In my opinion the best airport that I have been to is Hong Kong Intl'. I was amazed by just how big the terminal building was. Also it has a tram / people mover. :spin:
What's the best airport that you've been to?
For me, I'd have to say Indianapolis (IND). :)
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on June 12, 2014, 07:19:09 PM
For me, I'd have to say Indianapolis (IND). :)
Its a really nice airport, but since I go to it so often, it kinda gets boring. :-/
Mine is Dallas/Fort Worth. I use it often for connecting flights, for which I like the wide range of food and shops, and that it's fairly easy to get around for such a big airport. But only on one business trip did I leave the airport for or returned from a local destination (a thoroughly meh and forgettable experience in both directions), so I can't say much about parking/other ground transportation, TSA checkpoints, baggage claim, etc.
For medium-sized airports, John Wayne/Orange County (CA) and Halifax (NS) are my favorites. I haven't used the former lately, but used it a lot in 2004.
While I travel a lot, I rarely fly except to the West Coast or beyond, so my experience is limited.
'
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). But that's the only airport I remember actually using, since the one in Orlando I cannot remember what it actually looks like.
I will give Chicago Midway credit for giving me something to look at outside the window - city streets right next to the runway. Instilled a real sense of confidence that we were going to actually make it off the ground instead of rolling right into a house.
You know DTW isn't half bad. PRG is kinda user friendly. I like the spread in the business lounge over at GVA. The damn TSA screwed up BNA.
Detroit, just because they have a train that runs entirely inside the terminal.
Quote from: Alps on June 12, 2014, 09:19:17 PM
Detroit, just because they have a train that runs entirely inside the terminal.
As does DFW, which helps you get around its five terminals.
Quote from: oscar on June 12, 2014, 09:33:59 PM
Quote from: Alps on June 12, 2014, 09:19:17 PM
Detroit, just because they have a train that runs entirely inside the terminal.
As does DFW, which helps you get around its five terminals.
Detroit's is inside the terminal building and just runs between gates. Many airports have trains between terminals.
I was very surprised at BWI Airport in Baltimore. Rental Cars were practically at the terminal (no long shuttles to offsite rental car agencies), and once you get on the BW Parkway/295 South you feel like you just warped into the middle of nowhere (At least that's what it felt like 15 years ago).
Akron-Canton (CAK) is a great little airport -- again, with a rental car area within walking distance from the terminal, and very little traffic to and from I-77. If your travel plans ever take you to Northeast Ohio, it's a thousand times better than flying into Cleveland, and it's only 45-60 minutes to downtown Cleveland. Not bad -- especially if you have to rent a car in CLE and finding your way to I-71 North, that's almost 20 minutes right there.
Denver's DIA airport is nice as well, though isolated from the city & metropolitan area. If they ever build that 3rd airport in the Chicagoland area, they can learn a lot from Denver.
Quote from: thenetwork on June 12, 2014, 09:45:15 PM
I was very surprised at BWI Airport in Baltimore. Rental Cars were practically at the terminal (no long shuttles to offsite rental car agencies), and once you get on the BW Parkway/295 South you feel like you just warped into the middle of nowhere (At least that's what it felt like 15 years ago).
Not exactly BWI itself, but there is a nice park right next to the runway approach on the ring road around the airport (MD 176), located here:
https://www.google.com/maps?ll=39.163085,-76.662008&spn=0.000017,0.013078&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=39.163071,-76.662178&panoid=g_vT-UyOQhLXG6ef1TfbrQ&cbp=12,256.16,,0,-1.85 (https://www.google.com/maps?ll=39.163085,-76.662008&spn=0.000017,0.013078&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=39.163071,-76.662178&panoid=g_vT-UyOQhLXG6ef1TfbrQ&cbp=12,256.16,,0,-1.85)
When we stay a weekend in Baltimore, we'll take the little guy over to the park so he can watch the planes come in and play on the slides. It seems popular with the locals for plane watching.
MSP - I can do laps around the terminal during the layover.
Quote from: Alps on June 12, 2014, 09:40:10 PM
Quote from: oscar on June 12, 2014, 09:33:59 PM
Quote from: Alps on June 12, 2014, 09:19:17 PM
Detroit, just because they have a train that runs entirely inside the terminal.
As does DFW, which helps you get around its five terminals.
Detroit's is inside the terminal building and just runs between gates. Many airports have trains between terminals.
Detroit: an entire rail line in a single room. Worth a brief layover (long enough to eat a National Coney Island loose-hamburger-in-a-hot-dog-roll).
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on June 12, 2014, 07:19:09 PM
For me, I'd have to say Indianapolis (IND). :)
Same here. Barcelona doesn't have too bad of an airport either.
I'm going to continue being the guy that constantly pimps Boise, but the Boise airport is pretty legit. Rebuilt post 9/11 and not on the cheap, so it's both very pleasant and well laid out for the current security situation.
As far as hubs go, I like Salty Lakes. Easily manageable, has everything you need, and the volume is small enough and the airport prepared enough that in the wintertime delays for de-icing aren't too bad. My only dislike is that twenty gates worth of regional planes (which I'm usually on for one leg) are in one room and it's kind of jammed sometimes, but since the plane is tiny there's no reason to really go down there less than 15-20 minutes before departure time.
Quote from: thenetwork on June 12, 2014, 09:45:15 PM
I was very surprised at BWI Airport in Baltimore. Rental Cars were practically at the terminal (no long shuttles to offsite rental car agencies)...
