Santa Barbara SBA)!

And yeah, too many US airport bathrooms are on par with gas station bathrooms.

Tree Hugger said:

---

The new international terminal at DFW (Terminal D?) is pretty badass

---

No, actually - it sucks.

If you need to change planes to a different terminal. Which is basically always.

ToddyHill said:

---

I don't get today's criticism of airports in the United States. Then again, I'm old, and I remember LGA back in the 70's.

Edit...actually, the 60's. I was a kid when my oldest sister was a stewardess for Eastern Airlines and based out of NYC.

---

That was a glamorous job in those days

cab559 said:

---

I fly into O'Hare a couple of times a year and every time I go back to 1990 and Home Alone. Gosh that airport must be the biggest turd in America for a top 10 metro area.

---

Do you even LAX bro?

IIIHorn said:

---

Carrion luggage

---

Only fake service animals and two-seat overweight maskers are worse.

DCAggie13y said:

---

A Net Full of Jello said:

---

YouBet said:

---

Here in Texas DAL, HOU, AUS, and CRP have been rebooted. Hell, DAL is about to get rebooted again, already.

SAT is being rebooted as well.

---

But can we all still agree that for one of the more major airports in the state, AUS sucks bad?

---

AUS is 10x better than any European airport. Namely easy to get in and out of and decent food choices.

---

Austin sucks ass too.

Especially if you travel early, or late.

Delayed after 10pm - best of luck to you.

BQ_90 said:

---

Well is there any airports owned and operated by the federal govt? Reagan maybe. That's why you get this hodgepodge, every airport is run by local government

---

Reagan really sucks.

Like really, really.

It hasn't been good since my brother and I went to the National Boy Scout Jamboree in 1985, representing Direct Service Council 800 from Saudi Arabia.

Hoyt Ag said:

---

Its not just Europe but in Asia too. Our airports suuuuck.

---

As do most US cities and highways.

My personal favorite:

Took that one myself in SZX during the covid.

HollywoodBQ said:

---

IIIHorn said:

---

Carrion luggage

---

Only fake service animals and two-seat overweight maskers are worse.

---

Ha!

You forgot pajamas.

Get Off My Lawn said:

---

My favorite airports experiences are almost always at ones with 4-10 gates. Sure, most of those show their age, but I'd take a single restaurant, no lines, & local business displays over some palatial facility that pretends it's not an elaborate machine designed to squeeze some cash out of the human cargo it shuffles along.

---

CRP...6 gates.

1 restaurant (with a bar) 1 bar (with food from the restaurant).

It's always easy in and easy out.

You are also flying in to/out of the international terminals at most of the non-US airports. When flying domestic (or EU) they aren't really an upgrade. Flying domestically in the USA is more equivalent to the train stations in Europe in terms of how they are used and what to expect. Most of the larger American Hubs have international terminals with much better accommodations than the domestic counterparts.

IIIHorn said:

---

Carrion luggage

---

Why couldn't the lion board the plane?
































Because his carrion was too big.

HollywoodBQ said:

---

cab559 said:

---

I fly into O'Hare a couple of times a year and every time I go back to 1990 and Home Alone. Gosh that airport must be the biggest turd in America for a top 10 metro area.

---

Do you even LAX bro?

---

LAX is the worst airport in the US and it's not close.

just 15 minutes down the 405 is America's best: Long Beach Municipal

I'll take the Austin airport over IAH any day and twice on Sundays.

My favorite little airport is Bozeman/Yellowstone airport in Montana but I'm a fan of little airports in general. We just flew into Portland, Maine in September and our plane was delayed due to weather. By the time we finally disembarked, all the shops were closed and the employees were just waiting for us to get out so they could close up shop for the night. (It was only 8:30 pm! ) The best part about that is they were all laser-focused on getting our luggage off the plane quickly so they could go home.

I see that none of you have flown into London City or Florence. London City is if you took Love Field in 1995 and dropped it in London. Florence is a dump.

Charles de Gaulle sucked ass last time I was there. Schipol (AMS) is nice. What I always remember about European airports is that the first thing I usually smell when de-planing is cigarette smoke.

