MSP pet relief area (Lindbergh Terminal)

To find the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) pet relief area for the Lindbergh Terminal, go to the baggage claim level and exit Door 1. Follow the orange signs, which lead you to a small, partially-fenced space lined with soft wood chips. There are poop bags and a bench for humans, and there are several rocks, positioned vertically to appeal to male dogs. It’s minimal, and really too small for more than one dog at a time, but I appreciated the bench.

[10/23/13 I just learned that MSP’s Lindbergh Terminal also has an air-side pet relief area. The airport doesn’t reveal its secret location (“To gain access to the pet relief area inside the secure area at Terminal 1, visit the Information Booth located near the entrance to Concourse E in the Airport Mall”), but it’s good to know it exists. If any of you visit it, please let me know what it’s like, and how long it takes to organize a visit to it for your dog!]

If you’re traveling on AirTran, Icelandair, Southwest or Sun Country, you’ll arrive instead at the Humphrey Terminal. According to MSP, “at the Humphrey Terminal travelers should use the grassy area just outside and to the right of Door 6 on Level 1 near Baggage Claim.” I’m not sure why they direct you to Door 6, when in fact Door 7 or the unnamed doors at the far end of the terminal are more convenient. At the baggage claim level, look for Door 7 (or Door 6, if you want to step outside sooner). Exit the building, turn right, and you’ll see a nice patch of grass at the end of the sidewalk (there are additional patches of grass across the airport roadway, but crossing the roadway is forbidden, and for good reason).

The Humphrey Terminal pet relief area, photographed on a visit in Spring 2011. The grass is just beginning to emerge from the snows of Winter 2010-11.

The Humphrey Terminal pet relief area is significantly nicer than the Lindbergh Terminal area, but it’s not trivial to get from one terminal to the other. It took Chloe and me a solid half hour on a quiet Sunday afternoon, and involved taking the airport tram, transferring to light rail and traveling one stop, and walking for quite a distance in the Humphrey Terminal garage.

This post is part of an ongoing series of reviews of airport pet relief areas we’ve visited. To see others, visit Dog Jaunt’s handy guide to airport pet relief areas.