Airport experiences

[jaybird2001wi]

I just got done looking at some of my travel pictures from my flights to New York and Dallas. I realized with just two flight experiences, I have been to the following airports:

Dane County Airport (Madison) to Detroit (overlay) to New York (LaGuardia)

Mitchell International to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW)

 

I realized a few things. It was my first ever time flying on an airplane when I went to Dallas and I remember being so nervous and scared (I was flying down there for a National Journalism Convention at the Grand Hyatt Hotel and flew with 12 other journalism students from UW-Whitewater) that I took three shots of Tequila at 9am to calm down.

The worst mass transit service when my plane touched down has to be Dallas Fort-Worth airport because there were van-cabs that wanted to charge us $80 a van to transport us from DFW to near downtown Dallas and it took us forever to get to the hotel from the airport and we ended up waiting for nearly two hours at the train station.

The best looking airport of the five I have been in has to be DFW, it is huge and a lot of stuff to do when you want to waste time before boarding the plan.

The tightest security measured airport has to be LaGuardia. I wore dress shoes with metal eyelits in them and the metal detector went off and the first question the screener asked me was, "Are you from America?" I was then asked to remove my shoes and go through again. No harm, no foul, I understood. Then again, it was the second time I was asked if I was American throughout my whole trip in New York with the first at a Subway stop heading towards Shea Stadium.

Detroit's airport made me wait the longest. I sat on the runway for an hour and was in the way back of the plane where all the loud noises were circulating and the flight attendants wouldn't tell me what was going on and why we were at a standstill.

I had a nice experience at Madison's airport, shared the same plan as Gov. Jim Doyle. He sat first class, I sat back in coach as we headed to Detroit for our overlays. I believe he had an air marshal with him.

On the same plane, I got stopped trying to board the plane from Madison because my luggage bag was too big to fit in the overhead compartment so they had to check it just a step from me entering the plane.

 

I found the most nervewracking experience isn't the flight itself, it is when you are standing there at baggage claim. Somehow my bag ALWAYS was the last bag placed on the conveyer belt.

[Glennron]

Sky Harbor in Phoenix is pretty neat, when you take the escalator up there's cool scenery out the window. The people working for TSA in Milwaukee always seem nice, but the ones working at BWI in Baltimore were all jerks when I was there. I had a bottle of water that had already been opened so I couldn't take it through, but instead of asking nicely to get rid of it the lady said "I need to take that" and took it from my hand. She then asked my friend what a small bottle was in his bag and he said Axe (the spray stuff) and she opened up his bag and threw it out without saying a word. I realize you can't take these things past security but you can at least pretend to be nice. Oh well maybe it's an "east coast" thing.

[NeedMoreFans]

I don't travel that much, but I've been to a few airports...

 

Madison---one of my favorite airports because, unless you go through Chicago (which I didn't do on 2 occasions), there is rarely a delay. Not crowded, cheap cab ride from home so I don't have to park, don't have to be there 2 hours ahead of time...

 

Milwaukee---my favorite place to fly out of when going on trips. Rarely delayed (except in weather), not too bad of lines through security, parents live close enough to be able to drop me off and pick me up from the airport

 

O'Hare---flew in and out of once, going overseas. Unless I'm travelling internationally, I'll avoid O'Hare. On our way to Germany, we sat 1st in line for take off for over 45 minutes. Drove me nuts (I have take off anxiety problems).

 

Denver (both new and old)---last time I was in Denver, we were on our way home and had to make a connection. The day we arrived was the first day after the airport had been closed for 2 days due to heavy snow. We had to wait nearly an hour on the ground once we arrived because there was another plane at our gate. I have never seen such a crowded airport.

 

San Francisco---Pretty nice. Must not have had any problems because I have nothing bad to say.

 

Salt Lake City--Interesting to fly in to this airport because of the mountains surrounding the city. You have a very quick decent into the city. The airport is pretty nice, but it seems pretty spread out.

 

Las Vegas---Too many slot machines making noise when you are trying to catch a few minutes of sleep before your red eye home. Nice airport overall though. I was impressed with how quickly the security line went.

 

Detroit (pre remodel)---hell on earth

 

Tampa---Nothing positive or negative to say about this place.

