Best airport ad ever

Add comment June 24th, 2009

Chicago Rockford International Airport has a new ad campaign at the Belvidere tollway oasis. Here’s an appropriate sign next to the bathrooms:

Allegiant Air to announce new destination this month - but won’t fly there from RFD to start

2 comments February 4th, 2009

Allegiant Air has announced a contest to guess its new destination, and lists the 12 cities that will get the service first. Rockford isn’t one of them. All the cities are west of here - the closest are Des Moines, Iowa, and Springfield, Mo.

Here are the cities that are getting the destination to start.

Obviously, I can’t enter the contest myself. But my smart readers sure can. My educated guess, based on what Allegiant’s said in the past and on the geographic makeup of the winning cities, is San Diego. Oakland (billed as San Francisco) seems to close to Monterey, Calif. I don’t think they’re ready to try an LA-area airport just yet. And I think we woulda heard more noise if they were ready to go to Mexico. But what’s throwing me is Fargo, N.D., which is like 1,400 miles from southern California. That’s pretty far for an airline looking to keep stage lengths at around 1,000 miles or less.

Maybe they have a trick up their sleeve, like Jackson Hole, Wyo., or the Denver area. But as my astute editor said, who in Fargo wants to go to more snow? So I’ll stick with San Diego. But I’ve been wrong before.

(EDIT (2:54 pm): Looks like it’s a “sunny” destination, according to Allegiant.So I’m voting San Diego.)

(EDIT (3.53 pm): Allegiant says to “think big”. Now I’m wondering if they’re going for the LA area. I’ll still vote San Diego, but that’s not what I would think of as “big” compared to other options.)

What do you think, dear readers?

Hey travelers, how important is free WiFi?

Add comment October 30th, 2007

Chicago/Rockford International Airport was mentioned positively in a recent article about airports with free WiFi. Those flying to Las Vegas can get free WiFi on both ends of the trip.

Many airports, and most hotels I’ve been at, charge for WiFi. (Note - if you find “free” WiFi at O’Hare, beware. It’s a trap.

One travel blogger said:

“Some airports and airlines and hotels see charging for WiFi as an easy way to make money, but so is poking people in the eye and stealing their pocketbook. You might make some small change in the short run, but what goes around comes around. People don’t like being gouged and they’re going to go somewhere else.”

What do you think? Is free WiFi important to the business traveler? Is it a trend that’s going to continue?

United Airlines to cut back on domestic service?

Add comment October 24th, 2007

This is worth monitoring as Chicago/Rockford International Airport hopes to get United to expand service to Denver and add service to an East Coast city like Washington, D.C. For now, the airport’s future growth may rest with smaller up-and-coming airlines.

This is a good time to introduce my favorite transportation blog - Today in the Sky by USA TODAY’s Ben Mutzabaugh. He has a good handle on the worldwide passenger airline industry, and is a fun writer to boot.