I did a double take when I saw this one. Maybe it was that way years ago, but it's practically the polar opposite today. When going back to visit family in PA, I tend to alternate between BWI, PHL, and PIT. Often, Southwest's fares to BWI are lower than the other two airports, and rental car prices and taxes are often lower, too, but I dread the seemingly interminable ride to the rental car facility. It's certainly the worst of any airport I use frequently.
Changi Airport, Singapore. Modern, clean, and -- when we were super late for a flight to Denpasar because long story -- the airline held the gate for us. Literally we found our seats, apologized to everyone around us, fastened seatbelts and the plane backed away from the gate.
I would have to say SFO(San Francisco). It's a relatively clean airport and when we flew in on a Sunday it was not packed like JFK that morning. :bigass: Also, the train system was very cool to travel on between the terminals.
As far as gates being close to the bag claim, ticket counter, parking, and street it has to be Kansas City.
As far as design goes, I would have to say Atlanta has a cool layout with the concourses spread out the way it is. I think the underground transit mall is neat with the Plane Train and corridor with moving sidewalks and walkway if you choose not to use the train or moving walk between the concourses below ground knowing the planes are above you.
As far as architecture goes Newark has a neat building design.
For convenience it is Atlantic City as you have not many flights in the terminal, so you have the whole airport to yourself and you are in and out within minuets. Plus the roads leading in and out are not too clogged and minuets you are to the major area highways.
One of my favorites is the really, really tiny one on Molokai, Hawaii. About the only way to the island is via plane. When we left Molokai, there was no security whatsoever.
On the mainland, I don't know if I have a true favorite. I'm in Vegas a lot, and the waiting areas are nice with the slot machines, but having to take the tram is a bit of a pain. The consolidated parking garage - a 7 minute ride from the airport via busses that leave every few minutes - is efficient though.
PHL never gets high marks for their airport, and it looks like you're walking under a highway viaduct with the concrete structure that holds the terminals together, but it's much better than it was in the past, IMO. It's scheduled to undergo a big makeover soon, although not as big as one version had it (which involved replacing the entire airport with a new building.
Quote
When we stay a weekend in Baltimore, we'll take the little guy over to the park so he can watch the planes come in and play on the slides. It seems popular with the locals for plane watching.
One popular place to watch ships, cars and planes in the Philly area is actually across the river in West Deptford, NJ. Well laid out to view from your car or on a park bench, you get a great vantage point of the Girard Point Bridge (the I-95 double-decker bridge near South Philadelphia), boats and ships and personal watercraft on the Delaware River, and the planes as they fly in to PHL. They usually fly in from the north...on days they aren't you can see them leave instead. You don't actually see them touch the runway, as you lose sight of them when they're only a few feet from landing.
Quote from: oscar on June 12, 2014, 08:01:25 PM
Mine is Dallas/Fort Worth. I use it often for connecting flights, for which I like the wide range of food and shops, and that it's fairly easy to get around for such a big airport. But I have never started or ended a trip there, so I can't speak to that part of the experience, such as dealing with parking/other ground transportation, TSA checkpoints, baggage claim, etc.
Been through DFW exactly twice, but I have to agree with Oscar - it's a really good airport. Then again, nearly every other airport I've been through (with the exception of Dulles and their "take a 20 minute shuttle bus ride across the tarmac to change terminals" issue) is automatically superior to Logan Airport in Boston.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on June 13, 2014, 09:17:34 AM
One popular place to watch ships, cars and planes in the Philly area is actually across the river in West Deptford, NJ. Well laid out to view from your car or on a park bench, you get a great vantage point of the Girard Point Bridge (the I-95 double-decker bridge near South Philadelphia), boats and ships and personal watercraft on the Delaware River, and the planes as they fly in to PHL. They usually fly in from the north...on days they aren't you can see them leave instead. You don't actually see them touch the runway, as you lose sight of them when they're only a few feet from landing.
Yes - there's a number of good spots there - by the old ferry, the new boat ramp and the battlefield in National Park.
I remember also when 95 had the gap by the airport, and the new Girard Point Bridge would dump you off onto Enterprise Avenue, forcing you to detour around the perimeter of the airport past the old international terminal to get back on 95. Now I see that they closed part of the old PA 291 perimeter road and moved it to the other side of 95 to squeeze in some more parking and runway space. A good section of closed northbound lanes appears still intact and in good shape and ready to be featured on an "abandoned roads" thread.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on June 13, 2014, 09:17:34 AM
One of my favorites is the really, really tiny one on Molokai, Hawaii. About the only way to the island is via plane. When we left Molokai, there was no security whatsoever.
If you like "no security", there are a lot of small airports in western Alaska for you, though the price of that is no jet service. The nicer such airports, such as St. Mary's (one of the secondary airports featured in the "Flying Wild Alaska" TV series), have small staffed terminal buildings. Many are just a gravel airstrip, a windsock, and maybe a fence to help keep wildlife from wandering onto the airstrip.
Quote from: KEVIN_224 on June 12, 2014, 07:19:09 PM
For me, I'd have to say Indianapolis (IND). :)
Indianapolis is a great mid-size airport — they did a very good job in the new setup — but we avoid it because rental cars there are subject to an extreme new airport/new stadium tax.
On a recent business trip, I was rather pleased with the new/renovated sections of Love Field. Airy, plenty of amenities, and quite unlike the nasty old sections of Love Field (where my departing flight left from; in fairness the renovations just getting started there may aggravate the nastiness.)
Other airports I visit:
DEN -- its location out in the middle of nowhere is annoying (that sentiment may ease once light rail service starts), and I used to be un-fond of the security lines (TSA Pre-check eases that). Layout of the runways and taxiways is well thought out, and the view of the Front Range in the distance is nice.