 

Minneapolis/St. Paul---another crowded airport, loved the iPod vending machines

 

Orlando---don't remember much of it

 

Frankfurt, Germany---ranks up there of one of the worst airports I've been in. We were greeted with smoke-filled concourses (the allow smoking there) and a non-airconditioned terminal. Very bland, rude security, long lines for everything.

 

I really don't have any horror stories though.

[logan82]

O'Hare isn't to bad if you fly through in the early morning, but if you go through later in the day I would expect a long wait. One time I went through I had my departure gate change 5 different times. Once before I landed, once on my way to the next gate, then 3 more times.

 

I don't like Madison because flying out of or into there usually involves going through O' Hare, but other than that it isn't bad.

 

Milwaukee wasn't bad except they were really pushing the self ticketing thing which doesn't work to well when nobody knows how to use it.

 

Fort Myers airport seems to small and doesn't have enough waiting room for their gates. Long lines to get to the gates. Just overall not built to handle the volume that goes through.

[bork]

I've been through so many airports that they tend to run together.

I agree that old Detroit was Hell. The new airport is pretty nice though. The monorail makes connections much easier.
I hated Minneapolis, because the connecting flights were always on opposite ends of the airport. I'd have 20 minutes (because NWA is always late) to go from one corner of the airport to the other.
Milwaukee is pretty convenient. Waits usually aren't too bad.
Orlando is nice for arrivals with the monorails . Very little walking. But in 2003, it was terrible flying out. Security lines were a nightmare.
Seatle wasn't very convenient. Had to go up and down numerous escalators and take a subay just to get from the terminal to the rental cars. It was also a pain taking a bus between the 2 terminal buildings to make a connection.
Atlanta was busy, but laid out well. Something like 6 terminal buildings lined up in a row with a subway connecting them. Very easy to make a connection.
I do recall that it was much more convenient flying through John Wayne in Orange County, CA than LAX. LAX is huge.
Missoula, MT is a nice little airport. 4 gates. Pretty flying in over the mountains. But you're pretty much stuck with NWA for flights.
Boston was a pain because it's on an island. You have to take a tunnel to drive to the city. But I was there during the big dig, so it may be better now.

Don't really have a comment one way or another for Cincy, Cleveland, Newark, San Jaun, O'Hare, San Antonio, Dulles (DC), Philly, Tampa, St Louis, Flint, MI, Auckland, NZ, Dublin, Ireland, Vancouver, BC.

Most of my bad experiences have been on Northwest, but they've been the only choice many times. Too many to remember, but taxying into a snowbank stands out in my mind. And one trip to Vancouver was quite an event. Milwaukee got snow in April and only had 2 de-icers. Took almost an hour to get de-iced. Just missed the connection in MN (direct to Vancouver). Waited a few hours for a flight to Seatle. Waited a few more hours for a 13 seat prop plane to Vancouver. In all, it took 16 hours to get there instead of 5.

[AJAY]

I recently traveled to India and had the experience of traveling through Amsterdam (Shiphol) Airport. It was absolutely beautiful. There were lots of beautiful shops and a nice casino. It seemed like a nice place if you have to spend time waiting between flights.

 

Unfortunately, the Indira Gandhi Airport in New Delhi had a chaotic feel to it. It had no amenities either. Still, it was fun to be traveling there.

[jason21nl]

On the last day of my trip to spring training a couple years ago we watched a game before heading out to the Sky Harbor airport to go home. During the game Prince got drilled by a ball while batting and came out of the game. A couple innings later he was leaving the field. For those who have been to spring training you know they leave the game early and have to walk up the stairs to get to the club house. As he was walking up, people were asking for his autograph, but he said he couldn't be cause his wife was in labor. After the game, my gf and I turned in our rental and went to our gate to wait for our plane. Walking towards our gate, we saw Prince standing by himself listening to his head phones. I said congrats on the baby, and he said thanks man. Last year he did an autograph signing at MP before the season, and he said, hey, you're the guy from the Airport last year. no joke. I was floored that he some how remembered....maybe it was because I didn't bother him for an autograph, and just congratulated him on his baby is the reason why he remembered me, I have no clue...just thought it was kinda cool

[homer]

I tried to count up all the airports I'd been to once while I was on a plane. I think I got to 50+.

