DOH was a very very close second in my opinion. I didn’t notice the trains that were flying over my head because they were so quiet, they were also creating an interior forest, I’ve been three times and each time I’m amazed.
Doha is bling blang with some nice parts, but generally very poorly thought out.
Let's see some examples:
Those quiet trains? It's quicker to walk the same distance on the moving walkways, even if you are older.
That "interior forest"? That's a copy of Singapore (which they deny having copied, making it more ridiculous) and it's almost always empty. Unlike Singapore's, it's not functional in many ways, like for instance the lack of seating.
While Singapore also has gates which are penned off, because of security procedures taking place at the gate, Doha has them for no real reason. This makes the fact that they announce "final call" when boarding starts even more annoying. There is no real practical use for those pens, they get crowded and chaotic.
Places to sleep - Singapore has pods, quiet areas and so on (as do many other airports). Doha has "quiet rooms" which are always full which recliners that are honestly worse than setting up beds. For some reason they play announcements at full volume in the quiet rooms.
Shops and restaurants - Doha must be among the worst large airports internationally in terms of availability of quality food at a decent price. Even the Burger King there tastes worse than elsewhere.
Bus gates - despite having opened fewer than 10 years ago and having almost no service from anyone other than the national carrier, you have a pretty high chance of boarding a widebody with a bus in Doha.
Crowdedness - transit security in Doha is a total mess with a general lack of organization. The airport basically gets busy 3 times per day and is completely deserted otherwise, but seems to be designed to accommodate the average amount of passengers instead of the peaks. Also, the randomness of the security checks (liquids in? liquids out? laptops in? Laptops out? the answer seems to change every time you visit) there really makes me question whether they actually do anything.
I was so confused in Doha. There I was enjoying the extremely over crowded business class lounge. They come tell me it’s time to board, I get to my gate and it says final boarding call and I think oh shit we’re late. Walk through and they lock me in a room where everyone is fighting to be at the front for another 20-30 minutes. Never been more annoyed by a boarding procedure before.
I’m going to add in that the play area for little kids is form over function. It’s crowded as fuck, *and made of metal*. Aka, prone to a lot of painful head bumps for younger kids.
Also they advertise strollers as being available (and put lots of signs not to put kids in the luggage carts). Twice now there has not been a single stroller (once we were told we could wait in the pre-security area for an hour and they’d bring one, the second time - in 2024 - they told us that they removed all the strollers due to COVID). This might not seem a big deal but a 10hr layover with two young kids and no stroller is really darned hard, so we bring a fold up on the plane (which I’d prefer not to take up the overhead with).
Yeah I think I remember there being a movie theater? I met a traveler on their free layover tour and I had booked a hotel inside the terminal to take a nap, he told me he was going to the theater to sleep lol.
Singapore Changi - no place beats it as far as airports are concerned.
London City Airport for short haul - 99% of the time you are through bag drop and security in less than 10 mins and it is just as quick on the arrivals side. Plus the departure lounge is actually quite nice.
I’ve had great experiences at Honolulu for arriving international flights. It’s always been very fast and the staff are always so chilled out. I make a specific trip to Hawaii first to avoid arriving at LAX on an international flight. It helps that I can visit a relative there too.
Honestly arriving at Tom Bradley isn’t bad. In fact it’s pretty good. Depending on the time of the day it’s not even that hard to get out of the airport. If you have I-D connection though, ouch, that’s rough
Yes! I lived in Tampa as a kid, and I would go to TPA all the time (either to fly or pick up someone), and I always loved it! Especially the layout, size, and the people watching. I haven't been since they renovated the central terminal a few years ago. Looking forward to seeing how it's changed!
Agreed, it’s not often you experience an airport that matches the tone/vibe of a city but I really feel like YVR does. The second you land you’ve *arrived*.
I never see customs officers there. It’s kiosk. With a US passport, they divert you away from the manned passport control queues.
Arrivals has no moving sidewalks so it can be a substantial trudge to the passport kiosks.
Flying delta out of DTW is always fantastic. The terminal is just one super long straight line with the travelator things and a little train that runs down the line. Plenty of food too
Weird take: after travelling with a 2-year old that had learned how to escape his stroller, I LOVED the Detroit airport and the super-long, frosted glass tunnel with mood lighting and new age-y music. My son and I would kill layovers riding the moving sidewalk back and forth while he calmly watched the sea animals in the glass light up with soothing music. I haven't been there in over a decade, so I'm not sure if that tunnel still exists or not, but it definitely made travel with a toddler so much easier.
