airport celebrations to learn more and know what to expect).

There are a few other ways to to participate in the holiday airport celebrations cheer. You can share a photo of yourself on Twitter during your travels and tag @HMSHost with #HMSHostElf #Contest (see left). This will enter you in to the contest for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card. You can learn more about the official rules and details here. You can also participate in an HMSHost and Coca-Cola text-emoji-to-win promotion to again win an Amazon gift card. You can make a purchase at a participating HMSHost airport/motorway location to get a receipt with a store code on it. Then, simply text the store code with a snowflake emoji if in the U.S. or a snowman emoji if in Canada to 30364. Read more about the official rules here. Even if you can’t make it to the airport to witness the holiday airport celebrations first-hand, you can still enter this competition daily by going to the link provided.

Other Holiday Airport Celebrations

1. Heathrow Airport (LHR) has put out an adorable holiday video on YouTube with the theme of “coming home”. It highlights various parts of the airport journey through the eyes of stuffed animal bears with a surprise twist at the end.Did any else find this pretty depressing and also not showing Heathrow Airport in a particularly good light? I mean, these bears really struggled to make their way through the airport and made us all feel stressed, confused, anxious, and tired as they made their way to baggage claim. While we think the ad was a good first step in airport advertisement and did bring across the holiday airport celebrations spirit, I’m not sure it left anyone with a good feeling about LHR!
2. Thanks to Munich Airport (MUC) for also getting in to the holiday airport celebrations spirit with a Christmas market. Already underway (it opened 19 November) and running through 30 December, 11AM-9PM, Munich Airport Center offers 50 market stands offering food, drink, and crafts for travelers to purchase. This is the 18th year of this annual MUC event. MUC features 300 real Christmas trees and a 15-meter-high giant tree at the center of a winter wonderland, including the Christmas market and an ice skating rink. You can read more about it here.
3. Denver Airport (DEN) and United Airlines (UA). United Airlines employees are volunteering their time at DEN to help the kids through the airport to get on to the plan and to “The North Pole” to meet Santa. This is part of the “Fantasy Flight” program United has done for 30 straight years for kids in Denver. You can learn more here.

Airlines With Holiday Offerings

Lufthansa – at Lufthansa’s Frankfurt First Class Lounge and Terminal, passengers will be served a gorgeous holiday meal. It consists of roasted duck with caramelized red cabbage, potato cranberry-dumplings and goose liver Figaro. On top of that, all LH lounges will serve sweet pastries, roasted almonds and cookies. In the air, Lufthansa will be displaying decorated wreaths and offering small chocolate gifts for all passengers. Starting December 12, children flying on Lufthansa will receive small teddy bears. Thanks to Harriet Baskas for bringing this one to our attention here.

Let us know if you come across any holiday airport celebrations by leaving us a comment below!