OT: Favorite and Least Favorite Airports
With summer near its end, I thought it would be interesting to discuss airports. Personally - although biased - I find DTW to be one of the best airports in the world. Quick security and immigration, lots of food options, easy layout, high ceilings, lots of natural light, free WiFi. It really is a fantastic airport.
So with that being said, what are some of your favorite and least favorite airports both in the US and around the world?
August 21st, 2023 at 11:19 AM ^
Least favorite is Atlanta.
August 21st, 2023 at 11:36 AM ^
Atlanta is great if you live here. You can pretty much hop on a direct flight to anywhere. My condolences to everyone that connects through here though.
I agree with OP on DTW. Great airport.
August 21st, 2023 at 11:42 AM ^
I really don’t think ATL is bad, other than the seating areas near the gates being a bit small. The train gets you to your connection very quickly.
August 21st, 2023 at 3:06 PM ^
Wholly agree with this statement. We’ve lived here for just over seven years, and during that time, I hardly recall any situation where I felt like I had a really hard time getting out. I never feel like I’m taxiing for more than 10 to 15 minutes, which is remarkable given how busy and large the airport is. And you can also get a direct flight to just about anywhere in the world.
I can’t speak for what it’s like to connect, and maybe that’s a different tale, but I personally love Hartsfield. Infinitely better than the nightmares that are O’Hare or JFK..
August 21st, 2023 at 11:41 AM ^
I love The ATL! I've been flying in and out of there for the last decade plus and find it very efficient. Delta planes generally run on time - except for weather. The train gets you to the terminals - everything is clearly marked. And the TSA Pre and Clear areas are easy to navigate. I do see the the other TSA area are generally packed, but that's what happens in the busiest airports.
Detroit's airport is beautiful - love the indoor train. Salt Lake City is nice, too. Both are Delta hubs.
Chicago ORD sucks - there are always flight delays! My wife flies United Airlines to visit her family in Chicago and always has delays.
Saint Louis is a small, run down airport with no good food. Minneapolis doesn't have a tram and it feels like a mile from check-in to the Delta gates.
August 21st, 2023 at 12:01 PM ^
For the traffic it handles ATL is pretty good
DTW varies by what gate you come in
I always seem to have issues w DFW
JFK sucks beyond belief - especially if you have baggage issues
August 22nd, 2023 at 11:05 PM ^
Minneapolis doesn't have a tram and it feels like a mile from check-in to the Delta gates.
Just came hear to say that MSP does have trams. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis–St._Paul_Airport_Trams
August 21st, 2023 at 11:24 AM ^
O'hare and the inevitable connecting flight 1 mile away with 10 minutes to get to the gate.
August 21st, 2023 at 11:36 AM ^
Been there. Flight from ORD came late to DTW. Hence, the DTW-ORD flight was late. We landed at ORD with minutes to spare. Thankfully, boarding takes a while for trans-Atlantic flights. We made it finally. Funny part was that we spent nearly the same time as the flight time in LHR waiting for the next flight :D
August 21st, 2023 at 1:00 PM ^
I'm sorry. Why wasn't LAX mentioned as the worst in 9 out of the first 10 comments?
August 21st, 2023 at 1:42 PM ^
Totally agree. LAX is terrible. Flying out of LAX or having a connection through there - never a good experience.
August 21st, 2023 at 2:07 PM ^
People who fly out of/through LAX weren't fast on the trigger, maybe?
August 21st, 2023 at 5:57 PM ^
Most of us are still trying to get through security.
August 21st, 2023 at 12:16 PM ^
Yep. Love it when my flight to Chicago gets delayed by even 20 minutes because then it's a mad dash across a terminal or two to try to make my connection
August 21st, 2023 at 12:53 PM ^
OK. O'hare definitely sucks. But I don't understand this issue. Is your connecting flight with the same airline usually? If so, then its like 5 mins to get to your connecting gate.
August 21st, 2023 at 1:45 PM ^
United has two concourses, three counting the one with the underground walkway. It can be well over a mile to make a United connection at ORD.
LAX and JFK are worse airports, though.
In Europe, CDG in Paris sucks. Amsterdam is really good.
August 21st, 2023 at 2:17 PM ^
Even when considering that, I've gotten from the C concourse to the B concourse (both in Terminal 1) in about 5 mins. Most United flights are in terminal 1. Those that do happen in Terminal 2, you add maybe 10 more minutes. That's pretty standard.
