Scoop Airport/Hotel/Travel Thread

[WarriorFan]

Hotels:

Best chain hotel - especially if you live in Asia - Shangri La.  Mandarin Oriental is inconsistent from city to city. Peninsula of course is great, but really too expensive for my budget. 

I'm Marriott lifetime Platinum, SPG Platinum and stick to those most of the time.  Depends on city and location, but I find that Marriott has something that meets my needs almost everywhere except Australia. 

Marriott and SPG platinum upgrades are really nice. 

Worst chain:  Hyatt.  Horrible room design, not friendly.

Honorable Mention:  Radisson.  Lots of nice new properties, especially outside the USA.

[WarriorDad]

How are you dudes not including MKE in your rankings?

And a shout-out to Rockford International.  Flew out of there once, best experience ever.  You park about 100 feet from the door, there's like 4 gates and one luggage carousel.

Expense is one downside of MKE, and flight availability.  Great little airport, but airports that are like that usually a result of less flights which means more expensive flights on average.  When my wife and I lived in Milwaukee years ago and Midwest Express was there, what a great experience. 

Dealing with O'Hare sucks, but cost of flights are better. 


Other airports I recommend that sometimes can save you money because multiple options in a city, but also more limited schedules and I have run into more expensive flights, too.   

Love Field over DFW in Dallas.  Oakland instead of San Francisco.  Long Beach over Los Angeles.  Ft. Lauderdale over Miami.  Colorado Springs instead of Denver.  Providence instead of Boston.  Hobby instead of Bush in Houston.  BMI instead of Dulles. Mesa instead of Sky Harbor in Phoenix.


Marriott Platinum Elite member, never had an issue anywhere in the USA.

[WarriorFan]

Airlines:
Note that this comes from the perspective of someone who flies only business/first.  I've been lucky from a work perspective since about age 25 to fly business except on regional flights when it just isn't available.  For leisure, I believe the vacation starts when you leave for the airport, so I fly only business.  That being said, I always choose only the cheapest business class and have no loyalty to anything except my wallet.  Even with that philosophy, I'm platinum on American (lifetime), S7, and Qatar and gold on SQ, Aeroflot and Delta.

Airlines that Suck:
All USA based airlines
BA
Aeroflot (45 pax to 1 toilet in Business!)
Emirates
Malaysian
Turkish
Air Asia (never had an on time flight)
Air France
All Chinese airlines

Airlines I'll tolerate:
S7
Thai
Korean - Actually good unless the guy next to you orders Kimchi
Qantas
KLM
China Airlines (Taipei)

The good ones:
ANA
JAL
Austrian
Lufthansa
Asiana

The best:
Singapore Air - the best by far.
Qatar
Cathay
Garuda Indonesia

[JWags85]

Which terminal in Heathrow? I think this is another good example of which airline/terminal you use at a given airport.

I have flown in and out of T4 several times, and it's crowded, disorganized and immigration takes forever. On one outbound flight, several gates were very close together and it was complete chaos. An overhead announcement was made for our flight to MSP so we got into a long line. We were halfway down the jetbridge when an airport employee told us that the MSP announcement was an error, and that the plane we almost boarded was headed to Accra. So about half of the people (us included) headed back up the jetbridge just in time to make it onto our actual flight out (from an adjacent gate that had been mislabeled). Oh...and some T4 departures require you to take a bus to your plane. 

I have heard the newer British Airways T5 is much better.

Agreed.  I fly out of Terminal 2, the Queens Terminal, with United and its rather nice.  Clean, modern, the "TSA" is actually helpful and friendly, albeit stricter than most.  Probably my favorite United lounge that Ive encountered abroad.

LGA obviously sucks, but the Delta terminal is far nicer.

HKG lives up to all that has been said here. 

BOM in India is brand new and quite nice in a lot of ways.   No special brand specific lounges, but executive lounges with plenty of space, very nice bathrooms and excellent food.

BRU is fantastically efficient save for one 2-3 international flights land and they only have 1 non EU customs agent on duty.  Easily the fastest non-domestic TSA pre check from check in to gate that Ive experienced regularly.

I'm United 1K.  Definitely still the carrier of choice if you're traveling long haul international and you're not springing for the Etihad/Emirates/Qatar/Cathay tier.  My 6 business class upgrades annually make the status more than worthwhile.  I usually eclipse most of my other business travel friends in miles significantly, but they kill me in segments.  But I usually only travel once every 5-6 weeks, but thats usually to HK or India, if not Europe, with NY in between.

