I can’t believe we’ve had this many posts without ANY ranting, frothing rage and hatred toward Newark. Every time I’ve flown through there I’ve left absolutely fuming and filled with a hatred toward all mankind. The most recent example involved the bizarre arrangement of having a separate security checkpoint for each gate area, so when a large flight is preparing to leave - or, heaven forbid, TWO from the same area - you have hundred and hundreds of people lining up to use one metal detector. We were making a connection there after flying all morning with nothing to eat, so we were starving. We thought about getting some food at the food court and then standing in the security line, but the line was literally about an hour long, so we were worried we’d miss our flight. We figured there’d be food on the other side. So after an hour in line, we finally got past the small handful of bored security people who couldn’t care less if one person or a hundred people made it through in an hour, only to find nothing on the other side except an overpriced (of course) coffee kiosk. We had a muffin and a bag of chips to tide us over until our transatlantic flight.
I suppose my favorites are MSP and Detroit (because of the acid trip hallway).
I fly out of ATL every time I travel (which is once a month or more).
The single chokepoint for security can make for horrifically long lines.
Imagine waiting 2+ hours just to get through security.
I sure as heck wouldn’t want to change planes in ATL even with the train and moving sidewalks. The concourses are very long. Weirdly, I can’t find any stats online for how long they are, but I would not want to have to change planes in anything less than 45 minutes (more if you have small offspring-units to attend to).
I forgot to mention earlier that the security I encountered last time I was in LaGuardia was comical. They didn’t bother to swab-test my CPAP machine (which has been tested elsewhere every single time I have flown in the last 4 years) or the baby bottle full of milk (which was swab-tested at my originating airport.) The security personnel were more interested in chatting with each other than actually doing their jobs. It was only the one time, but it was alarming.
Actually, the security check at the gate areas is one of things I like about KCI. I’ve been through a number of airports where you have to pass through a tiny chokepoint in order to get to all of the gates. I’ve never had to wait more than maybe five minutes to get through security at KCI. And they’ve done some renovation on the terminals in the last few years so that they do have restrooms and even a token food vendor or two inside the gate area, so you don’t have to go back out in the terminal once you’ve gone through security.
Another thing I like about KCI is that they’ve changed the parking and shuttle bus arrangement. It used to be they had one parking lot that served all three terminals, and if you had a flight out in terminal C you had to wait for the bus to go thru terminals A and B first. Now they have dedicated parking lots for each terminal so that your shuttle bus goes straight to your terminal. (They have other shuttles designed to get people between terminals.)
Of course, I always fly in and out of KCI - I don’t know what it’s like to try to get a connecting flight through there, it may very well be a nightmare.
I love La Guardia! It is small, easy to navigate, lots of great food choices and easy to access by train, bus, and cab. So far it is the only airport I’ve ever found that I truly thought was a great place to fly in and out of, but then again my other big airport experience is DFW so I don’t know if that is a fair comparison.
Like: Kansas City. There’s no central security checkpoint - it’s done by small bunches of gates, which really cuts down on waiting in line. There’s a Gates BBQ and Arthur Bryant’s BBQ in one of the terminals, which should immediately put it at the top of everyone’s list.
Dislike: Kansas City. I have to go through security every time I have to take a leak?! And it’s how friggin’ far from downtown without decent public transportation?!
Newark’s got something like that, and O’Hare’s United Terminal also has it, with the flashing lights and the trippy new age music. It’s just bizarre to me. I’ve always wondered why airports have this need to turn long corridors into art installations on the theme of rebirth (which is what I always think of going through such corridors.)
If a city has two airports, I usually prefer the older, smaller one. In Houston, I would much rather fly in and out of Hobby than Bush IAH, if humanly possible. Same for LaGuardia and JFK.
I hate Dulles. It’s not convenient in any way whatsoever; it’s out in the middle of nowhere, it’s a maze of escalators and hallways that mostly go nowhere, the concessions suck, and the entire operation is bordering on negligently understaffed at all times.
Stopped over in Vegas once; it was like a casino that happened to have an airport in it.
Back when I smoked I loved going to Denver. You take the subway train to that separate building, then walk into the smoking lounge which is actually a full-out bar, with waitresses and everything. Most airports’ smoking room, if they even have them anymore, was usually just a small ventilated room with ashtrays (or in Miami’s case, a small atrium).
Love: KCI. So easy to navigate. It’s just a giant horseshoe! Plus free WiFi. (Although I noticed recently that they added a bunch of electrical outlets-- which you have to pay for. Boo! That’s like giving away really salty food, but selling water for $10 a cup.)
Like: Las Vegas. Louisville. Lexington. Louisville and Lexington are small, but that’s what I like. I like airports that you can just walk outside and get into your rental car.
Hate: O’Hare, Atlanta, Midway, St. Louis. Security is always ridiculous at St. Louis for some reason.