ORD -- I avoid if at all possible. I've spent too many nights on the floor there to have anything nice to say about the place. I've even had a couple of meetings in Rosemont for which I flew into MDW and either cabbed it, or had a long el ride, because of my loathing of ORD.
MDW -- The terminal is meh. The food court is not bad. I'm not a fan of having to change concourses to connect (especially if that oddball far-removed A gate is involved) The proximity of the neighborhood and the aircraft arrestors at the end of the runway are nice, however.
MSP -- The scale of Terminal 1 is impressive, but it feels a little dark, and in need of updates. I appreciate the walking path, but since I'm usually arriving/departing MSP rather than connecting there, I don't get to use it. The "secret" Terminal 1 checkpoints above the main rental car facility are nifty. Terminal 2 is rather Spartan, but well-equipped with places to set up the mobile office if camping out. I don't like how you have to know which security checkpoint to use to access TSA Pre-Check. I hate it when I get dropped off at T1 (or the main rental car facility) and have to light rail and hike over to T2, or vice-versa.
BWI -- My favorite connection point, if only because there are so many options on how I can get home from there. Hate the long bus ride over to the Rental Car facility.
SAT -- I'll mostly withhold an opinion because much of my experience there is complicated by construction. However, if you're on a diet, the dining options in Southwest's terminal are nonexistent.
ATL -- I have a love/hate relationship with the place. I dislike concourses B, C, and D, and refilling the rental car before dropping it off is a pain.
DTW -- The internal train is nifty
MEM -- a shadow of its former self, for passenger purposes anyway, due to Delta's decision to de-hub, and in dire need of updates. It'll be interesting to see what the passenger terminal is like after they downsize and renovate. Lots of FDX aircraft to look at. :)
IAD -- it feels like a creature of the federal government. It has potential for grandeur, but the operation is bureaucratic (c.f. the shuttle to get to concourse D), and the interior is rather drab and functional. At least they did away with the flimsy ultra-temporary commuter terminal.
SFO -- love the approach over the Bay, and I like being able to take BART into the city. I think this is probably my favorite destination airport for those reasons, even though I'd put the internal amenities as just average.
LAX -- not a fan of the crowds, or the traffic gettng to/from the airport, but there's frequently plenty of interesting aircraft to ogle.
DFW -- Most of my experience predates the new internal train, so I'm biased by a few too many long walks to make transfers. My one trip with the current train system was not bad, however, and the new terminal used by AA is a nice transfer point.
EWR -- my favorite of the New York City area airports. It may lack the history of LGA and JFK, but it's non-claustrophobic, offers nice skyline views from the terminal and on takeoff/landing, and I like the ability to transfer over to Amtrak or NJTransit via monorail.
LGA -- Nasty, nasty place, in dire need of a rail connection.
JFK -- I believe one's experience varies wildly depending on what airline/terminal is used. I'm glad I got to visit Terminal 3 (the old PanAm terminal) before it was closed -- you could get a sense of what it must have been like in the golden age of aviation...but otherwise the terminal was otherwise dark and somewhat nasty -- and Terminal 2 struck me as rather 60's ish (and not necessarily in a good way). Plenty of interesting things to look at around the airport, however; just hope you don't have to make an interterminal transfer.
BOS -- only used it twice. First time was a couple of months after 9/11, so the 3-hour line to clear security spoiled the experience for me. Second time, I had had Southwest send me to BOS after a delay cost me a connection to get back to BDL that night. As I had no dogsitter coverage the following day, I greatly appreciated being able to arrange a one-way rental car at 2am to get home before the dog had issues. The place strikes me as being perhaps the best maintained of the classic airports.
PHL -- too many delays, connections require potentially too-long walks.
LAS -- I appreciate the views on departure and arrival, as well as its proximity to the strip. Janet flights add a bit of intrigue. I don't much care for the slot machines, however, and the number of non-business travelers on flights to/from LAS seems to make flight attendants on those flights more likely to be surly. (MCO has a similar issue.)
BDL -- My home airport, almost literally in the backyard. The now-closed Murphy Terminal has become an eyesore, awaiting demolition. I imagine it'll be nice when they get the new rental car facility built, although I'm dreading the mess of construction. Plenty of RON aircraft and diversions to make planespotting somewhat occasionally interesting, but interference from CSP can spoil that joy.
If I might list a few of my least favorite airports (much longer list than the ones I like -- I'm so hard to please -- so I won't dump the whole list here):
London-Heathrow terminal 5 (British Airways): Really annoyed me that they only announce your gate less than an hour before flight departure, so you have to wait in a crowded central waiting area for the announcement then rush to your gate, rather than head straight for the gate once you've cleared security and relax there.
Long Beach CA -- Primitive old terminal, with an awkward security screening setup that had a line going outside (the evening I was there in 2006, it was cold by California standards, and rainy). That was the closest I've ever come to a screener "touching my junk", and women wearing underwire bras apparently always got secondary screening as well.
LAX -- Disorganized, crowded, limited food choices for such a major airport.
New York-La Guardia -- Last I used it was about three decades ago, but it sounds like it still sucks.
Quote from: Pete from Boston on June 12, 2014, 10:50:26 PM
Quote from: Alps on June 12, 2014, 09:40:10 PM
Quote from: oscar on June 12, 2014, 09:33:59 PM
Quote from: Alps on June 12, 2014, 09:19:17 PM
Detroit, just because they have a train that runs entirely inside the terminal.
