Worst & Best Airports

[Danno]

Sure, the city has grown out that way. But nobody who can afford a plane ticket is flying to Denver to visit the extended Oklahoma east of the city. The location still sucks dick.

For anyone north of Denver, the location was an improvement; I live 40 miles from the airport and can be there in 40 minutes, that ain't bad. And for everyone else, it's not THAT much further than Stapleton. And all those -- like you -- who think it sucks donkey dick would think it sucked even more if your plane couldn't land when the wind was howling or it was dumping. The runway spacing that all that land allows for means much fewer weather delays. And that is the critical piece.

[Danno]

^This.

Newark fucking sucks. A lot of it is because of all the airports I have ever flown through, Newark has the most unhelpful, unfriendly and fucking rude people working there. Fuck you Newark.

that's because they have to work in Newark, duh.

But IME, Newark is way way way better than LGA.

[riser4]

that's because they have to work in Newark, duh.

But IME, Newark is way way way better than LGA.

Oh, and if you are flying thru Newak to and from BTV and any big airport, you have to take a bus between terminals and almost always it causes you to miss a flight. I sure hope that situation has changed since I started avoiding Newark like the plague.

[dtown]

I live in Houston, so I'm partial to hobby; but it's getting slowly worse as its reworking itself(baggage, drop off/pick up and check in are all worse than a year ago).

LAX and DFW are the worst imo and DEN does get a WTF also because of the location; but it's set up well.

I also like Portland, but I cannot believe my favorite has not been mentioned, Reno-Tahoe. nice, easy inn and out from the freeway, walk to your rental and the terminals and luggage is easy; probably a lot because its smallish, but still great.

DFW blows too...don't mind the drive to DIA

[Ski to Be]

It seems convenience is the most important to most of you. Newer and smaller airports always seem nicer to me. Big Market Vancouver BC is nice .Small I like Kona. Open air waiting right next to the runway. La Guardia was a shithole years ago so I can't imagine now. Most older airports suck balls now that I think about .But most are like an average shopping mall to me and I want to spend as little time as possible in them so it has to make a distinct impression one way or another for me to even remember them

[Stu Gotz]

John Wayne is sweet. Bit of a throwback feel. Outside baggage claim. Thought I was back in the 1970's.

I am a fan of any airport that I walk out on the Tarmac to board the airplane. Binghamton Airport has a nice terminal with one flight daily to Philadelphia. No crowds, no security. Perfect.

[mikdes26]

John Wayne is sweet. Bit of a throwback feel. Outside baggage claim. Thought I was back in the 1970's.

I am a fan of any airport that I walk out on the Tarmac to board the airplane. Binghamton Airport has a nice terminal with one flight daily to Philadelphia. No crowds, no security. Perfect.

Outside baggage claim? When was the last time you were there?

[iceman]

I don't care about your rules. I'm just here to shit all over Omaha. Fuck you Omaha airport!

I've never been there and now I'm never gonna go. Fuck you Omaha airport!

[warthog]

I am pretty partial to TPA, and it is just getting better. Also, I will be making a lot of $$ on the project for the next 2 years.

Miami is the worst foreign airport. Last time (hopefully the LAST time for real) we flew into there, it took us 30 min. to find the US customs line. There were only 2 US lines, and 1 was closed. No one spoke english. It was literally like being in Bogata, but less organized.

[Stu Gotz]

Outside baggage claim? When was the last time you were there?

My bad. Please substitute Long Beach for John Wayne in previous post.

[hatchgreenchile]

LAX is terrible. Very narrow and cramped and a traffic slog just to get near the place . Punta Cana was my favorite, just because it's got that tropical them going on .

[mikdes26]

My bad. Please substitute Long Beach for John Wayne in previous post.

Aahhh. Now that makes sense. Safe travels!

[capulin overdrive]

I am pretty partial to TPA, and it is just getting better. Also, I will be making a lot of $$ on the project for the next 2 years.

Miami is the worst foreign airport. Last time (hopefully the LAST time for real) we flew into there, it took us 30 min. to find the US customs line. There were only 2 US lines, and 1 was closed. No one spoke english. It was literally like being in Bogata, but less organized.

Always had good luck at FLL, but never went through customs.

[Tippster]

SLC is pretty nice.

Agreed. "Major Metro" is debatable, but hey - the Mormons travel so a good Intl. Airport despite being pretty small. My buddy here with me right now flew Munich - Paris - SLC on Delta and was astonished how smooth the trip was. He often flies to DIA and said it's far worse.

DC area: BWI (Baltimore) is easy to deal with and a major hub for Southwest, I don't mind it. National ("Reagan" if you must) is at least compact and fairly new, plus its easy to get into DC from there. Dulles blows goats.

Also agree. I think 90% of my flights are from DCA or BWI for that reason. Then again I don't fly East much, and supposedly IAD is hard to beat for Europe or the Middle East.