I don’t understand the hate for Detroit here. I’ve always heard great things about it from co-workers and other visitors (I live in southeast Michigan, it’s my home airport, and I think it’s pretty great too). Good food options, in fact it was recently ranked as the airport with the healthiest food options in the country; every restaurant there has a vegetarian option. I think it also recently topped a list of passengers’ favorite airports for customer service or something. The new North Terminal is extremely easy to navigate. My only beef with it is that when you land at the McNamara (Delta) terminal, it feels like you’re taxiing for 20 minutes to get to the gate.
I, too, like Detroit. I only started flying into since it was redone, but it’s a perfectly pleasant airport, and I’ve been to that airport at least a dozen times. The in-terminal overhead tram makes going from one end to the other of Concourse A to the other a snap. The food options are respectable. The flights are on-time. The in-airport hotel is very nice and surprisingly cheap. (Well, maybe not that surprising. It is Detroit.) All in all, there’s nothing I could complain about.
Then again, I don’t understand the hate for Midway. I like that airport, too. Even O’Hare ain’t all that bad, except I hate the international terminal. Once you get past the security gates, there’s nothing to do there to pass the time, so I usually end up whiling my time away at the Hilton bar near Terminal 2.
Like (as much as I can like an airport):
*Denver. Nice people, big enough to kill time during a layover but not too huge. Has that trippy mural.
*Minneapolis. Same as Denver, and while winter weather can be a pain, they’re generally on top of it. Very helpful staff, too, IME.
*Albuquerque. Tiny as all hell, but has free (!) WiFi and comfortable chairs. The TSA staff tends not to suffer from severe craniorectal syndrome, too.
Hate:
*Newark. Want to leave or arrive within an hour of the scheduled time? Hahahahaha. It’s ugly, noisy, the staff is generally terrible, and it’s in Newark.
*O’Hare. Just too sprawling.
*Phoenix. No food, and this: “Welcome to Phoenix. The current temperature is 108. Please enjoy waiting in the un-air conditioned jetway for an hour while we retrieve your gate-checked luggage.”
Hate hate hate hate hate with the white heat of a million suns:
*Philadelphia. I fly in or out of there just about whenever I go visit my parents. It has been under construction since the first time I remember being there. There is a domestic terminal which doesn’t actually connect to anything else within security. The staff clearly hates everything. I have never waited less than 30 minutes for a checked bag, and that’s once I’ve finally found which luggage carousel, because there’s no indication of what flight’s bags are where. My parents literally tried for years to find the cell phone lot and never did. Parking is unspeakably expensive. Arriving or departing sometime around rush hour? Enjoy sitting on 95 for an hour. The chairs are uncomfortable. They never mute the TVs in the gate areas, the food is crap, and the signage within the airport is vague at best. I loathe that airport.
This might make the ORD/MDX naysayers happier: O’Hare/Midway will be serving alcohol at bars and restaurants around the clock, and pushcarts will be allowed to sell beer and wine throughout the gate areas.
:smack: I bet Argentina has wine sales all the time… (I realize now that I was thinking of their X configuration of runways, for some reason.)
I was going to say that I could drink during the flight delays but (knocking wood) the only delay I’ve had out of either Chicago airport was my first flight to Boston out of O’Hare, due to a monster thunderstorm that disrupted the vast majority of plane traffic in the upper Midwest and New England, and delayed our departure by something like 7 hours. Watching lightning hit the tarmac repeatedly, I was more than happy to sit in the airport and let that go by.
I hate Logan airport, primarily because of the accessibility issues. I know it has improved in recent years with the completion of the Big Dig, but it’s hard to find someone willing to drive into Boston at certain times of the day. I’ll gladly pay a bit extra to fly out of Manchester.
I liked Reykjavik’s airport (don’t recall the name). It was simple to navigate and strangely calming.
Love love LOVE PDX (Portland) for all the reasons already mentioned by InterestedObserver. That and the long term parking garage is right next to the terminals, and they have free WiFi.
Also love Lihue airport in Kauai for the simple reason that you know you’ve just arrived in Kauai.
Hate LAX probably more than any other. Almost every International flight I have to take out of there involves a walk to the Int’l terminal. If there’s another way to get from a domestic terminal to the Int’l one, I haven’t found it. I’m always walking outside a half mile to get there.
DFW was brutal before they switched out the AAirTrAAM or whatever for one that goes more than three miles an hour.
I agree on the love for PDX, it’s a great airport. When it was under construction they even had people stationed around to direct passengers. It’s also the only airport I’ve ever been in where an airport-wide page instructed Mr. Seymour Butts to call the white courtesy phone. Also, Austin Texas has a good airport with good (-ish) food.
You guys who hate San Jose are right too, or were. They just - FINALLY - opened more gates AND more anal probe stations. And by adding more stations, I mean we we went from bleeping TWO to somewhere around 10. Huge improvement. There are also rumors that they may actually be bringing in food vendors in the gate area. Just like in the big city!
On DFW, there’s a reason for the name: half of that damn airport is in Dallas and the other is in Ft. Worth. Just way too big. Also, it’s not good to clear customs in Dallas - they questioned everything in my damn bag one time when I kited in from CDG, and needed a full explanation of foie gras and why I would be traveling with it.
(I realize now that I was thinking of their X configuration of runways, for some reason.)