worst-dressed airports

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dallas fort worth!!!

― lfam, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:21 (nineteen years ago)

Nashville is pretty bad too.

― molly mummenschanz, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:22 (nineteen years ago)

None worse than Chicago Midway.

― libcrypt, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:27 (nineteen years ago)

midway used to be really really bad. it looked like a sears store that served as an anchor to a failing shopping mall in the 1970s or something. then it got a facelift about 6 years ago and it looks pretty good now. manchester, nh is pretty horrible.

― chicago kevin, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:28 (nineteen years ago)

I don't know about wardrobe, but my ultimate in airport depravity is the string of glass-enclosed smoking / gambling fishbowls in Las Vegas -- four-sided smoke-filled horror-shows filled with slot machines and middle-aged women in fake furs who appear to be LOCALS who've come to the airport for the purpose of sitting in a cigarette hotbox and pulling a lever all afternoon? (Seriously, even smokers tend not to be able to take more than a minute in those sealed-off stale-smoke stinking airport cubes; god knows how or why anyone would sit there for an hour.)

― nabisco, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:29 (nineteen years ago)

c'mon! midway isn't so bad now! at least as compared to years ago.

― chicago kevin, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:29 (nineteen years ago)

[i[ultimate in airport depravity is the string of glass-enclosed smoking / gambling fishbowls in Las Vegas [/i]

take out the slot machines and that's the manchester airport.

― chicago kevin, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:30 (nineteen years ago)

midway used to be really really bad. it looked like a sears store that served as an anchor to a failing shopping mall in the 1970s or something.

YES, it used to be really fucking dismal. i haven't seen it since the makeover.

― get bent, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:33 (nineteen years ago)

Salt Lake City was pretty boring when I was there in 1989. Each terminal was exactly like the other. Bad for long layovers.

― Jesse, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:35 (nineteen years ago)

i mean the patrons! dallas people dress like shit!

― lfam, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:38 (nineteen years ago)

oh, hell, anywhere with an international terminal. fucking eurotrash dressing like dipshits. or american teens wearing their god damn pj's to the airport. fucking clowns, GET DRESSED BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE HOUSE.

― chicago kevin, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:41 (nineteen years ago)

c'mon! midway isn't so bad now! at least as compared to years ago.

I haven't been to Midway in about 12 years, so I take it all back. I'm sure it puts O'Hare to shame, SHAME!

― libcrypt, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:44 (nineteen years ago)

naw, o'scare is like constantly in a state of renovation so it always looks better.

― chicago kevin, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:45 (nineteen years ago)

The Buffalo Airport is really nice since they've redone it, but they BLAST the Goo Goo Dolls all the time. Shame.

― molly mummenschanz, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:45 (nineteen years ago)

ha! I didn't realize that, Molly! do they blast Ani DiFranco, too? the spiffy version of the Buffalo airport freaks me out, actually.

― horseshoe, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:46 (nineteen years ago)

naw, o'scare is like constantly in a state of renovation so it always looks better.

I was there last year for the T&G fest, and either they'd redone the floors or I'd forgotten that they were a MIND-BENDING OPTICAL ILLUSION. Seriously, I couldn't look down or I'd get dizzy.

― libcrypt, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:47 (nineteen years ago)

Is it the Detroit airport that has the recreation of the Cheers bar where you can sit and have a beer next to wax-Norm? Cause that's actually kinda cool.

― nabisco, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:47 (nineteen years ago)

or american teens wearing their god damn pj's to the airport. fucking clowns, GET DRESSED BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE HOUSE.

ha, when my sister was a teenager she always got crazy dressed up for the airport, like, this was her chance to look like an international woman of mystery because no one at the airport knew her.

― horseshoe, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:47 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah! Goo Goo Dolls! All the time! I think they do it on the longer wing of the airport (when you make a right after you get out of security). Every time I'm there, I hear it, and shake my fist skyward.

I miss the OLD terminal in Buffalo -- the one with the red carpeting!

― molly mummenschanz, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:52 (nineteen years ago)

cleveland-hopkins had a cheers bar, but i don't know if it survived renovation.

pj-wearers annoy the shit out of me. i know flying long-haul isn't particularly comfortable, but i still think there are basic standards of public attire that should be maintained! i sound like andy rooney. so what.

― lauren, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 21:58 (nineteen years ago)

― chicago kevin, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 22:00 (nineteen years ago)

I take it the Goo-Goo Dolls are from Buffalo?

