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Published FEBRUARY 17, 2006
Stuck at the Airport: Portland, Oregon
Watch DVD movies at PDX
By Harriet Baskas
On April 1, 1936, city officials bundled up in a freak spring snowstorm for the groundbreaking of what was then called Portland–Columbia Airport. In 1948 the airport had to close down for three months because of catastrophic flooding in nearby Vanport, Oregon. For a few years during the 1990s, locals thought renovation disruptions would never end.
But now, with fresh new concourses and a zippy light-rail connection to downtown, Portland International Airport (airport code: PDX) has a top-drawer reputation as an easy-to-maneuver facility with loads of tax-free shopping and plenty of places to chow down. The airport even participates in a food recycling program that sends more than 200 tons of scraps to a local organic waste recycling and soil amendment program.
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Get oriented
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Baggage note |
You can rent a baggage cart for $3 on Concourses A, C, and D, in the ticket lobby, at Baggage Claim, in the rental car area of the parking garage, and on all floors of the parking garage.
Lockers incorporating modern, fingerprint-reading technology are located, post-security, in a variety of spots around the airport. |
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The PDX terminal is shaped like an H with a ticket lobby and Baggage Claim level between the concourses pre-security and a bright, convenient, 750-foot post-security connecting corridor that links the south gates (A, B, and C) with the north gates (D and E). If you need help finding your way, look for one of the enthusiastic Volunteer Information Persons, or VIPs, stationed throughout the terminal.
Head to Concourse A for flights on Big Sky and Horizon airlines. Alaska and Horizon airlines use Concourse B. On the C Concourse, you’ll find gates for Alaska, American, and Southwest Airlines. Concourse D gates are used by America West, Continental, Delta, Frontier, Hawaiian, Lufthansa, Mexicana, Northwest, and Sky West. Concourse E serves Air Canada Jazz, Jet Blue, United/United Express, and Sky West.
Take care of yourself
Eat: For nourishment, head for the Oregon Market at the center of the terminal. There are two main table-service restaurants here: The Rose City Café is a full-service restaurant and bar complete with a fireplace, sushi bar, adjacent wine bar (offering, appropriately enough, flights of wine), and a great view of the airfield. Similar views are offered at Stanford’s, located just before the checkpoint for Concourses A, B, and C. This casual but elegant venue serves seafood, steak, chicken, ribs, and a wide variety of lighter entrées, and has a take-out deli counter with great sandwiches, salads, and other items.
The food court nearby offers similar views and a nice selection of eateries, including Booya Juice (smoothies and ice cream), Creative Croissants, Marsee Baking, Panda Express, Sandoval’s Fresh Mexican Grill, and the Portland Brewing Co. Pizza Pub (with 43 beers on tap). Coffee People and Wendy’s (also on concourses C and D) also have outlets in the Oregon Market.
If you don’t have time to stop to eat in the Oregon Market, don’t fret. Post-security in the South Lobby (the A/B/C Concourses), you’ll find Capers Café, a popular “Northwest Parisian” café with a full-service bar. Out on the C Concourse, you’ll find Pizza Schmizza, The Stumptown Bar and Grill, and Gustav’s, which is a branch of a much-loved local German-American restaurant. Good Dog/Bad Dog is out here too, offering a sassy array of gourmet hot dogs, homemade chili, baked beans, and fries. Post-security on the D/E Concourse side of the airport, you’ll find the Columbia Grill and Widmer Pub, featuring local microbrews.
Relax and refresh: If you enjoy people-watching, hang out in the Oregon Market or the Food Court. For a relaxing view of the airfield, grab a seat in the food court or head for the South Lobby (past the security checkpoint for Concourses A/B/C). Here you’ll find a large, bright seating area with great views of the airfield, comfortable seating, and a floor inlaid with an informative map of the region. There’s a nice seating area just before the checkpoint as well.
If you need to freshen up, there's a hair salon (Relax Station) in the Oregon Market that also offers chair massages, nail services, and shoe shines. If you have a longer layover or delay, several nearby hotels with indoor pools, restaurants, exercise facilities, and business centers offer day rates. Call them from the phones in the baggage claim area.
You can also relax with a movie: PDX was one of the first airports to offer DVD movie rentals from InMotion Pictures. Watch a movie while you wait for your flight or, if you're heading for one of the increasing number of airports with an InMotion outlet, take the DVD player along and turn it in at the other end. You can also drop it in the mail at your destination. They’re located post-security in the North Lobby (Concourses D/E). Web site: http://www.inmotionpictures.com.
Take care of business
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Business note |
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Free Wi-FI (wireless Internet service) is available at most gates, in the Oregon Market and food court, and in the lobby areas. |
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No wireless card? Internet access is also available at the PDX Conference Center on the upper level of the terminal and via dial-up at service centers on Concourses A, B, C, and D. There are also ports offering dial-up Internet access at the counter at Capers Café in the South Lobby, just past the security checkpoint for Concourses A, B, and C.
