If travelers through Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport have a long enough layover, they should scoot on over to Concourse B to eat, according to The Daily Meal website.

The site recently listed Obrycki’s as one of the world’s 31 best airport restaurants. (Was that a sigh we heard from world-weary frequent fliers who say the bar — or bar-restaurant — is set pretty low for such a list?)

Obrycki’s Concourse B location (there is a smaller bar on Concourse A) opened at BWI in July 2006. The Daily Meal recommends crab cakes, of course.

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If your travels take you through Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport this holiday season and you’re a Ravens fan and you patronize a shop while at BWI, you could scratch off a little purple.

Airmall USA is running a contest called the “Purple Zone,” in which shoppers receive scratch-off tickets when they make purchases at selected stores on concourses A/B and D. Prizes include Ravens paraphernalia, with a grand prize of a trip for two to a Ravens away game in 2013, including tickets, airfare and accommodations. (Presumably, you would fly through BWI — where you could get another scratch-off and maybe win a T-shirt to wear to the game.)

The participating stores include America!, Be Relax, Bijoux Bellagio, Brooks Brothers, Brookstone, Fire & Ice, Hudson Booksellers, iTech Xperience, Johnston & Murphy, Polk Audio, Sunglass Hut, Swarovski, Talie, Taxco Sterling, Tech Interaction, The Body Shop and Ultra Diamonds.

The Ravens mascot Poe was at BWI to help kick off the contest last week, but watch out for him again sometime soon. You don’t want to get caught behind Poe at a security checkpoint. Imagine how long that could take.

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If you have to get stuck in an airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International is the place to be, according to a survey at MissTravel.com.

MissTravel asked 5,000 of its members to pick the top airports they would least object to spending extra time in — those with the best space for working or relaxing and the most palatable dining options. Following D/FW at the top were Pittsburgh, Austin, Milwaukee and Chicago O’Hare.

Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport didn’t make the top 10, but at least it didn’t rank among the worst — which included Dulles,  Atlanta and JFK.

Then again, this survey was conducted before this bit of news: Pinkberry is now at BWI, on Concourse A/B. Pinkberry, which has spread across the country from California, serves delicious frozen yogurt.

And, by the way, if you were wondering what MissTravel.com is, the site describes itself this way: “MissTravel.com is the only online dating website for travelers, and more specifically, we match Generous travelers who hate to travel alone with Attractive travelers who would love the opportunity to travel the world for free.”

Now, don’t get the wrong idea. A note on the home page advises: “MissTravel.com is strictly an online dating website. Escorts are not welcome.”

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Not only does absence make the heart grow fonder, but it also apparently makes you happier in general.

Frequent business travelers report excitement, eagerness and other positive emotions associated with travel, according to a survey by Fairfield Inns & Suites by Marriott, based in Bethesda.

Respondents – a group of 1,000 frequent travelers — were overwhelmingly happy both when preparing for the trip (86 percent) and during the trip (88 percent).

Could it be that these travelers are just workaholics who want to get away from everyone? Maybe not. Those surveyed said hitting the road made them value their time with family and friends more (86 percent) and treasure personal time more (83 percent).

Then again, the survey said they valued the time at home, not that they actually wanted to spend more time there. In fact, 30 percent of these frequent travelers said they wished they were able to travel more.

Hey, maybe it’s all those great road songs, like from Ricky Nelson, Bob Seger, Willie Nelson and SpongeBob.

Plus, what happens on the road … well, you know.

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Southwest Airlines will test out live television service on some of its flights. You’ll be left to your own devices to watch — that is, Southwest will sell you access to the TV channels, but you’ll need something to watch it on, presumably a smartphone, tablet or laptop.

With initial channels to be limited to sports and news, here’s what we’re picturing: You lay out the fee and fire up, say, an Orioles game on your iPad. You’re enjoying the action when you notice the guy squeezed into the seat next to you is watching, too.

What’s the etiquette? You let him freeload? You say, “Dude, buy it yourself” and turn the iPad so he can’t see the screen? Or do you ever-so-nonchalantly reposition yourself so that you appear to be getting more comfortable but are actually moving so that your arm and shoulder are blocking his view?

We suggest going with the last one, but when he asks, “What’s the score?” you go ahead and tell him. However, in your head, you’re saying, “The score is this: Me 1, You 0.”

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The truncated work week didn’t keep The Daily Record’s business reporters from breaking some news in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.

Also cracking the weekly top five for the first time is a recent installment in our new series, the Photo of the Day. The picture relates to air travel, hence the business peg, but mostly it’s just a very cool picture. Do check it out.