LAX is terrible. Very narrow and cramped and a traffic slog just to get near the place.

It's a ginormous airport sitting on one of the most precious stretches of land in the continental US. Think about that.

Punta Cana was my favorite, just because it's got that tropical them going on .

You're the second person to mention this little airport. It's hardly "major.' Shit, PV and Cancun have nice smallish airports too. The airport in Bonaire is awesome. Then again they are just as large as Long Beach, which I love but is hardly a major airport... the point?

IMHO the best large airports in the US are BWI, SeaTac, and Charlotte. Pittsburgh is a close 4th, and Cincy is good too. Granted I haven't been in the 'Burgh since US Air went away.

[WTF is dat]

The Toronto airport is really really nice.

Miami sucks. The airport at st Thomas is a shit hole.

In Europe I really dislike cdg.


Oslo is nice

[spankthepow]

Seoul Icheon. Ridiculous. The international terminal is a shopping mall essentially. Free wifi and even some quiet corners to nap in.

[Bromontana]

like

slc - if terminal one has a line, just go to T2 home to gate in <45mins, decent enough domestic routes
msp - easy to work in, get drunk in, take a nap, go for a walk. Sometimes long distances b/t gates though
amsterdam/schipol - aside from the security with H&Ks it was pleasant. Very efficient and cheap rail access to city center

not like

heathrow - feels like a giant bathroom, though the in-airport micro-tel is cool to clean up. Pub food sucks. Beer is warm. Wtf England.
jfk - construction
dulles - whoever designed it should be shot

[lionelhutz]

Its hard to judge whether the shitty airports are shitty because they are just overloaded, in bad weather spots, or poorly laid out...like O'Hare isn't a horrible airport inside..It has Tortas Frontera and a great sushi spot, a lot of lounges, plenty of power chargers etc...but flying through there is a 100% guaranteed butt fucking. The weather sucks, regional jets get backed-up and delayed like crazy, and they don't have the runway capacity.

It's #1 on my list of shitty airports by far.

Other places to avoid: EWR, PHL (they are going to go through your bag to steal shit and they are going to throw it anywhere they want), IAD, CDG (how there is no good food in the Paris airport is way beyond me)

I like, YUL, Munich, Frankfurt, JFK, MSP and SLC. All of them are pretty easy to navigate, have lots of services and aren't totally over capacity.

[Bobby Stainless]

Wichita airport blows.

[Brock Landers]

John Wayne
Long Beach (in that order)

The newly rebuilt Los Cabos isn't bad (subject to spring breakers).

MSP Id agree is pretty sweet. SLC I've never had a problem in. I actually don't think Boston is that bad, and I've had plenty of opportunity to get fucked there.

Shitty: atlantic city. LGA. DIA. Philly.

[riser4]

Frankfurt

You must not have had to find a bathroom to take a dump in. STFU says he would rather shit in his own hand than use the bathrooms there. I have to agree that he has a point. Otherwise, Frankfurt is a decent airport that handles an insane amount of International traffic rather well. It just has far too long of a taxi to your terminal once you land and the bathrooms in the airport and the train station both suck (hard to find an open one, covered in feces, and often closed for "cleaning"). I am lumping the train station in because it really seems like they are part of the same facility, especially given that Luftwaffe has a terminal in the station, handles baggage and issues combo tickets for air and rail.

[riser4]

Do the locals have their own stalls?

They must. Otherwise how could they put up with it?

Train stations with pay toilets were amazingly clean.

The worst example from Frankfurt looked as if someone had bent over to touch their toes while facing the general direction of the toilet and then had let fly The. Worst. Explosive. Diarrhea. Ever. It looked like a shit bomb had gone off.


It wasn't even a third floor bathroom. Wait. Was rontele in town that time?!?!?!?

[hawkgt]

I travel for work and fly ALOT, all destinations north and south america. DIA is a good airport as mentioned above does not get screwed by wind or weather like old Stapleton. Best part is booking a direct flight almost anywhere with good choice of airlines. Drive is not that bad, 35 mins from my house,

SLC is nice if you can get a direct flight, Dallas sucks, Ohara sucks, LAX sucks, anything north east sucks. Houston is not that bad

My main motivator is not the airport so much, rather the central US location and big choice of direct flights.

[Sirshredalot]

SLC I've never had a problem in. I actually don't think Boston is that bad, and I've had plenty of opportunity to get fucked there.

Shitty: atlantic city. LGA. DIA. Philly.

It'll be interesting to see how the rebuild goes in Salt Lake. IIUC, they are basically replacing the whole thing one piece at a time. There will be times when the construction will suck. I just hope the end product is no less convenient than what they have now.

[GeezerSteve]

IME, AMS (Schiphol) best, DFW and ORD worst, MUC weirdest (lots of guys walking around with automatic weapons and wearing body armor)