# Having been to a city's airport=visiting the city? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 20, 2013, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440 "2013-03-20T12:40:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/41 "2013-03-20T18:19:00Z")
What about all those foreign dignitaries who descend on New York City for the United Nations General Assembly every year? Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been to the Big Apple several times, but I assume he has only seen the airport, the Iranian UN embassy and the UN building. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/42 "2013-03-20T18:23:13Z")
Here’s another one I’m not sure about: We took a plane into O’Hare. We got in a shuttle van with 57 other people. We rode to downtown Chicago, where we were dropped off at the main door to a hotel. We went up to a conference room where we devoured the last dregs of lunch. We talked business for a couple of hours. We went back downstairs, got back into the van, and went back to the airport. Laft a little later and I was home by 9. Was I in Chicago? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/43 "2013-03-20T18:37:54Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Was I in Chicago? Meets my standards: boots on ground outside of an airport. You also ate, which meets other requirements people have listed. Have you _experienced_ Chicago? Hell no. But you can check it off your list nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/44 "2013-03-20T18:39:19Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Often it is called the “city limits.” There are any number of international airports that exist as seoerate entities from the city they are physically located within. They have their own police, fire and services. They contract with the city for some of these, but they aren’t part of the city’s budget. In that case you wouldn’t be in the city proper so it wouldn’t count. But that’s not always the case. Once again, if the airport is in the city, and you are in the airport, you are in the city. Pretty simple logic. If social convention makes the meaning ambiguous you can clarify it with additional language such as “… but only at the airport”. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/45 "2013-03-20T18:52:48Z")
My big regret is Italy. If an airline had admitted upfront it would be most of a day before they found an alternative for a canceled flight, I could have taken an afternoon tour of Rome. Using the poop-piss-and-eat criterion, I’ve been to two dozen countries. I think make-love should be added to the list of musts, but my romantic life was so pathetic that would drop me down to just one dozen. (Or slightly more depending on the definition of “is.” :dubious: ) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/46 "2013-03-20T19:21:56Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Pretty simple logic. Pretty, simple, and wrong. 🙂 > [@](#): > > If social convention makes the meaning ambiguous you can clarify it with additional language such as “… but only at the airport”. This is fine, but most folks I know simply will not count airports. They are locations out of space, and beyond time. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/47 "2013-03-20T19:22:19Z")
I count having been on the ground as having been somewhere, because I think adding qualifiers confuses the issue. So the airport counts as having been there, although I think the _been to/visited_ distinction is a good one. I’ve been to 26 states. I’ve visited 22 states (Michigan and North Carolina I’ve only been in the airport, Deleware and Kansas I’ve only driven through). Next week I will add three states to my “been to” total, but only one to my “visited”. > [@septimus](#): > > Using the poop-piss-and-eat criterion, I’ve been to two dozen countries. I think make-love should be added to the list of musts, but my romantic life was so pathetic that would drop me down to just one dozen. > (Or slightly more depending on the definition of “is.” :dubious: ) That would certainly have made my visit to the Vatican more noteworthy. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/48 "2013-03-20T19:25:26Z")
By wholly indisputable rules, if I land in an airport in (for example) Salt Lake City, Utah, I get credit for having been to Utah. I have not “visited Salt Lake City”. Hope that clears the matter up. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/49 "2013-03-20T19:27:21Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > This is fine, but most folks I know simply will not count airports. They are locations out of space, and beyond time. Beyond time certainly, but still in space. I understand what people mean, but I’m sticking to the Sheldon Cooper interpretation in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/50 "2013-03-20T19:43:24Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > In that case you wouldn’t be in the city proper so it wouldn’t count. But that’s not always the case. Once again, if the airport is in the city, and you are in the airport, you are in the city. Pretty simple logic. If social convention makes the meaning ambiguous you can clarify it with additional language such as “… but only at the airport”. Or even the state, Cincinnati’s airport isn’t even in Ohio, it’s