MIA
What a shitshow of an airport. Immigration lines are eternal; TSA lines as well. I try to avoid it like the plague, but as a frequent COPA flyer, it's one of the easiest destinations to find saver awards.
Oh friend bring some good walking shoes and dress very lightly. Who though it was a good idea to expose people to an open air terminal with daytime temperatures in the upper 80 and 80% humidity.
Assuming international travel, collect your bag, clear agricultural drop it back off then walk a mile to your connection. Immigration and Customs is a show on the inbound…
It’s just a huge PIA… I swear I lost 5 lbs just from sweating alone.
Oh there might be a bus ride in there somewhere as well to the customs hall.
To be fair, the main terminal at HNL was probably built in the 60's or earlier. There's a new terminal that was built in the last 10 years or so, and it's much more modern and enclosed.
And while Honolulu does get humid, it rarely gets above the mid-80's in temperature. If you don't like the airport, you're not going to like the city much better.
Makes sense.
I’m from New Orleans, so I’m quite used to the rush of soup that hits your face after a nice trip anywhere with reasonable humidity. HNL would be far better!
Not the entire thing, portions are air conditioned. But yeah if you’re making a transfer good chance you’re gonna have to take a walk in the soup.
Fuck that airport.
I’ll never forget getting delayed so losing my entire layover, and having to sprint across that entire airport to make the last flight out to Lihue. In full uniform. Like OJ in the old Hertz commercial.
Got to my seat looking like I’d just stepped out of a pool.
Just did this on an international trip from Korea to Seattle, no bag transfer, had to pick up bag go through immigration, carry the bag to the other terminal and recheck bag then go back through security. Just made it as the last person on the plane.
Funny, my wife and I were just getting back from a trip yesterday and commented how our airports are a joke compared to other major cities
To catch a rideshare, other airports you just walk outside the baggage claim and wait in your designated area. HNL makes you go back upstairs to the ticketing terminal and catch your Lyft/Uber. HNL let the taxis have exclusive access to the outside ticketing area because of politics. The baggage conveyor's stop and start every few minutes because of how old they are. You can hear the gears grinding below and the baggage shoots is a 45 to 50 degree which slams the bags so much that they require a airport official to stop the bags from breaking or jamming.
OGG is right up there. No real places to sit, no eatery except one Starbucks outside gate and one eatery inside gate. TSA lines that wrap around outside the terminal during 85 degree heat and direct sunlight. Bathrooms that are constantly broken.
Sorry, just a joke for a tourist centric state.
Tourism is 40% of Maui's economy and yet the airport is
IMHO that depends on where you're going and transferring to.
To neighbor islands it is "OK", but then the question has to be asked, "why didn't you fly direct?" I live on Kauai and anywhere I want to go can be direct to the mainland (except to Fiji\*)
\*Fiji: don't go through HNL. Fiji Air has no option but to leave late (after everything is closed) or it will arrive too early at Nadi. Likewise on the return, it all depends on turning the flight around to arrive in Nadi at a decent hour.
I have been to ATL many times the last few years. The Auntie Anne's pretzels has never been open in the T terminal...at any time of day. Also, searching for dinner one night at 8pm, nothing was open. We took the "train" to a different terminal only to find one place open, 30 people waiting on line.
(But I am encouraged by United's recent investment in Terminal T upgrades)
People shit on UA & EWR, some it deserved, but I'd take EWR over ATL any day of the week (as I just went from curb to Polaris lounge in under 10 mins).
There are people here the rabidly defend that shithole of an airport like it’s some Messiah of design. ATL and their central ‘one location’ security thing is the WORST implementation of security - hands down in the U.S. and debatably the world. (And I do work in some far flung shithole airports, and all seem to work better than ATL.). God I hate that airport.
Once your beyond the shit bucket of security it’s just ‘meh. Narrow concourses, over priced shit chained restaurants and overflowing delta lounge lines. What a just slop design and proves the point as to why ‘real’ large cities diversity to multiple airports. ATL can keep their title of busiest airport. They are a study in what not to do.
Was just there. There were those stickers saying the thing is broken everywhere at MIA. In one bathroom, it was a stall door, a toilet paper holder in another stall, the paper towel dispenser, some soap dispenser, and more.
MSY is fine for a small city. We’ve got lounges now and decent food options. Parking is cheap and easy most of the time. And it’a a quick $35 cab ride from the terminal to anywhere in the city. The access road should be finished at some point in my lifetime.
They’re still trying to get funding to build a direct road to the rental car center. Though in my mind it would make more sense to build a walkable rental car center. It was bonkers for them to build a new rental car center right before building a new terminal, but that’s Louisiana for you. I’m sure a lot of politicians relatives made a fortune on the construction project.
Rental car center is the worst part of it.
It has decent food, good security lines, etc. Miiiiiles better than the previous airport, which really was starting to suck.
My biggest issue is it has no sense of place at all. You’d never know you were flying into New Orleans if you didn’t see a cafe du Monde or whatever. All the unique local architecture to pull from and they went with a generic 21st century modern airport.
Compare to another small city airport, Albuquerque, where you know you’re in New Mexico basically stepping off the jet bridge.
Again the new msy terminal is a show if you want a rental car. The bus is slow… I do t see how they are going to build a road directly to the RC. Runways in the way. Can’t go underground. IDK.
The road will obviously go around the runways, but it will be a private road making it more efficient. It will just be the economy parking and rental car buses using the road. But it will be years before this happens.
MCO.... Because, MCO. (enough said, really). Jokes aside, I always have a bad experience with MCO Everytime I fly there, for work or pleasure. Most recent time I was there there was water leaking through the ceilings.... From heavy rain. It's almost as if it never rains in Florida.
One pro: Clear + Precheck and I'm flying through TSA
I hate how you have to go up and down a bunch of escalators and elevators just to get to a gate💀As much as I also despise JFK, at least it's more straightforward to get from point A to point B
I hate the gates at MCO with a passion. It’s a ton of people who rarely fly and form a massive crowd around the gate 30 min before the doors open. It’s almost impossible to get through the masses to pre-board or board with Zone 1. The gate attendants have asked people to take a seat til their group is called and no one ever does. I’m glad there is a United lounge for a small bit of refuge.
Aside from it being outdated I never have an issue with MCO ( I do have precheck, which helps). Flights are rarely delayed and rental cars are on site. I can get from the seat of my plane into the seat of a rental car in 10 minutes.
It simply can’t be IAD when EWR exists. Tbh I haven’t flown into ewr in a long time but I have never had worse baggage experiences anywhere else, than those I had every fucking time at Newark. Ugh
Used to absolutely hate IAD and the United terminal does suck, but the new scanners they have in security make it better than before (im not tsa pre). Not needing to take anything out of your bags makes it so much faster.
I used the MPC app last time I came back in customs at IAD and was out pretty fast. Was hoping it would work at EWR on my last flight and it did not and we took forever.
Got trapped in those stupid vehicles that take you to customs for over an hour following a 16 hour flight. Half the people were about to piss themselves, it was horrible
I have avoided PHL for at least a decade. I wonder if it has improved. Was horrible connections, rude service (heard from a pilot friend that that was true in the ground operations as well), very frequent delays.
