Scoop Airport/Hotel/Travel Thread

[dgies9156]

Have done an enormous amount of travel for business in the US and can't argue with most observations in here about airports. I'm a United Million miler and have had status on United most of my business life. United goes through cycles of quality and el cheapo that just grinds on one after a while. United is in el cheapo mode again now and that makes traveling suck.

That said, here are my nominees for best and worst airports in the land:

Best:

Orlando McCoy -- This one is easy, so long as you have TSA pre-check. Only downside to MCO is the multi-hour wait for security if you don't have TSA pre. Airport is roomy, well laid out and easy to access. A bit of a parking headache at the holidays but otherwise incredibly well done.

LaGuardia -- Since the revamp, this airport is downright nice. Used to be the worst airport in America. Now, it's pleasant. Traffic and waits, both airside and landside, can be a pain, but this is a huge improvement.

O'Hare -- Maybe because it was my home airport for 40+ years, but ORD is easy to get around, connect and has decent amenities. Security isn't too bad either.

Worst:

LAX -- The traffic getting into and out of LAX is preposterous. Best thing that could be done with LAX is to tear it down and start over.

Dulles -- The United hub at Dulles is in a temporary terminal that should have been torn down a century or more ago. Place is a dump, crowded and dirty. United was going to dump Dulles a couple of times, only to find out EWR can't handle the traffic.

MSP -- This airport was laid out in the days when Northwest and North Central both had hubs in the Twin Cities. Connecting in the Twin Cities is a nightmare. It has become better in recent years but the Twin Cities really needs a new airport. 

[WarriorFan]

Just flew into JFK int'l today.  (Delta).  Thank the heavens for Global Entry!.  I walked straight past what would have been a 2 hour queue for immigration.

Just to complete the "JFK Experience", the airline/airport ran my flight's bags out on 2 carousels!!!  Not even adjacent ones!  So, one had to walk back and forth until the bags finally came out an hour later. 

And - as always on Delta - premium bags come out last. 

Even after all of this, I still generally agree that Delta is probably the best of the American carriers - but it's like saying dog sh1t smells better than pig sh1t.  It's still sh1t. 

[warriorchick]

Best:


LaGuardia -- Since the revamp, this airport is downright nice. Used to be the worst airport in America. Now, it's pleasant. Traffic and waits, both airside and landside, can be a pain, but this is a huge improvement.

O'Hare -- Maybe because it was my home airport for 40+ years, but ORD is easy to get around, connect and has decent amenities. Security isn't too bad either

Agree with you on LaGuardia, but disagree on O'Hare, especially if you are actually departing from that airport and not just switching planes there.  Back when I lived in the Chicagoland area, I was 15 miles closer to O'Hare, but usually flew out of Midway because of the hassle factor.  From my driveway to the gate, it was much quicker to go to Midway.  One time I had a flight out of O'Hare that left around six in the morning.  I stayed the night before at the Hilton that is on property.  I walked over to the airport the next morning and TSA was slammed - at 4:45 a.m.

In my working days, I was shocked by the number of co-workers who refused to fly out of Midway because they hadn't flew out for there since the '80's and assumed nothing had changed.

[pbiflyer]

https://x.com/thatericalper/status/1791687659825270868?s=46&t=wj-kQtLCLPNb9xDTKbHRvQ

[Hards Alumni]

Agree with you on LaGuardia, but disagree on O'Hare, especially if you are actually departing from that airport and not just switching planes there.  Back when I lived in the Chicagoland area, I was 15 miles closer to O'Hare, but usually flew out of Midway because of the hassle factor.  From my driveway to the gate, it was much quicker to go to Midway.  One time I had a flight out of O'Hare that left around six in the morning.  I stayed the night before at the Hilton that is on property.  I walked over to the airport the next morning and TSA was slammed - at 4:45 a.m.

In my working days, I was shocked by the number of co-workers who refused to fly out of Midway because they hadn't flew out for there since the '80's and assumed nothing had changed.

Also my experience.  Connections at ORD are awful.

[MU82]

Now that our son has become a suburbanite, it's very inconvenient to fly into MDW. Either he'd have a long drive to pick us up, or we'd have to take a patchwork of trains to get to him, so it's almost always ORD for us since his move.

But I do miss MDW, and also miss being able to have Southwest as an option.

[4everwarriors]

Spring for a car service, aina?

[DegenerateDish]

Have done an enormous amount of travel for business in the US and can't argue with most observations in here about airports. I'm a United Million miler and have had status on United most of my business life. United goes through cycles of quality and el cheapo that just grinds on one after a while. United is in el cheapo mode again now and that makes traveling suck.

That said, here are my nominees for best and worst airports in the land:

Best:

Orlando McCoy -- This one is easy, so long as you have TSA pre-check. Only downside to MCO is the multi-hour wait for security if you don't have TSA pre. Airport is roomy, well laid out and easy to access. A bit of a parking headache at the holidays but otherwise incredibly well done.

MCO is the worst airport in the US.

Precheck…I mean no airport has longer lines, it’s comically slow.

Try getting a meal there, good luck.

That place can not deal with the mix of convention visitors and the once a year tourist family. If you’re a Group 1 or Group 2 UA flyer, it’s a maze due to a lack of space.

MCO flat out sucks, burn it down.

[MU82]

MCO is the worst airport in the US.

Precheck…I mean no airport has longer lines, it’s comically slow.

Try getting a meal there, good luck.

That place can not deal with the mix of convention visitors and the once a year tourist family. If you’re a Group 1 or Group 2 UA flyer, it’s a maze due to a lack of space.

MCO flat out sucks, burn it down.

Could say the same about Orlando, period.

[pbiflyer]

Could say the same about Orlando, period.

Tell me you’ve only visited the touristy place in Orlando without telling me you’ve only visited the touristy places.

But yeah, the airport is awful.