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My favorite airport are those that offer a variety of international flights on numerous foreign carriers. I despise being held hostage to a host airline that dominates almost all foreign traffic at a given airport. ATL, CLT and DFW come to mind as those kind of airports. I prefer JFK, LAX, SFO, ORD and IAD.
Denver International & Orlando International are my favorites. They're both so well kept and clean. LAX isn't horrible, but it needs to be updated. And Laguardia is the biggest mess I've ever come across.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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I really like DFW and Denver airports. Big, modern, efficient, plenty of good non stop routing to several cities, easy to connect (sans Denver weather), and usually always has a gate open with minimal taxiing on the runways. If I have to kill time at an airport I won't stress to much over either one these airports.
Other good airports......
Portland (PDX)
Manchester or Providence (good alternative to Logan in Boston)
Orlando
Phoenix - Sky Harbor
Charlotte-Douglas
and I really dig the airport in Kona, Hawaii. Though it's tiny, I really like the tiki hut termainals, very cute. Maui is nice too with its open air breezeway terminal.
I can't stand Logan, O'Hare, Philly, or JFK airports.
I'd also rather not connect in Atlanta, LAX, SFO, or Newark if I don't have to.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 07-20-2013 at 03:55 PM..
For what it's worth, JAX is awesome. Many of us traveling out of Jacksonville feel extremely lucky. The airport is clean, aesthetically pleasing (the interior), easy to pass through security, offers lots of natural light, has reliable free WiFi, features tons of quality art throughout the building as well as in its own art gallery, and usually has decent live music featured in the atrium. The only negative would be the food options, which are limited and of mediocre quality.
It's too bad that almost no one would ever have a connecting flight here...so few people can take advantage of such a nice airport. I wish ATL or CLT were more like it.
A little while ago Jacksonville hosted an event of moderate significance (maybe it was one of the presidential debates, I can't quite remember) and this coincided with storms in the Northeast. Much of the national media was stuck at our airport after covering the event and as a result we received several nice features from various media outlets about our awesome airport. One of the anchors of CNN (I think) even did a segment calling JAX the best airport in the world to be stuck in. Anyway, it all jives with what the majority of well-traveled locals feel...that our airport is definitely a perk of living here.
Most hated airports: I think Laguardia - you gotta be kidding me, insanely small and old and crowded and dirty, no access to the subway, O'Hare - insanely far away from downtown chicago... it took longer for me to get to the airport on the subway than for my flight....
Airports that I liked: Richmond - new and shiny, no wait at security, Midway - very fast to get to downtown chicago from there,
I've only been in PHX & SFO international terminals. PHX is terrible (both domestic and international terminals). SFO's international terminal is beautiful, domestic is okay.
MSP is the best airport I have been in. JFK, LAX, Midway & IAH are good.
SeaTac is nice but I hate having to get on the terminal train.
DEN, DFW (you do not want to go to the wrong terminal here), MCO are okay.
Logan & O'Hare are the worst (along with PHX) airports I have been in.
OAK is pretty crappy but is perfect for what it is, a cheaper & faster alternative.
(This is all based on superficial stuff, amenities & ease of access / use.)
If I had a layover, I'd like to go to Minneapolis. The airport is clean, has tons of options, and things to do if you have a long layover.
If I have to drive to an airport, Richmond or Colorado Springs. They are both easily accessible from their major city. Denver is easy to get to, but a long drive away from Denver.
For me the size and business of the airport is a massive variable. Of course a tiny, tourist-oriented airport is going to be much easier to navigate and more comfortable than a giant global hub. In a way, it's like comparing cities themselves: small airports/cities are really easy to deal with and don't come with many hassles, but they also have much less in the way of flight options/amenities.
Yes, Atlanta's airport is a confusing mess compared with Savannah's, but Atlanta's airport can also cart you off to any corner of the country at a moment's notice--Savannah's cannot. My main interest is in how well airports accomplish what they set out to do.
Any airport that doesn't have rental cars connected with the airport itself loses a lot in my eyes. Boston, Houston-Hobby, Charlotte (although I think they are fixing this), Baltimore, Phoenix, Seattle, Oakland, Detroit, and many others. The worst case is an airport that has invested huge amounts of money in a rental car terminal but it STILL isn't particularly easy or convenient--Phoenix and Baltimore stand out in this regard.
Then you have Atlanta, Orlando, Tampa, Newark, and some others that have either onsite rental facilities or an automated tram that can get you from terminal to car in <5 minutes. Those are pretty sweet. SFO is in purgatory with their slick tram system that still seems to take forever to get you to the terminal.
Having multiple, disconnected secure areas is another pain. Boston, Phoenix, and LaGuardia--eww. Tampa, Orlando, and SFO can be annoying too. Get stuck in a part of the airport with crappy food options? You're screwed. Also, security lines tend to fluctuate hugely when you have multiple, disconnected secure areas.
Phoenix has annoying inadequate bathrooms. Every time I lay over there it's an issue.
Orlando with the kids, and lack of premium security lane--ugh.
There are lots of great small airports, but Portland deserves a special mention. Nashville too. New Orleans is just ugly and gross on the other hand.
MSP is very nice, but sprawls like crazy. You can end up with some LONG walks between gates if you are connecting. Nearly a mile in some cases. Charlotte has very long walks as well sometimes. Denver and Atlanta are much better design for being mega-hubs. Detroit is great for a medium-sized hub--the aforementioned rental car shuttle is the only real downside to DTW in my opinion.
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