August 21st, 2023 at 11:25 AM ^
Mexico City airport, it´s a shit hole and I am exremely embarrased when I see international tourists that have to go through it. Our former president started to build a new state-of-the art airport but our current presisdent cancelled the project and instead built another worhtless, shitty litte new one that nobody uses.
Sorry, end of rant. Have a great start to your week!
August 21st, 2023 at 11:37 AM ^
I’ve only connected through once or twice, but, yeah, pretty underwhelming for a major city airport.
August 21st, 2023 at 11:39 AM ^
I once was connecting through MEX, and I while transferring from the int'l to domestic terminal, I asked someone where to go, and they pointed me through some doors.
I went through the doors, and I was now outside the terminal. So technically, I entered Mexico without going through any kind of customs/immigration.
To enter back in to the airport, I had to go through security all over again.
August 21st, 2023 at 1:30 PM ^
When I lived in San Diego, we routinely took the CBX bridge crossing over the international border directly into the Tijuana terminal, and could fly to most Mexican destinations while avoiding both MEX and LAX. That bridge is great example of cross border cooperation.
August 21st, 2023 at 11:25 AM ^
I have an everlasting and intense hatred for Boston Logan.
August 21st, 2023 at 11:45 AM ^
Totally agree! The busses to the other terminals, hotels, and car rentals are complete bull shit! I think their TSA baggage X-ray machines are from the 1980's. Plus, east coast rudeness runs rapid when those chuckleheads put on a badge.
August 21st, 2023 at 11:53 AM ^
My worst time at Boston Logan was the night before the Boston Marathon several years ago. I'm headed through JFK to head to Europe for the week. We run into a storm and after circling for an hour, they decide to divert air traffic. I end up in Boston and can't get a flight until the next morning along with about 1000 other people.
As it's the day before the Boston Marathon, of course there isn't a hotel within an hour, so we all get to spend the night with a tiny blanket and an airline pillow on the floor of Boston Logan and still have to fly back to wonderful JFK in the morning and spend the day to take my flight to Europe a full day later than planned.
August 21st, 2023 at 11:26 AM ^
San Diego had one of the worst security lines I've ever seen. DTW is probably my favorite but possibly only because I'm familiar with it.
August 21st, 2023 at 11:56 AM ^
I wish I had known this before my recent trip there. I tend to show up at the airport like 60 minutes before my flight leaves and I was late a few weeks ago (38 minutes before take-off) and had I not had Clear and TSA Pre I 100% would have missed my flight. The regular TSA line was absolutely bonkers in a way I've never seen.
August 21st, 2023 at 12:37 PM ^
We had plenty of time, but the agent was so incredibly slow it was like we were being pranked. Awful.
August 21st, 2023 at 1:26 PM ^
I went to San Diego earlier this year, and the TSA was so slow for the return flight. I am happy we were an hour and half early.
August 21st, 2023 at 11:27 AM ^
Atlanta is huge and exhausting, but its clear what's where. Easy to navigate.
I'm in the DC area - i HATE reagan - partly because of location, partly because of the horrible infrastructure of getting in and out of the area, partly because you can't get there without traffic, partly because i live in the dulles corridor, and partly because every flight coming in over the potomac, while pretty, is a windy nauseating mess.
Love dulles because of ease of use - hated their old "people movers"... but most of that is gone now. Easy to get in and out. No real traffic ever in the area unless its a busy time. If drop off gets backed up, youre kinda screwed because there's really only 1 entrance to arrivals/departures/close parking.
Loved Newark growing up. Hated JFK. blech.
International airports are much nicer in every way. Tokyo was a cool spot. Paris.
Nairobi was not a good one. the "business lounge"... woah.
DTW when i was in college was interesting. Called it Cinnabon corner... early flights, grabbed one on the way in, felt a little nauseated, passed out, boom. home.
Ohare is exhausting.
Miami is huge - getting to the f-ing car rental place is a clown show. its in another county. With a special needs kid who can't walk that far... it took us forever. Half the shit didn't work (moving walkways etc).
August 21st, 2023 at 11:33 AM ^
Hating Reagan while loving Dulles is certainly a take, although I don’t disagree with anything you said about Reagan, especially during the current construction. Reagan is built to Metro not drive to, but I traffic is a nightmare there.
For the reasons you like Dulles I like BWI. I live in MoCo so it’s pretty easy to get to BWI and takes about the same amount of time as Reagan. I never fly in/out of Dulles unless it’s a big international trip I can’t get from BWI.
