How many airports have you been to?

[angus]

I'm not exactly sure how many I have been to.  Not more than 75 I'd guess.

Would also be curious to know what people's favorite airport is.  

My favorite ones are all really small, like Waterloo, Iowa or Columbus, Mississippi or Gilmer, Texas.  You can get there five minutes before your flight and no one hassles you.  

Some really small airports are no fun, though.  Especially if they're in the developing world.  Here's one I flew into in Honduras about ten years ago.  These airports have the disadvantage of not having any air conditioner in the waiting room (other than the breeze blowing through), and the planes are often late.  At least this one gives patrons a shaded area to sit.  Some don't even have that.



Among the big ones I like Schipol, in Amsterdam, for killing time.  Lots of stuff to do.  For jackboots with a sense of humor, I like Logan International, in Boston.  It's the only one where you can actually tell politically incorrect jokes to them while they probe you and get a smile out of them.  I've noticed this again and again, over many years.  Most places hire TSA agents with absolutely no sense of humor.  Logan is a refreshing change from that.

[angus]

Hmm, I had sort of the opposite experience at Logan.

Interesting.  Well, I've always found them to be smiling, which is sort of weird for TSA people.  I guess we all have our own unique experiences.  ModerateVAvoter mentioned Detroit as one of his favorites, which nearly made me choke.  I'd just about rather walk a mile across hot coals than have to hang out in the Detroit airport.  I guess our experiences there were very different.

To each his own, I say.  So long as I have a little piece of corrugated tin or aluminum over my head for the hot tropical sun, or a blanket for those times when the Polar Vortex dips my way in colder climes, and security either sufficiently loose that I might sock my pint, or sufficiently tight that they'll provide a cash bar at the terminal, then I can pretty much handle any airport.  

Free WiFi is also nice, but its absence is not a deal killer.

[angus]

Angus, you didn't like Detroit? I'm referring to the McNamara Terminal, with the monorail, fountains, etc. Not the other terminal where they have like everyone other than Delta.

Well, I was flying from Boston to Phoenix via Detroit and had many hours to cool my heels there.  I was going to see the grand canyon.  This was in about 1999, and maybe it has changed since then, but I only remember that there was very little to do.  It wasn't like DFW or Schipol or even Tokyo Narita where there's lots to do (without having to take a taxi into town!) if you have several hours to kill.

The way back was far worse.  I was about 31 and with a woman that was about five years older than myself who was really keen on getting married.  We'd been over it before, and I was figuring it was time to break it off, but I had decided not to let any of that spoil our Grand Canyon adventure.  Still, as soon as we boarded the plane in Phoenix to go back home to Boston, she pressed me on the issue.  I had to be honest. 

Little piece of advice, boys:  never break up with your girlfriend at the outset of a six hour flight. 

I cannot even begin to describe what a horrible, horrible flight that was, and it was non-stop.  At that point I probably would have welcomed a stop in Detroit on the way home.  To be fair, I might be a bit jaded by the fact that the whole vacation is one which I tried to block out from my memory.

[angus]

I noticed an increasing number of American airports were offering free wifi. 

haha.  I never can remember these sorts of things either.  It seems like most of the big ones do.  Then again, most of the big ones also have bars, shops, TV screens blaring out Cooper Anderson 360, and all the carboard-flavored chicken mcnuggets you can swallow.  (Did you want Ranch Sauce, Bar-B-Q, or Sweet'n'Sour with that?)  The little ones on tropical islands have none of those things.  Airports seem like an all-or-nothing deal these days.  It'd be nice, if we were going to legitimize this thread, if airports really were that different from city to city.  Like, if you were in Arabia, there'd be dancing girls and magic carpet rides, and in Amsterdam there would be ganja, in Texas there'd be mechanical bulls and waitresses in Daisy Duke shorts, and in New Delhi there would be guys pulling rickshaws and serving tea to you while you ride those rickshaws from terminal to terminal.  As it is, however, the main difference in airports seems to hinge on size more than anything else, and in my experience the smaller the better.  There are airports so small that all you have to do is show up just a few minutes before your scheduled departure, literally, and you're checked through all the way, no matter how many stops you might have before arriving at your home.  No anal probes, no removal of belts and shoes, and of course no WiFi.  In my humble opinion, not having WiFi is a small price to pay for not having to remove your shoes, or subject yourself to a full cavity search, or have to remove the flask of scotch from your sock and check it.  Therefore, I favor small airports over large ones, generally speaking.