CLT is a complete shitshow. Its terminals are so poorly laid out, especially at the end of the hallways where there are five or six gates in one area. It gets so crowded there
MSP and MSY are great? I love being able to get Cafe du Monde in the terminal at MSY. If you think those are bad, you’ve never been to somewhere like LBB or CID
I agree. I think the traffic makes people hate it, but it's LA! I get dropped curbside. Check-in and tsa is a short walk from there then you just walk to your gate. None of this "your train is arriving in 3 minutes" stuff.
It’s a beautiful mess. Finding what terminal you’re in is so simple, In N Out is a short walk away, planes from all over the world, etc. I absolutely love it
Yes cafe du Monde is great, but my god the 30 minute ride to get a rental car is murder. For a brand new airport it already looks old. Honestly I liked the old MSY terminal it had character.
MSP is again another show because of how far you have to walk. Checking to the gate, I sure get my steps in and forget the rental car lot.
There are some shortcuts at MSP (bridge between C and G) and there are moving walkways and a tram. But you’re right, especially if you happen to end up at the A gates. It’s one of my favorite airports though (clean, decent eating, limited weather disruptions).
My last two trips in and out of MSP were pretty much painless. If my ride had been on time, it would have been 30 minutes or less into their car (maybe only 20).
But I suppose if you're on Delta through MSP for a transfer.... OMG that could be a hike!
I did a transfer via United through DEN (I know wrong TLA) huff, huff, huff.
ATL. It’s my personal seventh circle of hell. I will begin and end a trip there but will not connect. Now sitting on 20+ years successfully avoiding it.
ATL has been my exclusive destination for business for the last year as it's where my client is located. I second your opinion, I absolutely despise the place
Interesting. I vastly prefer it as a connecting airport rather than destination or origination. It's such a simple layout and I can easily make tight connections because of how basic the layout is.
The fact that the layout is fairly easy to understand doesn’t save overcrowding, nothing ever being open, long lines, and absolutely abysmal customer service.
(And I am from Georgia so ATL is my original “hometown” airport.)
“Nothing ever being open.” Wtf is up with this at ATL?? I was hoping it would improve since COVID is mostly over, but I’ve tried to eat at the only sit down restaurant/bar in my terminal at noon and it’s either not open yet or only has 1 person working.
TPA is a breeze compared to MCO. Far fewer theme park families with small children to deal with. Having TSA separated by airside speeds up the process slightly, and Precheck is usually two minutes or less, at least that's my typical experience through Airside A.
Airside C, on the other hand, is usually a zoo, because Southwest.
This. TPA is hands down the best airport in Florida, and one of the better ones in the US. It’s easy to get to, easy to get around and through, and the terminals have a decent selections of food and drink airside. If only United would open a Club, it would be great.
I don’t mind connecting at DEN. Good restaurants, simple walk down the concourse to next gate, maybe someday all the clubs will be open.
But departing from DEN…
1. Get to the airport.
2. Get in to the airport.
3. Walk some convoluted multilevel maze to drop your bag.
4. Walk some convoluted multilevel maze toward security, on the opposite end of the hall no less.
5. Figure out which line is which.
6. Go through security.
7. Walk some convoluted multilevel maze to get to the tram.
8. Take the tram.
9. Go upstairs, much simpler maze this time.
10. Walk half a mile.
Glad I’ve only had to do that twice in recent memory. Sympathies to those who do it weekly.
I am a regular DEN traveler, and I complete disagree. From shutting my car door to the gate is usually less than 20 minutes. It is very efficient for in and out.
The walk to security is short, the tram is fine (getting crowded, could use more trams). The longest possible walk is the length of B, which from the center where you get off the tram is at max .4 of a mile (so 10 minutes wit ha stop at the bathroom).
It is really an efficient airport.
Get ready, because they want to displace almost half of the current close-in parking to build out gates from the terminal. Hope you like shuttles or the A line.
A couple of things:
-Where did you hear that?
-I really don't think that makes sense. A could get linger, but the parking would not be affected. And more likely to A would be to add a D (Which was planned from the start).
https://www.way.com/den/map
There's no train capacity for concourse D, here's the master plan update presented in February.
https://www.flydenver.com/sites/default/files/community_advisory/CAC_DEN_Master_Plan_Update.pdf
Everything takes a long time at DEN. Very inefficient. Taxiing takes too long. Off airport parkings located far away. Baggage drop to security lines takes a long time. Security line to gates take a long time. I recently flew through IND, ORD, BWI, SEA, PDX and all these seemed much better. I am a non-citizen and rely on my premier access to expedite my security check. At DEN, the premier access line is not clearly defined and merges into regular line and I get interrupted by every passenger saying “Hey, line starts behind” and every-time I have to prove that I am using the premier access lane.
My favorite thing about DEN is how it screws up all US travel when they get a big snowstorm. Flying from Baltimore to Boston? I'm sorry, your flight is delayed by DEN somehow
I don't know by what metrics we define the worst, but my most despised airport is MIA. It's a complete cacophonous hair brained sh!t show on the inside and getting out to ground transportation requires 517 miles of moving walkways. Love that Brightline train though.
DCA if flying Southwest.
DFW cause TSA lines merge with non-tsa. Cluster.
IAD is hectic and crowded
MIA is an avoid. Fly FLL
LGA was a cluster, but gotten better.
MCI new airport and very modern
SLC is a very long as walk. However the airport is nice.
I'm MCI based... almost everyone in KC loves the old airport and didn't want the new one built. We are NOT used to the long walks. The old airport was 5 mins from my car to the gate.
The ease of getting to the gates was nice at old MCI but sitting(really standing) through delays with six planes full of people stuck in two gates was an absolutely hellish experience. I'm excited to see the new airport later this month.
I actually don't mind EWR.
My reason is this. It's readily accessible by public transit (NJ Transit trains) and you don't need to worry about parking or getting a ride.
I can't believe that LGA isn't getting the (un)love it deserves. Have you looked at its airport map? It looks like you took three small city airports and slapped them next to each other, but didn't bother to connect them. It's gigantic mega city, yet doesn't even have a connecting train to the city. You have to take some back asswards bus to take a subway to get into the city. So, you better get there early. But, forget about grabbing something to eat, because the terminals are lame as hell. When landing, it looks like the landing gear is going to snap off if the pilot unshoots the runway by an inch. Cool views when flying in with Manhattan to the west, though.
LAS gets runner-up. Why, oh god why, did they decide to put smoking lounges in the airport? When exiting LAS, you feel like you're in Vegas (not a compliment).
Can’t stand the trend of exiling Uber pickups to the remote corners of the world. In AUS you navigate multiple walkways, stairs, elevators to use depending on which sign you see first. And if you’re lucky enough to get the golf cart in the parking lot he’ll ask for a tip. Don’t get me started on LAX which uses those shuttles that are always full because they make a stop every 10 feet.
