If you have fond memories of hanging around Oakland International Airport (OAK) and are affiliated with a non-profit in the Bay Area that could use some “gently used” chairs from the 1980’s, get in touch with the folks at the Port of Oakland.

The airport recently completed a $300 million makeover that included the extension and renovation of Terminal 2 and the replacement of more than 6,000 chairs in Terminals 1 and 2.

Some of the old chairs are going to be showing up in the recreation rooms at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oakland – but the rest are up for grabs.

Photo courtesy Oakland International Airport

Starting on July 4^th, waiting on line at a security checkpoint at San Diego International Airport (SAN) will be a bit more entertaining.

The airport is rolling out a series of “info-tainment” videos featuring popular San Diego mascots offering tips to travelers about what can and cannot be taken through the checkpoints.

Look for the San Diego Zoo’s Bamboo Bear, Legoland’s Johnny Thunder, the San Diego Padres’ Friar, and Shamu from SeaWorld.

SAN isn’t the only airport to feature celebrity videos at the security checkpoints. In Las Vegas, McCarran International Airport partnered with the local Convention and Visitors Authority to create almost a dozen short videos featuring Las Vegas “luminaries” such as Wayne Newton, Rita Rudner, Carrot Top, magicians, aliens, and acrobats demonstrating the proper way to go through the security checkpoints. You don’t even need to be on line at the airport to see the videos: they’re on the airport’s website under Traveler Tips.

Had a nice talk with Jesse Leavenworth, a reporter from the The Hartford Courant, a while back about my favorite topic – airports with great amenities - and see that his article has hit the paper.

I chatted with Leavenworth about some of my favorite airports to spend time in – including San Francisco International Airport - SFO (great art and food choices in the Int’l Terminal), Oregon’s Portland International Airport- PDX (great shops and no sales tax), and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (a casino, lots of art, on-site museum, and loads more).

Leavenworth was especially pleased to hear me praise Schiphol, because his paper’s hometown airport, Hartford’s Bradley International Airport (BDL) has a direct flight to Amsterdam. Oops.. not any more.. Northwest Airlines just announced that it is dropping that route as of October 2.

Bradley still has loads to offer, including a free parking coupon for folks who sign up for the airport’s frequent-parker program and free Wi-Fi for all.

Last time I went through BDL, they were still displaying something truly unusual: three patch-sized embroidered scenes created by Raymond Materson to honor the 1994 Special Olympics. Materson was in prison when he made the patches and unraveled his socks to get the colored thread to use in his artwork. Once out of prison, Materson kept sewing. His work is now highly prized and displayed in museums and in art galleries.

Materson is currently in his first major overseas exhibit at the Compton Verney Gallery in Warwkickshire, England. To celebrate, he made this portrait of Queen Victoria and was kind enough to let me share it with you.

Courtesy and copyright: Ray Materson

While airlines are having well-publicized financial woes, many airports are doing quite well. One reason: travelers spend money when they’re stuck at the airport. Another: both general aviation and commercial airports figured out long ago that they need to diversify their income.

Leases for farming, hotels, and golf courses on airport-owned land are popular. But while doing research for an article on this topic, I discovered that some airports are far more creative.

Some airports earn money from auctioning off surplus equipment (snowplows, trucks, computers, etc.) and stuff left behind at the security checkpoints. Others are getting big bucks for the oil and gas and mineral rights on airport land. And then there are these two intriguing examples:

Since the mid-1950’s, the Sebring International Raceway has been operating on land owned by the Sebring Regional Airport in Florida. The racetrack is used year-round, for everything from automobile and tire testing to racing schools, corporate events, and the well-known Sebring endurance race.

And in Missouri, the new Branson Airport is set to open next spring. But it probably won’t be called that on opening day. The country’s first privately financed airport has put the naming rights for the entire airport up for sale.

Good news for pets and their people traveling to or through Philadelphia International Airport (PHL): there are now seven Pet Port “relief areas” at the airport.

According to a PHL release, each fenced Pet Port is between 250 and 600 square feet and is landscaped with a 4-inch deep mulch surface, a bench, a fake fire hydrant, and a dispenser filled with biodegradable pet waste bags.

Pet relief areas are not only a great amenity for pets passing through the airport, the relief areas make it easier for drug and bomb-sniffing security canines to quickly do their ‘business’ and then get back to business. (In addition to PHL, you’ll find lovely pet relief areas at airports in Phoenix, Austin, and in many other pet-friendly cities.)

The Pet Port areas at PHL are located on the Departures Road between Terminals A-West and A-East; between Terminal B/C ticketing and the Airport Communications Center; and adjacent to Terminal E and Terminal F. On the Arrivals side, the Pet Ports are next to baggage claim areas in Terminals A-East, Terminal B, and Terminal.

Photo courtesy Philadelphia International Airport

Each weekend during cruise season (November – April), the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) fills with hundreds of travelers who have nowhere else to go.

During a cruise, it’s all about “Sit back, relax, take a swim, have a drink.” But when the cruise is over, passengers are rushed ashore early in the morning so the ship can be readied for the next wave of guests, who begin boarding mid-afternoon.

That leaves thousands of passengers with lots of time between getting off the ship and getting on a plane home. And while some people use that time to go to the beach or tour the city, most just head straight to the airport and hang around.

In most parts of FLL, travelers aren’t allowed to pass through security until shortly before their flights. So it’s no wonder that the airport’s tropically-themed Corona Beach Bar, pre-security in the baggage claim area of Terminal 1, has gotten so popular.

There are umbrella-topped tables, palm trees just outside the window and, during cruise season, live music. Off-season it seems to draw plenty of locals and frequent travelers: according to an airport spokesperson, the bartenders know the regulars by name.

The folks at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) have been busy beautifying their Web site with spiffy new tools for travelers.

Highly useful: The interactive maps (check out the panoramic tour of -an empty -Terminal D) and the updated at-a-glance list of services (note that there’s free power and free wired Internet at Gates A20 and B35).

Most enjoyable: The lovely close-ups views of the medallions and other artwork in the airport’s multi-million dollar public art program.

(Christopher Janney’s “Circling” courtesy DFW Airport)

For smokers, finding a place to smoke at an airport can be a vexing proposition.

As more cities and states pass laws that prohibit smoking in public places, even airports that once had specially-designed smoking areas in restaurants and bars have been forced to tell smokers on long layovers to take it outside.

Not all airports are going smoke-free without a fight. Here’s a link to an article describing how the folks at Memphis InternationalAirport are challenging some of the provisions in Tennessee’s year-old Non-Smokers Protection Act.

Quebec City turns 400 this year and this Friday, just in time for summer festivities, the city plans to open a brand new terminal at the Jean Lessage International Airport.

I had a chance to visit the terminal a few weeks back as finishing touches were being put on the baggage system and gate areas and it really looks lovely. It’s bright and airy and full of amenities travelers are sure to appreciate.

For example, in addition to a children’s play area and free wireless Internet access, there are plenty of well-marked and easy-to-get-to power outlets. Those white power plug graphics on the chair backs tell you that the seat is “hot.”

It’s June and wedding season is officially underway. Look around and you’ll start noticing folks getting hitched in churches, formal gardens, backyards, courthouses and hotel function rooms.

And once in a while, in airports.

In my USATODAY.com “At the Airport” column posted today, are some tips on how to get married at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, over martinis at Los Angeles International Airport and elsewhere.