Any other United regulars flying on routes with the upgraded Polaris business?  I looked at the map and see that everything out of ORD for the most part is going to be the last to be upgraded, which pisses me off.  But not surprising given 90% of my LHR to ORD flights are on super dated POS planes that don't have in seat power and still have the ancient 4 channel closed circuit TV entertainment.

I sometimes get Lufthansa flights depending on route given the Star Alliance connection.  Love it, night and day compared to US airlines even on simple economy.

[DegenerateDish]

Polaris seems to really be hit or miss. I go to SFO about every other month and sometimes will catch the 777 out of ORD to SFO and get the upgrade to Polaris, and it's not impressive. Granted it's only 4 hours, but the cabin didn't have a wow factor. I'd be curious of people taking long hauls on Polaris and thumbs up or thumbs down.

Agreed that HGK is the best airport I've ever been to. I don't know if most people include Hong Kong as a bucket list city, but especially if you love London (my favorite city), the British footprint will forever be a part of Hong Kong, and it's just an amazing city.

The sole trip I took to HGK was first class on Singapore Air out of SFO, best airline experience I've ever had.

[JWags85]

Polaris seems to really be hit or miss. I go to SFO about every other month and sometimes will catch the 777 out of ORD to SFO and get the upgrade to Polaris, and it's not impressive. Granted it's only 4 hours, but the cabin didn't have a wow factor. I'd be curious of people taking long hauls on Polaris and thumbs up or thumbs down.

Agreed that HGK is the best airport I've ever been to. I don't know if most people include Hong Kong as a bucket list city, but especially if you love London (my favorite city), the British footprint will forever be a part of Hong Kong, and it's just an amazing city.

The sole trip I took to HGK was first class on Singapore Air out of SFO, best airline experience I've ever had.

The issue is United calls all business/first "Polaris" when its a fraction of their fleet.  So you're likely just riding the old business class cabin, and I'll agree.  While its great compared to economy, its really not that impressive of an offering.

As for HK, 10000% agree.  First time I went to HK it blew my mind.  Its a marvel of a city in a number of ways, but British touches and sensibilities in a tropical setting really make it extra crazy (London is also my fav city).  Talking to people like my father who have been traveling there for 25+ years, makes me sad I couldn't have experienced it pre-handover to China.  I love it now, but you ask people Westerners or ex-pats who were there prior, and they bemoan all the changes, I imagine it was even more like Europe.

[rocket surgeon]

How are you dudes not including MKE in your rankings?

And a shout-out to Rockford International.  Flew out of there once, best experience ever.  You park about 100 feet from the door, there's like 4 gates and one luggage carousel.

my question as well, except the more i thought about-mke vs. all the other internationals?  that's why mke for the most part will always be fairly stress free to fly in/out of.

     i've got to find a different long term parking facility though.  the super-saver ain't that anymore.  plus they are always the last van to stroll through for pick-ups.  anyone do the wally-park or marriot?  i mean "super-saver is up to $8.00/day with sshmitty service.  i'd gladly pay a little more for better more reliable service

[JWags85]

my question as well, except the more i thought about-mke vs. all the other internationals?  that's why mke for the most part will always be fairly stress free to fly in/out of.

     i've got to find a different long term parking facility though.  the super-saver ain't that anymore.  plus they are always the last van to stroll through for pick-ups.  anyone do the wally-park or marriot?  i mean "super-saver is up to $8.00/day with sshmitty service.  i'd gladly pay a little more for better more reliable service

MKE is a fantastic experience in terms of speed.  Since I moved back to the MKE area about 3 months ago, Ive flown out 5-6 times and have yet to see more than 1 person in front of me in TSA pre-check.  So thats nice.  But flight options are pretty limited or pricey, even to somewhere like NY, so that kind of sucks.

I use FastPark, bit closer than WallPark.  $7 a day, they now valet on drop off, and have multiple shuttles running so Ive never really waited.  Its nice.

[rocket surgeon]

MKE is a fantastic experience in terms of speed.  Since I moved back to the MKE area about 3 months ago, Ive flown out 5-6 times and have yet to see more than 1 person in front of me in TSA pre-check.  So thats nice.  But flight options are pretty limited or pricey, even to somewhere like NY, so that kind of sucks.

