Airports you don't like.

LAX. Every time I go though there, it looks and feels like a bus station.

I judge an airport on how easy it is to get in and out of. LAX may not be
the prettiest airport, but considering the size it is functional. The walk
from the parking garages to the gates is very quick.

Using this criteria, I pretty much don't like any large airport because you
have to take shuttle buses, trains, etc. to get from car to the gates. I
love small airports where you get off the plane and are in your car in 5
minutes.

Matt

"james_anatidae" wrote in message
...
LAX. Every time I go though there, it looks and feels like a bus station.

Matt wrote:

I judge an airport on how easy it is to get in and out of. LAX may not be
the prettiest airport, but considering the size it is functional. The
walk from the parking garages to the gates is very quick.

Using this criteria, I pretty much don't like any large airport because
you
have to take shuttle buses, trains, etc. to get from car to the gates. I
love small airports where you get off the plane and are in your car in 5
minutes.

Try FKB. This is a former Canadian Airforce strip in Karlsruhe Baden-Baden
in Germany. Ryanair operates from there since Strasbourg has been closing
for Ryanair.

You even don't have to pay parking your car when you care for a five
minute's walk.

It's just like Hahn (Frankfurt). Another great Ryan choice.

--
He who opens the windows invites the bugs in

Quoting "james_anatidae" regarding Airports you
don't like. in a message dated Sat, 6 Mar 2004 21:07:05 -0500:

LAX. Every time I go though there, it looks and feels like a bus station.

This info may be outdated since I haven't been there in some time but:

MSY - New Orleans - Old, drab, little in modern services

DTW - Same reasons as MSY but I understand they have new facilities
since I've been there.

BOS - Terminal "A" (The old "Eastern Shuttle" Terminal) Too small, crowded.
It's also the *last* stop on the "Bonanza" bus from Woods
Hole. I would get off at Terminal "B" and walk back faster.


My Criteria - Since I consider an airport my "home away from home" for the 2 or
more hours I'm there, I want as many of the comforts of home I can get. Good
meals, good shopping, Internet access etc. Facilitated check-in and
quick 1st stage security screening, and plenty of space. For arrivals, I would
say efficient customs/immigration (for INTL). Exiting doesn't bother me as I'll
either have a car or have researched the mass transit options beforehand.

A true "nice to have" from my viewpoint would be secured gate facilities so as
to avoid random gate searches when boarding (for the few places where that
still happens - NRT HKG etc.) but I guess I can keep dreaming on that one.



__________________________________

Regards,
Arnold.

(E-mail address altered, to prevent spamming. :-|
Remove all asterisks and the *hates*spam* to get true address.)

"james_anatidae" wrote in message
...
LAX. Every time I go though there, it looks and feels like a bus station.

George Bush, Ronald Reagan, Ted Stevens. Any airport named after a
Repubican.

In article ,
mag3 wrote:

Quoting "james_anatidae" regarding Airports you
don't like. in a message dated Sat, 6 Mar 2004 21:07:05 -0500:

LAX. Every time I go though there, it looks and feels like a bus station.

This info may be outdated since I haven't been there in some time but:

MSY - New Orleans - Old, drab, little in modern services

DTW - Same reasons as MSY but I understand they have new facilities
since I've been there.

BOS - Terminal "A" (The old "Eastern Shuttle" Terminal) Too small, crowded.
It's also the *last* stop on the "Bonanza" bus from Woods
Hole. I would get off at Terminal "B" and walk back faster.


MSY has undergone quite a bit of work in the past few years. Don't know
when you were last there, but you might find it better now.

BOS - The old Terminal A is gone now. A new one is under construction
and will open in a year or two. At that time Delta will move their
operations from D to the new A.

Overall, I'd still rate BOS as one of the ones I don't like. The
traffic getting there, the construction, the roadways and the high cost
of parking make me chose PVD whenever I'm looking to fly.

Jeff

--
Please reply to the group, not by email. The email address in the
header is not valid unless you remove the obvious.

"mag3" wrote in message
...
Quoting "james_anatidae" regarding Airports
you
don't like. in a message dated Sat, 6 Mar 2004 21:07:05 -0500:

DTW - Same reasons as MSY but I understand they have new facilities
since I've been there.