August 21st, 2023 at 11:56 AM ^
I am in MoCo and have an almost equal driving time to all three airports. I will fly out of BWI whenever possible.
August 21st, 2023 at 7:42 PM ^
BWI is good - I like that you can take the train from Union Station. National is all right - very, very handy with the metro, very close to the center, but crowded. I flew there 2-3x per year for academic conferences for a decade. Dulles was unreachable from central DC then. Now the silver line goes out there, but it's currently being worked on and you have to take a bus. Unless you want the Virginia suburbs it's just way the heck out there.
August 21st, 2023 at 8:32 PM ^
You can take the Metro all the way to Dulles now.
August 21st, 2023 at 12:04 PM ^
I'm in the DC area - i HATE reagan - partly because of location, partly because of the horrible infrastructure of getting in and out of the area, partly because you can't get there without traffic, partly because i live in the dulles corridor, and partly because every flight coming in over the potomac, while pretty, is a windy nauseating mess.
Love dulles because of ease of use - hated their old "people movers"... but most of that is gone now. Easy to get in and out. No real traffic ever in the area unless its a busy time. If drop off gets backed up, youre kinda screwed because there's really only 1 entrance to arrivals/departures/close parking.
What's interesting is that when I lived in DC, my opinions were completely opposite. I loved Reagan. Super easy to get to off the metro, security was always quick and efficient, etc. My only real complaint concerned the metro hours, i.e. that it didn't run 24/7; the last train left at 12 or 1 am and the first train didn't leave until 5 or 7 am, depending on weekday or weekend. You couldn't take the metro in the morning and make a 6am flight (took a lot of those back to Detroit, especially during football season), so my routine was to take the last train the night before, I had a spot at a restaurant in the concourse where I'd push together chairs to make a makeshift bed, and try to get a few hours sleep before security opened up in the morning.
Dulles by contrast was always a nightmare. No easy way to get there (unless you lived out that way). Security was always a cluster, consistently the worst I've ever seen--don't think I ever got through security in less than an hour. Those stupid buses, and tiny little planes (at least on Delta) where the overhead couldn't even fit a normal sized carry-on. I avoided Dulles at all costs.
You didn't mention BWI, but BWI was always a great experience too. Also easy to get to, taking the metro to the MARC. Fast and efficient security, clean airport with nice amenities. Some of my most interesting flight stories involved BWI.
August 21st, 2023 at 12:41 PM ^
I did not... Dulles used to be a nightmare to an extent. but I live about 15 min away down the toll road. there is NEVER an issue getting there. if i schedule a flight from reagan, i have to make sure its nowhere near rush hour. driving local roads just to get there in crystal city SUCKS. yes, metro, but from me, to get there by metro, would take 3x as long.
Dulles Airport now has a train to it for those that choose that.
I didn't mention BWI because for me, where I live, its a total non-starter... the way I would assume a Montgomery county or Marylander elsewhere would feel about Dulles.
BWI i hear is great, but only gone there once. It also has a LOT of good flight options...
Only positive for reagan, is that it is cheaper than dulles in most cases - BUT... if you factor in the uber to and fro... and the hassle.. kinda just depends.
August 21st, 2023 at 12:53 PM ^
BWI i hear is great, but only gone there once. It also has a LOT of good flight options...
Except from LAX. (I’m surprised to not see LAX mentioned so far on the hated list.) The only direct flight to BWI is on Spirit Airlines. I’m not flying Spirit, so I ended up going to Dulles and driving to Baltimore. It wasn’t terrible.
August 21st, 2023 at 4:40 PM ^
United and Southwest have direct LAX BWI flights
August 21st, 2023 at 1:04 PM ^
Dulles is only 5-10 minutes longer of a drive from my part of MoCo. I don’t prefer it, but it makes it an option, esp when looking for West Coast flights.
August 21st, 2023 at 2:07 PM ^
I live in DC so National is still my preferred airport in the area. It has lots of direct flights now to most major airports, and often cheaper than the other airports once accounting for ground transit from my house. However, the vagaries of the park/metro/cab trade-off, and also the likelihood of an inbound flight getting diverted somewhere else, can complicate the logisitics. On 4 occasions over the years, I've had my inbound flight diverted or cancelled, sending me to Dulles, BWI (twice) and Philadelphia. In the Dulles case, I had to scramble to share a cab to get back to National because my car was parked there. It took longer to get from Dulles to home than my flight from LA to Dulles. In the BWI cases, I'd taken a cab to the airport, so I had looooong cab rides home (it corporate travel, so wasn't going to take the train/metro). In the Philly case, it was a major snowstorm, so I hopped on the Amtrak back to Union Station, then metro back to my neighborhood. Had to tug a large suitcase the last few blocks through the snow.