I use FastPark, bit closer than WallPark.  $7 a day, they now valet on drop off, and have multiple shuttles running so Ive never really waited.  Its nice.

thanks wags!  i've seen fastpark quite a bit.  i like the valet thing and it actually looks closer than super-saver, especially if they move ya all the way down to lot B.  i think we give fastpark a try next

[MU82]

I actually was at a dinner party last night and for some reason the subject of airports came up.

The guy I was talking to most was really talkin' up MSP.

I haven't lived in Minny since 1994, and I haven't flown into the airport there since 2008, so I'm not one to judge. That last time, I remember thinking it was nice that they had the train now, but otherwise it didn't make me go, "Wow, what an airport!"

Sounds like some stuff has been done there in the years since to make it a good one.

[4everwarriors]

You're good doe, gotta wait 5 years ta judge anyways, hey?

[jsglow]

I feel for you guys that live on the road. I don't think I could have done it.

[GooooMarquette]

I feel for you guys that live on the road. I don't think I could have done it.

I did a lot of it for several years, but haven't had a single biz trip since about 2012.

It was really exciting for the first couple of years (NWA then Delta Platinum Elite, Marriott Rewards status, constant upgrades, etc), but then it got old. After about five years, the only thing I enjoyed anymore was the fact that we got perks even on family vacations. The entire family got upgrades on a several international flights, and we once used Marriott Rewards points for a free week in two adjoining club-level rooms at the JW Marriott in Seoul.

My fav moment was when my daughter (then about 8 or so) went with me when we were called to the ticket counter just before boarding for a flight to Paris. We had all been bumped up to Biz, so my daughter went running back to my wife screaming "mom, we're all going to be in first class!!!"

It was fun for a while, but I don't miss it a bit.

[Goose]

JWags

HK was a fantastic city and still is a very good one, IMO. I have been traveling there since 1985 and my family had an office there from 1992 to 2001. The handover definitely changed the city, but not so much the flair of the city. Two things have influenced the changes in HK, the influx of local Chinese and the wealth factor. To me, HK changed when they started hiring Chinese, over HK natives, in the service area. HK is service driven city and the hotels, even The Penisula, lost some of the upper end service it was known for.

The local Chinese brought their customs, styles to HK and it really is the exact opposite of what HK folks represent. We have had HK staff working our family from 1992, and still do, and they hate how the local Chinese act and their behavior. Major, major difference between HK folks and those from 50 miles to the north.

As for the wealth factor, the old money HK have a unique style and stems from the Brits influence. New rich Chinese roll into HK on the weekend with paper bags full of cash to hit the LV and jewelry stores and pisses off the locals. HK people are extremely proud of their city and not anything like the new rich Chinese.

All that said, IMO, unless you visited HK often prior to the handover, you would not notice the changes. To me, the veneer of HK remains the same, only the intangibles have changed.

[JWags85]

JWags

HK was a fantastic city and still is a very good one, IMO. I have been traveling there since 1985 and my family had an office there from 1992 to 2001. The handover definitely changed the city, but not so much the flair of the city. Two things have influenced the changes in HK, the influx of local Chinese and the wealth factor. To me, HK changed when they started hiring Chinese, over HK natives, in the service area. HK is service driven city and the hotels, even The Penisula, lost some of the upper end service it was known for.

The local Chinese brought their customs, styles to HK and it really is the exact opposite of what HK folks represent. We have had HK staff working our family from 1992, and still do, and they hate how the local Chinese act and their behavior. Major, major difference between HK folks and those from 50 miles to the north.

As for the wealth factor, the old money HK have a unique style and stems from the Brits influence. New rich Chinese roll into HK on the weekend with paper bags full of cash to hit the LV and jewelry stores and pisses off the locals. HK people are extremely proud of their city and not anything like the new rich Chinese.

All that said, IMO, unless you visited HK often prior to the handover, you would not notice the changes. To me, the veneer of HK remains the same, only the intangibles have changed.

Appreciate the perspective.  And it matches a lot of what Ive heard in some ways.  The majority of my customers and people I interact with in HK are traditional Hong Kong-ese and def have the unique British influenced style.  The Chinese in service industries Ive noticed, especially as I get more and more interactions where either English isn't spoken, or they purposefully don't want to speak English.

One example that multiple people have bemoaned is the change of the waterfront in Kowloon.  From all the bars and restaurants along the water that are now gone and replaced by Chinese governmental buildings and a "park" which completely obscure most of that prime area.