[Fatter than Joey]

I tried to count up all the airports I'd been to once while I was on a plane. I think I got to 50+.

 

Yeah -- It sort of blurs together to me.

[mrwisconsin]

The airports that i have been to are Milwaukee, chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, Lax. Dallas, Houston, Memphis, Atlanta, Albany, Ft myers , Tampa and Honolulu.

[homer]

I'm bored waiting for NFL playoff games so here goes:

Domestic (62):

Milwaukee

Minneapolis

Duluth

Madison

Central Wisconsin (Rhinelander)

Des Moines

Omaha

Sioux Falls, SD

Chicago O'Hare

Chicago Midway

Indianapolis

Detroit

Cleveland

Cincinnati

Lexington, KY

St. Louis

Kansas City

Nashville

Memphis

Knoxville

New Orleans

Dallas

Houston

Jackson WY

Denver

Salt Lake City

Phoenix

Las Vegas

San Diego

John Wayne (Orange County)

Burbank

LAX

Long Beach

Visalia

Frenso

Ontario (Inland Empire)

Sacramento

San Francisco

Oakland

Medford, OR

Portland

Seattle

Yakima

Atlanta

Tampa

Orlando

Miami

Fort Lauderdale

Savannah

Charlotte

Washington Dulles

Washingon Reagan

Pittsburgh

Philadelphia

Baltimore

New York Laguardia

Newark

Bangor, ME

Boston

Hartford

Honolulu

Maui

 

International (6)

Vancouver, BC

Cancun

Aruba

London Gatwick

Charles de Gaulle, Paris

San Juan, PR

 

I probably missed a domestic or two.

[gypcasino]

As best I can recall I've been to Atlanta, Boston, Chicago O'Hare, LAX, Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Detroit, Minneapolis, Orlando, Charlotte, NY JFK, Honolulu, DC Reagan, Tampa, San Diego, San Jose, Portland OR, Nashville, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Montego Bay Jamaica, and Miami. I don't have any horror stories. Most of my flights have been pretty uneventful. On my way to L.A. with my dad we had to make an emergency landing in Las Vegas because somebody's baby was turning blue. And I think only one flight was cancelled outright, going from St Louis to Boston. So I just flew into a different city instead. And I've had luggage issues once I think. It missed the connecting flight and somebody from the airline dropped it off the next day at my house.

[Brewtacular]

Lets see

La Crosse

Minneapolis-Lindberg

Minneapolis-Humphrey

Chicago-Ohare

Omaha

Dayton

Tampa

Orlando

LAX

San Fran.

Reykavik-Iceland

Glasgow-Scotland

London-Heathrow

Athens

Tokyo-Narita

Tokyo-Haneda

Akita-JPN

Sendai-JPN

Seoul-Incheon

Sydney

 

Seoul and Tokyo are easily my favorites. Seoul is huge and modern and they have good service. Tokyo has the best service and is very clean. Tokyo-Haneda is probably the most technologically advanced. Athens is the worst...its small and the cops tried to take me away.

[brewers4eric]

I'll always remember flying into the airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica. I looked out the window of the plane and quickly surmised that the airport facilities were completely bereft of anything that would be necessary for any type of rescue. The drug sniffing dogs on the return through Miami were a new experience.

 

I like the airport in Minneapolis, simply because there is a spot where you can snag some Famous Dave's barbeque. I spoke at a conference in Washington DC in 1997, I can remember seeing some of the landmarks like the Washington monument on our descent. It was a stark contrast with returning home via Cedar Rapids. Being a barrel chested Iowa farm boy, CR is great because you fly in and are surrounded by corn and soybean fields. Unless a flight has just landed in CR, the entire airport is deserted, which is a nice comparison to Denver and Chicago.

[burniebrewer]

Guess I need to get out a little bit more.

 

I've been to the airports in Milwaukee, Madison, Detroit, Minneapolis, Memphis, Tampa and San Francisco.