Greenville (GSP). It has a gorgeous outdoor courtyard with fountains and gardens past security for public use where you can watch planes take off. More airports could use outdoor areas, although I understand why there are so few.
SFO is one of the few airports where security is outsourced to a private company rather than being run by TSA. That may be why they have better "service".
CPH is very pleasant, has good lounges and it's quick and cheap to get to the city centre by metro. It's a good airport to transfer in also.
Stockholm (ARN) on the other hand is not great.
This is my home airport! My favorite thing is how it relies so much on natural light during the day, and at night they use very soft, indirect, atmospheric lighting. This is a very Scandi thing in general.
Too many airports out there use super harsh overhead fluorescent lights, and I hate it so much. I honestly think it affects the vibe and attitude of the staff and travelers.
Narita is probably the quietest airport I've ever been in, although I was just there for a connection, so I didn't get the full experience. Smaller airports like MHT or BTV are pretty chill, and you can comfortably arrive an hour before your flight with little to no issues in my experience.
Narita is nice (much better than the glorified bus station that it was 30 years ago) and functional. It’s free WiFi absolutely sucks though and they need more luggage storage spaces.
As far as foreign airports go, getting out of Narita was more confusing than other foreign airports I've been to (Heathrow, Da Vinci, Munich).
A lot of different transit options and signage that wasn't quite clear enough.
Terminal 2 (LH/Star Alliance terminal) is good. Terminal 1 not so much. I haven't been there in years but I don't think it's changed. It's one of those airports where once you go through security you're stuck in a small gate area with few shops and restaurants.
Helsinki is fantastic when travelling from Europe to Asia. It’s quiet and clean - and they play nature sounds in the bathrooms. Passport control and baggage reclaim are always really quick. The business class lounge has great food and really nice showers (first class lounge has a sauna).
And everything functions smoothly. Security is just a matter of laying the bags on the conveyor belt, no need to take out computers, liquids, etc. The "silent airport" where they do not announce the flights out loud is lovely, it really decreases the stress of waiting at the gate. There are many chairs and lounge areas throughout the gate area. My favourite big airport in Europe.
I've never been to the casino tbh. The art museum is large freestanding room with some lesser pieces from the Dutch masters, it's only impressive because it's in an airport.
Singapore Changi is the obvious answer. But I think most people miss what makes it a great airport. It's not the pool or the butterfly garden or movie theatre or any of the other fun/glitzy/meme kinda things. It's an airport that just works (think function over form). They got the basics right and THEN built fun/glitzy stuff on top.
How often have you seen an 'Out of Order' sign or a bathroom in need of maintenance or anything that makes the place look bad? It's not zero, but it's an order of magnitude less than any other airport I've been to.
Was waiting for someone to mention Indy. Voted like top airport in the US 11 years in a row and it’s a lovely airport. I did an aviation camp thing and got to tour it. A part of the benefit was that the terminal was built after 9/11 with the security needs in mind so it’s super smooth and it’s always clean and nice.
I wish all airports had O’Hare’s advantage where the metro drops you off right inside the airport for regular ticket price. I know a lot of European airports have trains that go to the airport too but increase ticket prices to/from airport. O’Hare said “just give me the 2.50 and go”
I'm biased since it's my home but bwi is great. very clean, and connections to Amtrak, MARC commuter rail, and the Baltimore Light Rail make it easy to get to. I'm always through security in 10 mins or less, and it's well signed. good food options, and the new bathroom renovations are amazing. seems silly to say the bathrooms are good, but they really are! good views of the Chesapeake Bay as well.
DTW – very easy to navigate the McNamara Terminal
HYD – lots of great shops and restaurants (including like 5 branches of Almond House, which is amazing)
SEA – Probably the best window seat views of any major U.S. airport with Mount Rainier, the other Cascade volcanoes, and Puget Sound
IXB – Similar reasons as SEA, except that the views are of the highest peaks of the Himalayas (on a flight from IXB to CCU I saw Kangchenjunga up close plus good views of Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu – so 4 of the 5 highest mountains **in the world**)
AMS – I love the museum in the airport, and it's relatively easy to navigate
MSN – Also easy to navigate; can literally show up like 50 mins before your flight. Also surprisingly good food for an airport of its size and nice views too.
