America's worst major metro airports

[Screw_Michigan]

Orlando without a doubt is #1. Shitty beyond-security food options. Packed to the gills with kids. No reliable ground transportation access. My flights always seem to get delayed here. Old seats. Poor access to power outlets at gates.

DCA can be bad at times because it is gets super busy but you can't beat the convenience.

What do you losers think?

[Left Seater]

This list starts and ends with the NYC airports. La Guardia, JFK and Newark all suck donkey cock. Getting to La Guardia is the suck. Once there everything is chopped up and separated. See the same thing for JFK. Add in congestion and you can count on being delayed. Plus these delays cascade they the rest of the US system.

Philly is the suck because of their piss poor runway set up.

DCA May have the country’s single worst gate 35X. Although this could soon be fixed.

LAX is over crowded and all the separate terminals aren’t connected behind security. Plus many gates require planes to be towed into the gate due to the narrow alleys.

Denver and DFW are two of the best airports.

[Derron]

I have not been through St Louis in a number of years but it was a real piece of shit back in the 2004 time frame. Baltimore is another gem.

[FiatLux]

Orlando

I'm surrounded by retards.

[smackaholic]

No love for BOS yet?

Over the last year I have pretty much lived there. Road access, despite countless billions on Big Dig dollars is horrific.

Then there is the airport itself, or should I say airports.

ATL is a very well designed airport. CLT is another good one.

Logan is 4 airports which happen to sit next to one another and share runways. Terminal C and International are the only terminals with connection behind the water bottle police, aka TSA. I suppose this lack of connectivity doesn't matter much as no airline has gates in different terminals.

And for a cat X airport, its USO is rather pathetic. PVD has a privately run USO type lounge that doesn't get a nickel from USO and it is better equipped. Same goes for ALB. Best airport USOs are CLT, ATL, PHL.

[Wolfman]

Did they build a new terminal in San Antonio? I couldn't believe how small it was for a city that size back in 2005 when I was there to attend my uncle's funeral. RSW (Fort Myers)built a nice big one around then and it is expanding. They made plans for that from day one. With direct access to I-75, it is easy to get in and out.

[Softball Bat]

I had a pretty awful experience in Seattle last year.
Third world.

[Softball Bat]

JFK

I'll be there in May.
Will let you know how it goes.

[smackaholic]

Never been to SA, but there are a few things to consider.

It is not a hub. Geographically, that wouldn't make sense. It isn't a major tourist area. There are lots of people there, but I suspect they mostly stay put.

Ft Myers, OTOH, while not a large population center, has a shit ton of its residents regularly flying to Newark to go to their grandson's bar mitzvah. Also, SWFLA has multiple small airports that can take 737 service, or max 8 crashes. And many that travel to south Florida in the winter may not have a particular place to go. Some place warm is good enough. So, it is in their interest to have a nice airport. SA on the other hand, just needs an airport. I can't imagine there are many people that decide to go to SA rather than El Paso, because the airport is nicer.

[smackaholic]

I was somewhat shocked that I had to ride a fucking bus from the plane to the gate at Dulles (back about 19 years ago). Probably one of the weakest experiences I’ve had with an airport. ATL is just too godamned busy. Period. O’hare isn’t much better. Denver was cool. SF seemed dated. Pretty much all of them seem fairly laid back compared to ATL - but then again, it’s the busiest in the world, so...

I've done that de-plane, walk down to the ramp, climb on a shitty bus and drive to another place to get on a plane, as well. Both times were in Newark. WTF?

Every large airport should be laid out like ATL with a subway running right through the middle of everything. The only critique I have of that place is that the USO is outside security. This makes stopping in while connecting is a PITA. You would think that the fact that 95% of ATL traffic is people making connections would mean it was "inside". Of course, it would also mean that an already busy USO would be swamped.

[Left Seater]

Forgot about Logan cause I will use Providence instead when I can. Boston also has intersecting runways which is the suck.

