[nagdu] Relief area at Minneapolis airport

[Tracy Carcione]

There used to be a nice dog relief area in the Minneapolis airport,
without going through security.  On my recent trip, I was informed that
that relief area belonged to Northwest, and, when they merged with Delta,
Delta shut it down.  Perhaps it was too convenient, and airline passengers
can't be allowed too much of that.
It was odd, though.  When I showed up at 3:00 and found my flight was
delayed, I asked the gate agent if I could take my dog to the relief area.
 She hunted around and found someone who could take Ben somewhere to pee,
but I couldn't come with, since the guy she found wasn't authorized to
take a passenger to a secure area.  I decided to trust him and gave him
Ben, and a couple minutes later he came back with a happy, relieved Benny
boy.
At 5:30, when my flight was cancelled and I had a bit of a wait, I asked
another gate agent if someone could take us to the relief area.  She told
me the area was closed.  The only area now is outside security, she said. 
I decided not to go, because I didn't want the security hassle.
I'm not sure why one agent could help me, and another could not (although
the second agent was much more officious than the first.)  It's hard to
know what to do, when there's no consistency, and results seem to depend
on the luck of the draw.
Anyway, if you're flying through Minneapolis, don't count on a relief area
anymore.
Tracy