As does DFW, which helps you get around its five terminals.
Detroit's is inside the terminal building and just runs between gates. Many airports have trains between terminals.
Detroit: an entire rail line in a single room. Worth a brief layover (long enough to eat a National Coney Island loose-hamburger-in-a-hot-dog-roll).
Also probably the cleanest airport I've been to, lots of natural lighting, and that light show between Concourse A and B. Food choices are pretty good all around.
For me, it would have to be my hometown airport, O'Hare.
Quote from: oscar on June 13, 2014, 01:54:01 PM
Long Beach CA -- Primitive old terminal, with an awkward security screening setup that had a line going outside (the evening I was there in 2006, it was cold by California standards, and rainy). That was the closest I've ever come to a screener "touching my junk", and women wearing underwire bras apparently always got secondary screening as well.
This was true, but they just finished a major overhaul/renovation of the terminal. Took care of the layout issues, and have gotten a bit of press for the design:
http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20140513-the-10-most-beautiful-airports
http://www.fodors.com/news/photos/top-10-airport-terminals-for-2014#!6-passenger-concourse,-long-beach-airport
Shows you how often I fly anymore...The last time I flew into or through Detroit, Indy or Pittsburgh they were still in their old terminals.
Some of my least favorites: LAX, St. Louis (I swear my flights &/or connections were always at the far ends of the terminals) and O'Hare.
And as much as I love Denver's airport, summer storms can really throw off your flight schedule there. The storm clouds are "born" in the hills just west of Denver, build up over Metro Denver, then by the time they get to DIA, they become Storm Chaser quality storms that feature lots of lightning, hail and the occasional tornado.
DTW (Detroit) is one of the better airports that I use from time to time. The terminal is nice, and clean and the free wifi is a nice perk. The only thing I am not crazy about is the long shuttle between the big blue deck parking lot and the delta terminal.
BUF (Buffalo) is a great airport too. It's small size means that TSA screening is fairly quick and straightforward, and parking is easy and quite inexpensive. The downside to its small size of course, is that its flight selection is much more limited than a larger airport such as DTW
YYZ (Toronto) is a fairly nice airport as well. The tram from reduced rate parking to the terminals is quick and efficient, and the new Terminal 1 is pretty modern, and has a good selection of stores and services. The airport road network from the 400-series highways in Toronto is pretty stellar as well. The downside of YYZ is the cost of flights relative to BUF or DTW. I never fly into US destinations from YYZ anymore.
LAX is kind of ghetto, and utilitarian but is effective. I've never had a super long wait at TSA screening, and the airport is laid out in a reasonably efficient way. The restaurants and seating areas could use some updating though.
PHX (Phoenix) is a nice airport that I was pretty impressed with. I really liked the consolidated rental car counter while I was there.
DEN (Denver) is out in the boones. The TSA lineup when I was out there was pretty brutal as well. I can see how summer storms would have a huge impact to this airports operation.
My Favorites:
DTW: Nice, open terminal with a cool train. Would be one of my tops if my flight hadn't been delayed for 5 hours there once or if one of the birds living in the terminal had not shat on my head.
ATL: Still the easiest for me to get around in (maybe it's because I connect through there so often). Concourse is a bit crowded dirty, and returning a rental car is a bit of a pain.
EWR: Also my favorite of the NYC airports. Lots of natural light.
MSP: Lots of shopping and easy to connect between flights.
PHF: Only because it's almost literally in my backyard and rarely crowded.
My least favorites:
FLL: The concourses that I mostly fly into (E and F) likely have not been touched since the late eighties and are very dirty. The food prices are stupid high (10 $ for a hamburger). Numerous checked bags being almost totally torn apart in the processing.
PHL: Dirty concourses and frequent delays, as well as little access to food.
STL: This airport is so bad I cannot possibly encode its badness into text. I don't know what it is about this place, but it needs to be updated badly.
I've done a lot more flying in the last year and am starting to get a feel for certain airports. So far, I'm liking MSP the most. It's the one airport I go through sort of regularly where it feels like a modern facility. They have a good selection of places to grab a beer. If I have to sit around an airport for a couple hours, I want a beer, I want some wifi and maybe a sandwich. Deliver to me these three things in the most comfortable way possible as close to my next gate as possible and you win, airports of the world.
When it comes to WiFi Orlando is good as its FREE! Atlanta and Miami I have found you have to pay for it. That might be left up to another thread to determine which airports charge and which ones do not charge for WiFi, but I only flew into these since I started carrying my laptop, so this is the only experience I have there.
As far as food and drinks go, most airports charge Disney food and beverage prices, although the old Indy Airport had cheap T shirts for souvenirs when I did a fly and drive in the midwest back in 08.
KMDW and KDEN
Most airports that I have been to have complimentary Wi-Fi. But of course, the airport that has the most people going through it in the world has to make you pay for Wi-Fi. :banghead: So, what I do at ATL is I go to the nearest Delta sky club, stand outside and use their free Wi-Fi. Thanks Delta! :spin:
Quote from: billtm on June 14, 2014, 05:15:23 PM
Most airports that I have been to have complimentary Wi-Fi. But of course, the airport that has the most people going through it in the world has to make you pay for Wi-Fi. :banghead: So, what I do at ATL is I go to the nearest Delta sky club, stand outside and use their free Wi-Fi. Thanks Delta! :spin:
ATL has really good cell service, so when I am connecting through there and need/want internet access, I just tether off of my phone.
I'm a bit partial to my hometown airport MCO.
