Yeah I came back to mention the baggage system disaster. One of the news shows I think it was 60 Minutes did a story on it, it showed bags hauling ass down the rails like Space Mountain and coming out the other side all ripped to shreds lol. The contractor who installed it went bankrupt from liquidated damages, that was the example my old boss said was part of his contractor’s exam. That airport opened around the time I moved out there and it was big talk at the time. My gf at the time always used to say she missed the old Stapleton airport because it was right in the middle of town and soooo much closer and convenient.
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haha yep, I was in college in C-springs when they were building it/when it opened, I remember all the hoopla about the baggage system.
I usually took a short hop from the C-Springs airport and changed planes in Denver, but the couple of times I flew directly from DIA I couldn’t believe how far out in BFE it was compared to Stapleton. You had to tack on 45 minutes to your travel time if you wanted to make your flight.
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Nobody in agreement on Seatac? I know we have some Seattle folks here…
Also, agree that John Wayne airport was really pleasant, as was Long Beach. Long Beach is funny because it struck me as exactly what a So Cal airport would be with its outdoor baggage carousels.
Looks like LGB might be closing, according to some quick google stuff.
My only memory of SeaTac was when I went to PAX in 2012.I was staying in a hotel that was on the same street as the airport, like a 1/2 mile walk from the entrance.
Literally no one in the entire baggage claim area could tell me how to get out to the sidewalk on that street, and they kept pointing me to ground transportation to take a cab. When I told them I just wanted to walk, every single one of them looked at me like I was a 2-headed alien. They couldn’t fathom someone not being a complete lazy ass, I guess?
I finally found my own way out.
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I’ve only flown out of Denver once but I remember my first impression being “this airport (property as a whole) is massive.” And then thinking it looked like a circus tent.
The baggage fiasco sounds like something I’d really enjoy learning about. Never heard of it before, but definitely will take a dive down that rabbit hole. And good shows or reports that cover it and are available online somewhere?
Start here:
Changi Airport crushes all other airports AINEC.
Within US, Indy is pretty good. Its unfair advantage is that no one really has any reason to travel there most of the time, so it’s not like it has to handle a lot of traffic. Comparing it to major, big city airports is not valid.
I can’t think of a good one in a major US city. They all suck. I guess the last few times I flew into IAH (Houston) it was pain-free, so maybe that one is not too bad.
Yeah, I’m a Seattleite so I’ve been through SeaTac a bunch. To be honest though it’s not enough worse than other airports to really bother me. There are a few things about it that suck though.
- Always some part of it under construction, like a lot of others mentioned in the thread.
- Stupidly bad traffic just to get to the departures/arrivals area.
- Either not enough security capacity or maybe just really bad management of it. I’ve been there when the lines snake like out of sight of the x-ray machines/porno scanners, all around escalators and everything.
But it does have a cool newish atrium area where you can grab some food and look out the window.
But as mentioned earlier in the thread, the small regional airports are pretty sweet compared to the big internationals. In particular, I’ve had good experiences at Madison, WI and Cedar Rapids, IA.
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It now got all permits and is supposed to open in October this year.
Pearson is fundamentally Canadian - kind of clean, kind of bland, seems ok until you land in, like, Austin and they have BBQ and gourmet ice cream right in the airport terminal.
The only time I ever have a “positive” experience at an airport is when its a tiny airport and its all over in 15 minutes. Bradenton in Sarasota for example. Literally peak airport is minimum airport.
The absolute worst airport I have ever been in was Kansas City (MCI). It is a concrete monstrosity and the whole thing feels like you are in a minor league baseball concourse. There are almost no amenities. I am going to guess most of you guys haven’t been there but @suzzers_ghost may know what I’m talking about.
My favourite airports are small, foreign, and smell dusty.
Bonus points if incoming flights have very little margin of error across the sea.
Cagliari:
Fuck American airports and their soullessness.
Is Atlanta the most mediocre big American airport? Not great, not terrible. Just kind of there.
Which, I guess in the category of American mega airports makes it elite? IDK. If I have to fly through DFW or O’Hare then I’m just like oh jesus christ. Atlanta is just whatever.
Apparently, that’s a really good airport by American standards.
I didn’t find anything bad about New Orleans or Nashville airports. The latter had live music at a cafe in the airport. Hell, MIlwaukee had a ping pong table. Made me wish I brought my paddle with me.
I know the Airport had nothing to do with it, but when I was flying overseas with the Army AND when I flew home after my discharge both ways I went through Atlanta and both times my checked bags were lost and took weeks to find me. I had this sweet assed crossbow I’d picked up off a street vendor in Firenze packed away too, I never saw it or the package it was in again 
Am I taking crazy pills? Vegas is my least favorite airport to have a connection through. It’s always super cramped and there isn’t nearly enough seating. Not sure what good food options you’ve had there, I always end up eating Pei Wei out of desperation. It also has taken forever to get through security the few times I have flown out of it.
+1 to this except I basically never used Dulles and would much rather have made the trek by Metro/bus to BWI when I lived there.
Burbank is wonderful, always try to go through there when visiting LA. Easy in and out.
Since no one else mentioned it, Sky Harbor in Phoenix is incredible, as long as you fly out of terminal 4 (Southwest’s terminal). It’s a little tricky to drive around and get to parking but once you’re inside it’s spacious, clean, has short and quick security lines, and has incredible food options. I still remember the first time I realized there was a Crave in the airport (local coffee chain), not a Starbucks or something even worse. Anytime we fly out of there we show up early to get coffee and something to eat at one of the local restaurant outlets. I’ve heard some people complain about it before but I can only assume they flew out of one of the other terminals, which are dated and not nearly as good.