The PDX Conference Center is located pre-security upstairs, near the clock tower in the center of the Oregon Market. In addition to seven meeting rooms, the center offers business services ranging from copies and faxes to private workspaces with dial-up Internet access, notarizing services, secretarial services, and equipment rentals. The center is open weekdays, 8 AM to 5 PM. (Tel. +1 [503] 460-4050 or 1 [800] 547-8411, ext. 4050.)
Several self-service business centers are scattered throughout the airport. The two centers located pre-security in the main terminal (in the Oregon Market area) offer an ATM, self-service postage facility, UPS and FedEx drop boxes, a change machine, and a foreign coin exchange. On Concourses C (Gates 4 and 14) and D (Gate D7), you’ll find Service Centers that also provide work desks with phones and computer ports.
A full-service bank is located pre-security, by the D/E checkpoint, and is open weekdays from 9 AM to 4 PM. ATMs are located throughout the airport.
A Travelex branch (currency exchange, etc.) is located in the main lobby opposite the United Airlines ticket counter. Hours: Daily, 5:30 AM–4:30 PM.
Explore the airport
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Shopping note |
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Best souvenir under $10: One-pound boxes of fudge made by the Brigittine Monks in Amity, Oregon, at the Made in Oregon store in the Oregon Market. |
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Shop: There are three good reasons to shop at PDX: Oregon has no sales tax; many shops offer wonderful made-in-Oregon goods; and "street-pricing" is enforced, which means prices are the same here as downtown. For some, the lifting of the 20-year ban on chewing gum sales at the airport adds even a fourth reason to shop here with abandon.
Bundled together in the Main Terminal, the shops in the Oregon Market are laid out along a corridor designed to look like a downtown street, complete with a clock tower in the center. There's a Nike sporting goods store (Portland is near the athletic-shoe giant's corporate headquarters); an Oregon Pendleton Shop featuring that company's famous clothing and blankets; and the Real Mother Goose, Norm Thompson, and Made in Oregon (also on Concourse C), which all carry handmade crafts and locally made—or caught—products.
Other shops include Brookstone, the Paper Station, Your Northwest Travel Mart (also on Concourses A, C, D, E, and in the South Lobby area), and Spirit of the Red Horse, which sells jewelry, clothing, and gifts. Portland's famous Powell's Books has a branch here, too, with both new and used books and a section devoted to toys and books for young travelers. Happily, Powell’s also has branches on Concourses C and D. And if you’ve got kids in tow (or waiting at home), be sure to make a stop at the entertaining Creative Kidstuff shop on Concourse C.
Sightsee: The airport’s South Lobby (past security) and the Concourse C corridor offer several intriguing pieces of artwork and opportunities to learn more about the region. Just past the security checkpoint, look for the Columbia River Interpretive Center, which is filled with historical information and displays about the river and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. There’s also an exhibit case filled with baskets and beadwork made by members of the Native American tribes that were displaced when a dam was built on the river at Celilo Falls.
Just past the Interpretive Center, look for Larry Kirkland’s circular terrazzo-and-bronze-inlaid floor map of the Pacific Northwest. Down on the concourse (Gates C3 through C6), another Kirkland-made bronze-inlaid floor map depicts the Columbia River. Look closely: The benches along the "river" are in the shapes of salmon, bridges, and boats, and nearby “art poles” depict key locations, occupations, and recreational activities along the river.
As you walk down this concourse be sure to pay special attention to the handrails. Portland artist Peter Beeman has created 30-foot-long glass and bronze handrails with images that change when you put your hand on the railing.
Near the Concourse D international gates, you'll find Provincial Narrative, a 26-foot-long, four-panel oil painting on wood described by the artist, Jack Portland, as "an abstract narrative depicting the lushness and complexity of the Pacific Northwest." In the Oregon Market, above Coffee People, look for PDX's first piece of art, a 1960s-vintage abstract work by Louis Bunce.
Rather take in the Oregon landscape? On a clear day, head to the top floor of the parking garage for views of Mount Hood to the east, Mount St. Helens to the north, and downtown Portland to the south. Good viewing spots inside the terminal include the window seats at the Rose City Café, the North Lobby between Concourses D and E, and in the South Lobby between Concourses B and C. For great views of airfield activity, pull up a stool at the centerpoint of the window-rich concourse connector between the north and south gates.
Play around: Kids of all ages will enjoy the Columbia River Interpretive Center in the South Lobby and the inlaid floor maps and changing handrails along Concourse C. (See "Sightsee" above.) Kids will also enjoy browsing in the children's section of Powell’s Books (Oregon Market and Concourses C and D), and in the Creative KidsStuff shop on Concourse C.
Go into town
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More information |
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For more information about the airport, call +1 (877) 739-4636. |
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Cabs will get you to downtown Portland in 20 to 25 minutes for an average fare of $25 to $33. Town Cars charge about $45. Shuttles make the trip downtown in 20 to 45 minutes and cost $14 per person. The best bet for getting to downtown is the Red Line link of Portland's light-rail service, called MAX. The train runs from the south end of the baggage claim area to downtown in about 35 minutes (fare: $1.80/$3.75 for an all-day ticket). All prices subject to change.
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