I've always liked ATL from a structural standpoint since I lived in Atlanta when I was a kid. I love the underground walkways and train. It can get pretty crowded, but since I know my way around pretty well that's not a problem for me. But if you're looking for something to eat during a layover, the options aren't as good as other airports.
LAS is fun if you're into slot machines and you didn't blow through all your cash in the casinos during your trip.
BOS, DTW, MSP and DEN are all nice airports.
LAX is dreadful, dreadful, dreadful!
Most of my favorites have already been touched on -- DTW (McNamara Terminal), ATL, and DFW. My favorite individual concourses are ATL F and DFW D.
Manchester NH is pretty nice for a tiny airport. Dayton OH is my local pick for quick and easy travel, but aesthetically it's rather below average.
The airport I miss the most is the old Worcester, Mass., terminal. Old colonial-revival brick building with two ticketing desks, a gift shop, a nice little coffee shop, and an outdoor observation deck. Pretty much nothing else. If you ever watched the TV show "Wings," it was pretty much that. It was replaced in the 1990s by a too-large glass and steel terminal that has only sporadically had scheduled service and loses a lot of money.
Quote from: Thing 342 on June 14, 2014, 05:30:08 PM
Quote from: billtm on June 14, 2014, 05:15:23 PM
Most airports that I have been to have complimentary Wi-Fi. But of course, the airport that has the most people going through it in the world has to make you pay for Wi-Fi. :banghead: So, what I do at ATL is I go to the nearest Delta sky club, stand outside and use their free Wi-Fi. Thanks Delta! :spin:
Which probably works pretty well for domestic passengers. But as an international traveler, roaming for data gets expensive quickly, which makes the ample cell service kind of irrelevant.
ATL has really good cell service, so when I am connecting through there and need/want internet access, I just tether off of my phone.
Dulles (IAD) and BWI are the best local airports to me. I don't rent cars there, but it is a long bus ride from the BWI terminal to the rental car counters.
Passionately dislike National (DCA).
SAN (Lindbergh San Diego) is nice, and I actually don't mind LAX either.
YYZ (Pearson in Toronto) is pretty good, as are ORD, ATL, MSP and DFW. Don't mind LHR (London Heathrow) either, the diversity of people from every corner of the world there is interesting, and the airport works pretty well. As does LGW (London Gatwick).
Airports on my hate list include EWR (interminable and rude immigration and customs), JFK (same problem, plus a training ground for Mafia thieves) and LGA (just a terrible airport all around). All of them suffer from airspace congestion too (though that is not the fault of the airports).
Although I've never been there, YYZ (Toronto) gets bonus points for being a Rush song.
Let's start with my least favorite airports:
ORD - I absolutely cannot stand O'Hare. It's my least favorite airport in the world. I've never gotten through there with less than a 3 hour delay due to weather or ATC. I intentionally avoid American and United because they use ORD as a hub.
LAX - Dirty, old, and no airside connections between most of the concourses. Huge security lines for the early morning departures heading to the east coast. Poor food options airside. Off-site rental cars that aren't all located together.
LGA, IAD, SJU - remote stands (bus gates) suck
Airports with problems:
DFW - the rental car situation is weird. The centralized rental car center is a long way from the airport (long bus ride) and hard to find when returning the car
SYD - great airport until you need to connect international to domestic. The terminals are on opposite sides of the airfield and you often need to pay for a bus, pay for a train, or pay for a cab to transfer.
LHR - my least favorite airport security setup. If your bag is flagged for random hand search expect a 30 minute delay. As much as I hate the TSA, they're nothing if not efficient. And for US-bound flights, you have to be interviewed at lest once by private security guys about the history of your luggage. Oh, and random gropings in the jet bridge also by the private security guys
Favorite airports:
MCO and MLB because they're my home airports
ATL because it has, hands down, the best food and drink options of any major airport
DTW because connections are relaxed and easy
SAN, especially with the new T2 expansion. It's a really easy to handle airport for a city as big as San Diego
BOS because I've never had any long immigration lines (although with Global Entry that's become a non-issue for me)
Quote from: realjd on June 17, 2014, 01:41:49 PM
LAX - Dirty, old, and no airside connections between most of the concourses.
DCA (Reagan National) is mostly new and clean, but has no airside connections between its three new concourses and one old terminal. (Could the new terminal be the newest example of pre-9/11 design?) That's my main gripe, since I often end up in a concourse different from the one where I want to grab some breakfast in the morning (slim pickings for food pre-screening), but can't without an extra pass through TSA screening. I use it anyway because it's so close to my apartment, but still.
Quote from: oscar on June 17, 2014, 01:59:05 PM
Quote from: realjd on June 17, 2014, 01:41:49 PM
LAX - Dirty, old, and no airside connections between most of the concourses.
DCA (Reagan National) is mostly new and clean, but has no airside connections between its three new concourses and one old terminal. (Could the new terminal be the newest example of pre-9/11 design?) That's my main gripe, since I often end up in a concourse different from the one where I want to grab some breakfast in the morning (slim pickings for food pre-screening), but can't without an extra pass through TSA screening. I use it anyway because it's so close to my apartment, but still.
I've never connected in DCA so the lack of airside connections hasn't been a problem. But yes, the food situation there sucks. I'm usually visiting downtown DC though so easy metro access makes up for the poor food choices IMO. If I'm hungry, I've learned to just eat downtown or at Pentagon City on the way to the airport.
Best:
MDW - I like Midway and use it as my start/end point most often for flights. The TSA can be a bit surly at times, but if you catch them before the rush, they're actually nice. The food options are decent, and it's easy to get around.