All in all, I still love the city, its absolutely bucket list.

[dgies9156]

I do about 110,000 miles a year on  United and 35,000 assorted other airlines. All domestic. Million miler and at least Gold for the rest of my life. Best part about a million miler on United is that my wife has my 1K status too.  Like some others in here, I tend to fly first and business class.

United is like an old suit. Still fits and feels good. But you know it's a bit ragged and those lapels -- geez! Their first class has deteriorated over the years and they tend to forget who pays the bills. Sad thing is once upon a time, United/American/Delta stood for something.  Now they're trying to out Southwest Southwest.

I can hardly wait until they try to out-do Spirit or Allegiant!

Some of my favorites and avoidances:

Favorite Airports:

1) Chicago -- What can I say, it's home. I tend not to have problems with O'Hare, unless we land on 10-28 Right and the taxi is longer than the drive home. The United Clubs are OK and the Admirals Club is good. Rarely have trouble finding a place to work. Well organized. One of the few  things in Chicago that works.

2) SEA-TAC  -- On a clear day, the views from the main terminal to the Olympic Peninsula are to die for. People are friendly. The place works. Rarely are there delays. Walks can be a bit long and I swear the rental cars are in Portland or Vancouver but otherwise a great place to fly into and out of.

3) Houston Interco -- Sorry gang, I like the place. I go through Interco regularly when I fly out of MCO and its just not that bad an airport. A bit of a walk at times, but not unreasonable. Good barbecue too.

4) MKE -- Chick is right on this one. Just wish they had more flights to more places I need to go.

Places I hate:

1) BOS -- Run by Massport. Need I say more?

2) MCO -- 10 gazillion people who have never flown before cramming through security wanting to know why they can take contraband aboard. If you don't have TSA pre (I do), count on at least an hour in security. This is my winter home airport. The airline people are nice, but this place can be a mess. Inadequate parking means you'll often end up in a satellite lot somewhere near Daytona Beach.

3) Twin Cities International -- Security personnel here suck. Like Lambert in St. Louis, look for some goofy TSA agent to come up with a way to harass you so he can justify keeping his job.

4) Denver -- DIA is what happens when you mix bailing out struggling real estate developers with public works experts that have no idea what they're doing. This airport is somewhere just east of the Kansas/Colorado line. It's easier to get to downtown Chicago from O'Hare (or Milwaukee for that matter) than it is to get into Denver from DIA. The Satanic followers who built this place forgot that people come to Denver to go skiiing, not to enjoy the unique characteristics of the Colorado flatlands. The folks that did this went from airports to designing Soldier Field. I swear both are about as goofy. On United, the gate staff are incompetent and unfeeling.

5) LGA -- A hell hole. Will be under construction until after I'm dead and still not have anywhere near enough airside aprons and runways to serve demand. Should have been shut down after 9/11.

I'll lay out some hotels and some stories in future posts.

[jsglow]

One of the things I note is the prevalence of very infrequent flyers when evaluating an airport.  I swear, 80% of the passengers on my frequent flight to LAS haven't been on a plane in at least 2 years.  I chalk it up to being simply part of the process.  MCO suffers from the same issue.

dgies, is it United for you based on your non-stop capability?  I fully understand why regular business travelers go with a legacy for things like clubs and first class seats.

[Goose]

jsglow

That is a big pet peeve of mine. It seems every time I get on a flight to China the person next to me is in frequent flyer and wants to ask a million questions. Unlike here on Scoop, I have ZERO interest in talking to anyone on a 16 hour flight. Only thing that frustrates more, is when people at home want to ask me a million questions regarding Asia.

[dgies9156]

One of the things I note is the prevalence of very infrequent flyers when evaluating an airport.  I swear, 80% of the passengers on my frequent flight to LAS haven't been on a plane in at least 2 years.  I chalk it up to being simply part of the process.  MCO suffers from the same issue.

dgies, is it United for you based on your non-stop capability?  I fully understand why regular business travelers go with a legacy for things like clubs and first class seats.

Glow:

You have never seen anything until you see the security lines at MCO! Not a regular at Vegas, but I never seen anything as bad as MCO. And there's nothing they can do to fix that.

