No ordinary airport vending machine: Project Fi Travel Trolley gives free gifts

By Lulu Chang Published December 15, 2016

project fi travel trolley sjc get there early — artistan/123RF

There’s little to be enjoyed about holiday traveling, what with the endless security lines, hoards of people, and seemingly inevitable flight delays, but now, Google’s Project Fi is hoping to bring some cheer to your holiday flight. On Wednesday, it was discovered that Google’s mobile virtual network operator had set up a vending machine in San Jose International Airport. But not just any vending machine — a free vending machine.

Traveling through SJC? Check out the new Project Fi Travel Trolley filled with goodies for subscribers. #flywithFi pic.twitter.com/W8O4xvUGyd

— Google Fi Wireless (@googlefi) December 14, 2016

Before you get too excited, you ought to bear in mind that this “free” aspect applies only to Google Fi subscribers. But for those lucky folks, the machine located across from Gate 25 will dispense a whole range of travel essentials, including sleep masks, socks, and charging cables. And because, at the end of the day, this is indeed a marketing ploy, all these items are Fi-branded. But don’t just get the first item you see in the vending machine — given that you can only get one item every 24 hours, you’ll have to choose wisely.

For now, the vending machine has been seen only in the Silicon Valley airport, but it doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility for these goodie dispensers to pop up elsewhere. If that does happen, you’ll need only to dial *#*#FLYWITHFI#*#* (that’s *#*#359948434#*#*) on your phone. This will generate a QR code that you can present to the scanner on the vending machine, in exchange for your free Project Fi paraphernalia.

So if you need a little pick-me-up as you’re making your way through the airport, or you just realized that you’d forgotten your charger at home, make your way over to the Project Fi Travel Trolley, and pick up a gift for yourself (or hey, maybe for someone else).

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Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…

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