Scoop Airport/Hotel/Travel Thread

[DegenerateDish]

I know this thread might not be for everyone, and didn't want to confuse this thread for when people ask questions about specific destinations, which usually leads to really great and detailed info.

I know there's folks on here that travel a lot, so figured this could be about airports/hotels/reward programs/tips/frustrations, stuff like that.

With that said, I flew in and out of Lambert for the first time (typically I'll just make the drive from Chicago), but Lambert could use a new coat of paint. Maybe a couple of coats. Albeit a long time ago, for a former hub, I was surprised by how outdated it is.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

I last flew in/out of Lambert in 25 years ago and I recall nothing about it.

[WarriorFan]

OK, here's a start from someone who's already done 91k miles this year.

Airports that Suck:
Miami
LHR
LAX
Moscow Shermetyevo
Beijing
everything in Australia except Melbourne
Bangkok
Phuket
KLIA
Narita T1
Las Vegas
Dubai
Charles DeGaulle

airports I barely tolerate:
IAH
ORD
Incheon
Melbourne
JNB
Jakarta
Narita T2
PHX
DEN
Abu Dhabi
Newcastle
Denpasar (Bali)
Midway
ATL

good airports:
SIN
HKG
Vienna
Capetown
MKE
Tokyo Haneda
Tucson
Doha
AMS
Manchester

Updated with a few more I've used recently.

[Chili]

I was just in Lambert this week too. Down there about every 6 weeks or so - it's a dump. I mean it's not LGA hot pile of garbage bad - but it's really bad.

Favorite airports have to be AMS & MUC.

GRU in Sao Paulo isn't bad for a South American airport. AUK isn't too bad either. Narita > Haneda. DUS is a convenient place to directly get Europe from ORD. 

Echo the statements above regarding Beijing and Australia being subpar. I would throw the Shanghai airports on their too - nothing special. This goes for a lot travel in mainland China. Mexico City is a pain as well. Rio isn't that great.

As for alliances - what is everyone's choice? I was 1K on United for a few years but a new job doesn't have me going overseas as much anymore so I am now just grinding out Gold. Was thinking about switching to another international star alliance carrier to get gold easier but wasn't sure if I should.

Also, a while back someone mentioned Briggs & Riley luggage. Good lord that person needs a high five. I love my bag. I had to get my wife one so she would stop stealing mine. I won't buy another brand ever again.

[mu_hilltopper]

I just bought a piece of luggage .. the $120 model will do just fine.  Serious q, Briggs & Riley seems to be $300-600.  What makes it 3x better? 

[rocket surgeon]

don't know how you guys do it...i get stiff and a little outta wack and constipated enough after a 3-4 hour flight and a 2 hour time change.  mke to las or phx via southwest in line anywhere from #1-5 or so, hello exit row window seat with no one in front of me and i'm good to go baby

[Dr. Blackheart]

IAH Terminal C is the bomb.

Frankfort is the worst. Prefer to connect through Düsseldorf. Narita a close second for dump.

Zurich is prime.

Agree on Hong Kong. 

Rome, Paris DeGaule crazy.

Absolute best airport is Dublin.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

IAH Terminal C is the bomb.

Overall this is true. But the best restaurant in the whole place is in Terminal A. Breakfast Klub. The Wings and Waffles will change your life. Wings and Grits not so bad either. The actual location in Houston is better but the airport locations are still top notch airport food.

[DegenerateDish]

I was just in Lambert this week too. Down there about every 6 weeks or so - it's a dump. I mean it's not LGA hot pile of garbage bad - but it's really bad.

Favorite airports have to be AMS & MUC.

GRU in Sao Paulo isn't bad for a South American airport. AUK isn't too bad either. Narita > Haneda. DUS is a convenient place to directly get Europe from ORD. 

Echo the statements above regarding Beijing and Australia being subpar. I would throw the Shanghai airports on their too - nothing special. This goes for a lot travel in mainland China. Mexico City is a pain as well. Rio isn't that great.

As for alliances - what is everyone's choice? I was 1K on United for a few years but a new job doesn't have me going overseas as much anymore so I am now just grinding out Gold. Was thinking about switching to another international star alliance carrier to get gold easier but wasn't sure if I should.

Also, a while back someone mentioned Briggs & Riley luggage. Good lord that person needs a high five. I love my bag. I had to get my wife one so she would stop stealing mine. I won't buy another brand ever again.

That's funny what you said about Lambert and LGA, because that was my immediate thought that Lambert was the LGA of the Midwest.

I too grind out Gold on United each year. I'm on pace for this year to get to 1K (I'll have 40 segments in by end of next week). I don't business travel internationally though.

Marriott platinum, and I use the SPG Amex. Converting the SPG points 1:3 to Marriott is one of the best deals out there. I'll use my Marriott Chase for hotels, but the SPG Amex for everything else.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

LGA is a complete mess right now but should be greatly improved when the major overhaul and rebuild is done.
I missed a flight at LGA in the fall due to the mess.  I haven't parked in LongTerm parking since.

[DegenerateDish]

LGA is a complete mess right now but should be greatly improved when the major overhaul and rebuild is done.
I missed a flight at LGA in the fall due to the mess.  I haven't parked in LongTerm parking since.