I don’t fly Delta so Atlanta only ever comes into play for me if it is the destination.

As for San Antonio, yes there is a new terminal. Terminal B is new and quite nice. American and United use it exclusively. Open, bright and airy. Terminal A has been remodeled and is also much nicer. Further SA gets much more air service than most similar sized towns. This is due to the huge military presence and that SA is a convention destination. It isn’t Vegas or New Orleans, but it punches way above its weight when it comes to conventions. There is non stop service to something like 45 cities. Pretty awesome for a non hub. Plus the airport sits on the intersection of two interstate highways and is less than 10 miles to downtown.

[Derron]

I had a pretty awful experience in Seattle last year.
Third world.

Yeah, Seattle has its issues. Shit layout, very little in the way of places to eat in the secure area and restrooms always have lines. Lot of zips running around all pushy like too.

[Screw_Michigan]

I was somewhat shocked that I had to ride a fucking bus from the plane to the gate at Dulles (back about 19 years ago). Probably one of the weakest experiences I’ve had with an airport. ATL is just too godamned busy. Period. O’hare isn’t much better. Denver was cool. SF seemed dated. Pretty much all of them seem fairly laid back compared to ATL - but then again, it’s the busiest in the world, so...

The 5A almost fucked me on Saturday, was 30 minutes late. They did finally extend the Silver Line out to IAD, but of course, because no one wants to pay for anything, they settled for having the metro stop a mile from the airport terminal.

[BSmack]

Pretty much all of them seem fairly laid back compared to ATL - but then again, it’s the busiest in the world, so...

What I love about Hartsfield is that you can go from beyond the perimeter via a MARTA train right up to the terminal and be in line with TSA 5 minutes after disembarking from the train. And so far every terminal I've been in looks just as good as every other terminal.

The worst airport I've ever seen is Newark. As for JFK the experience is entirely dependent on what part of JFK you are in. Like if you're in the international section in terminal 4, it's pretty damn pleasant. If you're in terminal 2 flying domestic, you have definitely arrived in the ghetto. And his mama cried... in the ghetto

[Screw_Michigan]

What I love about Hartsfield is that you can go from beyond the perimeter via a MARTA train right up to the terminal and be in line with TSA 5 minutes after disembarking from the train. And so far every terminal I've been in looks just as good as every other terminal.

The worst airport I've ever seen is Newark. As for JFK the experience is entirely dependent on what part of JFK you are in. Like if you're in the international section in terminal 4, it's pretty damn pleasant. If you're in terminal 2 flying domestic, you have definitely arrived in the ghetto. And his mama cried... in the ghetto

I was going to say, I've flown out of JFK twice and they were fine. Then again, I wasn't flying domestically.

[Screw_Michigan]

JFK

I'll be there in May.
Will let you know how it goes.

[Screw_Michigan]

I have not been through St Louis in a number of years but it was a real piece of shit back in the 2004 time frame. Baltimore is another gem.

I actually like BWI....mostly. It's not cramped like DCA and it's a bit easier to access than IAD. They have also stepped up their security game over the years. When I first started flying out of BWI regularly you're normally run into long lines and it was a crap shoot as to whether they'd move along in a timely fashion. Now it's better though I have been flying out of DCA and even IAD more often lately.

[L45B]

La Guardia

This. A really shitty airport with nearby Newark running a close second.

The food options alone within the LGA terminal are enough to make you want to risk getting there right when your flight takes off. Which is nearly impossible since just about every flight there is delayed.

Lefty— I can remember being on an incoming flight and upon landing at LGA (from the north), the pilot had to pull up and circle back around again. Passengers started getting a little nervous as the plane veered right toward the Manhattan skyline. I’m assuming it’s just because of the tight runway space.

[FiatLux]

Pssst... Orlando isn't a "Major" metro area... with an airport.


