Giving Thanks at RDU

Tomorrow, the Thanksgiving holiday travel period kicks off at RDU. It is the busiest travel period of the year as hundreds of thousands of passengers travel over a short 10 day period. My favorite day of the year is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Call me an airport geek, but this is the day of the year I love walking through the terminal. The best time to do this is from 3 to 6 p.m. -- the time when college students arrive home for the holiday, families are taking off to be with the grandparents and live music is playing in the terminal. This, to me, is what the airport is all about and is one of the best times of the year.

This year, RDU decided to do something special for this season of thanks by thanking our customers who let us share their family and travel moments with them.

This week, we launched the Thanks Again customer loyalty program. The program is simple and pays great dividends. All you have to do is sign up one of your credit or debit cards at thanksagain.com/rdu. (You can actually register up to five cards. It’s up to you.) Choose if you would like to receive airline miles or rewards. Then, each time you park, shop or dine at RDU you receive one mile or one rewards point for each dollar spent. It is that simple.

[caption id="attachment_122" align="alignright" width="300"] This can structure is helping RDU kick off the Thanks Again customer rewards program. In January, the 2,500 cans in the display will be donated to area non-profits.[/caption]

If you are at the airport this week, I also invite you take a look at the can sculpture located at the entrance to the Terminal 2 security checkpoint. Created by Canstruction, the piece is created in the design of the Thanks Again logo using nearly 2,500 cans of food. On January 8, the exhibit will be dismantled and the food will be given to Urban Ministries of Durham and the Food Bank of Eastern and Central North Carolina.

Again, thank you for letting RDU be your hometown airport. And thank you for sharing your holidays with us.