{"id":4316,"date":"2026-07-10T14:38:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T14:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316"},"modified":"2026-07-10T14:38:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T14:38:15","slug":"rdu-airport-lacks-free-places-to-sit-at-a-table-this-new-lounge-will-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316","title":{"rendered":"RDU airport lacks free places to sit at a table. This new lounge will help."},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"summary\">AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsobserver.com\/news\/nation-world\/national\/article280707640.html\">Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you buy a pizza at Guy Fieri\u2019s or a giant Italian sub from Bongiorno &amp; Son at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rdu.com\/\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\">Raleigh-Durham International Airport<\/a>, you don\u2019t have many options but to eat it on your lap at the gate.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4314\">Carrboro tenants organize to demand CASA fix their housing, condemned apartments<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But that will soon change. RDU plans to convert an empty restaurant space in Terminal 2 into a lounge with tables and chairs open 24 hours a day to anyone looking to eat a take-away meal or work on a laptop.<\/p>\n<p>The lounge will open by year\u2019s end in the old seating area for the BurgerFi and Jason\u2019s Deli. The two restaurants closed in January when their lease expired. While RDU looks for a replacement, the now-unused dining area will provide much-needed table space in an often crowded airport.<\/p>\n<p>The idea for the lounge came from <a href=\"https:\/\/pepsibottlingventures.com\/\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\">Pepsi Bottling Ventures<\/a>, which has a contract to provide soft drinks at RDU. The company will provide new tables, seating and TVs, as well as two Pepsi machines, and will market the space as the Pepsi customer lounge, said Alyssa Whelan, RDU\u2019s concessions business manager.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s something Pepsi has proposed to us for a couple of years now,\u201d Whelan said. \u201cWe just didn\u2019t have the space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pepsi has similar lounges at<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flyreagan.com\/store\/pepsi-lounge\" rel=\"Follow\" target=\"_blank\"> Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport<\/a> and Philadelphia International Airport.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4312\">Why Shaw University is launching a new AI degree \u2014 in its divinity school<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Several RDU restaurants offer tables for their customers, and American, Delta and United airlines have lounges open to flyers who qualify. But there is very limited table seating<\/p>\n<p>The lounge will be open at least a year, perhaps longer depending on how quickly RDU finds a tenant to fill the restaurant space. The kitchen and service counters for the old BurgerFi and Jason\u2019s Deli will remain behind temporary walls, where a future restaurant can take shape.<\/p>\n<p>Several RDU restaurants offer tables for their customers, and American, Delta and United airlines have lounges open to flyers who qualify.<\/p>\n<p>But there is very limited open table seating, something passengers have been asking for, said Tammie Hall-Roberts, who heads the RDU Airport Authority board. Hall-Roberts said she recently bought pizza from Guy\u2019s Pizza Joint and did what most everyone else does.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe went over to the next gate and put our food in our lap, and we sat and we ate,\u201d she said. \u201cSo I am first witness that this space will be of great value to our passengers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4310\">Can NC police seize someone based on an anonymous tip? Court offers new guidance<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"summary gray\">This story was originally published <span class=\"inline-block\">July 10, 2026 at 10:07 AM<span>.<\/span><\/span><!-- --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The airport\u2019s Pepsi customer lounge will be free and open 24 hours a day to travelers looking for a table to eat a take-away meal or work on a laptop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>RDU airport lacks free places to sit at a table. This new lounge will help. - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"RDU airport lacks free places to sit at a table. This new lounge will help. - Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The airport\u2019s Pepsi customer lounge will be free and open 24 hours a day to travelers looking for a table to eat a take-away meal or work on a laptop.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-10T14:38:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4316#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4316\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"headline\":\"RDU airport lacks free places to sit at a table. This new lounge will help.\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T14:38:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4316\"},\"wordCount\":472,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4316#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d815d4296865dca62ae2cb02eec019ba.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Read today's Edition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4316#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4316\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4316\",\"name\":\"RDU airport lacks free places to sit at a table. This new lounge will help. - Durham Moving Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4316#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4316#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d815d4296865dca62ae2cb02eec019ba.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T14:38:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4316#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4316\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4316#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d815d4296865dca62ae2cb02eec019ba.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/d815d4296865dca62ae2cb02eec019ba.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4316#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"RDU airport lacks free places to sit at a table. This new lounge will help.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Durham Moving Hub\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"RDU airport lacks free places to sit at a table. This new lounge will help. - Durham Moving Hub","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"RDU airport lacks free places to sit at a table. This new lounge will help. - Durham Moving Hub","og_description":"The airport\u2019s Pepsi customer lounge will be free and open 24 hours a day to travelers looking for a table to eat a take-away meal or work on a laptop.","og_url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316","og_site_name":"Durham Moving Hub","article_published_time":"2026-07-10T14:38:15+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85"},"headline":"RDU airport lacks free places to sit at a table. This new lounge will help.","datePublished":"2026-07-10T14:38:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316"},"wordCount":472,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/d815d4296865dca62ae2cb02eec019ba.jpg","articleSection":["Read today's Edition"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316","name":"RDU airport lacks free places to sit at a table. This new lounge will help. - Durham Moving Hub","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/d815d4296865dca62ae2cb02eec019ba.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-10T14:38:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/d815d4296865dca62ae2cb02eec019ba.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/d815d4296865dca62ae2cb02eec019ba.jpg","width":1200,"height":675},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4316#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"RDU airport lacks free places to sit at a table. This new lounge will help."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/","name":"Durham Moving Hub","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/durhammovinghub.com"],"url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}