Best and worst airports

[MONKMAN]

Just now, Tight John McVeigh is a tit said:

Suvarnabhumi I was referring to as well, although purely refering to immigration. The airport itself is great. But the queues to go through immigration are inevitably horrendous (in and out). Currently fly direct to Chiang Mai, then via Khon Kaen and leave via Bangkok when I need to head up there.

 

Yeah the same, the airport itself is the same as most other new airports. Immigration and security are an absolute nightmare. 

[Enigma]

Quirky vote for Kulusuk airport in Greenland. Polar Bear pelt on the wall, that was shot on the runway and seal fur lined seats!

[LongTimeLurker]

11 hours ago, JTS98 said:

Singapore is great as ... it's a good place to just have a wander around. If I'm going to be on a plane for a long time, I want to be able to have a good stroll around before I get on.

Not so great when you have a tight connection due to a late arrival in my experience as the time taken between gates can become an issue and you still need to go through a security check to get into the waiting area for the next flight that they take quite seriously. They also are quite sneaky in hiding away a small convenience store aimed mainly at employees where you can buy things significantly more cheaply than elsewhere in the various terminals.

[BallochSonsFan]

I wasnt a fan of Newark. It's big but there was a lack of things to do when I was there. Poor selection of shops to spend left over Dollars and the departure lounge wasn't particularly comfortable.

[drs]

Just remembered Belp airport.

Situated at the foot of the Swiss alps and surrounded by stunning vistas - I walked into Belp from the airport to take it in, a wonderful place to go, not Belp itself but the area around Berne and Interlakken.

On the other hand it's tiny and had sod all there and when I was coming back the one solitary check in desk in the entire airport that was open had no luggage belt so there was some bloke stood beside the check in lady picking up all of the bags and carrying them out the back.

Someone mentioned London City, quite enjoy it but its the only airport I've ever been called to the desk over the airport tannoy at, which was a scary moment.

[Bishop Briggs]

Gatwick was good but has deteriorated over the last couple of years. Security is fascistic and immigration is a joke - very long queues and moronic staff. The South Terminal is abysmal, especially the forced march through the duty free shop and the worst Weatherspoon's I have ever visited. 

[Stu]

Pearson at Toronto seemed decent enough when I used it last year, mainly because it had a Tim Hortons that was pretty much the same price as the shops in Toronto itself - although I did have an argument with someone when they gave me too much change. Also, it was miles from the gate we were using and my brother thought I'd got lost or detained by security. Would have quite liked to use the one right beside the city itself as it's on an island in Lake Ontario and you had to get a ferry - no idea where there wasn't a bridge as it must be one of the shortest ferry rides in the world.

Agree with whoever it was who moaned about flights from Heathrow back to Scotland. Nearly everyone I've had has been delayed and when it's been the end of the holiday you just want to get home. 20 minutes added on a flight to the States is barely noticable. 20 minutes sitting on a runway while waiting to get to Glasgow feels like an eternity.

Machrihanish is worth a mention for quirkiness value. Tiny with no shops. No X-ray machines so I had to empty my luggage and carry on out so they could check it all. Highlight was when a joiner was trying to take his toolbag on as carry on. The person at check-in politely told him that wasn't happen, to which he responded saying fine but it hadn't been a problem when he was flying from Glasgow that morning!

[MSU]

My local airport is Lansing where I've managed to get from my car to the departures lounge bar at around noon on a Saturday in seven minutes. In terms of bigger airports, I've always had good experiences at Denver. The security line is always massive but they have enough people working the lines that it seldom seems to take long. As has been mentioned, the layout of Schipol makes it an easy and efficient place to navigate.

I despise flying United in or out of O'Hare. The connecting gates are always opposite sides of the airport apart. Newark and Heathrow can also suck my balls. 

[mizfit]

I think i can win the worst airports thread, Dalaman in turkey, shitehole of a place and one of the most expensive airports in the world! £5 for a can of juice.

I forgot about that place!

I went to Marmaris with my pals one year, warned them about the cost at the airport.

Think it was 30 Lira for a McDonald's.

And there are no seats.

[RadgerTheBadger]

Best airport is either Copenhagen or Dublin. Both are great for long stopovers. There's no shortage of bars and restaurants in Copenhagen, it's also got decent hideaways you can disappear to for a sleep

The worst is by far Berlin Schonfeld. Your not allowed to lie down in the terminal, the only "seats" when you first go in are wee radiators. The only restaurant AFAICR were Burger King which had next to nowhere to eat it and a bar which takes up the whole corridor meaning there's no chance of a quiet pint if everyone is rushing through to catch there flight. The corridors are absolutely toaty

[Lyle Lanley]

2 hours ago, kilbowie2002 said:

Wife has one of those priority passes so used the lounge the last time and had the place to ourselves, all the free turkish meze (shite) we couldnt eat and free wifi. Dalaman is an awful airport largely due to the type of clientele it attracts nowadays, the staff really doing their best to be arseholes and the fact the check in desks seen to be completely rammed.

Flew to Dalaman twice over the last few years. Airport has been shite on both occasions. Think my pizza hut meal i got was over £30. 

[Snakebite]

On 1/9/2017 at 10:09, kilbowie2002 said:

Bad airports- Washington Dulles was a faf and is a fair drive into DC, whereas Reagan airport was a joy. I love going to Orlando but MCO is a pain in the arse the immigration collecting your bags and then having to drop them again is mad. Sandford is a nice small airport but only Thompson fly from there. Have flown from Nashville airport alot and find that to be nice. Chicago i'd echo other posters its an absolute arsehole of an airport. I dont like Newark its dingy and the staff are arseholes. Boston is probably the friendliest airport ive been to in the states. My favourite airport to fly into is Burbank to the north of LA, having flown into LAX and waited hours in security queues, flying into burbank took five minutes to get the bags and get out.

