Amsterdam airport opens the world’s first hotel – for goldfish…

by Scott Carmichael on

We’ll file this one under “wacky PR news” – Amsterdam airport just opened the world’s first hotel specifically designed for goldfish.

The hotel is operated by “D-Travel”, a major player in the Dutch travel booking market, and passengers who booked their trip through them can use the facility for free.

Upon arrival at Schiphol airport, passengers can hand over their fish at the goldfish check-in desk (seriously!) and each fish will be placed in its own little fish tank.

Having arrived home after a 2 week vacation to discover that my aquarium had gone through a catastrophic meltdown, I have to say that the idea sounds cool, though I’m not entirely sure I’d feel comfortable loading fish into a bag to transport to the airport.

Imagine arriving at the airport, only to discover that the goldfish hotel is closed, or overbooked! You’d be stuck at the airport with a flight departing in 2 hours and a bag full of fish on your luggage cart. Obviously a bad way to start your vacation.

Click the images below to learn about other weird hotels:


Award winning fake crocodiles at Amsterdam airport

by Scott Carmichael on

Amsterdam airport just won an award for their “something to declare” PR stunt.

To remind arriving passengers to be honest, and use the red line to declare taxable items, they used suitcases with fake crocodiles sticking out the side. The suitcases were pulled through the airport, and placed on the baggage carousels in the arrivals hall.

Despite having a natural aversion against using the red customs line, I have to admit that this is a pretty funny stunt, though I’m fairly sure it only reminds people to put even more effort into putting on a poker face when you walk through the green line pretending that those extra bottles of booze in your suitcase are filled with water.

Think that’s crazy? Check out these other stories from the airport checkpoint!

Do not be scared about the burning 747 at Schiphol airport

by Scott Carmichael on

Imagine arriving at your Amsterdam airport hotel room and the first thing you see out the window is a burning Jumbo with a bunch of crash tenders on the runway.

It took me about 10 seconds to remember passing the “jet’ when we taxied to the terminal, and realizing that it wasn’t actually a real plane, but the practice jet for the airport fire department.

Jerry wrote about these practice runs back in November of last year, but I can’t help wonder how many people see the outline of a burning 747 and freak out. It certainly isn’t the kind of thing I’d like to see on my final approach to the airport and the proximity to the main terminal is quite scary.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol International Airport tries self-service luggage check-ins

by Jeffrey White on

Anybody who has been to Amsterdam’s Schiphol International Airport knows that it is a pretty hectic place. O.K., not Heathrow hectic, but depart there at the wrong time and it’s not fun.

Well, Schiphol authorities are now experimenting with self-service baggage checks in an effort to cut down on waiting times. In conjunction with Dutch carrier KLM, this trial, launched yesterday, gives passengers who have checked-in using a self-service kiosk or online to drop off their bags at a machine, Reuters reports.

Travelers then scan their boarding passes; the machine weighs their luggage, prints out the routing slip which travelers will then attach themselves.

Of course, there is some room for wrongdoing, authorities acknowledge. Right now, they are performing random passenger screening, checking passports to make sure their baggage belongs to them. In the future, the new machine will have the ability to scan passports much like self-service check-in kiosks can.

Authorities also say that bags self-checked will still go through the usual security screening.

A KLM spokesperson tells Reuters that the current six month trial of this machine is the first such test run in the world.