 

My most interesting experience was on my way to San Francisco to see the Brewers play about 7 years ago. I had an early morning flight from Madison to Minneapolis, and then on to SF. Once I got to Minneapolis, I went to my gate and just after handing the agent my ticket and heading into the tunnel, the agent calls back to me. She tells me I cannot board as according to their records "I never got on the plane in Madison". Well, here I am, so yes I did board in Madison. So, I go to the counter to clear things up, and of course, flight is full. My seat was given up because of my alleged missing the plane (i.e., they never scanned my e-ticket.) So, I get put on "the list" and am given a seat as they are closing the door....first class, row 1! Talk about leg room for a flight across the country!

 

Of course, it all came back to me on the return trip flying home overnight. Full plane and I get kid (about 8) who decides to fall asleep all over me for the entire flight. A few forearm shoves to the head did nothing to rouse him--go lay on your Dad, kid!

[Schlitz001]

About a month after 9/11 I was coming back from Frankfurt, Germany and into Detroit. I had about a half hour to make my connecting flight and I happened to arrive at the same time that 10 planes full of Japanese tourists were arriving. Lines were backed up for hours, nobody spoke eniglish and people were talking about how they had been following a line for 3 hours to get through customs only to somehow wind up at the end of the same line that they had just been following by circling around.

I wasn't about to stand around all day, so I made a daring break for it. I picked up my bag, walked around the lines, around the x-ray machines, around the metal detectors, around the ariport security and through a single door to get to the concourse. Either I looked important or the attendants thought I looked like I knew what I was doing, because nobody there questioned me and I made my connecting flight. The whole time I was scared to death that I was going to get tackled to the ground by a security guard. I still don't know how I got away with it, but at 18 years old, stuff like that doesn't seem as risky.

[SmartBall]

I haven't been through too many airports, but I have to say I am a huge fan of flying out of smaller airports. The planes are smaller and you almost always need to connect, but dealing with security in Madison and in Chicago is completely different. I will almost always try to catch a flight out of Madison even if I have to pay a little more. Cinci is also a decent airport, but it is the major eastern United hub so on busy days it can be terrible getting through security.

[foamboy1]

Before Detroit was remodeled and pre-9/11, I swear that homeless people were living in the concourses.

 

I've been through too many to count. I think your airport experience is somewhat dependent upon the airline you fly. Depending upon how the airport is configured, you might be dropped off at the check-in for your airline, which is is a certain (lesser) terminal, and your experience would be of just that specific terminal, not the overall airport in general. Just a point to consider.

 

I like the newly remodeled Reagan International. I also like Pittsburgh quite a bit. They have lots of great shopping, and the local requirement is that prices cannot be increased by the companies that lease space inside the terminal....they have to use their standard pricing offered at their other stores.

[Brewtacular]

I happened to arrive at the same time that 10 planes full of Japanese tourists were arriving. Lines were backed up for hours, nobody spoke eniglish and people were talking about how they had been following a line for 3 hours to get through customs

 

I wasn't about to stand around all day, so I made a daring break for it. I picked up my bag, walked around the lines, around the x-ray machines, around the metal detectors, around the ariport security and through a single door to get to the concourse. Either I looked important or the attendants thought I looked like I knew what I was doing, because nobody there questioned me and I made my connecting flight.

 

Firstly, I love Japan but I know of nothing worse than loads of Japanese tourists.

 

Secondly, I love that story. I cannot imagine how you managed to not get caught. I would assume the heart was pounding. In the end you made the flight and gained an amazing story. Heck, you may want to embelish a bit and make it a bit more bond like!

 

[B2k1121]

on a connecting flight in San francisco on the way to Reno I was almost kicked off the plane. Since it was short flight the plane was tiny, and right before takeoff some people came in asking where I was, everyone gasped as they said I'm gonna have to go with them off the plane. Turns out they thought I was the last one to board the plane and I guess it is policy that if a handicapped person wants to board the plane someone has to get off. After talking with them I was able to get back on the plane and some of the people around me looked pretty nervous of me.

 

But then of course my luggage was nowhere to be found when I got to Reno, apparently the plane was overweight and they took some luggage out without telling anyone.

