Audrey Lewis of Philadelphia recently found herself in a quandary familiar to millions of travelers. She was stuck in an airport far from home and expecting a key telephone call.
Her cell phone battery was mere seconds from going flat-line.
As she strolled the concourse at Will Rogers World Airport last Friday while waiting to board her flight home, Lewis spotted an oasis for her cell phone plight.
It was a kiosk called ChargeCarte that offered 30 minutes of cell phone charging for $3.
"I had very little (battery) left, and I was expecting an important call," Lewis said just minutes after giving her cell phone enough of a battery charge to bring it back to life. "I just happened to walk by, saw it. I was in a pinch, so it was worth it."
Will Rogers World Airport offers travelers a limited number of electrical outlets, but many travelers don't carry a charger on the road with them.
Competition for each outlet is fierce because of the number of laptop computers that travelers carry, said Karen Carney, airport spokeswoman.
"Every outlet, someone has something plugged in," Carney said. "So we can't really have enough outlets for everybody to utilize."
Developed by Smarte Carte, the same Minneapolis company that markets luggage carts for airport travelers, the cell phone charging kiosks have been in place for less than two weeks.
"They pitched it to us and wanted us to try it," Carney said. "People have been using it."
Users can plug a cell phone into one of the connectors attached to the kiosk and activate the machine with a credit card; it begins counting down the allotted 30 minutes. The machine offers connectors fitting 16 different cell phone models.
Two of the kiosks were placed just outside the airport's departure gate area.
As Lewis discussed her experience last week, several fellow travelers stopped by the kiosks to see what was offered.
Lewis counted the 30 minutes spent docked to the machine as time well spent.
"I knew that I would have to also make a call after I got off the plane for someone to pick me up, and that call would take at least 10 minutes," she said. "The other one would take 10 minutes, too, so I need to be sure I had enough (battery) to last."
Secure in the knowledge that her cell phone would work for the remainder of her trip home, Lewis gathered her carry on luggage and walked toward the departure gate.
As she walked away, another traveler plugged his cell phone into the airport's other ChargeCarte kiosk.
Apparently, he didn't have the 15 or 30 minutes to wait for the charge. He stood close to the kiosk with the phone to his ear and engaged in conversation even as it charged.
Copyright: The Daily Oklahoman -- 8/02/06
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