Worst & Best Airports

[This End Up]

The good guys always carry AKs

[Art Shirk]

incredibly poorly staffed customs that are vicious and take forever.

Marseille wins on this one for me. The employees there took not giving a grounded fuck to a whole new level with the slowness.

[BmillsSkier]

Marseille wins on this one for me. The employees there took not giving a grounded fuck to a whole new level with the slowness.

Maybe it’s the franco-connection but it reminded me of a serious blog/rant I posted here years ago about the most don’t give a fuck government owned airline, Winair.

https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...ghlight=Winair

My Dad was the calmest, in-control person I have ever met and I saw that airline drive him to tones we have not heard since.

[Falcon3]

The airport in Siem Reap, Cambodia seemed about the same as any other small, tropical airport, infrastructure wise at least, but the experience was...special.

We get off the plane and realize that the fee for visa on arrival has gone up considerably with no notice. We didn't have enough cash (required). Apparently this had caught a lot of people off guard as there was one ATM that was mobbed with people getting cash. I'm in a random spot in the line, say roughly halfway, waiting my turn with my wife. I see a uniformed officer of some type, with an AK-47 approach from across the customs area and head towards me. He demands my passport, not in English. I hand it over and then he uses the AK-47 to motion for me to step out of the line and when my wife goes to follow me, he stops her with another motion of the rifle and directs me outside. At this point, separated from my wife, passport taken, and being escorted who knows where by a man with an automatic rifle, I'm starting to wonder if this is how I spend the next few years.

We get outside and he points to another ATM that has no line, since it is outside of the secure area past customs. He smiles at me and gives me a thumbs up while I get cash. He then walks me back in and hands me my passport and shows me to the line for the visa.

What was his cut for the convenience?

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Airport rant cont.: I see people, entire families, kids, babies... Laying, sitting, eating on the floor in airports. WTF, a skid row gutter might be a cleaner place. Am I the only one who thinks this?

[Falcon3]

Speak of the damn devil, my flight got rerouted this weekend and my layover is in….Detroit. Lucky it’s a short one.

[Falcon3]

Airport rant cont.: I see people, entire families, kids, babies... Laying, sitting, eating on the floor in airports. WTF, a skid row gutter might be a cleaner place. Am I the only one who thinks this?

I think an airport is like Vegas. It exists outside of the realm of normal life. Therefore almost anything is permissible. Get drunk at 5am? Sure. Spend $20 on $5 worth of tacos? Absolutely. Sit in fetid filth on a floor? Why not.

[Name Redacted]

We just got our first VIP Lounge experience on our way back from MX. Pretty nice experience. Will do again.

[seano732]

Which airline?

[Danno]

I'm currently sitting in LaGuardia. Totally remodeled. Still manages to completely suck.

[MakersTeleMark]

I'm currently sitting in LaGuardia. Totally remodeled. Still manages to completely suck.

Thoughts and prayers. Seriously. The girls at the DnD stand out by the exit are amazing people.

[stealurface831]

I'm currently sitting in LaGuardia.

vibes

[The SnowShow]

I'm currently sitting in LaGuardia. Totally remodeled. Still manages to completely suck.

((Shudders))

How was the City? I’m going there in a few weeks.

[mtndave]

The craziest airport I've ever experienced was SSG in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. The baggage scanners were broken so they inspected the suitcases by opening them up in front of you and visually search. The lounge was a sinister feel from the 50's. As I exited the gate, got another complete shakedown in the jetway before I could board the LH jet to FRA with a stop in Lagos.

[riser4]

Bucharest Henri Coandā was interesting. It's an eclectic mix of old and new. The scenery along the taxiway did not disappoint. The rusting com-bloc hardware is a don't miss. The Lufthansa crews didn't seem especially happy to be flying the route. There was a definite sense of hurry up and get back to Frankfurt. The bathrooms weren't any nicer than FRA. The people were nicer. They did have an amused air of we're glad to have you but why on earth would you visit Romania?

[tetzen]

Not gonna complain about the interior of any of these terminals. My complaint is about NYC airports. There is no easy way to reach any of them. Not a single train goes to LGA. There is no direct connection to JFK from Manhattan. And EWR can only be accessed by getting on a regional commuter train and then transferring to that stupid air train that you still have to pay extra for. It’s really just an absolute lack of planning and political willpower to provide easy access to these places.

[riser4]

Not gonna complain about the interior of any of these terminals. My complaint is about NYC airports. There is no easy way to reach any of them. Not a single train goes to LGA. There is no direct connection to JFK from Manhattan. And EWR can only be accessed by getting on a regional commuter train and then transferring to that stupid air train that you still have to pay extra for. It’s really just an absolute lack of planning and political willpower to provide easy access to these places.

This. Not just NYC. The few places with good transportation are not enough. I can't say enough how convenient it is to have the ICE at FRA. And I've flown into National instead of Dulles to be able to hop on the Metro.

[XXX-er]

America is a car culture so instead of being at the end of an LRT or even a really great bus system, you drive to the airport and park in a huge P-lot where you take a bus to the terminal

[riser4]

America is a car culture so instead of being at the end of an LRT or even a really great bus system, you drive to the airport and park in a huge P-lot where you take a bus to the terminal

Or if you fly out of Dorval you drive around in circles trying to find the entrance of the parking garage. And the signs are no help because they are in Quebecois.

[S_jenks]

Schipol was quite nice on the transport front when I had a 15 hour layover.

Through customs in a few minutes, into a train into town for the day then back to the airport for my evening flight.

I always like going through Schipol when possible, and find it to be a pretty solid layout. I think most of the hate comes from first-timers, because once you’ve done it once it becomes pretty easy to navigate.

The in-airport train to Amsterdam is also a boon, and when I lived there it made getting in and out of town so damn easy.

[Danno]

((Shudders))

How was the City? I’m going there in a few weeks.

Bring your vax card, required to get in lots of places. We had a great time, non-stop tourism (though I grew up there; it was all for my kiddo).

Not gonna complain about the interior of any of these terminals. My complaint is about NYC airports. There is no easy way to reach any of them. Not a single train goes to LGA. There is no direct connection to JFK from Manhattan. And EWR can only be accessed by getting on a regional commuter train and then transferring to that stupid air train that you still have to pay extra for. It’s really just an absolute lack of planning and political willpower to provide easy access to these places.

Totally. The fact that everyone just accepts that you take a cab to/from LGA is ludicrous.

I don't think Newark is bad, though. That train is pretty convenient, and the solution -- create a spur line to the airport -- seems reasonable. Would be nice if it was free, but to me that's a small complaint, because overall the trip is not expensive.

[riser4]

The one time I flew out of JFK instead of the many times flying through it, the solution was commuter train to Grand Central, "Airporter" bus to JFK. That was fine. Trying to do it in reverse was fucking painful in every possible way.

[XXX-er]

Or if you fly out of Dorval you drive around in circles trying to find the entrance of the parking garage. And the signs are no help because they are in Quebecois.

do the stop signs say stop or arret in Quebec ?

I have driven everywhere in Vangroovy which is my home town, it used to be a shitty cab ride into town,

last time back flew in and got the 10$ all day transit pass, took LRT & buses which was a much nicer/ cheaper/ faster/ low stress experience than driving around my hometown

[bennymac]

Sure but Vancouver and Toronto (the 3rd biggest city in US/Canada) only got trains to their airports in the last decade - hard to point fingers at US being the only one that is car centric.

[dunfree]

Amsterdam in the 1970s


car centric is a choice