There are plenty of nice American airports. And plenty suck.

You can have nice airports.

Or, you can have less than stellar airports and have lower airfare.

But in the US, you can't have both.

Europe as well as most countries in the world subsidize their airports. In the US, FAA subsidizes runways to a certain extent, but the vast majority of facility costs are borne by the airlines.

There is a huge backlog of projects that were delayed from COVID - about $65B worth of airport infrastructure. There are many medium sized airports that are making improvements, but when the debt service for all of that work comes online around 2027-2028, $50 fares will be long gone.

Hoyt Ag said:

---

Its not just Europe but in Asia too. Our airports suuuuck.

---

That MVP burger at Elways is pretty damn tasty

We've democratized air travel and now you have the Carnival Cruise people on every flight. Air travel is basically like taking a city bus now. The worst thing about our summer trip to Boston was the horrible, cramped flights. The second worst thing was the crowded, depressing airports on both ends. I'm recently retired but unlike many in my circumstances I have now lost any real desire to travel.

When I was a kid, we dressed up in suits to fly. It was a big deal and it was a far more enjoyable experience. Of course it was far more expensive on an inflation adjusted basis. I find US first class options to be a poor value. I'd be curious to try private/charter jets (not owning, I mean the various emerging rental options) if they ever get the cost down to a more reasonable level.

I don't care what an airport looks like, I just want to get to my destination efficiently. Newark is the worst of all airports. But little island nations are generally the quickest to traverse, no terminals, just deboard directly onto the tarmac and get your passport stamped at a rolling kiosk.

BigRobSA said:

---

cr06gis said:

---

I don't often have opinions on airports, but I remember CDG in Paris. If the The Shining had made an airport baby with North Korean architecture, it would be CDG. So depressing and soul crushing. Dark red carpet, dark red seats.

---

You mean "Seoul crushing", don't you?

---

HollywoodBQ said:

---

BQ_90 said:

---

Well is there any airports owned and operated by the federal govt? Reagan maybe. That's why you get this hodgepodge, every airport is run by local government

---

Reagan really sucks.

Like really, really.

It hasn't been good since my brother and I went to the National Boy Scout Jamboree in 1985, representing Direct Service Council 800 from Saudi Arabia.

---

Solid five inches. Not a damn thing to be ashamed of

IAH sucked, then they decided to make the entire area a permanent construction zone.

Ag with kids said:

---

Get Off My Lawn said:

---

My favorite airports experiences are almost always at ones with 4-10 gates. Sure, most of those show their age, but I'd take a single restaurant, no lines, & local business displays over some palatial facility that pretends it's not an elaborate machine designed to squeeze some cash out of the human cargo it shuffles along.

---

CRP...6 gates.

1 restaurant (with a bar) 1 bar (with food from the restaurant).

It's always easy in and easy out.

---

It's really nice now for a small airport. Former airport director (acquaintance of mine) did a great job before retiring.

Not just airports but airlines. One of our favorite routes to connect to Europe/Africa was Salt Lake City-Amsterdam via KLM: excellent staff and service kept you feeling good.
Fly the same/return route by Delta (they codeshare with KLM) and the drop in quality, cleanliness and service is immediately noticeable.

Charles de Gaulle is the standard. Our airports are dumps comparatively

flown-the-coop said:

---

HollywoodBQ said:

---

BQ_90 said:

---

Well is there any airports owned and operated by the federal govt? Reagan maybe. That's why you get this hodgepodge, every airport is run by local government

---

Reagan really sucks.

Like really, really.

It hasn't been good since my brother and I went to the National Boy Scout Jamboree in 1985, representing Direct Service Council 800 from Saudi Arabia.

---

Solid five inches. Not a damn thing to be ashamed of

---

That's what she said...

Way more of a gap in quality between US and foreign airlines than US and foreign airports.

DallasAg 94 said:

---

Everyone is missing the trees.

Most of the Int'l airports cited in Europe cater to VAT... "Duty Free."

Most of them dump you into a market of shops where people are trying to avoid tariffs *cough* I mean Dootie. As a result you have a liquor store, perfume like Macy's... they look like mall anchor stores.

