Friday OT #2 - Afternoon Delight

[drlove]

I don't know about the best, but I find Washington Dulles interesting due to the confusing nature of it.

My wife (who doesn't fly to Chicago) believes that Midway is the best as I usually pick up popcorn for her from "nuts on Clark" when I travel.

 

[cyclonpediaJoe]

Zurich Switzerland was awesome! They sold all sorts of cool items from the country like really good chocolate and food.

 

[Angie]

I don't know about the best, but I find Washington Dulles interesting due to the confusing nature of it.

My wife (who doesn't fly to Chicago) believes that Midway is the best as I usually pick up popcorn for her from "nuts on Clark" when I travel.

I love when Janny or I have to go through Denver, as they have a fudge store.

 

[SpokaneCY]

SeaTac is one of my primary hubs and nothing better after time on the road than going to Wendy's and enjoying a frosty while sitting in the giant glass concourse waiting for my last flight to Spokane.

And for SOME reason I LOVE Bush Intl in Houston. GREAT shopping, lots of different things in the various terminals.

HATE Newark though. Only been a few times but not a fan.

 

[enolcyc]

Headed to the Denver airport at 10:00AM this morning to fly back to Des Moines ;-( It's the one airport I don't mind getting to extra early. That being said, the Palm Springs airport is the most beautiful and my favorite.

 

[cydsho]

KC gets blasted because of the lack of things to do, but if you live here and don't need to hang around it's super easy to get in and out of.

I've had good experiences at Denver, Orlando, Vegas and DFW. I've even had decent luck at Midway (bonus: you can watch tv in the apartments that are 30 feet from the plane as you land!)

Really, O'Hare has been the biggest pain in the ass.

I haven't been to KC in years. Is the setup the same where you go through security to go directly to your gate? Seems like that really restricted you from accessing food and other things without having to go through security all the time. I remember going to the gate, leaving to buy coffee, then remembering, oh crap I can't take this liquid back with me.

 

[MeanDean]

Any small airport without a huge glut of people. So MLI, CID and SFB (which is Sanford FL). If I spend more than 5 minutes going through security I'm surprised. And the people/employees seem to be more friendly.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

I haven't been to KC in years. Is the setup the same where you go through security to go directly to your gate? Seems like that really restricted you from accessing food and other things without having to go through security all the time. I remember going to the gate, leaving to buy coffee, then remembering, oh crap I can't take this liquid back with me.

There are a few options once inside, but it's really limited. I'd hate it if I wasn't from the area and had to layover.

They keep trying to pass a law to fund a new airport and do away with the three terminal system, but it keeps hitting a financial wall. Kansas, meanwhile, is trying to make a play to move the airport to the Kansas side.

 

[Tre4ISU]

Sioux Falls. At your gate in 15 minutes, out of there as long as it takes baggage or 5 minutes if you don't have any checked.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

Best: DFW for sure, Sky Harbor, and the San Jose airport.

Honorable mention for the Nadi, Fiji airport, because well that means you are in Fiji. Plus the flights were awesome, and hanging out in the bar at the airport during the layover was a good time as their airport people enjoy their jobs unlike here.

Worst: Denver by far. Actually a decently layed out airport with things to do, but I've been stuck there overnight for different issues 3 of the 4 times I've traveled through there.

I forgot San Jose. I've only ever flown into there once, but that was really easy to navigate.

 

[IcSyU]

Rochester, MN because it takes about 3 seconds to get through security and connecting flights to Minneapolis/Atlanta/Chicago generally get me where I want to go without having to worry about flying back and driving the hour home from MSP.

LaGuardia is a gigantic **** hole. And similar to San Francisco your approach is over water. You basically land on a damn raft.

 

[2020cy]

For a small airport Cedar Rapids isn't too bad, certainly easy to get in and out. O'Hare the worst ever, unfortunately have been there several times and never had one trip go without problem.

 

[Cybone]

Worst Airport: LaGuardia is a cesspool. Newark is slightly better, but still sucks. LAX is awful.

Best Airports: Raleigh, NC has a really nice airport and I am growing fonder of Austin-Bergstrom as well. I am indifferent about Denver as I have had good and horrible experiences there. DFW is pretty nice too.

Toronto Pearson International is easily the cleanest airport I have ever flown through.

 

[wxman1]

I agree that CID is hard to beat for it's size. Wichita just built a new terminal that is very nice from the looks of it. It even has glass jet bridges! Being a pilot and avgeek it bugs me when terminals have pretty much no view outside or very little. It would be nice if more airports had a place to just watch planes come and go (CID has a "park" at the end of the one runway).

For non commericial airports Oshkosh will always have a special place in my heart...at least for one week a year. Ponca City, Oklahoma (KPNC) has a good airport with cheap gas and a good Mexican restaurant on the field. Stearmen field (1K1) was an awesome little airpark five miles from our house in Andover, KS and about 8 miles from my home airport down there. Airparks are these cool little airports where you live on the airport and along with a garage your house has a hangar so you can live with your plane! Stearmen also has a great restaurant that hosts a lot of events like fly-in's car shows and motorcycle rides. They also do spot landing contests and pumpkin drops at Halloween.

 

[MeanDean]

Hey @Angie. Why is this Afternoon Delight?

It's not about that 70's song.

Or about what that 70's song was about (mid-day sexual dalliances.)

I'm not making the connection? (Ha ha a pun about airports problems.)

 

[ForbinsAscynt]

Domestic I like MSP, DIA and DTW maybe add McCarran just for the fact your excited when you arrive and cant wait to get the hell out when you leave.

International I liked Schiphol, Munich, Shanghai, and Narita. I see Zurich is ranked pretty high but I guess it didn't leave an impression on me. I remember the drive to Zurich being beautiful though.

 

[Cycsk]

I enjoy O'Hare. I hear lots of people saying how bad it is and how flights are always delayed, but I fly alot and I don't find O'Hare to be any worse than anyplace else. When the weather gets bad, everyone has delays, especially the major hubs.

At any rate, I enjoy O'Hare for two main reasons:

1. The approach from the East that lines up over Lawrence Avenue allows me to see some of my old stomping grounds, including Wrigley Field. It is especially cool when they go out over Lake Michigan and bank with a nice view of downtown.

2. The dinosaur in Concourse B! They have a freaking long-neck dinosaur in the airport!

 

[SCyclone]

SeaTac is one of my primary hubs and nothing better after time on the road than going to Wendy's and enjoying a frosty while sitting in the giant glass concourse waiting for my last flight to Spokane.

And for SOME reason I LOVE Bush Intl in Houston. GREAT shopping, lots of different things in the various terminals.

HATE Newark though. Only been a few times but not a fan.

Yeah, SeaTac is really nice since the upgrade. The shuttle buses that take you to the parking ramps and car rentals are pretty awful, though. Don't want to ride on them after you've had a nice meal.

 

[Angie]

Hey @Angie. Why is this Afternoon Delight?

It's not about that 70's song.

Or about what that 70's song was about (mid-day sexual dalliances.)

I'm not making the connection? (Ha ha a pun about airports problems.)

Honestly? The "skyrockets in flight" lyric came to my mind, but that seemed a little esoteric, so I doubled down and went with the name so it was even more random. :| This is not a good explanation. I wish "Jet Airliner" or similar had come to mind, it would have been more logical!

 

[Cycsk]

Newark is vastly upgrading their restaurant options around the United gates. However, they are really expensive and now the hallway in front of the gates is terribly crowded, especially for international flights.