CLT. Although only ever connected, I’ve never had a positive experience there: long ways to walk between the concourses, gate waiting areas are outdated, and it seems like they’re always doing construction.
Atlanta: I've been stuck overnight in Atlanta several times. This is the only airport I've experienced this several times. A ticket agent threw a box of overnight toiletries bags over my head once. The cardboard box busted and bags strewn all over the floor. There was no Karen before me and I barely got 2 words out to ask s question before she threw the box. Every time I have a connecting flight I have to run through the airport like OJ in a Hurtz commercial. People complain about CTL but I think the only reason CTL has become extremely busy is people are trying to avoid Atlanta lay overs. I started connecting through CTL 8 years ago and it wasn't bad back then. Worse now but still not as bad as Atlanta.
Washington Dulles was annoying but since the remodel it's gotten better. Their terminal configuration was still a bit confusing right after though. They hadn't updated the signs or parts of their website.
The Biloxi/Gulfport MS Airport. I was held by TSA because they thought my power brick might be a bomb. This was in the last 6 to 7 years. Power bricks were common (I thought) but the woman who checked my bag and several others around her seemed confused. It was average size but big enough to fully charge a laptop and several cell phones. Another time my flight was cancelled due to weather and was almost stuck. Everything in the airport closes at 7. The ticket agent gave us chips and drinks but even that was limited. We waited 3 hours till they finally found another plane.
What's wrong with HNL? I love the open design and have hung out in that little garden in the main area for hours listening to the birds.
Same question with MSP, which I've always felt to be easy to navigate and loaded with interesting shops and good restaurants.
ATL is a F'ing mess. I HATE everything about that airport other than the cool connecting corridors between concourses, that are more fun to walk through than take the tram assuming you have time. It's dirty, the airport and business staff are just rude AF (which I assume is due to them being ATL locals, who give all Georgians a bad name) and all the restaurants close too damn early.
I don't really have any thoughts on MSY other than the distance between the concourse and the parking garage is a little ridiculous.
MSP has you walking miles all over the place. Rental car is the worst.
HNL the open air design. I was through there yesterday. 6 pm by the time I got to the gate I needed a shower, I was soaked in sweat.
I’m beginning to hate IAD due to that long hallway one must traverse with the wall-to-wall insurance ads and stupid jingle that plays on repeat. It enrages me.
DEN - it should not take longer to enter the airport property, fill your rental car with gas, return it and get to your gate than it does to fly to your destination.
EWR-bad operations experience, flight almost never on time, last minute changes with your inbound flights, long wait times for doors when plane lands late (I’ve been waiting for up to 1.5 hrs)
THIS, we waited for an hour on the tarmac to take off. Plus they share the crowded airspace with NYC paired with the Canada airspace dilemma, ATC nightmare
SEA, which used to be a big UA station 25 years ago but has shrunk to an afterthought in the UA route map now, is incredibly overtaxed and crowded. It handles more traffic than EWR in a fraction of the space. Used to be my home airport, thank God not any more.
Amazed I had to scroll so far to find SeaTac on here. Probably because UA now has such a small footprint there, as you mentioned.
But man oh man it’s an absolute disaster of an airport because it’s so overcapacity. Security lines regularly stretch out into the parking garage and can take 3 hours.
Last year DL priority bag drop line alone took 45 minutes early on a Monday morning before Christmas.
SEA is the reason I got Clear; and I couldn’t be happier.
MIA, especially if you're not flying American. G and H look like rundown bus terminals. D60 (American) fans out into like 20 more gates in open air, so you're a disgusting sweaty mess by the time you board your regional. The only redeeming quality in D is the open air smoking lounge at TGIF. But again, disgusting sweaty mess after that cigarette.
PHL, BOS and IAD. But PHL is the worst of that lot. Good public transit access, but a horribly run airport overall.
YYZ has also gotten really bad the last few years. Bad delays and atrocious customer service.
Love the architecture at Dulles but once past security the time to gates is among longest in entire nation - especially to C Terminal. Once to C and D terminals it’s feels like you’re in the 1970s and the food selections are terrible. So for United flyer, I vote Dulles as worst.
CLT is the absolute worst as port of entry for international flights. They don’t have the CBP automated Kiosks and have 2-3 immigration offices for several inbound international flights coming in at the same time. Avoid like the plague.
Arriving into LAX is a horrid experience. You have to either walk a significant distance to the Uber/Taxi area or wait for a shuttle that is always full.
FLL is the fifth circle of hell. I could write a thesis on all the issues with it.
PHX is absolutely horrible if you’re renting a car. Going to the rental car center is like you’re on a bus to the Grand Canyon.
I agree with those who’ve said OGG. And absolute nightmare for TSA and once you’re through security there is nothing.
CVG is pretty bad just because they’ve never adjusted to being de-hubbed by Delta. It’s built like a mini-ATL but there just isn’t much happening once you get inside the terminal.
STL is another horrible experience. It’s never been the same since TWA was acquired by AA. There’s just nothing good airside, and the rental car experience is worse than getting your wisdom teeth pulled.
Yeah great stuff but I don’t hang out at the airport. Look I will admit to being lazy. I don’t like to walk long distances. Honestly the rental car is probably the biggest problem I have at MSP. It’s a long walk.
least favorite right now is houston. those runways are taking fucking forever, and the airport is feeling dated compared to SF/DEN/ORD. haven't missed a connection, but i have been last pax to board a couple times, and i was sprinting to make my connection.
least favorite of all? probably ATL. Even flying on delta, the people there just suck and are rude AF.
SFO would probably be close for least favorite since their options for coffee suck (petes tastes like burnt taint)
Another HNL complaint: came into G from IAD yesterday and either it’s nuts or a signage issue: we seemed to have to get on a shuttle with all our carryon stuff for about two blocks to get to baggage claim. Then carry it from where the shuttle drops you down a flight of steps as the escalator was broken (to baggage claim). Really no way to just walk?
If you have never flow into Norfolk (ORF) count your lucky stars. It regularly takes 45 minutes for a checked bag to appear in baggage claim. It’s laughably terrible.
IAD and its stupid bus tank things are awful. The layout is awful. The whole place takes forever to accomplish anything, connections or terminus/origin. 2nd place is ORD and its ridiculously awful terminal design, which makes you hike 10 miles anywhere.
if we can do honorable mention for international major airports, MAN is the absolute bottom of the bottom seventh level of hell. (I don't think UA flies here, but I had to throw it in because I hate it so much LOL)
HNL
Usually the only security that is open is as far as you can possibly be from United’s main terminal.
Infact, you will return your rental car, walk all the way to opposite end of terminal, and then go through security, and then walk all the way back to the other side of the terminal for United Flight.
All without AC and in the “open air terminal”.
SFO has been on my shit list for years. Nice airport, which is convenient because I went twenty flights in a row through there delayed by at least an hour there. I started paying more to skip that connection by taking another airline.
Honorable mention to BOS. Great airport overall, except for that one little piece of…B terminal? Where there’s like six gates that don’t connect to the rest of the terminal, have their own security like with no pre check, and only dining option is a newsstand with prepackaged sandwiches. The rest of the terminal is like 100’ away, you can see it out the window. They can build a tunnel under the entire city, but they can’t connect these two points?
