Best & Worst Airports

[Ltlabner]

For those of you who travel regularly, what is your favorite and most dreaded airport?

Why?

[deltachi8]

Most of my travel is to Central Florida, so I dont have a wide range of opinion. I really like the Orlanod Airport though.

Was not a big fan of Detroit - but have yet to fly out of the new terminal there.

[oneupper]

Zürich - my favorite.

Easy- in out/Train connection
Runs like a Swiss clock.

There are a lot of Airports I don't like (Madrid, Miami, Atlanta).

[Team Clark]

Las Vegas!
Cincinnati
Tampa
Orlando
Ft. Lauderdale
Phoenix
Chicago Ohare

LaGuardia :thumbdown
Kennedy :thumbdown
Miami :thumbdown
Sarasota :thumbdown
Milwaukee :thumbdown
LAX

Atlanta
Durham
St. Louis:
Kansas City

Minneapolis
Houston:
Pittsburgh

Detroit
Toronto
Boston
Buffalo

Salt Lake City:

[Heath]

High on the list - Dayton, Columbus, Indianapolis, Akron/Canton, Rochester NY.
High on the list (destination only) - Ft. Lauderdale, Denver, Ft. Myers
I have to use this airport a lot, but I am indifferent - Atlanta
Low on the list - LGA, JFK, Newark, Boston, Portland ME.

[Red Leader]

- Chicago O'Hare isn't bad. It's plenty big. Stuff to do if you have a layover to pass time and it's well laid out.

- Philadelphia's airport was awful (that might have been the terrible experience I had there, though, more than the airport itself.

- I like both Dallas-Ft. Worth and Houston's airports. Both are bigger in size with stuff to do and the weather is usually nice. Somewhat easy to get around both.

- Miami's airport and LAX are usually a headache. Just "too busy" for my tastes.

- Atlanta's airport is nice. I like having layovers there because of the food they have, the shops they have and the newspapers they offer.

- Dulles in Washington is ok, not great. Lots of wait time for security, more than most others.

- Dayton's airport is boring. Nothing to do if you are waiting for someone to arrive. Seriously, you can't do anything except sit in a chair. Rediculous from the "home of flight."

- Columbus' airport is pretty nice. It's been pretty clean the times I've been there and it's relatively easy to get around.

- Jamaica. When I first went there (1977) there were no indoor terminals. It was all outdoor. I remember sitting on the side of a hill waiting for our plane to arrive. The landing strip was it's own island. Water on both sides of the runway. That was a little scary when I was a kid. I like the airport now, though.

[RANDY IN INDY]

Charlotte Douglas International Airport is great and we feel very fortunate to have it so close by, as my wife travels a lot. Easy in, easy out, clean, decent food and shops, and parking is reasonable.

[Highlifeman21]

Worst
1. Atlanta Hartsfield - ATL
2. Chicago O'Hare - ORD
3. Cincinnati - CVG

Honorable Mention - Dallas Fort Worth - DFW

Best
1. Fort Myers - RSW
2. Las Vegas - LAS
3. Columbus - CMH

Honorable Mention - Philadelphia - PHL

[westofyou]

Worst - Newark - Midway - Any Non Delta Terminal at CVG - Atlanta (only saved by the Marta) SFO - Horrible location

Best - Denver the new one is nice (In the summer) San Jose (easy and smaller then you'd think) Vegas (Slots!!)

[dabvu2498]

Best -- Charlotte, Denver, Las Vegas, Tampa, Orlando, Detroit
Good (small airport division) -- Dayton, Louisville, Savannah GA
Worst -- Atlanta, Philly, Boston, both airports in DC

[RedsFan75]

Finally someone mentioned Philly!!!!

I agree with TC's list but I've got to add that Philly is the worst I've ever been through! I've travelled through there for over 3 yrs and can count on one hand the number of times I've left there on time!

[Red Leader]

Originally Posted by RedsFan75

Finally someone mentioned Philly!!!!

I agree with TC's list but I've got to add that Philly is the worst I've ever been through! I've travelled through there for over 3 yrs and can count on one hand the number of times I've left there on time!

I mentioned it, but I've only been there once, and the time I was there was flat out misery. My wife was in Philly for training for her job. She was scheduled to be there for 2 weeks. I was going to "surprise" her by flying out to see her there with my then 4 year old son, and my then 9 month old son. Arriving was not a problem. We were supposed to depart at 12 noon to return home. The flight was delayed 2 hours. Annoying, but no big deal. At 2pm they announced the flight was cancelled and no other flights were available. I explained that I had a 9 month old who I had fed and changed into his last diaper at 1:45pm. The rest of his stuff had been checked in baggage. They found me a United flight that was flying into Columbus, and leaving Philly at 8:40pm. They could not get my bags back to me and there was no place to get infant formula at the airport. To my son's credit, he didn't start crying until about 6pm. I thought he was never going to stop, though. We arrived in Columbus around 10pm and they bus'd us to Dayton. We arrived at Dayton airport around midnight. My parents met us there and brought a fresh diaper and formula. I felt terrible for the little guy. US Air had the nerve to send me a customer comment card a week or two later. I called the local office and proceeded to verbally assault anyone they handed the phone to. I was not happy.

[RedsFan75]

RL, your story about the way you were treated and the way it was handled sounds so typical of about every flight I've ever tried to take out of there. And it didn't really matter which Airline I was on. Delta, United, US, Northwest, I've had trouble on all of them. US Airways got me into Charlotte late enough that they had to book me on the next day and the guy at the service desk told me the only reason I couldn't make my connections was Philladelphia's incompentence.

I've missed more connections and stayed over at more cities because of delays and cancellations out of Philly that, when I can, I fly through Allentown instead.

Plus, how many other airports have gates where you have to leave security and go back through it to get to a different concourse...?

[timmario66]

Best
-Albuquerque - great food, free wi-fi, picturesque
-Savannah - clean, easy to use, good food
-Dayton - cheap to park, easy access
-Austin - good music, good food, very clean, easy to get around

Good
-Cleveland - getting better each year
-Memphis - just for the BBQ
-New Orleans - good food, relaxed atmosphere
-Cincinnati - don't have a problem like other people, I like terminal A, less crowded and easier to get to. Despise Terminal C

Bad
-Miami - dirty, always crowded, English is a 2nd language
-Atlanta - connecting flight is always at a different terminal no matter what, too busy
-Baltimore - always under construction, dirty, no good food
-Dallas - hard to get between terminals, OK food, tight getting around
-Newark or Laguardia - always dirty & crowded

[oneupper]

I'm a bit surprised about the love Denver is getting. The airport is in the middle of nowhere, getting a rental car takes forever (including waiting outside in the 'weather" for a bus). Can be VERY busy and there is always the possibility of getting snowed in.

There are some amenities in the main terminal, but the concourses have few options.

Not the worst, I guess, but hardly on my list of favorites.

I recently flew home from El Paso...that was ok for a small airport.