in Kentucky. I shouldn’t need to look at a map to figure out where an airport is to determine if I was somewhere. If you were only in the airport (or an airport hotel), it doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/51 "2013-03-20T19:52:32Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > If you’ve been to only the airport of a certain city, would you count that as having been to that city? I personally don’t count it. I say I’ve “been through” a city if I’m en route somewhere else. For example, last week was my first time “in Vegas” although technically I’ve driven through Vegas before. We actually may have even stopped in Vegas proper at a gas station off I-15, but I don’t consider it being “in Vegas” for purposes of having visited the city. I’ve also technically been “in Iceland” as a kid flying via Reykjavik, but I would never consider that as having visited Iceland. Transportation terminals, especially, are a kind of limbo to me. They exist in their own plane. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/52 "2013-03-20T20:01:32Z")
I don’t count cities (or states or countries) where I’ve only been to the airport. I do count drive throughs of states, however, since that actually involves seeing something of the countryside and experiencing the location at some level. (Even on drive throughs, I think I’ve probably eaten a meal in all 49 states I’ve been through, though I’m not sure about a few.) For a long time, the only state where I had visited only the airport was Minnesota. Finally last year I had a couple of actual trips to Minneapolis. I’ve been to the following airports but don’t count the country as one I’ve been to: Frankfurt, Germany Bamako, Mali Entebbe, Uganda Taipei, Taiwan San Salvador, El Salvador Kingston, Jamaica ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/53 "2013-03-20T20:14:44Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I don’t count cities (or states or countries) where I’ve only been to the airport. I do count drive throughs of states, however, since that actually involves seeing something of the countryside and experiencing the location at some level. Yeah, I also count driving through states as visiting that state, but I don’t count driving through cities as visiting the city. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/54 "2013-03-20T20:29:35Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Transportation terminals, especially, are a kind of limbo to me. They exist in their own plane. Airports don’t exist in planes. Planes exist in airports. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/55 "2013-03-20T20:52:50Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Kingston, Jamaica Where were you travelling to/from that you stopped at the airport in Kingston? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/56 "2013-03-20T21:04:36Z")
Oh, I’ve just remembered another one - not that it’s really a country, but I changed planes in Papeete, Tahiti, at some ungodly hour in the night. I vaguely remember sitting next to some kind of tropical flower-covered fountain thing and trying not to fall asleep before my flight was called. I had no local currency to use in vending machines, and all the shops were shut. Was that an authentic Tahiti experience? Possibly, but I bet Gauguin would have felt a bit short-changed by the low dusky-maiden quotient. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/57 "2013-03-20T21:13:08Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > I’m another who considers airports a sort of generic international territory. If you haven’t passed immigration (or, for a domestic flight, passed the big red line that says THOU SHALT NOT RETURN PAST THIS POINT), you’ve not been there. Once you have, sure, you can say you’ve been to wherever, but if you never leave the terminal it’s not worth much. I spent 4 hours in Newark Airport, which, as an English citizen, did mean going through immigration- though I was just changing planes. I never left the airport complex. Neither did I eat a meal there, as it was 4th July, and almost everything was shut. I may have bought a chocolate bar. Have I been to the US? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/58 "2013-03-20T21:35:13Z")
By that token, the cities (and countries) I haven’t really been to are Amsterdam, Zürich, Cairo, Kuwait, Bangkok, and Tokyo. I also haven’t really been to Los Angeles. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/59 "2013-03-20T23:31:26Z")
When I holidayed in Western Australia, we landed at Perth Airport, skirted around the outskirts of the city of Perth, then headed south to our destination of Margaret River, and also did the reverse on our return. I consider that “not visiting Perth.” ---
**Author:** ![Weeping\_Wyvern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@Weeping\_Wyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weeping_Wyvern)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440/60 "2013-03-20T23:36:07Z")
I’ve only ever flown in an aircraft once, and it was a local sightseeing trip. But I would say that if the airport is within the city limits, and you were in that airport, then yes you were in the city. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-been-to-a-citys-airport-visiting-the-city/653440.md?page=4)