I haven’t been there in years, but I thought the airport in Detroit was really dreary. I understand that Northwest has built a new terminal, so it may have improved.
And some airports seem to have all of the restaurants outside the security checkpoint, so once you get through the gauntlet, there’s almost nothing to eat. Others only have them inside the secure area, which means I can’t easily eat lunch with the person who brought me to the airport. They need to make sure they have enough restaurants and shops on both sides.
But DFW (maybe my favorite airport) is at least sensible in its layout. Once you understand the theory behind the layout, it’s very, very easy to drive into to pick someone up, and it’s also very easy to get from gate to gate. Much, much better than O’Hare, which is one of the dumbest layouts I’ve seen.
I got to Atlanta 30 minutes before my flight and made it with time to spare. I was actually really impressed by the place. I’d never been there before, but I navigated to my gate like I was a veteran.
The new terminal at Detroit Metro is big and shiny, and once you actually make it past security, it’s pretty nice. The adjoining parking garage is a ridiculous maze though. Getting in or out, or from the car to the terminal, is a complete mess. I think that’s a product of some of the graft and endless shuffling of contracts during the terminal’s original construction.
All the other terminals are a pain to deal with, mostly due to ad-hoc additions and rearrangements over time. Probably not much worse than other old airports, though.
Really? I love that airport. I was in and out of it 4 times in July. Got to hang around with people I was picking up or dropping off. Each security point only has at most a couple of gates behind it so no massive lines. You get off the plane, leave the gate and meet your friends. Walk just a bit to the luggage retrieval. Then out the door you’re standing next to and you’re at the road.
My only complaint? You can’t even find an issue of Playboy there. Whereas at some other airports (MSP) you can get Hustler. Well, that and there’s not much else to do there.
O’hare is miserable for all the reasons mentioned above.
Dulles sucks because it is always under construction, the security lines are miles long and you have to take that stupid shuttle out to terminal C.
Frankfurt has zero places to sit, is way too small for the amount of traffic it gets and you are forced to walk in circles looking at the same cheesy duty free shops over and over during layovers.
I love O’Hare, but of course I never have to connect through there. Great amenities and for a flight out of there, the walk to the gate isn’t bad at all IMO.
Completely agree with Logan’s suckiness. Typically the stores past security aren’t worth checking out - note that I usually fly United so that might just be their terminal - so if you want to find a bookstore or some last-minute souvenirs, you have to go back through security. However, for the friends I stay with in the Boston suburbs, the Logan location is actually more convenient and much faster than flying into Manchester. (Manchester is a wonderful airport, it’s just that it’s three times farther of a drive.)
I agree that the concept for the Kansas City airport was great. But with today’s security, what I didn’t like was that once you go through screening to get to the gate waiting area, you’re stuck - unless you want to go back through screening all over again. No access to restrooms, food, newsstand - nothing - all of that is in the “non-secure” area.
Who the hell came up with those goofy shuttles anyways? They seem like one of the world’s biggest kludges, and yet they must have been specifically designed for that bizarre arrangement.
I like SeaTac too. The main restaurant/shop area has this wall of glass (not the best picture) that must be 80’ tall; it looks out onto a gorgeous mountain range. Not dark or old looking at all. The shopping and food are great.
I personally hate the Las Vegas airport. Crap restaurants, a smoking area that stinks the whole place up, and the constant beeping of millions of slot machines. Ugh.
I had heard horror stories about that airport, so when I managed to land there and find a bus out of the place relatively painlessly (except that, apparently, hamsters that get too old and tired to hack it on the SDMB are exported to run the baggage return system at Charles DeGaulle) I was pleasantly surprised. Then came the return trip.
I enter the airport and a big sign points me towards the check-in counters. Great. The sign points through a big door guarded by people in uniforms. A security check, I assume, but no: they want to see your boarding pass. They speak just barely enough English to tell me that I have to check in before going through there. This presents a slight problem, as I need to go through there in order to check in.
Not one to frown unnecessarily, I start hunting for a check-in counter. Finally, on the other side of the airport, down an escalator, in the basement, there are two check-in counters crewed by actual people. Great! I confidently stride up and present my credentials. They tell me to go to check-in counter 12. I go back up, and sure enough the sign pointing me through the big door says “Check-in counters 1-12”. Dilemma.
As it turns out, you have to (as in have to, as in there is no other option) use the terminals that are called something like “quick check-in” or “express check-in” to receive your ticket, so you can go through the big door, so you can check in for real. Two questions present themselves:
Why is it called “quick” or “express” when there is no other option? How can something be “quick” if there isn’t anything that’s not quick?
