Worst & Best Airports

[dunfree]

Not long ago, but pre covid, I flew to an airport that literally funneled you through the duty free store. Not through the area with stores, but through the actual store. The crowd had to divide to get around the the maze of displays blocking the flow of people. I can't remember what airport it was, maybe Mexico City, definitely international.

Didn’t ezeiza (buenos Aires international) do that?

[Buster Highmen]

Worst airport I've been through lately is Amsterdam, AMS.

No signs for connecting flights except at major pedestrian junctions and incredibly poorly staffed customs that are vicious and take forever.

I got routed through the d00ty free shops all the time in Zurich, GVA and CDG.

[riser4]

Saigon does this. Mildly confusing because all traffic just fans out through the perfume section.

I think Madrid Barajas does this IIRC. I was pretty groggy.

[BFD]

Cordova, Alaska. Free parking for the duration of your trip. Perfect start for a flight on Alaska airlines destinations.

[riser4]

Philly and Dulles (who the fuck still has a bus between terminals?) blow hard.

San Diego is clean, modern, modest in size and has good coffee, is right next to everything

Internationally, Pearson is pretty decent albeit a ton of walking (like most internationals I suppose). Lounges at Heathrow are good. Lounges at Frankfurt a better. Montreal airport is pretty cool.

Are you high? Montreal airport is pretty cool? Did you get dropped on your head as a baby?!?!? They need to nuke from orbit and behead the remains. The only thing cool about it is pre-covid it was a reasonable way to get my kid home from Uni in Fredericton for Christmas break. And direct flights to Frankfurt about 90 minutes, plus customs, from my house for a lot cheaper and a lot less hassle than this side of the border. Otherwise I have to drive to Boston or NYC. Flying to FRA from BTV blows goats and is hella expensive.

The airport itself is way overcrowded and I've never seen an on time flight yet. Mirabel was a disaster so we're stuck with Dorval.

[hawkgt]

Didn’t ezeiza (buenos Aires international) do that?

yes

[Ted Striker]

puerto vallarta airport

Pro tip for PVR: there's a place called Tacón de Marlin directly across the street from the terminal (there's a pedestrian overpass), that has great street food. The fish burritos are swordfish, and they're awesome. Burrito de camarones is good too.

[bennymac]

Are you high? Montreal airport is pretty cool? Did you get dropped on your head as a baby?!?!? They need to nuke from orbit and behead the remains. The only thing cool about it is pre-covid it was a reasonable way to get my kid home from Uni in Fredericton for Christmas break. And direct flights to Frankfurt about 90 minutes, plus customs, from my house for a lot cheaper and a lot less hassle than this side of the border. Otherwise I have to drive to Boston or NYC. Flying to FRA from BTV blows goats and is hella expensive.

The airport itself is way overcrowded and I've never seen an on time flight yet. Mirabel was a disaster so we're stuck with Dorval.

Dorval is bipolar. Sometimes its amazing euphoria. Sometimes it’s crushing depression.

YFC might as well be a barn in a field with a lone old malnourished cow poisoned with agent orange giving up milk for your coffee.

I landed at LAX this week. Feel free to thank me for my service since I have now experienced the after affects of a war zone.

[m2711c]

Are you high? Montreal airport is pretty cool? Did you get dropped on your head as a baby?!?!? They need to nuke from orbit and behead the remains. The only thing cool about it is pre-covid it was a reasonable way to get my kid home from Uni in Fredericton for Christmas break. And direct flights to Frankfurt about 90 minutes, plus customs, from my house for a lot cheaper and a lot less hassle than this side of the border. Otherwise I have to drive to Boston or NYC. Flying to FRA from BTV blows goats and is hella expensive.

The airport itself is way overcrowded and I've never seen an on time flight yet. Mirabel was a disaster so we're stuck with Dorval.

How are you getting pricing for those flights? Are you paying for them in Canadian dollars when you get there or American dollars online?

[huckbucket]

I almost always fly out of Pearson when I go international. More direct flights and usually 60% the cost of US based. Pay with a cc and let them do the conversion. The absolute cost is lower. Extra bonus when the US dollar is stronger.

