Worth noting that SFO-SYD is about a 10 minute shorter flight than LAX-SYD. It’s counterintuitive but correct - depending on winds, you might fly northwest of Hawaii before turning south to Australia. I should know, having planned these flights many times.
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There are so many bad elements of this take, I don’t even know where to begin
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My home airport (Houston-Bush) remains pretty excellent. Love having the Whataburger open in terminal B still. Only problem this year has been the major construction going through out IAH, lot of the normal routes into arrivals/departures/parking garage have been closed or totally rerouted which has been a major pain in the ass this year with the much higher number of people flying.
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Enjoyed the pod today. My main takeaway is that so much of your airport and flying experience is going to depend on which airline/alliance you hitch your wagon to initially. A decade ago while living in the Bay Area and facing the start of a ton of Intl travel I could’ve gone AA, Delta or United. Went with AA/One World and have been pleased overall. Trade off is domestic hubs basically suck. I’ve been Executive Platinum each year, the first class AA offering is solid, lounges are good and One World partners (British, JAL, Cathay & Alaska) are legit. The choice came down to where I wanted to connect through from SFO (MIA/LAX, ATL, EWR). Have toyed over the years with switching to Delta but feel I’m pot committed at this point and am pleased with what I get out of AA.
I fly out of SAN now and appreciate the convenience of it (can get in UBER at 5:30AM for 6:20AM flight with zero worry) with TSA Pre etc. I do wonder how the Rental Car Center works for visitors though as I detest off campus shuttle setups (see PHX, DFW, LAX) and SAN has one.
Continue to be weirded out and put off by Denver. TSA hall evokes what the great hall at Ellis Island must’ve been like. Pure chaos.
There was a little teaser during the pod re an International airport pod next year but I’ll share some good/bad.
Narita (Tokyo) is phenomenal. Services the majority of international flights into Japan. Premium lounges are great, everything at the airport works. Similar to most Asia airports there is the huge mega airport an hour outside of the city and a smaller older airport in the middle of the city. Equivalent of Dulles and Reagan. Narita is the newer big boy a long way outside of downtown but transport in via bus or Narita Express is easy. Haneda is in the middle of the city and is starting to take more and more flights direct from the US. Somehow even though Haneda feels cute and small it is the 4th busiest airport in the world.
Fukuoka Airport is one of the cooler domestic airports in Japan and has always reminded me of San Diego’s airport as it sits right in the middle of the city and has a cool approach.
Seoul Incheon (ICN) is strong and similar to Narita for its location outside of the city. Korean Air is a good OneWorld partner.
Hong Kong (HKG) is excellent with super lounges.
Have consistently been underwhelmed by Australian airports during travel down there.
Spent a lot of time in Latin American airports during this time as well which means lots of Panama City, Panama time.
PTY is a good and improving airport that can get you pretty much anywhere. Big hub for COPA which is the best thing United has ever been involved in as far as I’m concerned although you can get there from the US via AA, Delta etc. Bogota is big and brawny.
Santo Domingo (SDQ) is fine, Caracas (CCS) is basically cut off from North America at this point and was a miserable and at times scary place to fly through. Wheels up from CCS for Miami was always met with a sigh of relief but that probably spoke more to the country than the airport itself.
There are some fun (and not so fun) regional airports in these parts. Cartagena is a cool Caribbean vibe that’s easy to get out of and there are directs from the US, similar to Barranquilla. Managua is an international airport but feels like a regional. In general flying domestic in these countries answers the question “what was it like to fly pre 9-11 in terms of security?” as rules are loose and give a fuck low. Valencia, VZ was an especially sketchy operation where getting pulled into the back room could cause all kinds of problems as you go through security.
One final international airport anecdote. Back in 2012 on one of my early work trips I had two days lined up perfectly (I work in baseball). Landed in Mexico City with a lengthy layover that allowed me to take the Mexico City subway to the ballpark (located inside F1 racetrack) and watch a pre Dodgers sign Yasiel Puig workout. My Spanish was not what it is now so navigating the subway was an adventure. Literally while I was gone, still on my layover this happened…
Made it back post workout and flew to Oaxaca where I saw a 15 year old Julio Urias the next day. Pretty good two days.
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Good post.
As an FYI, United has relinquished its ownership stake in COPA (which stood for Continental Panama, as Continental Airlines was the original partner in the founding of that airline, thus, the globe livery). COPA remains a part of the Star Alliance, but otherwise it is an independent airline.
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I don’t live in Charlotte anymore, and fucking hate AAL, but I have to at least stick up for Concourse E and the new Concourse A expansion at CLT. E is where all the regional American Eagle traffic is routed, and that is a much more spacious, better laid out and more comfortable area than the main terminal or concourses B/C/D. Concourse A expansion is everything you’d want a modern terminal to be. High ceilings, glass facade, modern/local restaurant options, and plentiful seating. Also, fantastic airside views of runway 18C.
It is really the main terminal and the original concourses B/C that are the issue. The takes about it being just too small and outpaced in growth by DJ and Soly are correct. City expanded so fast and got caught with its pants down on CLT. Neil’s “decision tree” take is sooooo good.
Anyway, as former Charlottean, hard to disagree that the airport mostly stinks overall, but the recent upgrades and future planned expansions (closing runway 5/23 to expand and refurbish concourses B/C/D and eventually adding a fourth parallel runway) will make it a much better experience going forward–at least as good an experience as one can have flying AAL.
