Airports

^Eugene is also very mellow, especially at 4am

Funny, I consider Burlington to be a somewhat hectic minor airport. It would be mellow for a major airport.

Your experience at Burlington was ours in Biloxi MS 20 years ago and because we chatted up the 2 guys they bumped us to first class on the Houston to NY leg

Caye Caulker, Belize was an interesting flight in:.

I believe they have modernized to a newer location on the island, but when we flew in it was a pass/fail grade for the pilot:

....and the Terminal:

Last airport I was at in the states was Norfolk, VA.  Very nice, spacious and clean.

San Ho-Zay  used to be a dump- the new place is nice.

Cheapest flights into SFO --?  I found it to be the other way around.

The Southwest terminal in Vegas is a nightmare- especially in the summer.

Heathrow is ......HUGE

Sitka AK is pretty mellow terminal, but the runway is sketchy.

https://images.app.goo.gl/QHM67xkKngQBRyAb6

In another life, I used to fly once or twice a week at least. Philly was always the worst, hands down. Phoenix was always a pleasure. Myrtle Beach and Love field are decent small-ish ones. Austin and San Diego too. Saint Maarten = sketchiest. 

I’ll do pretty much anything to avoid flying these days.

Worst Airport = Philadelphia International Airport

Best Airport = PDX (local food and beer, free indie short films, easy security lines, rules requiring "in town pricing," etc.)

Sleepiest Airport = Fargo, North Dakota.   I was there for work and got there early to catch an afternoon flight home. About midday, they shut down the security checkpoint because there were no flights coming in or out, lowered a gate, and trapped in the four or five people including me who were waiting at the gates.  At least there was a bar on that side of the checkpoint.  

Best Airport Bar = shack near the airstrip on Eleuthera, Bahamas   For $3, you can get the stiffest rum and cokes in all the islands.  "You want some coke with your rum, mon?"

That terminal on Caye Caulker reminds me of the one in Bahia Drake, Costa Rica:

Runway was just a short grass strip at the base of some mountains.  Pretty scary flying in.

>>>>Saint Maarten = sketchiest.

I was on St. Maarten a couple of years ago right after the hurricane devastated the island.  The beach right by the airstrip (Maho Beach) was gone, the terminal still closed, and boats littered the grounds of the airport.  

Detroit has a long conveyor belt ride through multi-colored lighting that gives you a rave effect when you're catching a connecting flight in the middle of the night.

Gothenburg and Stockholm, Sweden both are well-designed.

Louis Armstrong International in New Orleans was old and funky, but I always was stoked because I'd arrived in New Orleans.  They should have opened the new terminal by now.

Montego Bay, Jamaica was okay.  The security lines were pretty long on the flight out, but there are some decent shops and amenities, and a decent ocean view.

I do more picking and dropping off than I do travel, but Orlando is and easy in and out via the toll roads.

my faorite is STS stanta rosa, the snoopy airport.

blind pig on tap, super easy.

sna john wayne is great for a small-med.

arcata airport is like sts.

won't be trying to use SFO again. such a shit show. unless the weather is great/clear...

I hate to fly. I always have, mostly a claustrophobia thing with motion sickness issues thrown in, and I hate lines too so naturally I hate airports. Even when I'm not flying I get jumpy & anxious when I'm at one.

The last time I've flown was before 9/11 so I've never experienced the added hell of modern flying.

My last flight was to LA. Had a bad experience landing, pilot had to abort at the last moment and fly around again, and then a very bumpy landing. When we got off the plane I went straight to the car rental and got a car to drive back to the Bay Area. I swore I'd never fly again, and so far so good on that one.

not a great way sto spend an evening in December at solistice time.

warm thoughts to those of you dealing with airports....and also to those not.

I agree about the Eugene airport, very mellow. However, my brother-in-law had a flight from Eugene home to SFO that was delayed til 11:00 pm so he came back into town to have dinner. When he got to the airport at a little after 10:00 he was told that TSA stops at 10:00 pm and since he hadn't gotten screened while they were doing it he couldn't catch the flight. Who knew that?

I used to love flying to/from SFO on Christmas day - very few travelers, everyone pleasant, everything easy. Since Christmas isn't important to me it made perfect sense to fly on that day.

But Turtle's right, SFO's weather and runway closures cause delays and cancellations which cause whole days to stack up. Pain in the ass unless you have no pressure or commitments.

Disagree about Philly. We live in central Jersey and I avoid Libert/Newark like the plague. My experiences at Philly have been fine. Especially Winner Parking. Best Deal since sliced bread. They take you to airport in your car then park it. Upon return they meet you at airport and you just drive off home. Never had to wait more than 15 minutes if you call them as soon as you get to baggage claim. All for under $7 a day. Best airport. Lihue, Hawaii. EZ PZ

PHL is my go-to airport;  I'm also in central Jerseyland.  Last several times I flew out of there,  all flights departed on-time,  no delays.  Decent enough snack bars in the place to get a snack and Beer pre-flight.

Biggest bonus is the SEPTA train runs right there,  with free parking at West Trenton Station.  Train is all of ten bucks ?  They also have run perfectly on-time always.  So I can drive about 1/2 hour,  park for free and get to PHL in about an hour + with no worries.

EWR is awful;  JFK is a long drive with gnarly traffic.
I used to enjoy the Salem,  Oregon airport when Delta had a run to Salt Lake City.  (From there to wherever on Delta or Alaska).  The terminal was just a couple double-wide trailers like some of the Tropical ones posted above.

For the architecture,  I like Schiopol (Amsterdam) and the Olympics one east of Montreal.  Think it's called Mirabel.