The new facility has been around for awhile, but I consider DTW a two tiered
airport (Best & Worst).

The new facility for NW/KL/CO (and LH) is my favorite and most used airport
terminal for connections in the United States. It's architechure is nice,
the design/layout is excellent, an elevated tram covers the length of
concourse A, the walkways are wide with lots of moving sidewalks, and it's
quite spacious. Immigrations & Customs is adequately staffed and they
provide same-terminal re-connections for Intl to domestic. For O/D, some of
the shortest TSA security lines in the nation and check-in is a breeze. A
new Westin Hotel is also directly connected to the terminal and is top-notch
property.

The old facility where the other carriers operate is *terrible*. I
understand an improvement project is in progress, but I haven't vetured over
to the other side of the airport in awhile.

As far as airports I dislike:

LAS -- it's becoming to big for it's own good, security checkpoints are
insufficient/TSA is understaffed, and it's a pain -- lines, lines, lines,
everywhere you look. The new terminal D is extremely nice, and the airport
itself has a nice appearance, but the long lines are a major problem.
Personally I've flown FC and used the FC line at LAS which took 5 minutes,
but something is wrong when the FC line takes 5 minutes and the regular
security lines take an hour minumum, upto 3 or even 4 from what I've heard.
When I arrived at LAS last Friday, the security line for terminal D went all
the way across the 2nd floor of the baggage claim area and out to ticketing.

SFO -- limited ops when it gets foggy / poorly designed runways. The
facilities are great but it's delay prone and I'd rather use OAK or SJC when
I can.

JFK -- need I say anymore? However, the new AirTrain is a nice attribute
and once some of the construction is finished, perhaps it'll become more
user friendly.. but the AirTrain is a big plus as one can now goto Jamacia
Station and catch the LIRR into the city. Sure beats Howard Beach and the
trip into the city from there after a ride around the parking lot. The
roadways in/out of JFK leave a lot to be desired though...

FWIW, I'll be using LGA for my first time this week. From what I've heard,
this airport too may be added to the dislike list too -- then again, I hear
bad things about EWR and I really like EWR as a NYC area airport. EWR isn't
the greatest, but it's damn good considering what it offers, it's location,
and transport hookup's. Driving around EWR in an auto can be a nightmare
like JFK though.

Best,

Steve

JAlves wrote:

DTW - Same reasons as MSY but I understand they have new facilities
since I've been there.

Yeah, DTW is much improved. I haven't been in the old terminal since
the new one opened, but the new one is awesome. Lines are short and
luggage shows up really fast.


BOS - Terminal "A" (The old "Eastern Shuttle" Terminal) Too small, crowded.
It's also the *last* stop on the "Bonanza" bus from Woods
Hole. I would get off at Terminal "B" and walk back faster.

BOS - The old Terminal A is gone now. A new one is under construction
and will open in a year or two. At that time Delta will move their
operations from D to the new A.

The BOS experience depends entirely on which airline you're flying. For
instance, taking Northwest or JetBlue out of terminal E is a breeze.
Since most of the traffic in E is international, as long as you're not
going at an international departures peak time, the place is empty.

On the other hand, woe to you if you're taking a morning flight on
American. The check-in lines are mind-boggling, and the security lines
are even worse. You'll need every minute of that two-hours-beforehand
to get through the cluster**** that is Terminal B.

Morning flights on Delta used to be like that, but I don't think they're
quite as bad these days.

Since the upgrades at DTW, I now declare BOS to have the slowest luggage
handlers in North America.

Overall, I'd still rate BOS as one of the ones I don't like. The
traffic getting there, the construction, the roadways and the high cost
of parking make me chose PVD whenever I'm looking to fly.

I'm usually being met in Boston, or being taxied to the airport, so the
traffic etc isn't as big an issue for me. Still, damn, I hate that
airport.

SVO (especially SVO-1, the domestic terminal)

In article ,
"james_anatidae" wrote:

LAX. Every time I go though there, it looks and feels like a bus station.

MSP - flight change can be a bear

LHR - too dang many shops and inconveniently-located transit points

SYD - luggage carousels too small