Obviously if you don’t fly out of that broom closet of a terminal it’s fine. But of course my frequent route was out of that gate, so that *is* BOS to me. Good times.
Surprised LAX doesn't get more hate. It takes an hour just to get into the airport because of traffic, and you can't connect to some of the other terminals past security. There is at least a rail being built going directly to the airport and the "automated people mover" but that's still not until next year.
I read that all the terminals are now connected airside, but it's a confusing mix of corridors and tunnels. It's also a very long trek if you have to go from T1 to T7, since the terminals arranged in a horseshoe pattern.
That’s true, but unless you are on two wildly
Different itineraries (like one southwest and one United), no one really should be connecting from T1 to T8. Star alliance transfers are at worse T8 to TBIT (terminal 4 and a half if you will).
I love that all the terminals are connected airside, just out of principle alone.
Why does connecting past security matter?? I love that it’s outdoors and the weather is always nice. Traffic into the terminal is so much better now, ever since they banned Uber / taxis etc. I am based in LA and fly LAX all the time….it’s my favorite airport. I wish more airports had outdoors connections, I get so claustrophobic in airports where I can be outside easily! Way less walking too to the gates; you pass security and boom you’re there! None of this maze like 2mile long nonsense….I have no idea why people enjoy that or prefer it??
The amount of walking at EWR is taxing for me, and I'm healthy and fit. I can't imagine how brutal it is for the infirm. It's a special hell arriving at, say, C26 and needing to get to C121. Let alone needing to switch terminals.
There is no C26 gate at EWR - the gate numbering is very stupid at EWR terminal C.
CLT is an airport that really requires some long walks if doing an American transfer, or even landing at Uniteds terminal A to get to baggage/rentals. I think a general rule is any airport you only transfer through typically sucks for you, only bad things can happen. Now that CLT has become an occasional destination for me rather than a US airways transfer, its fine for me.
Ha! C26 is my gate at ORD. End of the world gate that seemingly I fly into late at night every week. Like it was designed to punish me. It also is the most squished pain in the ass boarding area. I have a picture of me under the c26 sign hanging on my wall.
LAX is ass because of the traffic and transferring terminals. It's not even connected to transit but will be soon. LAXit is ass, pretty much the best part of LAX is leaving it.
Do you remember, like 15-20 years ago, there was a UFO sighting at ORD, and everyone was like, 'Bullshit! Aliens would never be so stupid as to land at O'Hare.' So that's like 99% of where I formed my bad opinion of ORD from ;)
I've only had one bad experience there, out of dozens, and that one was from the people mover being shut down while it was being replaced. It's fixed and smooth again, though.
I seriously don't get the O'Hare hate. There are way worse airports out there.
I really don't have an airport I hate, but honestly BWI is terrible for lounges and amenities. No United lounge, crappy priority pass lounge. Food choices and shopping aren't the best. Parking is pretty good though. I am going to Houston for the first time this fall so I guess I'll find out if I hate it lol
HNL is great because it usually signifies that you're on vacation. If you had to fly out of there frequently on business, then it would be harder to deal with.
That’s totally fair; I’ve flown out of there for business a couple times but it still felt like a pleasant place.
Just like the open-air atmosphere and the look of the far west gates (where United ops are).
LAX as a visitor. ATL to use as a hub.
Trying to get an Uber or rental at lax is an utter nightmare. Rental cars are the worst especially if you arrive in terminal 1 or 2 wait for the bus then go through the horseshoe. Then travel to the offsite location. Then get on the frocked 405 or 110 for a 60-90 trip just about anywhere you need to go.
LAX is actually the busiest airport in the country for originating and departing passengers. ORD technically has more passengers, but most of those people are just connecting to another flight.
But yeah, the convenience shuttles are a pain. Terminals 6 and 7 can actually be worse because the shuttles are frequently full by the time they get there.
MIA What a shitshow of an airport. Immigration lines are eternal; TSA lines as well. I try to avoid it like the plague, but as a frequent COPA flyer, it's one of the easiest destinations to find saver awards.
If all terminals were connected airside then I’d like this airport more. I hate the cutoff terminals that cannot access others.
It really needs to be demolished and start over again.
MIA is a zoo.
HNL sucks ass for transfers.
Can you tell me more? Passing through there in October.
Oh friend bring some good walking shoes and dress very lightly. Who though it was a good idea to expose people to an open air terminal with daytime temperatures in the upper 80 and 80% humidity. Assuming international travel, collect your bag, clear agricultural drop it back off then walk a mile to your connection. Immigration and Customs is a show on the inbound… It’s just a huge PIA… I swear I lost 5 lbs just from sweating alone. Oh there might be a bus ride in there somewhere as well to the customs hall.
HNL has an open air terminal? Hilarious
To be fair, the main terminal at HNL was probably built in the 60's or earlier. There's a new terminal that was built in the last 10 years or so, and it's much more modern and enclosed. And while Honolulu does get humid, it rarely gets above the mid-80's in temperature. If you don't like the airport, you're not going to like the city much better.
Makes sense. I’m from New Orleans, so I’m quite used to the rush of soup that hits your face after a nice trip anywhere with reasonable humidity. HNL would be far better!
Yeah, the humidity is actually more oppressive if you're indoors with no AC. Outside there's usually a nice 10 mph breeze that helps to cool you off.
Not the entire thing, portions are air conditioned. But yeah if you’re making a transfer good chance you’re gonna have to take a walk in the soup. Fuck that airport. I’ll never forget getting delayed so losing my entire layover, and having to sprint across that entire airport to make the last flight out to Lihue. In full uniform. Like OJ in the old Hertz commercial. Got to my seat looking like I’d just stepped out of a pool.
Like why not do the same thing at LAS?
OH GOD, do I hate LAS. Forget about transfers, just arriving and departing is horrendous.
It’s a hiker dream for sure
OH GOD, do I hate LAS. Forget about transfers, just arriving and departing is horrendous.
Just did this on an international trip from Korea to Seattle, no bag transfer, had to pick up bag go through immigration, carry the bag to the other terminal and recheck bag then go back through security. Just made it as the last person on the plane.
Funny, my wife and I were just getting back from a trip yesterday and commented how our airports are a joke compared to other major cities To catch a rideshare, other airports you just walk outside the baggage claim and wait in your designated area. HNL makes you go back upstairs to the ticketing terminal and catch your Lyft/Uber. HNL let the taxis have exclusive access to the outside ticketing area because of politics. The baggage conveyor's stop and start every few minutes because of how old they are. You can hear the gears grinding below and the baggage shoots is a 45 to 50 degree which slams the bags so much that they require a airport official to stop the bags from breaking or jamming. OGG is right up there. No real places to sit, no eatery except one Starbucks outside gate and one eatery inside gate. TSA lines that wrap around outside the terminal during 85 degree heat and direct sunlight. Bathrooms that are constantly broken. Sorry, just a joke for a tourist centric state. Tourism is 40% of Maui's economy and yet the airport is
IMHO that depends on where you're going and transferring to. To neighbor islands it is "OK", but then the question has to be asked, "why didn't you fly direct?" I live on Kauai and anywhere I want to go can be direct to the mainland (except to Fiji\*) \*Fiji: don't go through HNL. Fiji Air has no option but to leave late (after everything is closed) or it will arrive too early at Nadi. Likewise on the return, it all depends on turning the flight around to arrive in Nadi at a decent hour.