1. On the Move, 11/26: Northrop Grumman’s Edwards Veihoffer wins women engineers award

Debbie Edwards Veihdeffer, director of work-life integration at Northrop Grumman’s electronic systems sector in Linthicum, recently received the Work-Life Balance Award from the Society of Women Engineers.

She serves as the human resources focal point for three sector-level employee resource groups and is the project leader for two science, technology, engineering and mathematics educational outreach programs for teachers.

2. State suspends debt collection firm’s license

A collection company hired by payday loan firms was suspended by state regulators Monday because the loans were given by unlicensed companies who violated state usury laws.

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The week was dominated by politics and election news, as seen with The Daily Record’s five most-read staff-written stories.

Even a story on health care that cracked the list centers on health care reform — a galvanizing factor, pundits say, in many of the Republican victories across the country that resulted in the GOP taking control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

A story on air travel, however, tops the list. Here are summaries and links.

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For a company called ExecuCar, it’s probably safe to say there’s nowhere to go but up.

That’s because the company, which bills itself as the “premier luxury sedan service in the U.S.,” offering airport transfers and business travel with professional drivers, announced its foray into the Baltimore market Tuesday. Baltimore was one of five markets ExecuCar added, bringing its total to 19 (and 30 airports).

Of course, many of the roads in Greater Baltimore are not suitable for motor vehicles of any kind, let alone luxury sedans, thanks to last weekend’s record snowfall — and more snow is on the way. Also, BWI Airport was still grappling with the snowy deluge. Both of its main runways were back open Tuesday morning, but airlines had started sending word of flight cancellations later in the day and on into Wednesday.

“We had a multiple city launch set up at the same time so we had to pull the trigger,” says Ken Testani, senior vice president of global marketing for SuperShuttle International, which operates ExecuCar. “Hopefully folks will start using us, when weather permits.”

So this week is a soft launch of sorts for Phoenix, Ariz.-based ExecuCar. The company, which also launched service in Washington, D.C., Minneapolis-St. Paul, Pittsburgh, and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., is offering a $5 discount on reservations made online.

Unfortunately, no snow shoveling is included in that discount.

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The luxury of a private jet, especially in the current economy, seems like an extravagance reserved only for music executives or real estate moguls.

However, K & R Aviation and Open Air provide a similar, but less extravagant, service to businessmen and women in the Greater Baltimore area.

Open Air wants you to pay a premium and travel in style — on a private plane. Sure, it seems like a waste of money, but Open Air provides specials that are catered to businesspeople of more traditional means:

• Their “empty leg special” in particular allows you to charter a flight at a lower-than-normal rate.
•  When someone sends a plane on a one-way flight, they will give you a discounted fare if you are flying from that destination back to Maryland.
• Also, several businesspeople traveling together can “car pool” a flight to and from a major city, like New York or Miami, and share the cost.  If you get enough of you together, the cost may even be below what you would pay in commercial airfare.

Depending on your destination, however, a private jet may not be the way to fly.

According to MarketWatch.com, last year, members of Congress criticized auto executives who flew on private aircrafts to Washington D.C. to request bailout money, calling it another example of “corporate excess.”

However, if you have the means, Open Air can provide the service. Who knows? On your next business trip you could be the one sipping champagne in a plush leather seat.

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Sometimes it pays to get a little worked up over things you can’t control in public. On our way back from an idyllic honeymoon in Barbados, my husband (!) and I found out that our connecting flight from Miami to Baltimore had been canceled.

In the movies, airlines always seem to pick up the tab for passengers’ hotel rooms when they cancel flights. In real life, not so much.

Despite the desire of more than 100 people to get back to Baltimore that night, American Airlines shrugged its shoulders and said, “Sorry, can’t do it.” How about that free hotel room? The response was the same.

Apparently weather cancellations are considered an “act of God” in the contract between the passenger and the airline, which means the airlines are not responsible for passenger hotel rooms.

But back in Baltimore, everyone said the storms had come and gone. Another American flight going to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was still scheduled to take off.

I didn’t want have a hissy fit, but I decided to ask about the hotel room again since the weather seemed fine in Baltimore.

That’s when the woman helping us reluctantly said she could give us a voucher (similar to the meal voucher above) for a discounted rate at a few nearby hotels. Bingo.

My tenacity got us a room at the Hyatt for $79 instead of the $129 rate charged to other customers. So what if in the eyes of American Airlines I’ve been branded a “distressed passenger.”

Next time “weather” gums up your flying plans, I suggest you act the damsel in distress.

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