I've flown United since my honeymoon back in 1980. I've been Mileage Plus since 1984 and elite level since 1987. The loyalty, I can say, has been a two-way street. I've been to Hawaii and Europe more times than I can count because of Mileage Plus!

My loyalty to United stems from a 1997 incident  in which the entire airline was mobilized to get me home. My daughter was adopted from Belarus and we had to go during high season to Europe (June to September). Trying to find a seat was virtually impossible. Since I was a 1K and we were bringing home a young girl who had never been out of an orphanage, we were shooting for international first class.

They "found" us three international first class seats from Amsterdam to London and Chicago. I say "found" because they pulled three revenue seats for us to get us home. The people at United could not have been more accommodating, more appreciative of me as a frequent flyer or, frankly, more caring. A month later, I was in Denver coming home when the lead flight attendant pulled me aside and asked, "how's Tracy?" I asked her, "how on earth do you know who Tracy is?" She looked back at me and said, "your wife was in 1C, Tracy was in 1D and you were in 1E, London to Chicago, United 959, a month ago. Some people, we never forget..."

We've had other incredible moments on United over the years. Yeah, sometimes they really suck especially when Commander Jeff was at the controls, but they try hard.  They really do

Their non-stops help, but their service from MCO is good too.

Goose:

I make a really concerted effort when I fly to read the person next to me. I'll always say hello and from time to time chat. But the secret is to know when to go about your business.  I've sat next to some fascinating people. Gary Fencick of the Super Bowl Chicago Bears and former Governor James Thompson immediately come to mind.

But if they signal they don't want to talk, I'll go about my business. And, if I get a chatterer, I'll take out my Bose noise cancelling headphones and listen to something for an hour.

If I ever sit next to you, I'll say hello and then put my headphones on.

[Babybluejeans]

Worst domestic airports: LGA is truly atrocious. On Thursday it took me an hour to leave the airport - and that doesn't even factor in the 30 minutes I spent eating at the Centurion Lounge. Horrible place. EWR is pretty crappy too if you're not flying out of Terminal C. MCI sucks with their poor design requiring separate security at each gate. MIA is a dump and the A.C. is always cranked too cold.

Favorite domestic airports: DCA (b/c everything is close), SFO, and somehow, Indianapolis! LAS, SEA, and Jackson Hole are up there too.

Favorite int'l business classes: JAL, if you get the SkySuites. Better than int'l first class on 99% of other airlines. Love the service on Thai, even if the product can be outdated. And I've loved every trip on Turkish, especially if you get a few hours in the Turkish Lounge in Istanbul (which is an oasis in a nightmare airport). KLM and Lufthansa for the pretty FAs. U.S.-based airlines, I'll take AA refurbed 777 or Delta One. And I'll admit I'm a total sucker for BA's 747 upper deck, even if the hard product is poop. I feel like I'm on a private jet in another era. I'll even take that over BA first class, which is basically business class on every other airline. 

Worst int'l business classes: United 777-200, TAP Portugal (service, dear god), BA non-747 upper deck. And of course any intra-Europe flight on a non-widebody.

Seems like there are some United flyers on here. I switched over from AA to United after moving to Denver. Are people generally pleased with it? I noticed my upgrade % has dropped from AA, likely because Denver is a hub. But otherwise my experience has been that it's totally fine...yet everyone I know complains about it. Is that a non-elite flyer thing? Or have I just not gotten the Real United experience yet?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

MSP has the worst security lines in my experience. I don't fly often but the lines at MSP always seem to take at least 25 minutes

[Goose]

dgies

The million mile companion is a very nice perk. I am million on both United and Delta, and will two million on United in next couple of years. Unfortunately I almost always fly in economy plus. They do a nice job of blocking out my row on less crowded flights. My biggest regret from flying in back is not hitting Global Services. I guess the fact I am paying $802 for my flight in couple of weeks is great for me, but not Global Service status.

[WarriorFan]

I feel for you guys that live on the road. I don't think I could have done it.

Been doing it for 27 years and still a happy traveler.  I've seen more of China than most Chinese, more of Russia than nearly all Russians, more of India than you can imagine, and so much of Indonesia that I could write a book.  Wouldn't trade these experiences for anything. 

[Goose]

Warrior fan

32 years and would not trade for anything!! I am with you 100%.

[T-Bone]

DFW sucks

I don't really care that much, infrequent flyer (3-5/year), see airports as means to an end. Don't want to hang out there, but never been stuck, and never travelled a ton for work.