[bobbledude25]

I have traveled pretty much everyhwere in the United States. I used to go to school in Saint Louis and I made the short flight home quite frequently. One time the line was extremely long and some foreign guy who deosn't want to wait, goes up to the ticket counter and starts screaming, "I need my boarding pass, I;m gonna miss my flight waiting in this line" blah blah blah. The attendants told him to wait in line like everyone else...after more blabbing he says something to the effect of "What do you think I have a bomb?" (this is shortly after 9/11) the check in people looked at each other shocked and said, "Did he just say what I think he said?" After that, pandamonium breaks out, the guy takes off and security takes off after the guy. I never found out what happened after that

[RU Rah Rah]

Because of the fog in Madison, I just spent the last two days in the Detroit airport and its environs. My wife and I were pretty much bored out of our skulls, but our kids thought it was kind of fun. My 3-year old really dug that monorail.

[thablingster]

I've been to a decent amount of airports in my day, but a lot of them I went to when I was younger so I don't remember them that well.

 

Mitchell isn't exactly awe inspiring but it is fairly simple and you can get where you're going. I liked Sea-Tac when I was there this past November, it was pretty spacious and even though it was a little confusing there was stuff to do once you got in the concourse if you had to wait for your flight. I really don't have a solid opinion on John Wayne (Orange County, CA) because when I was there they were doing a bunch of construction which made it a pain, but I'd guess it wasn't a bad airport. My least favorite airport is Kansas City (KCI). Not so much for any reason other than it is really, really boring. You can't walk around outside of the gates without going back through security so when I connect there I've ended up sitting around for 2-3 hours doing nothing. At least they installed a bathroom in the gate now, when I went in 2004 I'd have had to go through security again to go to the bathroom.

[pitchleague]

I've got a good story about our flight to Frankfurt, Germany, but it's late and I want to go to bed.

 

 

 

I will say that 2006 Christmas, the wife and I flew to WI from Vegas on Christmas Day morning. I've never seen an airport so abandoned. It was heavenly. And the flight was over half-empty. Let's just say, screw family plans--we're doing that EVERY Christmas when it is our turn to fly up to the homeland.

[Flying Dutchman]

Boredom set in for me tonight... plus I am an airline/airport nerd. Here are the airports I have been to with some notes on a few:

 

Domestic

 

Milwaukee

 

Detroit- Old:horrible, New:Beautiful

 

Grand Rapids: Not great not bad.

 

Muskegon: 2 gates, thats it

 

O'Hare

 

Midway

 

Dayton

 

Greensboro

 

Boston

 

Newark

 

White Plains, NY

 

Philadelphia- Avoid at all costs

 

Minneapolis/St. Paul

 

Los Angeles- Horrible airport

 

Seattle: Nice, but have spent way too much time there

 

San Jose

 

Kansas City

 

Phoenix- The airport floods when it rains hard... it's amusing

 

Las Vegas

 

Reno- Nothing like meeting slots the instant you leave the plane

 

Boise- The new part is beautiful

 

Anchorage- New section (where Alaska Airlines is) is awesome, older section is pretty rundown. Got snowed in here twice, decent terminal for sleeping.

 

Fairbanks- It has been redone since I moved, but the old terminal had an area that wasn't updated between 1960 and 2006... I am serious. It was amazing, gold shag carpet, hard plastic seats. This is where the some of the bush flights left from. The main terminal was very blah. I flew a lot when I was up there, and every time I went to the old section, just because it was amazing how far back in time you went. Also the best jetways in terms of keeping warmth in the world. It was -39 when i landed one time and the jetway had to have been 80... just awesome.

 

Nome/Bethel/Barrow (all Alaska)- basically sheds

 

 

 

 

 

International

 

Taipei- Awful, simply awful

 

Kuala Lumpur- Hands down the nicest airport I have ever been to. There is an area in the middle of the international terminal that had a jungle area, which was just peaceful to look at while waiting for a flight. Great shops, very clean, able to see the runways to watch planes, hotel in the terminal (never had to clear customs to use it).

 

Perth, Western Australia- (International terminal) Nice but crowded, (Domestic) way too crowded and small.

 

Manchester- For its size very nice.

 

London Heathrow- I can't believe this is the gateway to London, terrible smelly crowded airport.