I'm curious, being in CT, what's your main airport of choice. Obviously would depend if you're closer to Hartford or not. Plenty of options though in your neck of the woods.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

It's exactly a 1h drive to Bradley-Hartford, 1h15m to LGA (add and hour if rush hour) and 1h35m to JFK.  I try to pick flights away from rush hour.
It's all about the points and I fly Delta so I've been using LGA lately.  Hartford tends to be slightly more expensive and you usually have to transfer flights somewhere.  LGA has more flight choices and also direct flights. I usually price both out.  Parking is way cheaper in Hartford so I usually throw that in the equation.   
JFK is for international and it has the Air Train connection, so I have the train connection option from home.  (I'm stuck on a Metro North train in the Bronx at the moment as trains to/ from Grand Central are delayed for a "police investigation at 125th Street).  The Air Train is coming to LGA, construction of it is part if the current LGA mess. 
20/25 years ago I would have also considered White Plains, NY but they have less choices than Hartford and they jacked the prices up.   

[GooooMarquette]

Haven't been to Lambert since I was a frequent flyer on Ozark and then TWA. Yeah, that's been a few years. Several that stand out within the past 10-15 years:

Just Bad:
LGA, JFK, EWR
Dulles
Honolulu (people tolerate it because they're in paradise)
Rome
London Heathrow

Decent by US Standards
ATL
PHX
JAX
DEN (not counting the awful location)
SEA
DCA (dated, but bonus points for convenience)

Good by US Standards
DTW (which replaced my least favorite airport of all time)
MSP

Decent by International Standards
CDG
London Gatwick
Incheon
NRT

Great
SIN
AMS

[DegenerateDish]

Haven't been to Lambert since I was a frequent flyer on Ozark and then TWA. Yeah, that's been a few years. Several that stand out within the past 10-15 years:

Just Bad:
LGA, JFK, EWR
Dulles
Honolulu (people tolerate it because they're in paradise)
Rome
London Heathrow

Decent by US Standards
ATL
PHX
JAX
DEN (not counting the awful location)
SEA
DCA (dated, but bonus points for convenience)

Good by US Standards
DTW (which replaced my least favorite airport of all time)
MSP

Decent by International Standards
CDG
London Gatwick
Incheon
NRT

Great
SIN
AMS

One interesting aspect is what airline you fly into a specific airport. Sky Harbor is a great example, as Terminal 2 (United) is terrible, but if you go to the Southwest Terminal, it's great, totally different experience.

I also knock down PHX for the 10 minute drive to the car rental facility.

[GooooMarquette]

One interesting aspect is what airline you fly into a specific airport. Sky Harbor is a great example, as Terminal 2 (United) is terrible, but if you go to the Southwest Terminal, it's great, totally different experience.

I also knock down PHX for the 10 minute drive to the car rental facility.

Good point - that's just a crazy downgrade from how it used to work. From luggage to car used to be 5 minutes total; now it's about 30.

And the specific airline issue as well.  In some airports, the experience is equally good or bad regardless of the airline.  In others, the difference can be night and day.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

What's wrong with Heathrow out of curiosity? I flew into Heathrow and Gatwick and much preferred Heathrow.

Reykjavic was my least favorite. Only had one person scanning tickets and it took a hour to board because you needed to take a bus to the plane.

Dublin was my favorite. Easy to navigate, and nice new renovations.

[GooooMarquette]

What's wrong with Heathrow out of curiosity? I flew into Heathrow and Gatwick and much preferred Heathrow.

Reykjavic was my least favorite. Only had one person scanning tickets and it took a hour to board because you needed to take a bus to the plane.

Dublin was my favorite. Easy to navigate, and nice new renovations.

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.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

The bizarrest thing outside an airport is next to the Cleveland car rental park.  There is a "ghost" neighborhood with streets, stop signs, fire hydrants, ornamental trees around where a house used to be.  Everything but houses.

I like Amsterdam and Hong Kong also.  Like Amsterdam, are there any other airports with casinos in them besides Las Vegas?

[4everwarriors]

MKE is underated. Peninsula first, Fairmont second, aina?

[rocket surgeon]

One interesting aspect is what airline you fly into a specific airport. Sky Harbor is a great example, as Terminal 2 (United) is terrible, but if you go to the Southwest Terminal, it's great, totally different experience.

I also knock down PHX for the 10 minute drive to the car rental facility.

absolutely right on!  i do anything but terminal 4(s.w.) it's a whole different world for me

[GooooMarquette]

MKE is underated. Peninsula first, Fairmont second, aina?

Always wanted to try a Peninsula (ideally Hong Kong) and get picked up at the airport in a Rolls. Bucket list.

Fairmont is really nice and I like Ritz-Carlton too, but the nicest "chain" hotel I've stayed in is the Mandarin Oriental in Singapore. Probably helped that we booked a club level room so we had lounge access and a special concierge. We also splurged on a Mercedes limo pickup. Was gonna try Raffles, but I would have had to sell a kidney.....

[warriorchick]

Always wanted to try a Peninsula (ideally Hong Kong) and get picked up at the airport in a Rolls. Bucket list.

Fairmont is really nice and I like Ritz-Carlton too, but the nicest "chain" hotel I've stayed in is the Mandarin Oriental in Singapore. Probably helped that we booked a club level room so we had lounge access and a special concierge. We also splurged on a Mercedes limo pickup. Was gonna try Raffles, but I would have had to sell a kidney.....

You are supposed to say "Mandarin Asian" now.   

[mu_hilltopper]

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. 

[warriorchick]

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.

MKE rocks.

Rarely busy, TSA is always a breeze, and the only airport with a designated Recombobulation area.

[GooooMarquette]

You are supposed to say "Mandarin Asian" now.