Conor Pope on the airport ‘Golden Hour’ and holiday traps

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The Claire Byrne Show 12 min 4 speakers 5 chapters transcribed 4 months ago
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Ciara Kelly 0:00
Hi, Newstalk's Ciara Kelly here. There is something about summer that makes you want to refresh your home. And for many of us, that starts with the kitchen. It's where the morning coffee happens, where family life gathers, where friends always seem to end up. And after years of wear and tear, it might be time to give it the attention it deserves. So if you're thinking about a new kitchen, Tile Style is well worth a visit because Tile Style doesn't just do tiles, they also design and supply beautiful kitchens including the luxurious Corsolanosa kitchen collection. Think high quality, contemporary design, stunning finishes, clever storage and a look that can completely transform your space. Their expert team can help you plan it all properly with advice and optional virtual designs.
Ciara Kelly 0:41
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Unknown 1:05
Or explore more at TileStyle.ie.
Claire Byrne 1:18
Now, as many of you may be packing up and jetting off in the coming weeks, it's time to chat about the airport golden hour, the 60 minutes that you spend or so between checking in and heading to your flight. And this time is tactically used by the airport you're in to make sure that you spend as much money as you can while you wait to get on your flight. Conor Pope is with me, consumer affairs correspondent with the Irish Times. One of the holiday traps, isn't it, Conor, that you're warning us about?
Conor Pope 1:46
Well, warning and traps are strong words there, Clare, I have to say. It is a trap. In some respect. The Golden Hour, when I was a kid, the Golden Hour was 60 minutes that Larry Gogan used to play tunes from the 1960s. But it has become something different in an airport context. Now, obviously, airports are in the business of transporting people to and from places all over the world. And in the main, they're excellent at that. I mean... You know, people like to complain about air travel, but it's still a remarkable achievement that so many people use airports all over the world all the time and mostly get to their destinations on a timely basis with their baggage alongside them. But the other key part of an airport's operation is making money from its shopping.
Conor Pope 2:27
And it does that through a number of different techniques. Now, you will have noticed in recent times that airports increasingly are streamlining the processes that are aimed at getting us through check-in. So you have automated drops and you have bag drops and self-check-in kiosks. That's partially to save airlines and airports money. But the other key thing is they want us to get through the cumbersome and costly check-in process as quickly as we can to get to what some airports refer to as The dwell zone. Now, the dwell zone sounds kind of sinister, but effectively, it's the shops. And from the moment we pass through security and we put back our belts and put on our boots and all the rest of it, we're hit with this dizzying array of shops.
Conor Pope 3:09
It's brightly lit. There's soft music playing. And like, for instance, if you take... Dublin Airport, you walk through security in Terminal 1 and one of the very first shops that you see is Charlotte Tilbury. Now, I have no disrespect for Charlotte Tilbury, but I know for a fact that my wife and teenage daughters are drawn to it like moths to a flame.
Claire Byrne 3:28
Oh, there's hordes of people. They're five deep at Charlotte Tilbury looking for different things.
Conor Pope 3:34
I know. And I can't tell you the amount of time I've lost sadly standing outside the Charlotte Tilbury in Dublin airport waiting for my family to be done with their shopping. And a part of me is going, do you not have enough makeup? Did we not pack all of that stuff in our suitcases?

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