Latest New Airport Amenity in 2013

In the sky, hassles abound as airlines squeeze in more seats on their planes and tack on more fees for checking baggage, changing flight plans and using other services. On the ground, it's a rosier story. Airports are steadily upgrading their facilities and adding amenities that offer passengers more enjoyable experiences that can make the time spent waiting for a flight the best part of the trip. As we close out 2013, here are some of the best of airport amenities rolled out this past year. Automated passport kiosks You can't really enjoy your time at an airport unless you can get into the airport, and this year we've seen wait times at customs significantly reduced at a handful of North American airports that have installed automated passport kiosks. U.S. citizens can use these machines – for free – to scan their passports, answer customs declarations questions and cut short the time they need to spend in conversation with a customs officer. The first machines were installed in May at Vancouver International Airport. In August, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport became the first U.S. airport to roll out the kiosks. Since then, the wait-reducing machines have been introduced at New York JFK International Airport (Terminal 4), Miami International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Montreal-Trudeau International Airport and, on Dec. 4, at Toronto Pearson International Airport. My Opinion.... Kiosks are great but damn technology can get really annoying if you don't know what you are doing. And if you want to talk to someone. Well the machine is not doing too much for being a live person.