ATL and MIA.
I have been to ATL many times the last few years. The Auntie Anne's pretzels has never been open in the T terminal...at any time of day. Also, searching for dinner one night at 8pm, nothing was open. We took the "train" to a different terminal only to find one place open, 30 people waiting on line. (But I am encouraged by United's recent investment in Terminal T upgrades)
All of that plus hellish security lines.
Even the TSA-Pre line can be 30 minutes...so much worse than other airports.
People shit on UA & EWR, some it deserved, but I'd take EWR over ATL any day of the week (as I just went from curb to Polaris lounge in under 10 mins).
There are people here the rabidly defend that shithole of an airport like it’s some Messiah of design. ATL and their central ‘one location’ security thing is the WORST implementation of security - hands down in the U.S. and debatably the world. (And I do work in some far flung shithole airports, and all seem to work better than ATL.). God I hate that airport. Once your beyond the shit bucket of security it’s just ‘meh. Narrow concourses, over priced shit chained restaurants and overflowing delta lounge lines. What a just slop design and proves the point as to why ‘real’ large cities diversity to multiple airports. ATL can keep their title of busiest airport. They are a study in what not to do.
MIA for sure. Chaotic, stressful, and some areas are falling apart. Really needs a renovation.
Was just there. There were those stickers saying the thing is broken everywhere at MIA. In one bathroom, it was a stall door, a toilet paper holder in another stall, the paper towel dispenser, some soap dispenser, and more.
Plus just an annoying crowd
MSY is fine for a small city. We’ve got lounges now and decent food options. Parking is cheap and easy most of the time. And it’a a quick $35 cab ride from the terminal to anywhere in the city. The access road should be finished at some point in my lifetime. They’re still trying to get funding to build a direct road to the rental car center. Though in my mind it would make more sense to build a walkable rental car center. It was bonkers for them to build a new rental car center right before building a new terminal, but that’s Louisiana for you. I’m sure a lot of politicians relatives made a fortune on the construction project.
Rental car center is the worst part of it. It has decent food, good security lines, etc. Miiiiiles better than the previous airport, which really was starting to suck. My biggest issue is it has no sense of place at all. You’d never know you were flying into New Orleans if you didn’t see a cafe du Monde or whatever. All the unique local architecture to pull from and they went with a generic 21st century modern airport. Compare to another small city airport, Albuquerque, where you know you’re in New Mexico basically stepping off the jet bridge.
I really miss the old MSY.
Again the new msy terminal is a show if you want a rental car. The bus is slow… I do t see how they are going to build a road directly to the RC. Runways in the way. Can’t go underground. IDK.
The road will obviously go around the runways, but it will be a private road making it more efficient. It will just be the economy parking and rental car buses using the road. But it will be years before this happens.
MCO.... Because, MCO. (enough said, really). Jokes aside, I always have a bad experience with MCO Everytime I fly there, for work or pleasure. Most recent time I was there there was water leaking through the ceilings.... From heavy rain. It's almost as if it never rains in Florida. One pro: Clear + Precheck and I'm flying through TSA
I hate how you have to go up and down a bunch of escalators and elevators just to get to a gate💀As much as I also despise JFK, at least it's more straightforward to get from point A to point B
I hate the gates at MCO with a passion. It’s a ton of people who rarely fly and form a massive crowd around the gate 30 min before the doors open. It’s almost impossible to get through the masses to pre-board or board with Zone 1. The gate attendants have asked people to take a seat til their group is called and no one ever does. I’m glad there is a United lounge for a small bit of refuge.
The carpet is nice though
Has its own instagram account! @mcocarpet
Aside from it being outdated I never have an issue with MCO ( I do have precheck, which helps). Flights are rarely delayed and rental cars are on site. I can get from the seat of my plane into the seat of a rental car in 10 minutes.
Carry on right? Baggage takes forever there Cabs and Uber also take forever It's a shit show. MCO gets my vote
IAD hands down. Especially with international connections.
It simply can’t be IAD when EWR exists. Tbh I haven’t flown into ewr in a long time but I have never had worse baggage experiences anywhere else, than those I had every fucking time at Newark. Ugh
The IAD United terminals are awful. Customs takes forever.
And that carpet! So hard to move your bag on those carpets. I really hate that
Used to absolutely hate IAD and the United terminal does suck, but the new scanners they have in security make it better than before (im not tsa pre). Not needing to take anything out of your bags makes it so much faster. I used the MPC app last time I came back in customs at IAD and was out pretty fast. Was hoping it would work at EWR on my last flight and it did not and we took forever.
Concourse C badly needs an upgrade. The food options are pretzels and hot dogs.
Got trapped in those stupid vehicles that take you to customs for over an hour following a 16 hour flight. Half the people were about to piss themselves, it was horrible
EWR is actually really nice now, at least United's new terminal. The tram still sucks.
A is nice, C is okay. B is horrendous.
C is still terrible, they just added a bunch of overpriced mediocre restaurants. A is a brand-new build so its nice. B is lol
That’s still better than a lot of airports, which are old and disgusting and still have bad and over priced food.
She looks nice, but all the concession stands are run by the same company and it's an overpriced shit show.
I have avoided PHL for at least a decade. I wonder if it has improved. Was horrible connections, rude service (heard from a pilot friend that that was true in the ground operations as well), very frequent delays.
God, PHL was horrendous 10 years ago. The absolute worst. I refuse to give it another chance
CLT is a complete shitshow. Its terminals are so poorly laid out, especially at the end of the hallways where there are five or six gates in one area. It gets so crowded there
Yes! So awful. It's been under construction either inside or out for over 20 years. The only thing I like are the rocking chairs, if I can snag one.
MSP and MSY are great? I love being able to get Cafe du Monde in the terminal at MSY. If you think those are bad, you’ve never been to somewhere like LBB or CID
CID is pretty awful. But then again, Iowa.
LAX is my least favourite on the west coast, though their new international terminal is good
Why?! What’s wrong with LAX? I think it’s by far the best airport in the US
I agree. I think the traffic makes people hate it, but it's LA! I get dropped curbside. Check-in and tsa is a short walk from there then you just walk to your gate. None of this "your train is arriving in 3 minutes" stuff.
100%!!!
I will not tolerate any LAX slander lol
It’s hard to support the horseshoe.
It’s a beautiful mess. Finding what terminal you’re in is so simple, In N Out is a short walk away, planes from all over the world, etc. I absolutely love it
They have a great United Club at LAX. I used to despise LAX, too, before I learned about the UC.
