Favorite Airports

[Mark from Plano]

I don't really have any favorite airports. They pretty much all suck.

DFW (my local one) would be horrible if you were transiting through. There are 5 different terminals connected by a train system. Now, the current train system is better than the old one, but you are still often traveling between terminals if you have to change planes in Dallas. 4 of the 5 terminals are pretty bad (although the AA Admirals Clubs are pretty nice...given that it's AA's home base, they should be). The newest terminal is the International terminal ("D"). It's very nice. Very open and inviting. Lots of decent places to eat or get a drink.

As a resident it isn't bad, you just figure out which terminal you're leaving from and drive straight there. BUT (and this is a big BUT) coming home can be bad. The nice train system is inside security, so if you check luggage and your return flight doesn't come back to the same terminal you left from you have to schlepp your bags down to a bus stop and wait for a bus to take you to the terminal where your car is parked. Major pain.

 

[Navi]

Originally Posted by Matt

Changi

This. Changi Singapore airport is ******* sweet, Terminal 3 is just amazing. I love it everytime I visit Singapore.

 

[binge]

The international terminal at SFO is the only thing saving it from a -1 star rating. All the other terminals are terrible. Even so, in the international terminal most of the airline lounges are at the far end, way away from most of the gates. WTF.

Schiphol is ok, depending on which section you gate is in, the lounges can be hella far. Having a casino is a nice plus, I won 400 EUR at blackjack one time before flying home. At least it covered the cost of the previous night's stay in Amsterdam at least.

The last time I flew out of Paris was through the old terminal 1. Although it is still an architectural statement, its state of disrepair and makeshift adaptation to today's security is appalling. Water dripped from cracks in the concrete and the only bathrooms were outside the security checkpoint. Good lord.

The Copenhagen airport is quite nice, and last time I flew through (Jan 2010), they actually staffed their security properly enough to move everyone through in a reasonable manner. One of the more pleasant airport security experiences I've had.

I was also impressed by the wood and glass beauty of the Olso airport, which I believe was built for the 1994 winter games. Still, when I flew in 2006 it was still in great shape.

 

[Bananafish]

Originally Posted by cptjeff

Yeah, I've been there, it's quite nice.

But O'Hare? There is a reason I call that place the Hub of all Evil. The airport is indeed nice enough, but your schedule gets dicked up every time you fly through there. Without fail.

Security wait times stink, but the architecural van der Rohe influenced design of the building itself is fabulous... you can even check out the original '62 Eames tandem sling seats still on display, and The Berghoff is as good as airport food gets (actually the local wine bar Cabine M in Montreal was a real surprise!) I don't fly in often, but Chicago is one of my favorite US cities to visit and I always love going through O'Hare. It's one of the few America airports that have any sense of character and identitity. Most are ugly lego stacked bland terminal buildings... Long live chicago Airport!

 

[edinatlanta]

Helsinki was nice too.

Guatemala City's was bad. Acapulco's was bad. Bridgetown's was bad. Castries' was...surprisingly good.

 

[Jokerman]

Originally Posted by binge

The last time I flew out of Paris was through the old terminal 1. Although it is still an architectural statement, its state of disrepair and makeshift adaptation to today's security is appalling. Water dripped from cracks in the concrete and the only bathrooms were outside the security checkpoint. Good lord.

Worst airport I have ever been in. There is no freedom to look at the shops and food places like in most airports I have been in. I went to my gate and had to go through security there which meant that I had to stay at the gate once I went through. That sucked because I got to the airport before the currency exchange booth was opened and I would have had to go all the way through security again. It is a truly poorly organized airport.

 

[Sazerac]

Domestically, DIA, although it lacks anything approaching decent shopping.

MUC and FRA are great.

MVD is gorgeous, but shockingly small. I think only eight or ten gates in the whole thing. Still, architecturally it's a marvel.

I'm haunted by the female voice from the people movers at Schipol: mind your step, mind your step. Really spooky in an Aphex Twin / Boards of Canada way.

 

[pscolari]

Favorite is probably Charlotte for a number of reasons - size, number of direct flights from Boston, the shoe shine guy in front of Starbucks, close to downtown, good connections to Charleston or Savannah, and also never had a delayed flight there. Least favorite are Philadelphia and Las Vegas.

 

[impolyt_one]

Incheon is good, but my only gripe is that Incheon doesn't have much in the way to eat beyond Korean fast food so it's kind of lacking in that department, not much to buy on your way out unless you just need to make an indiscriminate booze, cigarette, and Gucci purchase. I will +1 the eye candy comment, it can be good at times. Can be average. Processing and baggage are indeed quick. They added a better express train line to the central Seoul station, so that is nice, that is like 5 minutes from my house. The airport bus though, stops like 50 foot from my front door, so that is even better. If you are ballin a bill gets you a ride from the airport to city center in a big limousine style cab with leather seats, a reasonable driver, half that and you get a scary ride in a silver hyundai sonata, neither are really any faster than the bus though, because you hit traffic halfway.

 

[gdl203]

Kona is nice

In CONUS, the new Indy airport is way oversized for its passenger flow and that's great - lots of room, fast security lines. I like.

I also like the DFW-Westin, thing. Nice place to relax and grab lunch, then go through the special security check point there. Cool stuff.

Internationally, the Dubai airport was a good place to kill a couple of layover hours.

 

[Trompe le Monde]

DEN
AUS
ICN
SIN
and where i personally fly... IWS

 

[Mr. White]

Always hated airports. The ones I least hated were those close to downtown, like San Diego, Washington National, Love Field, etc.

 

[edinatlanta]

London City is nice. Never a line anywhere, no one in front of you at customs, baggage claim is like right next to the plane, you can land and be *IN* LONDON in about 15 minutes later.

 

[OldGeezer]

I hate Miami.

 

[globetrotter]

Originally Posted by pscolari

Favorite is probably Charlotte for a number of reasons - size, number of direct flights from Boston, the shoe shine guy in front of Starbucks, close to downtown, good connections to Charleston or Savannah, and also never had a delayed flight there. Least favorite are Philadelphia and Las Vegas.

I like the chairs