"Holiday treats for airport shoppers"

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Holiday treats for airport shoppers  
By Harriet Baskas
USA Today
 

Holiday shopping at the airport is a modern-day tradition - some would say a
necessity - for me and many other frequent travelers who find themselves
short on mall-time but heavy on layovers. In the past that was bad news for
friends and family unenthusiastic about adding to their collection of
plastic souvenir snow globes. But now that savvy airports are lining their
concourses with high-quality shops stocked with carefully selected
treasures, shopping at the airport is a breeze. 

This time of the year it also helps that airport stores keep longer hours
than the shops at the mall and are often open on Christmas Day as a welcome
service to last-second shoppers. And like popular suburban malls, many
airports now get all gussied up for the holidays and offer free
entertainment, complimentary gift wrapping, shipping services, special deals
and promotions.

Here's a sampling of discounts, raffles and festivities for air travelers
who find themselves at various airports during the holiday season:

Shopping

In Minnesota, where there's no sales tax on clothing, the Minneapolis-St.
Paul International Airport (MSP) has once again put together a snazzy
Traveler Discount Booklet with offers available to anyone with a boarding
pass. Available through Dec. 31, the booklet includes at least 45 coupons
offering discounts on everything from chocolate and coffee to toys and
jewelry. Grab a booklet on any concourse or Travelers Assistance desk, or
print it out from the airport website: www.mspairport.com. Holiday
entertainment at MSP this year is as varied as those coupons, with an
eclectic mix of harpists, piano players, a choir, a 12- piece string
ensemble, carolers, a 9-piece flute group and two quartets. 

In Oregon, where there's no sales tax, Portland International Airport (PDX)
offers branches of many of the city's best shops along a pre-security
shopping street that draws locals as well as travelers. The airport's annual
Holidays Take Flight celebration runs through Jan. 2nd and in addition to a
wide variety of sales, food and beverage tastings, and live music, travelers
can enter a free raffle for a pair of round-trip tickets to any Alaska
Airlines or Horizon Air destination. A schedule of events and offerings, and
entry forms for that raffle, are online at www.flypdx.com. 

And just over the border, the merchants at British Columbia's Vancouver
International Airport Merchants (YVR) are celebrating the holiday season
with complimentary gift wrapping and a cash-back offer: travelers who spend
CAD $75 or more after taxes on a single receipt at any YVR shop, service or
restaurant get $5 worth of YVR Bucks (Vouchers/Gift certificates) to spend
at any YVR shop, service or restaurant. The offer runs through December
24th. 

And while we're on the rebate topic: Don't forget the year-round offers
available at airport bookstores. For example, books purchased under the Read
and Return program at Paradies Shops in more than 60 airports in the USA and
Canada can be returned within six months (with the original receipt) for 50%
of the original price at any other Paradies Shops book location. And Simply
Books, with nine outlets in five airports (Charlotte, Cleveland,
Minneapolis, Salt Lake City and San Francisco) has a Passport to Savings
program that awards a free book after your 8th purchase. 

Festivities and promotions

At the Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), keep an eye out for Santa
Claus. Until Dec. 24th, the roly-poly red-suited one will be strolling the
airport handing out candy canes everyday from 4-6 p.m. and posing for free
photos on his throne in the B/C connector each evening from 6-8 p.m.
Shoppers can download coupons and a list of meal specials from the airport's
website and get their purchases wrapped for free at the table set up in
front of the Brookstone shop in the B/C Connector.

At Denver International Airport (DIA), holiday shopping hums along to the
accompaniment of the 16th Annual International Performance Series, which is
jam packed with entertainment that goes way beyond strolling carolers. From
Dec. 21st through Dec. 24th, and again from Dec. 26th through Dec. 31st,
keep your ears and eyes open between 8 am and 5:30 pm for music and dance
from South America, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Israel and Eastern Europe. 

The Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) and
Boston's Logan International Airport (BOS) are teaming up to offer twin
holiday raffles this year. From now until Dec. 24th, each airport will give
away topiary trees, ornaments, wreaths and specially baked snowflake cookie
bouquets. There will be a dozen winners for each item at each airport. And
on Dec. 24th, one lucky entrant at each airport will receive a certificate
good for a $2500 AIRMALL shopping spree. No purchase is necessary, and entry
forms are available at vendors in each airport.

At North Carolina's Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU), holiday
festivities include live music, book signings, clowns, caricaturists, and
craft tables and book readings for kids. As a fundraiser for the USO of
North Carolina, which operates the airport's 24-hour USO center, the airport
is raffling off game tickets and autographed, life-sized cut-outs of seven
Carolina Hurricanes players in full uniform - and one in a bathrobe. Fans of
the current Stanley Cup champions could come home with cutouts of Rod
Brindamour, Cam Ward, Cory Stillman, Eric Staal, Mike Commodore (in a
bathrobe), Erik Cole, Ray Whitney or Bret Hedican. Tickets are $5; winners
will be drawn Dec. 20th at 1 p.m. For more information: www.rdu.com.

Two drawings are being held at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
(PHX), with prizes to be awarded the week before Christmas. Anyone who makes
a purchase at In Celebration of Golf (Terminal 4) will be entered in a
raffle for a set of TaylorMade golf clubs and a golf bag. And all Team Shop
customers will be entered in a drawing for a suede Phoenix Suns jacket. On
Christmas Day, several shops, including Earth Spirit, Mosaic, Indigenous and
Talking Hands, join together to donate profits from that day's sales to the
local United Way. For more information see: phoenix.gov/aviation.

And here's one you can take advantage of without traveling: Frankfurt
International Airport (FRA) is raffling off a 1957 Mercedes Benz, and
entries can be submitted online: www.airportcity-frankfurt.com (look in the
shopping section). 

If your travel plans don't include any of the airports listed above, don't
fret. Many airports were still planning their holiday events when I checked
around, and some promotions only get rolled out in the days before
Christmas.

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