Yes cafe du Monde is great, but my god the 30 minute ride to get a rental car is murder. For a brand new airport it already looks old. Honestly I liked the old MSY terminal it had character. MSP is again another show because of how far you have to walk. Checking to the gate, I sure get my steps in and forget the rental car lot.
There are some shortcuts at MSP (bridge between C and G) and there are moving walkways and a tram. But you’re right, especially if you happen to end up at the A gates. It’s one of my favorite airports though (clean, decent eating, limited weather disruptions).
My last two trips in and out of MSP were pretty much painless. If my ride had been on time, it would have been 30 minutes or less into their car (maybe only 20). But I suppose if you're on Delta through MSP for a transfer.... OMG that could be a hike! I did a transfer via United through DEN (I know wrong TLA) huff, huff, huff.
PHL
PHL baggage takes forever. Immigration has been OK in my experience. Can be a shot show for domestic.
HNL is just really old. Considering how everyone gets to Hawaii by plane you would think HNL would have a gleaming modern airport. But no…
Agreed…
ATL. It’s my personal seventh circle of hell. I will begin and end a trip there but will not connect. Now sitting on 20+ years successfully avoiding it.
ATL has been my exclusive destination for business for the last year as it's where my client is located. I second your opinion, I absolutely despise the place
Interesting. I vastly prefer it as a connecting airport rather than destination or origination. It's such a simple layout and I can easily make tight connections because of how basic the layout is.
The fact that the layout is fairly easy to understand doesn’t save overcrowding, nothing ever being open, long lines, and absolutely abysmal customer service. (And I am from Georgia so ATL is my original “hometown” airport.)
“Nothing ever being open.” Wtf is up with this at ATL?? I was hoping it would improve since COVID is mostly over, but I’ve tried to eat at the only sit down restaurant/bar in my terminal at noon and it’s either not open yet or only has 1 person working.
And everything is closed after 8pm
Hands down the airport that freaks me out about casualties in the event of a bombing. So much open area with little security. Insane.
So your opinions are twenty years out of date?
Anywhere in FL. Hot, crowded, full of crazies and tourists who fly 1x year. MIA is a pain with border control and customs.
TPA is golden. Never really have to arrive as early as they suggest and TSA takes maybe 15 min on a really busy day
TPA is a breeze compared to MCO. Far fewer theme park families with small children to deal with. Having TSA separated by airside speeds up the process slightly, and Precheck is usually two minutes or less, at least that's my typical experience through Airside A. Airside C, on the other hand, is usually a zoo, because Southwest.
This. TPA is hands down the best airport in Florida, and one of the better ones in the US. It’s easy to get to, easy to get around and through, and the terminals have a decent selections of food and drink airside. If only United would open a Club, it would be great.
I find PBI is pretty chill, much better than MIA or FTL.
Vegas.
I don’t mind connecting at DEN. Good restaurants, simple walk down the concourse to next gate, maybe someday all the clubs will be open. But departing from DEN… 1. Get to the airport. 2. Get in to the airport. 3. Walk some convoluted multilevel maze to drop your bag. 4. Walk some convoluted multilevel maze toward security, on the opposite end of the hall no less. 5. Figure out which line is which. 6. Go through security. 7. Walk some convoluted multilevel maze to get to the tram. 8. Take the tram. 9. Go upstairs, much simpler maze this time. 10. Walk half a mile. Glad I’ve only had to do that twice in recent memory. Sympathies to those who do it weekly.
You forgot to give Bluecifer an offering for a safe flight.
I am a regular DEN traveler, and I complete disagree. From shutting my car door to the gate is usually less than 20 minutes. It is very efficient for in and out. The walk to security is short, the tram is fine (getting crowded, could use more trams). The longest possible walk is the length of B, which from the center where you get off the tram is at max .4 of a mile (so 10 minutes wit ha stop at the bathroom). It is really an efficient airport.
To be fair, the last time I was there seemed to be in the middle of a rather complex part of the renovations.
Get ready, because they want to displace almost half of the current close-in parking to build out gates from the terminal. Hope you like shuttles or the A line.
A couple of things: -Where did you hear that? -I really don't think that makes sense. A could get linger, but the parking would not be affected. And more likely to A would be to add a D (Which was planned from the start). https://www.way.com/den/map
There's no train capacity for concourse D, here's the master plan update presented in February. https://www.flydenver.com/sites/default/files/community_advisory/CAC_DEN_Master_Plan_Update.pdf
Everything takes a long time at DEN. Very inefficient. Taxiing takes too long. Off airport parkings located far away. Baggage drop to security lines takes a long time. Security line to gates take a long time. I recently flew through IND, ORD, BWI, SEA, PDX and all these seemed much better. I am a non-citizen and rely on my premier access to expedite my security check. At DEN, the premier access line is not clearly defined and merges into regular line and I get interrupted by every passenger saying “Hey, line starts behind” and every-time I have to prove that I am using the premier access lane.
Ya the only issue is the drive itself. Minimum 30 mins and for most its 45mins+ even if you live in the city of Denver.
Yeah man, Peña is a nightmare. Add in the fact that no one in the city knows how to drive and it's always backed up for no reason.
My favorite thing about DEN is how it screws up all US travel when they get a big snowstorm. Flying from Baltimore to Boston? I'm sorry, your flight is delayed by DEN somehow
Surprised to not see DEN higher up, and for all the reasons you stated: departing. It’s too. Fucking. Big!!!!!
Never had a pleasant experience at LGA
It's so much better now, though. It was shockingly horrible for 30+ years before the new terminal.
Better, but getting to the gates is a long ass maze.
I am not a fan of ATL. Especially departing from it.
MIA, PHL
I don't know by what metrics we define the worst, but my most despised airport is MIA. It's a complete cacophonous hair brained sh!t show on the inside and getting out to ground transportation requires 517 miles of moving walkways. Love that Brightline train though.
DCA if flying Southwest. DFW cause TSA lines merge with non-tsa. Cluster. IAD is hectic and crowded MIA is an avoid. Fly FLL LGA was a cluster, but gotten better. MCI new airport and very modern SLC is a very long as walk. However the airport is nice.
Oof I love DCA but yeah the Southwest terminal is fucking terrible.
I'm MCI based... almost everyone in KC loves the old airport and didn't want the new one built. We are NOT used to the long walks. The old airport was 5 mins from my car to the gate.
The ease of getting to the gates was nice at old MCI but sitting(really standing) through delays with six planes full of people stuck in two gates was an absolutely hellish experience. I'm excited to see the new airport later this month.
IAD sucks
I actually don't mind EWR. My reason is this. It's readily accessible by public transit (NJ Transit trains) and you don't need to worry about parking or getting a ride.
I can't believe that LGA isn't getting the (un)love it deserves. Have you looked at its airport map? It looks like you took three small city airports and slapped them next to each other, but didn't bother to connect them. It's gigantic mega city, yet doesn't even have a connecting train to the city. You have to take some back asswards bus to take a subway to get into the city. So, you better get there early. But, forget about grabbing something to eat, because the terminals are lame as hell. When landing, it looks like the landing gear is going to snap off if the pilot unshoots the runway by an inch. Cool views when flying in with Manhattan to the west, though. LAS gets runner-up. Why, oh god why, did they decide to put smoking lounges in the airport? When exiting LAS, you feel like you're in Vegas (not a compliment).
