CANBERRA TIMES - June 24 - MeetAtTheAirport.com is for people who want to kill the extra time they have before their flight to meet like minded people. "People always tell you to meet in a public, safe place. What's safer than an airport?", said Steve Pasternack, the website's founder. Vino Volo is a small wine shop at the airport in Northern Virginia. Many people start their Parisian vacations with a glass of wine, and because seating is limited, Vino Volo often asks strangers if they wouldn't mind sitting together. At least one couple met there while waiting for a flight and later got engaged.
USA TODAY - Apr 23 - MeetAtTheAirport.com allows solo travelers to arrange meet-ups with strangers. The website has just soared to the 80K-member mark. A similar site, Planely.com, matches members who are taking the same flight. And KLM Airlines has a "Meet & Seat" option for flights to and from Amsterdam that lets participating passengers link up via social media.
NY TIMES - Dec 26 - Meet at the Airport.com asks users to include the name of their local airport, the time they’ll be there or the location and time that they’ll be at any other terminal in the world. The site connects travelers with one another for friendship, love or something in between. Women who are traveling alone but don’t necessarily want to eat alone can scour Inviteforabite.com for public invitations from other female travelers. Triptrotting.com connects travelers with locals for advice and activities like bike riding in Beijing or a photo tour of New York landmarks. On Globetrooper.com, users can post a trip they’re planning and invite strangers to join. Banjo, an app for iPhone, uses location technology to facilitate spontaneous meetups while you’re on the go. Its creator, Damien Patton, came up with the idea after learning that while in an airport he missed connecting with a friend he hadn’t seen in years. Planely.com matches you with fellow airline passengers, allowing you to connect with them on the Web before you connect in the air.
CNN - Nov 27 - When a delayed flight left Steve Pasternack stranded at Miami Airport in early 2011, he settled into his departure lounge seat and cast a curious eye across his fellow passengers. He launched Meetattheairport.com, a dating site that enables travelers to connect at the departure gate. Since launching in May 2011 the platform has attracted ~20K members worldwide. The concept works by prompting users to enter their personal interests, flight details and departure airport before matching them up with individuals with similar interests and travel arrangements. Pasternack is not alone in exploring the possibility of transforming airports into social meeting places. Vantaa Airport in Helsinki, Finland, recently considered the possibility of introducing an airport speed-dating service.
You’ve got an interesting background I understand. What did you used to do? I was a Bonds trader. I worked on the New York markets exchange. I was a trader for 18 years.
What prompted the change? In 2001 things were changing financially for the markets and my 18 years on the trading floor were starting to take their toll, so I decided to move back to Florida. At that time all the .coms were collapsing. It wasn’t the best industry to be in. I was looking for something different when I heard something from Ron Jeremy, a new way to make some money. The idea made me think of my multi-millionaire friends in NY and my friends in Florida and how I could put these people together through a dating site, make everyone happy.
Why would you encourage people to meet at the airport? There are so many reasons. For example, say you’re flying to a new city, you can arrange to meet someone at the airport and they can be your tour guide, companion, possible romantic fling. It’s exciting flying somewhere and meeting someone new. The airport is actually a good place to meet a complete stranger. They have had gone through security and proven their ID, proven they are not carrying any weapons.
For 7OrBetter.com... Do you know how many guys are 7 or better in the USA? Obviously men in general are not 7 or better, that is not the average size. However, there are 1000's of men out there that are 7 or better and it can be difficult for them to find a woman who can accommodate their size. There are also women that require a guy that is a bit larger.
What’s your male to female ratio, are there more guys than girls? It’s generally about 50:50.
Sugardaddie.com, is your most frequented property. There's some controversy surrounding the sugardaddy concept. Is it really just prostitution? What’s your thoughts? That’s a question I always get asked and sometimes it’s difficult to explain. If a woman is charging by the hour/day then that’s a business transaction and that’s prostitution. But if it’s part of an ongoing relationship in which the guy is taking care of the woman, not necessarily helping her financially but always taking her on trips etc then that’s a legal relationship. Some say it’s the same as a marriage, where the husband pays for everything and the wife doesn’t have to worry about anything. It’s because of the age difference and the fact that the man takes care of the woman that raises an eyebrow but apart from that it’s just the same as any other relationship.
Do you have any plans to launch more dating sites? I’m always looking for ideas but at the moment I just have the 3 sites.
PR WEB - May 26 - MeetAtTheAirport.com is a new international dating and social networking service aimed at airline travelers. The site specializes in bringing together people waiting for their flights or looking for some pre-flight socializing. The site is 100% free to all users.