Many have decent food courts because people have to get there so early, and many like Schipol cater to 4hr connecting layovers.

I probably have 1 5M miles and been to 20+ countries. The purpose of our airport are different IMO, functionally as nice as any.

DFW Terminal D has it all.

---

Verdad....

Ag with kids said:

---

flown-the-coop said:

---

HollywoodBQ said:

---

BQ_90 said:

---

Well is there any airports owned and operated by the federal govt? Reagan maybe. That's why you get this hodgepodge, every airport is run by local government

---

Reagan really sucks.

Like really, really.

It hasn't been good since my brother and I went to the National Boy Scout Jamboree in 1985, representing Direct Service Council 800 from Saudi Arabia.

---

Solid five inches. Not a damn thing to be ashamed of

---

That's what she said...

---

Who, your mom?

I kid I kid. Junior high humor should always be a welcome respite from the seriousness of f16.

Happy Halloween to you guys.

GAC06 said:

---

arrow said:

---

I'll have to disagree with the OP.
DFW, SLC, even DEN > HND, KIX, LHR, DUB, CDG, MAD, BCN, FRA, ATH.
Maybe I just didn't see the nice parts of the airports. And I haven't been to AMS or ZRH.

---

DFW blows but that's mainly because it's handicapped by its pre-TSA design. One main ticketing/baggage area then all terminals beyond the same security screening like ATL DEN SLC is better

---

No it's not. Not at all. 100% disagree.

DFWs design spreads out any crush of people. Don't like the line at one just walk 5 minutes and there is another security checkpoint. Much better. I check TSA wait times before arrival and often just go to the terminal with the shortest wait times. Once through security the Skylink zips you to any terminal in minutes.

Also having everything in one place sucks for bag claim. Any backup like always happens on heavy travel days and you are affected by every other flight. With it spread out it's often very efficient at DFW. I have bags pop out in 15 minutes most of the time. At tother airports like DEN and ATL I've waited nearly an hour for bags. Never happened at DFW.

Also just that LONG jaunt from a remote terminal or gate to the central area is terrible (MIA is the worst). At DFW once you exit the plane you are 2-3 minutes from bag claim. So simple.

Even navigation around (driving in) the airport is much easier (or was prior to latest construction statrt). People claim it is confusing but it is not at all. Very logically laid out and easily navigable.

DFW was designed when parking and walking right to your gate made sense. With security, and the growth in number of terminals it doesn't make sense. You drive through a ton of airport which is inefficient and pointless with better designs. Then you hunt for a parking spot in whichever garage is at whatever terminal you happen to be assigned (unless it changes, oops) instead of a more efficient setup. Also, better hope it's not full or you're driving to another terminal to hunt, then navigating back to the place you wanted to be. Then when you return, if you checked a bag you better hope you're lucky enough to return to the same terminal or you're heading to the curb to wait for a bus to get back to your terminal garage then start navigating your way out of the airport. Kansas City had the same setup that aged like milk. They were small enough to be able to level it and build a modern terminal that makes sense now, not one that made sense in the 70's. There's a reason nobody is building airports in the style of MCI or DFW these days. DFW is just stuck with their crap design because it would be way too expensive to fix it.

flown-the-coop said:

---

Ag with kids said:

---

flown-the-coop said:

---

HollywoodBQ said:

---

BQ_90 said:

---

Well is there any airports owned and operated by the federal govt? Reagan maybe. That's why you get this hodgepodge, every airport is run by local governmentTe

---

Reagan really sucks.

Like really, really.

It hasn't been good since my brother and I went to the National Boy Scout Jamboree in 1985, representing Direct Service Council 800 from Saudi Arabia.

---

Solid five inches. Not a damn thing to be ashamed of

---

That's what she said...

---

Who, your mom?

I kid I kid. Junior high humor should always be a welcome respite from the seriousness of f16.

Happy Halloween to you guys.

---

Not MY mom...

It was YOUR mom...and your sister.

It was a very Happy Halloween!

Can't wait for the day after Thanksgiving! IYKWIM