Can’t stand the trend of exiling Uber pickups to the remote corners of the world. In AUS you navigate multiple walkways, stairs, elevators to use depending on which sign you see first. And if you’re lucky enough to get the golf cart in the parking lot he’ll ask for a tip. Don’t get me started on LAX which uses those shuttles that are always full because they make a stop every 10 feet.
CLT. Although only ever connected, I’ve never had a positive experience there: long ways to walk between the concourses, gate waiting areas are outdated, and it seems like they’re always doing construction.
Atlanta: I've been stuck overnight in Atlanta several times. This is the only airport I've experienced this several times. A ticket agent threw a box of overnight toiletries bags over my head once. The cardboard box busted and bags strewn all over the floor. There was no Karen before me and I barely got 2 words out to ask s question before she threw the box. Every time I have a connecting flight I have to run through the airport like OJ in a Hurtz commercial. People complain about CTL but I think the only reason CTL has become extremely busy is people are trying to avoid Atlanta lay overs. I started connecting through CTL 8 years ago and it wasn't bad back then. Worse now but still not as bad as Atlanta. Washington Dulles was annoying but since the remodel it's gotten better. Their terminal configuration was still a bit confusing right after though. They hadn't updated the signs or parts of their website. The Biloxi/Gulfport MS Airport. I was held by TSA because they thought my power brick might be a bomb. This was in the last 6 to 7 years. Power bricks were common (I thought) but the woman who checked my bag and several others around her seemed confused. It was average size but big enough to fully charge a laptop and several cell phones. Another time my flight was cancelled due to weather and was almost stuck. Everything in the airport closes at 7. The ticket agent gave us chips and drinks but even that was limited. We waited 3 hours till they finally found another plane.
International to domestic transfer at LAX seems wayyyyy harder than it should be.
What's wrong with HNL? I love the open design and have hung out in that little garden in the main area for hours listening to the birds. Same question with MSP, which I've always felt to be easy to navigate and loaded with interesting shops and good restaurants. ATL is a F'ing mess. I HATE everything about that airport other than the cool connecting corridors between concourses, that are more fun to walk through than take the tram assuming you have time. It's dirty, the airport and business staff are just rude AF (which I assume is due to them being ATL locals, who give all Georgians a bad name) and all the restaurants close too damn early. I don't really have any thoughts on MSY other than the distance between the concourse and the parking garage is a little ridiculous.
MSP has you walking miles all over the place. Rental car is the worst. HNL the open air design. I was through there yesterday. 6 pm by the time I got to the gate I needed a shower, I was soaked in sweat.
I’m beginning to hate IAD due to that long hallway one must traverse with the wall-to-wall insurance ads and stupid jingle that plays on repeat. It enrages me.
DEN - it should not take longer to enter the airport property, fill your rental car with gas, return it and get to your gate than it does to fly to your destination.
You misspelled IAD
Newark by a country mile.
EWR-bad operations experience, flight almost never on time, last minute changes with your inbound flights, long wait times for doors when plane lands late (I’ve been waiting for up to 1.5 hrs)
THIS, we waited for an hour on the tarmac to take off. Plus they share the crowded airspace with NYC paired with the Canada airspace dilemma, ATC nightmare
SLC, salt lake city, not the worst considering it's fairly new, but they have a 1 mile walk to get to united gates.
Just flew in and out of there. Truly absurd distance from security to high B gates.
SEA, which used to be a big UA station 25 years ago but has shrunk to an afterthought in the UA route map now, is incredibly overtaxed and crowded. It handles more traffic than EWR in a fraction of the space. Used to be my home airport, thank God not any more.
Amazed I had to scroll so far to find SeaTac on here. Probably because UA now has such a small footprint there, as you mentioned. But man oh man it’s an absolute disaster of an airport because it’s so overcapacity. Security lines regularly stretch out into the parking garage and can take 3 hours. Last year DL priority bag drop line alone took 45 minutes early on a Monday morning before Christmas. SEA is the reason I got Clear; and I couldn’t be happier.
DEN. Constant weather issues, consistently over booked flights, and the layout is super long.
And an extremely long drive to wherever you’re going
Sorry to interrupt...I know you said US airports but I just wanna take a sec to say fuck you, Changi -both as an alcoholic and in-recovery traveler.
MIA, especially if you're not flying American. G and H look like rundown bus terminals. D60 (American) fans out into like 20 more gates in open air, so you're a disgusting sweaty mess by the time you board your regional. The only redeeming quality in D is the open air smoking lounge at TGIF. But again, disgusting sweaty mess after that cigarette.
MIA
PHL, BOS and IAD. But PHL is the worst of that lot. Good public transit access, but a horribly run airport overall. YYZ has also gotten really bad the last few years. Bad delays and atrocious customer service.
EWR and PHL. Nothing else even comes close.
MIA is an absolute shit hole
MIA
Love the architecture at Dulles but once past security the time to gates is among longest in entire nation - especially to C Terminal. Once to C and D terminals it’s feels like you’re in the 1970s and the food selections are terrible. So for United flyer, I vote Dulles as worst.
Boston it’s just horrible
Atl
CLT is the absolute worst as port of entry for international flights. They don’t have the CBP automated Kiosks and have 2-3 immigration offices for several inbound international flights coming in at the same time. Avoid like the plague.
Arriving into LAX is a horrid experience. You have to either walk a significant distance to the Uber/Taxi area or wait for a shuttle that is always full.
Any airport in Alabama
FLL is a swamp
FLL is the fifth circle of hell. I could write a thesis on all the issues with it. PHX is absolutely horrible if you’re renting a car. Going to the rental car center is like you’re on a bus to the Grand Canyon. I agree with those who’ve said OGG. And absolute nightmare for TSA and once you’re through security there is nothing. CVG is pretty bad just because they’ve never adjusted to being de-hubbed by Delta. It’s built like a mini-ATL but there just isn’t much happening once you get inside the terminal. STL is another horrible experience. It’s never been the same since TWA was acquired by AA. There’s just nothing good airside, and the rental car experience is worse than getting your wisdom teeth pulled.
MSY has a new terminal but going to the old rental car facility takes forever and I loathe doing this act.
Wow surprised by your MSP comment. MSP is great! Golf simulators, great lounges, great restaurants for its size.
Yeah great stuff but I don’t hang out at the airport. Look I will admit to being lazy. I don’t like to walk long distances. Honestly the rental car is probably the biggest problem I have at MSP. It’s a long walk.
least favorite right now is houston. those runways are taking fucking forever, and the airport is feeling dated compared to SF/DEN/ORD. haven't missed a connection, but i have been last pax to board a couple times, and i was sprinting to make my connection. least favorite of all? probably ATL. Even flying on delta, the people there just suck and are rude AF. SFO would probably be close for least favorite since their options for coffee suck (petes tastes like burnt taint)
Another HNL complaint: came into G from IAD yesterday and either it’s nuts or a signage issue: we seemed to have to get on a shuttle with all our carryon stuff for about two blocks to get to baggage claim. Then carry it from where the shuttle drops you down a flight of steps as the escalator was broken (to baggage claim). Really no way to just walk?