[MontuckyFried]

I landed at LAX this week. Feel free to thank me for my service since I have now experienced the after affects of a war zone.

Hahaha. For real. True story: Once I went home from the Middle East, having to go civilian charter, went through LAX, and I kid you not, the experience there made me wish I was back in Iraq instead. SO much wrong with that place, but hands down the worst TSA pricks in the country I had ever dealt with.

[::: :::]

I will fly for the first time in 3yrs this coming week. The last time I flew more than twice in a year was over ten years ago. I do not miss it.

[This End Up]

Best: Frankfurt,

Uhmmmm, no. Frankfurt is right up there with the worst large airports in the states, LAX, JFK, o’hairy. Decades of poorly planned expansions have left a jumbled mess.

I’ve been through Frankfurt a dozen times and there is always some screw up, but the summer of 2019 was the worst. I’m in the new international terminal waiting to board a flight to Denver. There plenty of open gates and people boarding their flights. We had to leave the terminal, get on a bus, ride for 20 minutes, then board the 747 from the ground. That was some 3rd world bullshit.

[riser4]

Uhmmmm, no. Frankfurt is right up there with the worst large airports in the states, LAX, JFK, o’hairy. Decades of poorly planned expansions have left a jumbled mess.

I’ve been through Frankfurt a dozen times and there is always some screw up, but the summer of 2019 was the worst. I’m in the new international terminal waiting to board a flight to Denver. There plenty of open gates and people boarding their flights. We had to leave the terminal, get on a bus, ride for 20 minutes, then board the 747 from the ground. That was some 3rd world bullshit.

Sounds like terminal Z.

[huckbucket]

Uhmmmm, no. Frankfurt is right up there with the worst large airports in the states, LAX, JFK, o’hairy. Decades of poorly planned expansions have left a jumbled mess.

I’ve been through Frankfurt a dozen times and there is always some screw up, but the summer of 2019 was the worst. I’m in the new international terminal waiting to board a flight to Denver. There plenty of open gates and people boarding their flights. We had to leave the terminal, get on a bus, ride for 20 minutes, then board the 747 from the ground. That was some 3rd world bullshit.

Yes, but Frankfurt has #planeporn

[Ted Striker]

Laughing at the LAX hate. I love the place.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

LAX will get it's shit together like they did for the '84 Olympics, that was a great remodel, but it's going to be a warzone for the next few years.

[XXX-er]

Pro tip for PVR: there's a place called Tacón de Marlin directly across the street from the terminal (there's a pedestrian overpass), that has great street food. The fish burritos are swordfish, and they're awesome. Burrito de camarones is good too.

yeah the other side of that ^^ over pass is also where you catch the cheap bus north and a head full of mezcal is good thing

I will have to go back, Sayulita is cheap and an easy 1 day flight or at least it was

[XXX-er]

Laughing at the LAX hate. I love the place.

so what is a good airport to an airline pilot ??

[ex-powderbroker]

Pro tip for PVR: there's a place called Tacón de Marlin directly across the street from the terminal (there's a pedestrian overpass), that has great street food. The fish burritos are swordfish, and they're awesome. Burrito de camarones is good too.

but the exit visa line is puerto vallarta is a fucking shitshow. i probably cut about 1500 people to gtfo out there and have some cerveza's from the tacon. not proud of it, but I had to.

[MontuckyFried]

so what is a good airport to an airline pilot ??

KLBB. Lubbock. Long ass 11,500' runway and chillllll ops. Gave our runways like at KSUU a run for our money.

[zion zig zag]

Worst category: Budapest. We went through security to a waiting area well short of the gate. 1 hour in advance of our flight we went through "security light" to another waiting area. 30 minutes before the flight go through another checkpoint and walk a quarter mile outside to a tent. Then when time to board, you get on a bus to drive to the plane.

[This End Up]

Sounds like terminal Z.

Yep, very modern, but still fuct up.

[zion zig zag]

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.

[riser4]

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.

Did he let you change your shorts before going back inside?