Tuesday Fav/Wed Worsts..... Airports

[CDGator]

Might as well combine these two together because you can't talk about a favorite airport without talking about the worst.
In the chatbox it was suggested that these might not be the best/worst airports.

Discuss

Newark, Seattle, Fort Lauderdale and Boston are named WORST airports

Soaring demand following the pandemic and seasonal delays has led to a shake-up in North America's most beloved and least liked airports a new poll has revealed.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Nalt]

I like DFW and oddly enough, I like DEN. DEN can be complicated if you are driving up to it but if you take the bus from the car rentals then they drop you off where you need to be.

Absolutely can not stand ATL. It seems that every connection is about 2 counties away from the gate you fly into...

 

[Gator By Marriage]

I like DFW and oddly enough, I like DEN. DEN can be complicated if you are driving up to it but if you take the bus from the car rentals then they drop you off where you need to be.

Absolutely can not stand ATL. It seems that every connection is about 2 counties away from the gate you fly into...

As someone who uses the ATL airport regularly, I’ve come to learn a few time savers, but the one thing that cannot be overcome is that it’s just too big. Atlanta has to be by far, the biggest metro area to only have one airport. As bad as the domestic side is, International is even worse. The terminal is ok, but the traffic getting in and out is horrendous.

 

[Nalt]

As someone who uses the ATL airport regularly, I’ve come to learn a few time savers, but the one thing that cannot be overcome is that it’s just too big. Atlanta has to be by far, the biggest metro area to only have one airport. As bad as the domestic side is, International is even worse. The terminal is ok, but the traffic getting in and out is horrendous.

I've never driven to ATL and honestly, only flew through it a handful of times. That was more than enough for me though. I truly don't think I would ever drive or take public transit to it.

 

[Gator By Marriage]

I've never driven to ATL and honestly, only flew through it a handful of times. That was more than enough for me though. I truly don't think I would ever drive or take public transit to it.

Driving to the domestic side, depending on the time of day is no worse than going anywhere else in Atlanta. Because it’s so huge though, parking anywhere near the terminal is next to impossible. There is a tram from the outer lots on the west side, which cuts way down on the walking, but it still takes a minute. I’m not a fan of MARTA, but one of the few good things about it is the train pulls right into the main terminal next to baggage claim. Getting through security is also very time consuming. TSA pre or CLEAR is absolutely worth the cost if one flies regularly out of there.

 

[bradgator2]

Flying in and out of TPA is always a cakewalk. Super clean. Very easy. Short lines.

 

[bradgator2]

Last year on my annual flyfishing trip, as we are driving from Florida to North Carolina, we had to pick up one of the guys from the Atlanta Airport. What an absolute zoo driving in there to pick someone up. Incredibly, we were pulling into the airport at pretty much the same time he picked up his luggage. So we tell him to plow his way through the 15 lanes of pickup traffic and get all the was to very outside not-allowed-to-stop bypass lane. We see him up ahead, playing frogger, and he gets to the lane at the exact same moment we are driving by. So we slow to 5 mph and he literally jumps, with baggage, as we are still rolling. It was the absolute perfect precision of an Atlanta airport pickup.

We are laughing about it as we are pulling off. The only thing that would have been better is if one of us pulled off a pillow case and threw it over his head as he jumped it. Just to give all the 5 million other cars in line something to tell their kids about.

 

[soflagator]

PBI is my favorite combination of smaller yet not so small that it’s simply an extension of a hub. Jax is similar. Denver is also a favorite, minus the TSA line. I don’t mind LGA personally but I know I’m an outlier.

Not a fan of JFK, Dulles, Fort Lauderdale, Dallas or Vegas. Pittsburg also sucks, but mostly because when you land you realize you’re in Pittsburgh. Newark should be burned. The airport there is awful too.

 

[soflagator]

Flying in and out of TPA is always a cakewalk. Super clean. Very easy. Short lines.

Yep, forgot Tampa. Only one time but it was a great, very clean airport.

 

[CDGator]

Our LEX airport is a breeze to get through with just a handful of gates. An hour in advance is usually plenty of time and you will still wait at your gate. Of course our choices are limited to Delta, AA, United and Allegiant which means you have to connect to one of the major hubs. CLT and DFW aren't bad. Seems like we always end up in the basement's back corner of ORD to get back to Lex but the airport is fine.

SEA is on my worst list for the people and TSA check-in. MIA is bad if you come in through international. Haven't been through ATL in a long time since we now fly AA.

 

[CDGator]

And a shout-out for LAS for being so honest and finding my drivers license!

 

[Gatordiddy]

Not a fan of JFK, Dulles, Fort Lauderdale, Dallas or Vegas. Pittsburg also sucks, but mostly because when you land you realize you’re in Pittsburgh. Newark should be burned. The airport there is awful too.

Pretty much this... Except the "...you realize you're in Pittsburgh" remark.

What's NOT to like?!?

 

[CDGator]

 

[Gatordiddy]

Are you not a Ben R fan??

Don't answer that.. most women aren't...

 

[Double Gator Dad]

I traveled for my job for nearly 40 years and I have frequented nearly every airport (80+) in the country and after a while some start to blend together but a few stick out.

Easiest airport/Best layout - Tampa
The only thing Tampa got right

Worst airport/ layout - Atlanta
No explanation required

Coolest airport - O’Hare/Chicago
Old school look and charm

I could go on but this is a good start.

 

[Nalt]

HNL, Honolulu's airport has a nice layout. Lots of open air blowing through most of the building. The down side of it though is that there are lots of birds that just fly through the areas.

 

[Gator By Marriage]

Pretty much this... Except the "...you realize you're in Pittsburgh" remark.

What's NOT to like?!?

 

[Nalt]

My current itinerary calls for me to fly from Huntsville to Houston to Honolulu to Lihue. Then my return flight is from Lihue to Denver to Dulles to Huntsville. I've never gone through Dulles so I'm not sure how I feel about that... Nevertheless, I expect my return trip to change by a day or three so that will be ok hopefully...

 

[gatorev12]

HNL, Honolulu's airport has a nice layout. Lots of open air blowing through most of the building. The down side of it though is that there are lots of birds that just fly through the areas.

I found Honolulu to be a bit dated, personally. I know they're redoing large portions of it; but the brown look everywhere is very 70s (and not in a good way), and you had Atlanta-esque 10+ minute walks for arrival and departures from where you actually board/deboard.

 

[gatorev12]

I have to travel a lot, so have been through a number of airports and there's more I dislike than like.

My favorite large airport is Tampa: great layout, plenty of space, and pretty easy to get on/off. SLC is another well-designed airport hub that's clean and efficient.

Not being a homer, but Jax has a great airport for its size: you can almost always be through TSA in 15 minutes since they do a great job having enough agents there during busy periods and the various updates have given it a SLC-style feel of being spacious without being overbearing.

Denver is a great large airport, as is Minneapolis and have always thought Philly is a bit underrated too.

Dislikes: Atlanta, Miami, any NYC airport (La Guardia is miles better than what it was post-renovation, but still chitty), Seattle, Boston, New Orleans, Austin, Chicago Midway...and too many others to list, but will leave it there.