[angus]

Minneapolis/St. Paul has more amenities than you would expect, given its size.  

maybe.  I can't remember, even though I have flown from there many times.  We lived in northern Iowa for many years, and MSP was always the closest international airport.  My parents are from Minnesota and I have many relatives in the area.  When we fly from MSP I always stayed the night with my uncle prior to departing and upon return, and left my car in his driveway as well and he'd give us a ride.  My son's first few airline trips were always from MSP.  It could be that the reason I can't remember much about the amenities there is because I always had a rambunctious toddler in tow at MSP.  I think that MSP was also the first airport I flew into solo, without my parents.  That was when I was about 15, and I spent the summer in St. Paul with my uncle and cousins.

We also flew from Moline, IL when I lived in Iowa.  It's called the Quad Cities airport.  I'd have to say that among the ones around there (Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, etc.) it was my favorite, mostly because I could always get good prices for flights south (Mexico and Caribbean Islands), but we could never find good flights east from there.  Had to go to MSP for decent trans-pacific fares.

Now we also have a much bigger choice of international airports where I live.  I can take a train from just a couple of miles from my house to PHL and JFK easily, or take a train and then a bus to LaGuardia, or take a train and another train to Newark, or drive to Harrisburg International in 40 minutes, or to BWI in about 1.5 hours.  Of those, the smallest is Harrisburg, and it is the least hassle, both inside and out.  It is also the most expensive, so I don't use it often.

[angus]

way back when I traveled with my father

I remember back in the day.  First time I ever flew on an airplane was in about 1974 and my father's company paid for it, so it was first class.  The whole family flew to Amsterdam and our seats were on the upper storey of a two-decker.  KLM 747 I think it was.  Remember when people could smoke on planes?  All the second-hand smoke you could handle.  I remember when I was a kid I could walk up to the cockpit door and open it and talk to the captain.  C'mon in son, wanna see how a real airplane works?  That was special.  Back then people had leg room, even in the cheap seats.  And First Class was really special.  The big screen movies and fresh baked pastries and copious sodas and ice cream.  We also went on some cheap seats from time to time.  The cheap service back then was better than the first class service now. 

As recently as 15 years ago I still remember getting on an airplane with my electric guitar case.  No one asking me what was inside it or x-raying it to look for weapons, or asking me to check it and stow it below because it was so big.

Times have changed.  Not having to take off my shoes at the airport or actually having leg room on a plane now seems like it must have happened in a dream.  Nowadays it's like, "Oh, you want to take a suitcase with you?  That'll be an extre twenty-five dollars, please."   Seriouly?

[angus]

La Paz

Been there; done that.  Exhilarating, isn't it?  Apparently it's the highest major airport in the world.  That's why the runway is so long.  (Sparse air and all that...) 

Did you fly Lloyd Aero Boliviano, with the chickens and goats?  I did.  Thoroughgoing experience.  I'd definitely do it again if presented with the opportunity.

[angus]

¡Mate de coca!  Never turned it down.
 
Mostly a pleasure trip.  It was a combined Peru-Bolivia trip.  Four weeks.  I'd always wanted to greet the sunrise at the Inti Punku.  I also was pretty keen on visiting Tiwanaku.  We hiked the Inca Trail from Sacsayhuaman to Machu Picchu back in '02.  That segment was four long days, with my 55-pound Jansport strapped to my back the whole time.  Sleeping in tents in the frigid, 4400-meter high air.  Good times.  You bet I started every day with a touch of the leaf.

LaPaz was particularly bizarre.  Like you said, what a place!  LAB was the cheapest flight back to Miraflores.  Also a very interesting venue.  

[angus]

I'm not exactly sure how many I have been to.  Not more than 75 I'd guess.

I can add Orlando International Airport in Florida and Queen Beatrix International Airport in Aruba to the list since I made that post. 

I might add that I liked Orlando.  Parking was easy and cheap (ten dollars per day, on campus, which is relatively inexpensive as international airports in the US go), with a shuttle every ten minutes to and from the lot.  Free Wi-fi in the terminal, and it actually is a strong enough signal to be reliable.  Reasonably comfortable chairs.  No shoe or belt removal in the security lines.  No bag check upon re-entry to the country.  Very smooth.  Hotter than hell outside, though.  The temperature was 104°F on the Volvo when we got back to it after a week.  Probably more like 140 in the cab.  We had to leave all the doors open for about five minutes before we could stand to get back into the car.