On the go and stressed? Treat yourself to an airport massage

OVER the Thanksgiving holiday, 2 million passengers a day are expected on U.S. airlines, according to the Air Transport Assn., a trade group.

Crowds are a certainty. So are longer lines. Even the most easygoing airline passenger might get cranky.

Even so, de-stressing while you are traveling through airports is easier now than before. Airports with massage services are growing. Airport-based gyms are still few and far between, but a health club often can be found within a 10-minute cab or shuttle ride, and there's a website to help you locate them. And if your route doesn't include massage services or workout facilities, you can relax yourself with easy exercises done while waiting in line or in the terminal -- if you can ignore weird looks from fellow passengers.

Two companies, XpresSpa (www.xpresspa.com), based in New York, and Massage Bar (www.massagebar.com), based in Seattle, are among companies offering in-airport massage services.

XpresSpa operates in four U.S. airports -- JFK, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Philadelphia -- and is planning to open four more this year and four in 2007, says Moreton Binn, the company's chief executive.

XpresSpa offers deep-tissue, sports or traditional body massages in a treatment room or a clothed massage on targeted areas, such as the shoulders and back, that typically tense up under stress. The staff massage therapists are state licensed and trained by XpresSpa, Binn says.

XpressSpa accepts reservations and walk-ins. Its fees vary by service. A 30-minute massage costs $60 and an hourlong massage, $110. A 10-minute reflexology and foot massage treatment is $24.

MassageBar, launched in Seattle 13 years ago by Cary Cruea, has eight airport locations at five domestic airports -- Seattle-Tacoma, Nashville, Newark Liberty in New Jersey, Washington-Dulles in Virginia and Port Columbus in Ohio.

It offers a variety of drop-in massage services by licensed practitioners while passengers remain clothed. Travelers "like a quick service and they don't want to feel all oiled up," Cruea says.

MassageBar's services include a 15-minute massage of neck, shoulders and back for $21 or 30 minutes for $35. (Prices may be higher at some locations.) A 10-minute foot massage, which costs $21, is done with shoes off and a medical bootie placed over the socks for cleanliness, Cruea says.