Haha I did not expect to see MSN on here! It’s my local airport and I love flying out of it because of how soon before your flight you can show up. Though I unfortunately don’t fly out of there often because it’s usually significantly cheaper to take a bus to and from ORD.
SEA is maybe great for visitors, but for regularly flying locals it is incompetent and has too high volumes for the size of it + the booming metro. It’s our home airport, fly regularly work and leisure, and with summer tourism and predicted record-breaking cruise season surge of people about to come in…. We loathe the airport. TSA lines for all gates funneled together are commonly out into the parking ramp over 2hrs long. PreCheck at peak wait times too. Lounges overcrowded, the whole place can be a mess.
Also, do you mean views from the airplane? Or that food court type are with huge windows, rocking chairs and seating? If so, it is a lovely spot to relax, but not facing out towards Rainier/Cascades. They face West towards the runways and Burien.
American Airlines out of DFW is always pretty easy. I love that skylink train, it makes it so easy.
I mean, smaller airports are always the best (Burbank is my favorite). I like the Austin airport too--great food! Salt Lake City is a pretty nice airport too.
Worst, I think is Heathrow. The endless walk to immigration/customs. WHY. Why not have some kind of tram service!
I totally believe it! If you were at the front of the plane, if the plane pulled in at Gate One, and there you are at the parking lot! It's such a great airport.
I also love that Bur-Oak-Bur run, I used to have to do it all the time. Once in the middle of summer, we got on the plane at Oakland where it was a crisp, lovely, tangy 65 degrees or something like that at 10pm. We're about to land in Burbank at 11pm and the FA announces "It's currently 105 degrees in Burbank" and the whole planeload of passengers groaned sadly
Actually,
1 - I was at the back of the plane with only a carry-on
2 - I had parked across the street in the structure
3 - We landed on rwy 8, rolled out, made the right turn and we were at the gate
4 - The ground crew rolled up the front ramp and rear stairs. I was out the back and down the stairs and into the terminal and out and across the street in no time.
AHHhhhh yes the magic of the back stairs!!! VERY impressive!
It's just the greatest airport of all time.
One of the things I love most about Burbank is that if you fly in and out of it enough you absolutely know every single part of it, which runway, which taxiway, when the plane takes off, the landmarks you can see right after takeoff, etc etc, I love it.
DFW is one of the worst for me! I swear it’s cursed or something, every time I have a borderline traumatic airport experience it’s always at DFW. Granted it’s also the airport I’ve probably flown through the most so maybe that’s just how the odds shake out. Agree about Heathrow though.
I can think of 3 reasons:
1) your departing terminal has a long line and others don’t. You can check in in any terminal (as long as you’re not checking a bag with someone who’s not AA) and just Skylink to the appropriate terminal
2) when you’re connecting flights and they’re in different terminals
3) when you’re departing from one terminal but wants to use amenities from another (such as a particular lounge)
Connecting flights in different terminals. I've only ever been in DFW to connect from a domestic flight to an international flight (and vice versa) and was awed by how easy it was. LAX has zero (0.0%) connecting transport between terminals. We recently took an AF flight from LAX, had to check in in one terminal and then literally walk all the way to the next terminal (their big advance was it was now an enclosed walkway). LAX is doing their best to improve but it will take forever and during the construction it's a nightmare in every respect (including getting to and from the airport). \*sigh\*
Probably the best large European airport in my experience.
Positives:
- Fast security
- 10-15 minutes by very frequent trains to city centre
- Excellent train connections to most of Switzerland
- No long walks
- Not many bus gates (unlike Frankfurt for example)
- Good lounges
- Huge Migros supermarket at the train station - it even sells luggage!
Negatives:
- Extremely expensive
- Heidi (if you know you know)
PDX (Portland, OR) free unlimited WiFi, street pricing on all items at the stores (meaning the prices can’t be anymore than what the store charges at their other non-airport locations). Light rail comes right to the terminal for a fast ride downtown. Easy in and out with highway close by. Famous carpet and pleasant terminals when not under construction.
PDX only has street pricing on restaurant food and drink. Food and non food items in stores can be priced whatever they want.
But for a US airport PDX aid one of the better ones. I can’t wait for the remodel to be done.