Least favorite airport is LAX. Rental car lots are far away, traffic is mostly horrendous (it's at least an hour away from anywhere in LA). It's always under construction. The subway still doesn't go there. Security is always crowded and slow.
August 21st, 2023 at 6:26 PM ^
I despise Dulles. 60% of that is because it's 30+ miles away and 40% is because it just sucks. Every minute there is unpleasant and the mobile lounges are stupid. The curbside pick-up/drop-off situation is easily as messy as DCA. I only fly from or to Dulles if it saves me hundreds of dollars or it is the only way I can get home after a flight cancellation, weather delay etc.
The new routing for security at DCA after the recent renovations is annoying and has increased travel distances in the airport, but it is still a small airport and easy to navigate. It's about 7 miles from my house and I really don't have an issue with traffic. Granted I use a taxi/Lyft most of the time, but even when I pick-up or drop-off my wife it isn't bad. Dropping off or picking up at Terminal 1/Concourse A does suck, but you're only there if you're going to Canada or flying Southwest. In either of those cases, you've already made bad life choices.
I haven't flown into or out of BWI in a long time. I barely remember it.
August 21st, 2023 at 12:14 PM ^
I'm in the DC area... Love dulles because of ease of use - hated their old "people movers"...
Those Dulles battle jitneys were awesome. Wtf are you talking about.
August 21st, 2023 at 12:42 PM ^
Dumbest shit ever. In a rush for your plane? Here, sit on this weird creepy bus and watch it fly away as this thing drives through plane traffic in all directions.
Also, the "far" terminals at dulles are awful. No amenities and usually not enough seating.
August 21st, 2023 at 12:47 PM ^
A colleague and I once missed our flight out of Reagan - we were sitting in the gate but missed the instructions that we had to go through a door off to the side, down the stairs, and out onto the tarmac to board. It was frustrating
August 21st, 2023 at 2:33 PM ^
Gate 35X is no longer. It was replaced by an entire new Terminal 2 wing (14 added gates). It's a huge improvement over the old 35X system (walk downstairs when called, wait to be told to board, get on a bus, go to your plane on the tarmac).
August 21st, 2023 at 3:28 PM ^
When I lived in Arlington I had a 615AM flight Monday morning for several months for work. Reagan was great, I could literally call a Red Cab night before for a 515 pickup, and I'd sometimes be through security by 530. But, thats when there was zero traffic. Otherwise I agree with your pains.
Dulles on the other hand, feels like I would walk forever with those low ceilings and had very little amenities. When I moved to Reston and started using more often, I got used to it and learned some of the better spots though. Overall I don't know that I prefer one airport or the other.
August 21st, 2023 at 4:41 PM ^
Dulles' Polaris Lounge or the Turkish Business Lounge maybe the best domestic lounges I have been in.
August 22nd, 2023 at 8:13 PM ^
Came on to say that Orlando is my least fave, just because in the morning they still--decades after 9/11--crowd everyone into the atrium in the morning when the first rush begins. Adjust already!
And Miami is very far-flung, also with an absurd amount of walking that leaves my post-heart attack behind wary of even trying flights if the connection is short. OTOH La Carreta, the Cuban restaurant there, is primo, even if Luis Carriles and his 60s CIA pals sometimes look like they're sitting there hunched over and whispering.
August 21st, 2023 at 11:28 AM ^
I agree that Detroit has a great airport. Having lived in several metro areas around the country, I now appreciate how good it is.
Houston has to have one of the worst airports. It’s old, cramped, and has a terribly confusing and inefficient layout. The food options are also meh.
August 21st, 2023 at 11:39 AM ^
Which Houston airport? :)
Bush (IAH) is undergoing renovation. Hopefully, it will look and feel better. Agree with the food options. Could be way better.
Hobby (HOU) on the other hand got a facelift recently. But I have not flown through there in the recept past.
August 21st, 2023 at 12:57 PM ^
Sorry, I should have specified Bush. I mostly fly out of there because I live only 10 min away. I don’t have a problem with Hobby, but the security checkpoint can get quite backed up since there is only one.