The only reason you would fly into Orlando... is if you're going to Disney-world drunk with your kids/grand kids.




the truth

[Left Seater]

Lefty— I can remember being on an incoming flight and upon landing at LGA (from the north), the pilot had to pull up and circle back around again. Passengers started getting a little nervous as the plane veered right toward the Manhattan skyline. I’m assuming it’s just because of the tight runway space.

I can imagine pax getting nervous, but that is mostly due to their overall nervousness of flying. If you can on from the north that would mean you were using runway 22. The reason for the go around was likely due to another airplane not clearing the runway in time so the pilot not flying called for a go around. Anytime those words are spoken there is instantaneous reactions. Before beginning the descent for landing the pilots would have reviewed the go around procedure for a missed approach on runway 22. This does involve a right turn towards Manhattan. But this is due to the proximity of JFK and Teterboro. Your plane had to avoid those other airports and their approach and departure paths. I would imagine the pilots came on the radio later to explain the go around, but it might have been 8-10 minutes as they had their hands full.

[smackaholic]

Only flew into LA once, but we went into Long Beach. Was pretty surprised that it was a “take the stairs off the plane” airport, but then again (like Macon) it was nice to be able to get in and out of it so quickly.

I used to use Macon whenever I could. The only direct flight they had then was to Atlanta - and when traffic is good, ATL is only an hour drive. Why do that? Well, I could park within 100
feet of the entrance. When
checking in, they asked “you don’t have a bomb on you, do ya?” Response was “no”. Then you’d walk maybe 100
feet (including metal detector) and then you’re at the gate. Another 50
feet outside and onto the puddle-jumping plane. Parking was almost free. Plus, you’d never fly over 10,000’, so you’d know everything you saw. Finally, you almost always got off in ATL pretty close to where you’d leave ATL without having to fuck with ATL traffic, lines, and the abortion parking up there.

War little airports!

As much as connecting flights suck, cheap parking/no ATL traffic/short water bottle police lines seem to make taking the puddle jumper from Bacon a no brainer assuming the fare differences aren't outrageous. And given airline bizzaro pricing strategies, it is quite possibly even cheaper to fly 2 of their planes rather than one.

[Joe in PB]

Airports generally suck compared to San Diego. I fly into IAD when visiting family since I can get a non stop flight. Newark is the best of the big apple bunch. DFW seems like the taxi is 20-30 minutes after landing and is annoying. Most of the rest vary in degrees of suck.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[Mikey]

Airports generally suck compared to San Diego. I fly into IAD when visiting family since I can get a non stop flight. Newark is the best of the big apple bunch. DFW seems like the taxi is 20-30 minutes after landing and is annoying. Most of the rest vary in degrees of suck.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Terminal 2 is nice. Terminal 1 is still the suck. It's where I'm always flying from because it's the Southwest terminal. Shitty food choices, crowded security lines. At least Terminal 2 has a Stone Brewing outlet. Parking and car rental access are getting better, though I can't really vouch for the car rental access because I don't rent cars in SD. SAN does have the best lot to cool your heals waiting for an arriving flight, across the street at Spanish Landing. They also need to get better public transportation access.

Portland and Sacramento both have nice airports.

Long Beach, Burbank and Ontario are all better alternatives to LAX if you can get a flight from them. John Wayne in Santa Ana is pretty good too. About a 10 step walk from parking to the main terminal. I'm a one hour drive from SAN and about 65 minutes from SNA

[BSmack]

Newark is the best of the big apple bunch.

This is literally the first time in my life I have ever seeing somebody rate Newark as the best of New York City airports. For me Newark is the only place I've ever been to where I could literally feel my socioeconomic status slipping just by being there.

[Screw_Michigan]

This is literally the first time in my life I have ever seeing somebody rate Newark as the best of New York City airports. For me Newark is the only place I've ever been to where I could literally feel my socioeconomic status slipping just by being there.

What?