Edit: The new ATC tower is also mighty impressive and has improved capacity a great deal:
Edit Edit: The free airport overlook at CLT is the best feature of the entire airport. Highest recommendation for planespotters and parents of little kids.
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If I have learned nothing else over the last two years, I’ve learned the importance of standing up for what you believe in - I’d be remiss to not give credit where credit is due.
The Indianapolis Airport (IND) should be in the conversation for top-tier airport experiences.
Parking
Economy starts at 9 bucks a day. You’re more likely to be hit by one of the many frequent shuttles than to ever miss one. Play your cards right and you can score parking at the first drop off, making your exit time on the return comically short before you’re on the highway.
Dining
IND is where the players play. Shapiro’s Deli, Chick Fil A, and coming soon (local IND spot) Sun King Brewery. There’s no knock-off or jokes (looking at you ATL, with terminals full of fast-food restaurants that vaguely you of 3 different chains in one restaurant) in their lineup. It’s just good eatin.
Atmosphere
IND has high-ceilings, a walking escalator upon that makes a race-car sound when you cross it, and massive aerial art installation that hangs from the roof. Gates are spaciously spread, and both A and B terminals have massive windows that make for a pleasant waiting experience. There’s a seasonal rotation of former Indy 500 cars on display just past security as well. Are you getting a seasonal rotation of former Indy 500 cars anywhere else?
Security/Bag Drop
Easy. I’ve never waited longer than 15 mins in the general boarding line. Bag drop’s always a breeze as well. There’s only a few carousels for pick-up on return located less than 20 yards from the pick-up lanes.
Flights and Routes
Plentiful options for Delta and Southwest lovers, along with plenty of routes for the other major players.
IND was awarded Best Airport in North America by Airports Council International and Best Airport in America by readers of Condé Nast Traveler, year after year.
Need I say more?
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Hard agree. Was tweeting about this with Jay Rigdon. I’ve only been in and out of IND once, but it was a great experience that left an immensely positive impression. The huge solar farm as you drive in is pretty cool, too.
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The now 2+ year construction especially leading into departures is an absolute abomination though.
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To be fair I once spent 4 hours in the LAX immigration queue after an 11 hour flight from London. Landed just after several flights from Asia at the start of the academic year full of students having to process visas, who all got in the queue before me.
Then, after that I rented a car to drive to Santa Barbara and nearly got into a crash passing Oxnard in one of those things where people in old shut trucks try to get you to hit them for insurance claims. Weird journey.
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Oxnard is a helluva place.
IND is quality. It’s at or near the top of its class. Only “downside” is that it’s not a hub with a bunch of people connecting so most people using it are starting and ending there making it hard to compare it to bigger city airports or even places like MSP or DTW. That said, I was happy to see the firm making the new KC airport mention using IND as a model.
Comparing a standard Delta SkyClub with a Polaris lounge seems like apples and oranges, no?
Also, not doing the 757-200 for Randy. Will do the real Polaris seats as we won’t be flying to EDI.
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It’s just the best. Traveled DFW to TPA for work for a good 8 months and it’s just so smooth. Close rental car, security segmented by terminal. Only issue is for first timers and missing an exit and getting stuck on 275 bridge with no turn around until you cross the bay.
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Looking forward to listening to the pod. I’m really curious on @randy’s thoughts on DEN. Personally, I hate having Denver’s airport as my home airport. It’s at least a 45 minute drive to my house, and the parking there is bad, and it’s even worse than usual right now. The train to downtown is nice, but it’s still a 30 minute ride. I get why they built the airport so far away (less weather impacts plus room to expand), but it blows for having it as your home airport. It’s also a bitch of an airport for security, since everyone funnels into a few checkpoints.
The positive is that it’s big enough you can get most places in the US nonstop and can fly to Europe and Asia nonstop. But every time I go to an airport that’s actually convenient to the city, I get angrier about Denver.
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(+ illuminati/new world order apocalypse bunker)
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I like E as well, especially for it’s proximity to the Centurion lounge as I frequently connect through that terminal. Side note, CLT has one of my favorite AmEx lounges in their system. Good size, food is always good and lots of natural light.
I live in Pittsburgh so we’ll start there. The airport is . . Fine. However, they just broke ground on a 5-year, multi-billion dollar renovation that’s mucho needed. Excited to see the results . . If I’m still here by then.
While the Charlotte airport does generally blow due to the constant mass of humanity navigation the decision tree of terminals, one of my best airport experiences came at Charlotte. We connected on our way back from our honeymoon in St. Lucia, it was late at night after a 6 hour flight and the Carolina Pit BBQ (this place slaps) was still open. We enjoyed the shit out of that BBQ.
Speaking of St. Lucia, it was a totally unique airport experience for me as it was at the time, and remains, my only international flight so it was interested de-planing a 737 directly onto the tarmac and into the 1,500 square foot airport and through customs.
Beat new airport this year for me has to be Myrtle Beach. Flew in there for our annual golf trip and expected something similar to St. Lucia based on what I’d heard about it, but it pleasantly surprised all of us and exceeded the (unfairly) low expectations.
Orlando is and will remain hell on earth for all eternity.
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SDQ takes the prize for most rowdy arrival hall i have ever experienced, you get out of immigration and into a party. The scene makes PUJ look like a different country.
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