― Jesse, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 22:02 (nineteen years ago)

Yup. The troll-like bass player went to my high school. Awesome!

― molly mummenschanz, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 22:02 (nineteen years ago)

sadly, yes.

― horseshoe, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 22:02 (nineteen years ago)

The Bradley terminal at LAX was OK twenty years ago, but now it looks and smells like a sad old government bureaucracy building with exposed ducts, missing ceiling tiles, and the detritus of millions of people trampling through the place. The way TSA has attempted to retrofit security management to the place is laughable.

― Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 23:40 (nineteen years ago)

Heathrow, especially terminal 2.

― Ed, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 23:55 (nineteen years ago)

haha just coming here to post DFW

― nickalicious, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 23:56 (nineteen years ago)

Stanstead doesn't even bear thinking about

― Ed, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 23:58 (nineteen years ago)

stansted and dfw arent that bad! stansted is fine actually!

las vegas, definitely, is in pretty poor shape with the smoking women and the slot machines. la guardia is a bit shabby too

― 688, Thursday, 1 March 2007 06:51 (nineteen years ago)

i'll be making a stopover at dfw soon... this excites me for some reason. i hope i get to post "i'm in an airport" at every leg of my trip.

― get bent, Thursday, 1 March 2007 07:41 (nineteen years ago)

Stanstead, and indeed all london airports, would be fine they were used by something approaching the number of people they were designed for rather than 3 or 4 times that number, Stanstead is worst in that regard.

― Ed, Thursday, 1 March 2007 07:46 (nineteen years ago)

Belgrade airport

― baaderonixx, Thursday, 1 March 2007 10:02 (nineteen years ago)

A friend of mine was telling me in the pub last weekend how they had just flown to Geneva from Bournemouth International Airport. They couldn't get over it being called INTERNATIONAL when it was basically a collection of tin sheds in the middle of a field. The best bit though was that all the airport staff looked like they were only doing their job part-time, and might probably spend the rest of their day delivering meals-on-wheels to pensioners, or doing voluntary work in a charity shop. They didn't even bother checking the dimensions of hand luggage items - people were taking massive wheeled suitcases on as hang luggage, and being told "oh yes dear, that'll be absolutely fine).

― C J, Thursday, 1 March 2007 10:08 (nineteen years ago)

I, too, came to bury DFW.

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 1 March 2007 10:36 (nineteen years ago)

whats so bad about dfw?

― 688, Thursday, 1 March 2007 10:38 (nineteen years ago)

The London airports are a disgrace when you compare them to european ones such as Helsinki, Barcelona or Paris CDG 2.

Warsaw is pretty shocking though, built in the 80s for communist era travel requirements it is utterly swamped, but atleast it is being gradually replaced.

― Ed, Thursday, 1 March 2007 10:39 (nineteen years ago)

Orlando is fine but you have to do some weird shit with your baggage if you are coming into the newer terminal. You have to reclaim your baggage and then get it scanned then put it on another belt. You then go on a trip on a people mover, through some weird people contraflow stuff before arriving at another reclaim to finally get your bag.

― Ed, Thursday, 1 March 2007 10:41 (nineteen years ago)

is jfk still messy or have they finished tidying it up now

― 688, Thursday, 1 March 2007 10:43 (nineteen years ago)

JFK is so much better now they have the sky train. I only really know the BA and Virgin bits of it though.

― Ed, Thursday, 1 March 2007 10:54 (nineteen years ago)

Houston's awful

― jergincito, Thursday, 1 March 2007 10:54 (nineteen years ago)

oh yea, the sky train! that has totally improved jfk!

― 688, Thursday, 1 March 2007 10:58 (nineteen years ago)

The Sky Train totally sucks. It wobbles from side to side, has the most confusing map I've ever seen for a train that only goes counterclockwise, but mainly the problem is that it costs $5! On TOP of the cost of the subway ride to Howard Beach! When you used to be able to take a direct shuttle bus for free!

Actually the more I think about DFW the more I like it. It's got a kind of rollneck sweater kind of feel goin on. Its layout is simply terrible though, the worst I've ever seen I think. Baggage claims separating the "inside ring" from the "outside ring", every gate strung along for ages, bathrooms miles apart from each other. And yeah I guess people dress pretty bad. At least they have a helpful sign out front (or at least they used to) warning you not to take your gun inside.

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 1 March 2007 11:14 (nineteen years ago)

you see big hats too

― 688, Thursday, 1 March 2007 11:50 (nineteen years ago)

dunno what ooo will say but atlantas was kinda grody

― 688, Thursday, 1 March 2007 11:50 (nineteen years ago)

whats so bad about dfw?