Did you fly Southwest to Burbank?

Cracking airline, IMO.  Only one I use internally in the states. Some of the other American mobs like Spirit would put Ryanair to shame in the scumminess stakes.

[Snakebite]

13 minutes ago, kilbowie2002 said:

No it was actually a united flight we were on a tiny bombadier prop job from San Fran to Burbank, think there was 15 people on board.
Ive flown Southwest once before, in november actually from Vegas to Orlando, fantastic airline, free tv streaming in the air and free food/drinks and 2 hold bags each. planes had loads of room and just generally a pleasure to fly with. We're booked to fly with them boston-austin, austin to nashville and nashville to orlando in may, seem to be one of the only airlines to not make you land in charlotte or houston to switch planes like american and united etc as we've got direct flights on all three journeys.

Aye they are great mate, 50kg baggage, no hidden charges pish, sit where you want. I wouldn't go near a lot of the shysters over there unless I was desperate like Spirit, Allegiant etc.

I had a flight this year from McCarran to Boston via Chicago Midway and the flight got delayed 2 and a half hours because of lightning so I missed my connection to Boston by 5 minutes and was stuck in Chicago Midway overnight. To their credit the staff were super friendly, put me on the first possible flight in the morning, albeit via Baltimore, no other charges and I got my baggage no bother. 

 

[MSU]

Spirit's fine so long as everything goes according to plan but they operate so lean that one unexpected scenario, like a stewardess not turning up for work, can result in multiple delays and cancellations. And good look trying to find a representative to complain to. I've booked with them three times and only actually flown with them once.

[jimmy boo]

The worst in my experience was Taba on the Sinai peninsula of Egypt. Utter shite hole of a barn literally in the middle of nowhere with staff that try to scam you for cash for lifting your case. Then on the 2 hour transfer through the desert you can look forward to being stopped by machine gun toting army units. Beats beheading I guess..........just.

[MSU]

On 1/9/2017 at 08:46, Enigma said:

Quirky vote for Kulusuk airport in Greenland. Polar Bear pelt on the wall, that was shot on the runway and seal fur lined seats!

How was Greenland? It's been one of my travelling dreams for years to go, particularly to Qaanaaq, one of the most northerly settlements in the world (and surely the most northerly palindromic settlement).

[Sloop John B]

 

In the Uk I don't mind Edinburgh and Glasgow and it usually doesn't take too long my favourite is either Terminal 5 or Newcastle. From what I've been to i'd say Manchester Terminal 2, Gatwick or the rest of Heathrow as the worst airports that aren't called Prestwick.

Abroad  I liked 

Hong Kong - Beautiful building and landing

Brisbane - Small and quick airport though it was 10 odd years ago so probably has changed a great deal.

Dubai - Just so much to do and security and immgiration weren't too bad

Dalaman - New building, fairly quiet, British people at a minimum.

 

Meh - Barcelona El Prat, Rome Fiumincino, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Newark, Ft Lauderdale, Sydney

 

Disliked 

Orlando International, JFK, Bergen, Paris Beauvais, CDG, Berlin Schonefeld, Faro, every other Spanish Airport I've been to

 

 

[Enigma]

How was Greenland? It's been one of my travelling dreams for years to go, particularly to Qaanaaq, one of the most northerly settlements in the world (and surely the most northerly palindromic settlement).

I was only 10 when I went (May 2000). We visited Kulusuk and Tassilaq. Kulusuk is just a village with an airport, hotel and convenience store, a food isle and a gun isle. We did skidoo rides and dog rides up to the nearby glacier with added bonus of our guide spotting a seal and turning it into a hunting trip, he did indeed bag a seal. This wasn't some gimmick, that was that guys dinner for the next few weeks!

Tassilaq is more of a town. Dried fish hanging everywhere. I remember the public bins just being full of cans of Carlsberg. All in all an unforgettable trip.

[Smurph]

On 9 January 2017 at 18:49, RadgerTheBadger said:

The worst is by far Berlin Schonfeld. Your not allowed to lie down in the terminal, the only "seats" when you first go in are wee radiators. The only restaurant AFAICR were Burger King

You're right. I got some sort of rice-krispie-covered-chicken from their Burger King and it was maybe the worst BK experience I've ever had. However, that's not what the thread is about.

Best for me is Dusseldorf. Why? It has a fucking monorail.

[I'm Brian]

In the UK I like Stansted(Just not the hassle when you get off at the wrong stop on the transfer train), Birmingham, and Manchester, although I thought the facilities pre security are utter shit at Manchester, Bristol and Glasgow are alright as well.

Hated Bournemouth, Luton and Southampton, and Prestwick is stuck in the 1960's

Abroad Frankfurt is massive, but loved it, Schipol, Dublin and I know it has been voted one of the worst, but I liked Bergamo.

For quirkiness I'd nominate Male. Coming into land is like you are about to ditch into the Indian Ocean, but when your transfer is a boat it kind of adds to the whole experience. Seeing the islands from above was a spectacular sight. Facilities were a bit basic in the terminal mind you.

On the downside, Bergerac baggage reclaim is like standing in your garage, and is the epitome of budget travel, but the worst experience I ever had was the old Athens Airport.

From the white knuckle landing (when you are on a plane and in the air, the houses are supposed to be fucking below you!!), to.being forced into the first rip off taxi, by a gun wielding security dude, to the shed like terminal with about three seats in it, to the gun toting security who are quite happy to point it at you when it is your turn to go through the one security checkpoint into departures, overall it was a fucking horrendous experience. Thank f**k it is long gone