HNL - Honolulu had a neat airport. I cannot vouch for the food, but the open air parts of the terminal were cool.
DAL - I never saw the old terminal, but the new parts were good with decent food options.
HOU - Hobby was nice, and like Midway, easy to navigate. The baggage claim was a bit of a dungeon when I was there in 2008, but otherwise, it was decent.
MKE - Mitchell is a very nice airport with decent food options. My only complain is that the concourses are separate from each other. But, it does have a neat museum and the best TSA I've seen to date. Only ones to actually wish me "Merry Christmas".
Meh:
ORD - I've never been a fan of O'Hare. It's further from my home than Midway, and is actually more difficult to get to. The food options are decent, and I cannot complain too much about it.
BUR - Burbank isn't bad, but the food options suck (what is it about LA airports and food?). The baggage claim was outside (a bit of a shock when coming from the Midwest in December), but the air stairs were neat.
PHX - Nice airport from what I could see. Food options were decent, as was getting around for the plane changes I had to make. Never much of it though.
BFL - Bakersfield looked nice, but small (3 gates), but everything was closed when I got there.
CRP - Corpus Christi had a nice, but small (4 gates) airport. Not much for food, and the most bored TSA agent I've ever seen. She was so bored, she put my carry on through the scanner twice.
TPA - Tampa's was nice, but I never saw much of it. A lot of looping though, to pick someone up.
Worst:
LAX - How can I saw this best....LAX fucking sucks as an airport. There is no excuse, in this day and age for having no airside connections between terminals. There is no excuse for such shitty food options. There is no excuse for the dirt and grime in the airport. It's a piece of shit anyway you put it, and I'll be glad if I never go through this airport ever again.
LAS - How can such a glittering city have such a dirty airport? McCarron's not bad, but the older concourses are filthy. The food options are decent though, if you don't mind puting up with the slot machines.
ORD is probably the most expensive for food choices; an 11% sales tax on top of already jacked-up airport prices is an insult. Long wait for taxiing. Most security lines are long, although MDW on a Friday afternoon is hell without some sort of priority system.
I hate LAX. My most recent trip to California, we flew in to Santa Barbara. It was actually cheaper than going to LAX, even though we flew to LAX and then took a small airplane for a jump to Santa Barbara. The small airports are a lot more convenient and far less stressful.
Sounds like LAX is a winner in the worst of category. I count no fewer than seven people who think so on this thread.
The only airports currently on my "avoid" list are O'Hare and Philly. Both have too much sloppy, counterintuitive layout from haphazard growth. Philly at least has a nice new terminal (either renovated or built anew) with a food court with some legitimately healthy and good options, but I've still spent too much time waiting for a bus to putter along the tarmac and get me from terminal to terminal to want to go there again.
O'Hare is a lunatic maze that makes changing flights a harrowing ordeal. It is the site of the single longest distance I have ever run with a suitcase.
I really like O'Hare's Terminal 5. (The international one) It feels very modern and open. :sombrero:
Probably my hometown bias showing, but I'm casting a vote for PDX. The post-security concourse connector ensures you don't have to stand in the TSA lines if you need to catch a connecting flight in a different part of the airport, light rail stops right at the doorstep, most rental car facilities are just across the street from the terminal, huge glass canopy keeps out the copious rain but lets in as much natural light as possible, strong margaritas at Sandoval's... I could go on. (The place could sure use a Voodoo Donuts, however.)
Also, SAN is a kick, if only for that approach right over downtown SD as you're landing.
OAK is nice little quick-in, quick-out airport, but the baggage conveyor chewed up some poor shlub's suitcase while we were waiting for ours. Also, for a fairly small airport, I couldn't understand why we had to take a shuttle to the rental cars.
Any airport that has decent ground-side amenities (restaurants and shops) is a favorite in my book.
...my biggest pet peeve is when those same shops just increase your time between tight connections. Usually, they don't want a moving walkway in front of their mini-malls (MSP and JFK's terminal 4). Put that cluttering stuff in a central hub like CLT does, for example.
Quote from: formulanone on June 19, 2014, 09:15:15 AM
...my biggest pet peeve is when those same shops just increase your time between tight connections. Usually, they don't want a moving walkway in front of their mini-malls (MSP and JFK's terminal 4). Put that cluttering stuff in a central hub like CLT does, for example.
ATL does a decent job of that. The bulk of the shopping is usually clustered around the escalators.
That reminds me though: I hate airports where the gates aren't announced until the very last minute to force people to spend as much time in the central shopping hub. Or when the airport is designed so that you're forced to walk on what's invariably a windy, indirect path through a duty free store. SYD does this on arrival (right before immigration and quarantine) and on departure (right after immigration and security).
Duty Free Shops make no sense to me...sure, let the international tourists get away with paying no tax, and huge quantities of items nobody should be purchasing large quantities of, like 2500 cigarettes or a gallon of Johnny Walker. If you're not travelling internationally, don't even think of buying anything other than a lot of candy or perfume. I'm guessing that the prices of everything are already high since they're in an airport, so are you really saving any money?
In short, I suppose that I don't travel enough out of the country to get the gist of this concept.
Quote from: formulanone on June 19, 2014, 07:23:37 PM
Duty Free Shops make no sense to me... I suppose that I don't travel enough out of the country to get the gist of this concept.
I think the duty free shops' biggest constituency is
precisely people who don't travel out of the country much–and who don't really know how it works. These people have vague recollections of hearing about great deals at duty free stores and think this is their opportunity to "put one over" on the government... And so they end up spending lots of money on liquor and perfume that they probably wouldn't have bought in the first place.