Time for another American adventure Gareth! Make sure you report back!

― Mark C, Thursday, 1 March 2007 12:02 (nineteen years ago)

Ed i thought the question was "worst dressed airport" rather than "airports with the fewest gadgets"

― ken c, Thursday, 1 March 2007 12:04 (nineteen years ago)

it's called the AIR TRAIN, n00bz.

― get bent, Thursday, 1 March 2007 12:33 (nineteen years ago)

technically "AirTrain" squeezed together

― get bent, Thursday, 1 March 2007 12:34 (nineteen years ago)

maybe it's been too long since I've flown but I can't think of any airport that stands out in my mind as a thing of wonder. Except maybe san francisco b/c I like flying in over the water.

― Ms Misery, Thursday, 1 March 2007 12:36 (nineteen years ago)

my favorite airports are the small regional ones. bonus points if you can board your plane by walking onto the tarmac.

― get bent, Thursday, 1 March 2007 12:38 (nineteen years ago)

GET DRESSED BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE HOUSE.

O! T! M! I find myself wanting to yell this at all the undergrads scuffing around my school, too.

my favorite airports are the small regional ones.

Also OTM. Piedmont Triad International and Colorado Springs are two of my faves. Or were the last time I visited either of them.

― Jenny, Thursday, 1 March 2007 13:06 (nineteen years ago)

[i]ha, when my sister was a teenager she always got crazy dressed up for the airport, like, this was her chance to look like an international woman of mystery because no one at the airport knew her.[i]

I used to do this. In fact I still do for short haul. Long haul the comfort sacrifice isn't worth it. I pretend to myself its because I'm going to ask for an upgrade, but it's really more about the small thrill of being able to trot through Milan airport or wherever wearing heels and huge sunglasses like a visting movie star. (Because all visiting movie stars fly ecconomy obviously.)

The people at Luton airport look just awful. I haven't seen so many tracksuits in one place outside of a JD Sports.

― Anna, Thursday, 1 March 2007 13:25 (nineteen years ago)

I have a fantasy that one day I will arrive at the airport with no bag to check, no carry-on, not even a jacket. Sometimes you see people like this, breezing around.

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 1 March 2007 13:36 (nineteen years ago)

They have staff Tracer.

― Anna, Thursday, 1 March 2007 13:41 (nineteen years ago)

I have a fantasy that one day I will arrive at the airport with no bag to check, no carry-on, not even a jacket. Sometimes you see people like this, breezing around.

Carry on only for me. I have to wear a jacket, inside pockets are so useful, I have a selection of jackets that tend to get used only for flying.

― Ed, Thursday, 1 March 2007 13:44 (nineteen years ago)

Sorry, that should have read, 'it used to be carry on only for me', damned shower gel bombers.

― Ed, Thursday, 1 March 2007 13:45 (nineteen years ago)

[this bit is in italics}I have a fantasy that one day I will arrive at the airport with no bag to check, no carry-on, not even a jacket[the ending of italics is around now}

i do this the whole time. i never check luggage, i usually have a small bag. i dont like to wear a coat anyway

― 688, Thursday, 1 March 2007 13:46 (nineteen years ago)

last time i was at the detroit airport, in 1999, it was awful.
DFW doesnt seem THAT bad to me. maybe i always fly out of the new terminal?
i thought DULLES was DULL

― homosexual II, Thursday, 1 March 2007 13:55 (nineteen years ago)

DULLES is DULL - if you hate beautiful buildings! (this is not a concourse endorsement, just the main terminal)

― I DIED, Thursday, 1 March 2007 14:16 (nineteen years ago)

dfw is the only place where my luggage got lost. which of the houston airports is the smaller one? i flown into both and whichever the smaller one is is the only airport where i couldn't get a taxi. because why would you need taxis at an airport? the memphis and charlotte airports are my favorites because they still have bars where you can smoke instead of those glass chambers that give you emphyzema 3 minutes after stepping inside.

have a fantasy that one day I will arrive at the airport with no bag to check, no carry-on, not even a jacket

i did this and i was flying one way and paid cash for the ticket hours before departure. i guess that combination set off all kinds of red flags because i got pulled out of line for "extra security" which included having to strip down to my boxers. it was already the most miserable day of my life so i really didn't care.

― chicago kevin, Thursday, 1 March 2007 14:16 (nineteen years ago)

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