How is it “quick” or “express” if you have to check in again once through the big door? (To be fair, I believe you don’t have to check in again if you don’t have luggage.)
Fortunately, the Charles DeGaulle airport apparently knows it sucks, and has hired people specifically to help lost travellers out. One of them spotted me and helped me through the “quick” thingie. Those people should be called Official De-Suckifiers or something.
I must admit that having my ass grabbed by the “lady” from Security did not make me like DC’s airport any more. By two “ladies”, actually.
But by then I had already noticed that the stores were shitty, the hotel shuttles nonexistant, the doors are clogged by these chunks of concrete that make it very difficult to get through with a big suitcase (Og forbid someone with a kiddie cart or, even worse, a wheelchair… at least the kid should be with someone who can carry it in his arms), the information people stare at you when you ask for information waiting for you to dissapear and stop clogging their airspace (and of course the information they give you is of the “you don’t understand it unless you already know what is it they speak of” variety)…
I just realized that several posters are seeing this from having to go through security and even possibly having to drive to the airport. I’m used to hitting most of the ones listed (that I have been to, I mean) as a connection. I’ve never been through DFW except as a connection so I have no idea how bad it is on the other side of security. The only times I’ve started from O’Hare I took the Blue Line in (same with Midway and the Orange Line.) I don’t think I’ve ever been in Dulles or National as BWI was always a better choice. No, wait–I had to clear customs at National and that sucked. But most of my hatred is saved for DFW.
All the hatred for CDG has caught me by surprise. I’m not a very frequent international traveler, but both times I’ve been to Europe I’ve gone through CDG and didn’t think one bad thought about it; once on my honeymoon to Paris, and once as for a changeover on a flight to Copenhagen, which went completely smoothly. In fact I thought it was excellent compared to US airports. It felt more like I was walking through a mall of some kind than an airport, and the duty free shops sold excellent French cheeses. And it had easy rail access right into Paris.
Then again, I’m at least somewhat fluent in French and had no difficulty reading the signs or finding out about the “only goes clockwise” shuttle system. Probably more importantly, I fly mainly out of LGA, which truly is an antiquated, cramped and inhospitable bus terminal with airplanes in it. Not that I really “hate” going to LGA though; it’s just a place to pass through on my way to somewhere else, I don’t really romanticize it into something it’s not trying to be, and it has the unbeatable convenience of being only 15 minutes away from my house. But by way of comparison to other terminals, it’s pretty low on the sucks-or-not-ometer.
In the US, I’ve been to and through airports in Chicago (O’Hare), Logan, Newark, Atlanta, Cincinnati, LAX, SFO, Albuquerque, Washington DC (both BWI and Reagan), Minneapolis, Miami, Orlando (and of course JFK) in my adult life. My impressions of nearly all of them were mainly “wow, it seems so spacious, uncrowded and well lit”, or “lookit the moving conveyor belts, indoor shuttle systems, and LCD departure boards”, as a corollary of “this is so much better than La Guardia or JFK”. Except at JFK, where I find myself thinking, “At least it’s better than La Guardia”.
LaGuardia sucks all the way around. I hate driving there, I hate going through security there and I hate their meager offerings of shops. On the whole it is an ugly and agitating experience. I really dislike the drive though. The fastest way for me to get there is up the turnpike, over the George Washington, over the Tri-borough and onto the Grand Central. If you know where I am located, that is ridiculous but unless it is 3 in the morning, the stupid midtown tunnel is always a mess.
Unlike most people, I have enjoyed my experiences at Atlanta. I will admit that I am biased, however, because I had the best over night airport experience while flying through Atlanta. It had the most comfortable seating that I have ever seen in an overnight terminal. This is a stark contrast to the cold hard tile that I slept on at LAX. Still, LAX was moderately enjoyable.
I agree LGA is by far the worst New York airport. In my experience, once your are through security there is no bar, and if you’re hungry, feel free to enjoy the soggy croissant served by the coffee bar. EWR is by far the preferred choice.
LAX is incredible in that even at 2 am on a Thursday you’ll stand in a line 3 blocks long to go through security and always be right behind some dimbulb who nerver flew before and argues with the TSA personel. I only use BUR nowadays.
Never missed a connection in either ATL or DFW so I can’t say they suck for me, at least they have restaurants and bars.
CLE, my home airport, is kinda grimy and is sadly in need of an renovation. Also the Continental Presidents Club lounge is old and cheap, the only food there is packaged cheese, crackers and apples.
Airport Codes:
Great amenities and for a flight out of there, the walk to the gate isn’t bad at all IMO.