I've been to duty free stores in a number of countries and in international waters and have yet to see any screaming deals. The supposed advantage to buying at a duty free store is that you're exempted from paying the state, provincial, or national taxes of locality in which you're making the purchase, but you're still bound by the laws of wherever you're going–and there may be taxes or duties to be paid on your duty free purchase.
A woman called into Clark Howard a few weeks ago–she was on her way to Mexico, and the duty free shop had a "buy 2, get 1 free" sale on cartons of cigarettes, but unbeknownst to her, Mexico law limits travelers to two cartons. And in this case, she wasn't facing a paltry $10-20 duty charge but an outrageous fine of like $2,500. The woman gladly offered to throw out or otherwise forfeit the third carton, but the Mexican customs officers told her that paying the fine was her only option.
Quote from: formulanone on June 19, 2014, 09:15:15 AMMSP
There is a special spot reserved in hell for the designers of airport terminals that put next to nothing land-side, pre-TSA when it comes to places to eat or shop/ kill time. :looks glaringly at MSP and MSN:
Quote from: on_wisconsin on June 20, 2014, 04:04:46 AM
Quote from: formulanone on June 19, 2014, 09:15:15 AMMSP
There is a special spot reserved in hell for the designers of airport terminals that put next to nothing land-side, pre-TSA when it comes to places to eat or shop/ kill time. :looks glaringly at MSP and MSN:
I chalk this up in part to legacy infrastructure from the pre-9/11 days. There was no real need to have landside services since everyone could go airside.
Quote from: on_wisconsin on June 20, 2014, 04:04:46 AM
Quote from: formulanone on June 19, 2014, 09:15:15 AMMSP
There is a special spot reserved in hell for the designers of airport terminals that put next to nothing land-side, pre-TSA when it comes to places to eat or shop/ kill time. :looks glaringly at MSP and MSN:
I'm sure there's a reason why you would want to kill time land-side, but I can't think of it.
Quote from: spooky on June 20, 2014, 08:24:30 AM
Quote from: on_wisconsin on June 20, 2014, 04:04:46 AM
Quote from: formulanone on June 19, 2014, 09:15:15 AMMSP
There is a special spot reserved in hell for the designers of airport terminals that put next to nothing land-side, pre-TSA when it comes to places to eat or shop/ kill time. :looks glaringly at MSP and MSN:
I'm sure there's a reason why you would want to kill time land-side, but I can't think of it.
The last time I killed time land-side, I almost missed my flight due to really slow TSA screening. Ever since, I've tried to get air-side ASAP.
Quote from: Pete from Boston on June 20, 2014, 08:10:30 AM
Quote from: on_wisconsin on June 20, 2014, 04:04:46 AM
Quote from: formulanone on June 19, 2014, 09:15:15 AMMSP
There is a special spot reserved in hell for the designers of airport terminals that put next to nothing land-side, pre-TSA when it comes to places to eat or shop/ kill time. :looks glaringly at MSP and MSN:
I chalk this up in part to legacy infrastructure from the pre-9/11 days. There was no real need to have landside services since everyone could go airside.
I don't see much point to having a lot of landside services. I hope there's a special place in Hell for designers who make you exit through security just to go to another concourse. Yes, that's you, LAfuckingX. All concourses should be connected airside.
Quote from: spooky on June 20, 2014, 08:24:30 AM
Quote from: on_wisconsin on June 20, 2014, 04:04:46 AM
Quote from: formulanone on June 19, 2014, 09:15:15 AMMSP
There is a special spot reserved in hell for the designers of airport terminals that put next to nothing land-side, pre-TSA when it comes to places to eat or shop/ kill time. :looks glaringly at MSP and MSN:
I'm sure there's a reason why you would want to kill time land-side, but I can't think of it.
There's certainly less of a need now. However, in less phoned times, this was where you waited for people arriving.
Quote from: oscar on June 17, 2014, 01:59:05 PM
Quote from: realjd on June 17, 2014, 01:41:49 PM
LAX - Dirty, old, and no airside connections between most of the concourses.
DCA (Reagan National) is mostly new and clean, but has no airside connections between its three new concourses and one old terminal. (Could the new terminal be the newest example of pre-9/11 design?) That's my main gripe, since I often end up in a concourse different from the one where I want to grab some breakfast in the morning (slim pickings for food pre-screening), but can't without an extra pass through TSA screening. I use it anyway because it's so close to my apartment, but still.
It is indeed a
long walk between terminals (I have had to do this many times as part of my job).
Quote from: Pete from Boston on June 20, 2014, 09:27:38 AMThere's certainly less of a need now. However, in less phoned times, this was where you waited for people arriving.
Still important today, given all the delays and other things that can turn a perfectly planned quick airport pick up into an utterly boring, mind numbing, unpredictable all day affair.
Quote from: on_wisconsin on June 20, 2014, 02:19:45 PM
Quote from: Pete from Boston on June 20, 2014, 09:27:38 AMThere's certainly less of a need now. However, in less phoned times, this was where you waited for people arriving.
Still important today, given all the delays and other things that can turn a perfectly planned quick airport pick up into an utterly boring, mind numbing, unpredictable all day affair.
That's why we wait at home until someone calls from Midway, or wait at the O'Hare Oasis until someone calls from O'Hare.
Quote from: briantroutman on June 19, 2014, 09:16:47 PM
I've been to duty free stores in a number of countries and in international waters and have yet to see any screaming deals. The supposed advantage to buying at a duty free store is that you're exempted from paying the state, provincial, or national taxes of locality in which you're making the purchase, but you're still bound by the laws of wherever you're going–and there may be taxes or duties to be paid on your duty free purchase.