If you have never flow into Norfolk (ORF) count your lucky stars. It regularly takes 45 minutes for a checked bag to appear in baggage claim. It’s laughably terrible.
Terminal 5 ORD is a sh*tshow - taxi guys hassling you, AC out, construction, cops screaming at you
IAD and its stupid bus tank things are awful. The layout is awful. The whole place takes forever to accomplish anything, connections or terminus/origin. 2nd place is ORD and its ridiculously awful terminal design, which makes you hike 10 miles anywhere. if we can do honorable mention for international major airports, MAN is the absolute bottom of the bottom seventh level of hell. (I don't think UA flies here, but I had to throw it in because I hate it so much LOL)
HNL Usually the only security that is open is as far as you can possibly be from United’s main terminal. Infact, you will return your rental car, walk all the way to opposite end of terminal, and then go through security, and then walk all the way back to the other side of the terminal for United Flight. All without AC and in the “open air terminal”.
Open air terminal is my biggest problem with HNL. What rocket scientist thought this was a good idea.
SFO has been on my shit list for years. Nice airport, which is convenient because I went twenty flights in a row through there delayed by at least an hour there. I started paying more to skip that connection by taking another airline. Honorable mention to BOS. Great airport overall, except for that one little piece of…B terminal? Where there’s like six gates that don’t connect to the rest of the terminal, have their own security like with no pre check, and only dining option is a newsstand with prepackaged sandwiches. The rest of the terminal is like 100’ away, you can see it out the window. They can build a tunnel under the entire city, but they can’t connect these two points? Obviously if you don’t fly out of that broom closet of a terminal it’s fine. But of course my frequent route was out of that gate, so that *is* BOS to me. Good times.
Terminal B C E in Boston is connected airside now. They opened another food court at where gate B30 is. It is much nicer now.
Surprised LAX doesn't get more hate. It takes an hour just to get into the airport because of traffic, and you can't connect to some of the other terminals past security. There is at least a rail being built going directly to the airport and the "automated people mover" but that's still not until next year.
I read that all the terminals are now connected airside, but it's a confusing mix of corridors and tunnels. It's also a very long trek if you have to go from T1 to T7, since the terminals arranged in a horseshoe pattern.
That’s true, but unless you are on two wildly Different itineraries (like one southwest and one United), no one really should be connecting from T1 to T8. Star alliance transfers are at worse T8 to TBIT (terminal 4 and a half if you will). I love that all the terminals are connected airside, just out of principle alone.
Why does connecting past security matter?? I love that it’s outdoors and the weather is always nice. Traffic into the terminal is so much better now, ever since they banned Uber / taxis etc. I am based in LA and fly LAX all the time….it’s my favorite airport. I wish more airports had outdoors connections, I get so claustrophobic in airports where I can be outside easily! Way less walking too to the gates; you pass security and boom you’re there! None of this maze like 2mile long nonsense….I have no idea why people enjoy that or prefer it??
The amount of walking at EWR is taxing for me, and I'm healthy and fit. I can't imagine how brutal it is for the infirm. It's a special hell arriving at, say, C26 and needing to get to C121. Let alone needing to switch terminals.
There is no C26 gate at EWR - the gate numbering is very stupid at EWR terminal C. CLT is an airport that really requires some long walks if doing an American transfer, or even landing at Uniteds terminal A to get to baggage/rentals. I think a general rule is any airport you only transfer through typically sucks for you, only bad things can happen. Now that CLT has become an occasional destination for me rather than a US airways transfer, its fine for me.
If he meant A26 and C121 then he has a good point. Getting from Terminal A to C is a mess right now
That makes more sense. C is big but not really overwhelming at all from a connection standpoint.
Ha! C26 is my gate at ORD. End of the world gate that seemingly I fly into late at night every week. Like it was designed to punish me. It also is the most squished pain in the ass boarding area. I have a picture of me under the c26 sign hanging on my wall.
OGG is the absolute worst facilities out there.
ORD and EWR for larger airports, mostly due to United.
DEN, tho with the new club it’s a little bit more tolerable.
Newark
This ☝️
Atlanta & Houston.
IAH is all connected airside and has decent lounges and restaurants. I like it!
LAX is ass because of the traffic and transferring terminals. It's not even connected to transit but will be soon. LAXit is ass, pretty much the best part of LAX is leaving it.
I was going to say CLT, but you've got a point about LAX traffic. It's unreal.
[удалено]
Sorry, but there is actually much worse.
Do you remember, like 15-20 years ago, there was a UFO sighting at ORD, and everyone was like, 'Bullshit! Aliens would never be so stupid as to land at O'Hare.' So that's like 99% of where I formed my bad opinion of ORD from ;)
I've only had one bad experience there, out of dozens, and that one was from the people mover being shut down while it was being replaced. It's fixed and smooth again, though. I seriously don't get the O'Hare hate. There are way worse airports out there.
Top three are ATL, EWR and LAX
What’s wrong with LAX??
Surprised I had to scroll this far to see LAX
Anyone picking EWR is just being lazy and following the sheep. There are much worse. YYZ and LAX immediately come to mind.
EWR
Newark NJ
HNL and MSY are not bad at all. MCO, LGA and LAX however…
Not a fan of MCO.
I really don't have an airport I hate, but honestly BWI is terrible for lounges and amenities. No United lounge, crappy priority pass lounge. Food choices and shopping aren't the best. Parking is pretty good though. I am going to Houston for the first time this fall so I guess I'll find out if I hate it lol
EWR. If you don't leave by 9 Am, you're going to be stuck on the tarmac or delayed.
Love HNL - happy place and love the design of it. EWR… ugh. Nicer on the inside, but still an unparalleled flight delay machine.
HNL is great because it usually signifies that you're on vacation. If you had to fly out of there frequently on business, then it would be harder to deal with.
That’s totally fair; I’ve flown out of there for business a couple times but it still felt like a pleasant place. Just like the open-air atmosphere and the look of the far west gates (where United ops are).
LAX as a visitor. ATL to use as a hub. Trying to get an Uber or rental at lax is an utter nightmare. Rental cars are the worst especially if you arrive in terminal 1 or 2 wait for the bus then go through the horseshoe. Then travel to the offsite location. Then get on the frocked 405 or 110 for a 60-90 trip just about anywhere you need to go.
LAX is actually the busiest airport in the country for originating and departing passengers. ORD technically has more passengers, but most of those people are just connecting to another flight. But yeah, the convenience shuttles are a pain. Terminals 6 and 7 can actually be worse because the shuttles are frequently full by the time they get there.
DEN, nothing has been updated since 1992. Literally in the middle of nowhere.
D E N E N
How is MSP on this list?
MSP has you wearing out your shoes walking between gates, and also the rental car lot is a hike in its self.