I like duty free stores that sell stuff that I normally cannot purchase at my destination - usually traveling home from Europe.
Examples include liquor that is difficult to find stateside, like 120 proof Finlandia vodka and Sweden's Skåne Akvavit (curiously, Skåne Akvavit is owned by Altia, which in turn is owned by the Finnish government).
Quote from: briantroutman on June 19, 2014, 09:16:47 PM
I've been to duty free stores in a number of countries and in international waters and have yet to see any screaming deals. The supposed advantage to buying at a duty free store is that you're exempted from paying the state, provincial, or national taxes of locality in which you're making the purchase, but you're still bound by the laws of wherever you're going–and there may be taxes or duties to be paid on your duty free purchase.
Before my wife quit smoking, we made a point of buying the legal limit of cigarettes at duty-free stores when traveling abroad.
The last time we did this was on a cruise: we were able to get her cigarettes for $18/carton, vice the $63/carton price available at home.
Quote from: Pete from Boston on June 20, 2014, 08:10:30 AM
Quote from: on_wisconsin on June 20, 2014, 04:04:46 AM
Quote from: formulanone on June 19, 2014, 09:15:15 AMMSP
There is a special spot reserved in hell for the designers of airport terminals that put next to nothing land-side, pre-TSA when it comes to places to eat or shop/ kill time. :looks glaringly at MSP and MSN:
I chalk this up in part to legacy infrastructure from the pre-9/11 days. There was no real need to have landside services since everyone could go airside.
I rarely see much reason to get to an airport early; the stupid no-water protocol means buying everything after security checkpoints, anyhow. Nearly every American airport has some sort of newsstand and/or bookstore pre-security, and only the tiniest airports do not have anything at all post-checkpoint; there's even a few airports which do not have restrooms after you exit security... :(
Barely any, which puzzled me why FLL did it recently (three years ago) for Terminal 3. The only convincing reason I can think of is the Sunday crush of cruise ship passengers who are several hours away from their flight, and are then "in limbo" until the airlines are ready to deal with their luggage...on weekends, their airlines won't take their checked luggage until roughly two hours before their flight, because their facilities can't handle the cold storage volumes. I guess you're also forced to walk by them if you're headed towards baggage claim. It's a bit odd, since Terminals 1 and 2 closed up almost everything, land-side...can't speak for Terminal 4, as I've never used it.
I can see how FLL is a pretty lousy airport all around (no inter-terminal connections, kind of messy, lack of services, really backed up on Sundays and winter-time...yet it's the 24th busiest national airport?), yet it's the one I'd known for thirty-odd years, so it gets a free pass from me. Also, generally cheaper than PBI and MIA, and great aircraft photo opportunities without being bothered. Since it rarely, if ever, has domestic connecting flights in its terminals (except for possibly JetBlue and Spirit...after all, you're in America's cul-de-sac), the lack of any terminal connections is rare problem, unless there's been some weird flight diversion.
DCA is a bit annoying, but I always make sure I have at least an hour between connections because of the inter-terminal buses. Probably gets a bit grating after a few hours, or if you want to walk around, I suppose; crazy as it sounds, if I really need to kill time in a large airport, walking is a good way to pass the time and get a little exercise after cramming yourself in a small seat.
Quote from: formulanone on June 19, 2014, 07:23:37 PM
Duty Free Shops make no sense to me...sure, let the international tourists get away with paying no tax, and huge quantities of items nobody should be purchasing large quantities of, like 2500 cigarettes or a gallon of Johnny Walker. If you're not travelling internationally, don't even think of buying anything other than a lot of candy or perfume. I'm guessing that the prices of everything are already high since they're in an airport, so are you really saving any money?
In short, I suppose that I don't travel enough out of the country to get the gist of this concept.
There are deals to be had, but you have to look. Often the deals are in local products. Bundaberg rum from Australia is a good example. It's not available at all in the US. Australia has among the highest alcohol taxes in the world ($20+ for a bottle of liquor). I could pick up a 700mL bottle of Bundaberg outside the airport for $35-$40. In the airport, I could get a 1.25L bottle for around $30. Clearly the profit margins are higher but it's still a much better deal.
Other places, I've found the deals to be decent but not outstanding. Typically a bottle of liquor costs the same at the duty free store but it's larger. Standard duty free bottle sizes are 1L while standard bottle sizes in normal liquor stores are 700-750mL depending on the country. The duty free shop will charge the same for the 1L bottle that you'd pay for the slightly smaller bottle outside the airport.
I don't smoke but I understand cigarettes are a really good deal.
IMHO,
DCA. This place was designed for people going to or from DC. Not connecting. It is an OK airport if you are going to DC, but they just should not allow connections there.
LAS. I go to LV all the time. They just expanded the place, but the new part is just internationals and a couple of airlines. Renting a car involves taking a bus several miles to a totally seperate area, far more distant that the common off-site areas. Security, expecially if going to the US Airways/SWA side (in reality the old terminal is two unconnected terminals) sucks.
CLT. Not a bad airport, but the small plane terminal is built in this way out deal so it is 10 minutes of taxiing to the runways.
ATL. Do you have to have a sub 80 IQ to work at ATL? People there just don't know their jobs like other airports' workers do. Always calling a supervisor to acomplish anything.
PIT. US Airways screwed over the place when it merged with AW, but back when it was a hub, it required vendors to charge "outside world" prices for everything, and most stores would ship any purchases for free.