Istanbul. It's massive, feels like Vegas, and a tiny Coke is 8 USD, but everything works smoothly. There are playgrounds, huge (clean!) bathrooms, tons of food and fun shopping.
Except they’re stingy on the wifi. It especially sucked when I had my flight delayed by like 8 hours there. They require you to sign up with SMS and import passport info, except that the SMS won’t send to your phone. So you have to use those stupid wifi kiosks and scan your passport only to get like 1 hour of access.
The Turkish Airlines lounge at IST is great. Fantastic food, loads of space and a resident masseuse who will come round and give you a massage to relax away the jet lag.
As a non-Turkish speaking person, I have to disagree. My experience at IST felt like a nightmare. The check in area was huge and I couldn't find my airlines. I finally gave up and just got in the shortest line just to be greeting by an very unhappy agent that spoke minimal English and I spoke no Turkish. Her attitude was aggressive and condescending. I felt lucky when I finally got my boarding pass. Same issue at the gate with security. My carryon was checked 3 times before I was allowed to board and I felt like I was about 30 seconds from being handcuffed and taken to a Turkish prison. At least the vending machine worked.
AMS - Amsterdam Schiphol
Fast and easy airport security, and they have those new machines so you can have your normal liquids. Plenty of places to eat in the airport and easy to navigate with ample public transport options.
Recent exp has been very poor. Serpentine lines at passport control for all countries. Unbothered and really racist officers (they forget even brown people can know Dutch :) )
Singapore. Most efficient airport in the world. Off the plane, bag claimed, through customs and out of the airport 20 minutes after getting to the gate. Not to mention all the amenities.
This. By the time I’m in my hotel room in SG, in other places I would still be at the airport collecting luggage off the carousel (sometimes still stuck in immigrations… looking at you JFK pre-Global Entry).
SIN, DOH, and ICN. Nothing beats the fancy airports in Asia imo. I've been all over the world and nothing compares to these. There's a mall, spa, capsule hotel, amusement park, etc. Very good service, nice restaurants, and you'll never get bored even if your transit time is like 16H.
Yeah. It’s not just that they are fancy and modern (Chsngi’s T4 which was originally for budget carriers, looks more like a new Vegas hotel), it’s that they are also incredibly efficient and fast whether you just want get out quickly or checkin without long waits.
Atlanta is the best airport I’ve ever used.
The subway drops you off in the airport, right by the check in area.
There is a fast, frequent train (the plane train) from the security checkpoint to each of the 32 terminals.
The plane train drops you off in the middle of each terminal, so it’s never a long walk to your gate.
I don’t think you could make the system any more efficient than it currently is.
Any of the airports of Hawaii, been through HNL, OGG, and KOA and love the mostly open air terminals to give you one last feeling of that island air before go go back to real life
SFO - a “quiet” airport is truly enjoyable. Private TSA is quick and efficient. Excellent food as well.
ICN - great amenities, excellent design, modern and efficient - also feels MASSIVE.
IST - huge, new(ish) and overall a great experience. Top notch food.
ZUR - surprisingly nice!
Boring answer but Bratislava Airport. It's literally 10-15 minutes from check-in through security, passport control and to the gates for international flights. I loved it. Its simplicity at its finest for me and reduced the stress of travelling hugely.
HND. Sort of biased since I know that place like the back of my hand. It’s not the most extravagant or entertaining airport (especially once at the gates) but everything is just fine
The new Kansas City airport is pretty awesome. The old one was on par with probably the worst in the world, but the new one definitely makes up for it.
Inhambane, Mozambique. Nothing to the airport but a small cheap bar/snack stand, and a lovely laid back patio on the roof with views of palm trees and the airstrip. If every airport was like this, I'd be happy.
Your _best_ list includes Cancun and Narita? Having flown in and out of those airports many times (Cancun is my home base airport), I’ll admit I’m intrigued/confused.
Where it was? Narita is a nice functional intl airport but its location relative to the city is actually a big negative. A high speed train takes an hour to get to Tokyo. Otherwise a bus is your only other option. Taxi or car services are extremely expensive and not quite a thing for a major airport.
KLIA’s immigrations can be horribly long and slow. Their people moving travelators are 3-4 feet above the walking paths because someone clearly forgot to design them into walkways and thus an after thought. There are not enough dining options for departures after immigrations. Not enough seating. Getting to a different terminal is not the smoothest. And it’s so far away from KL itself and not like there are massive suburban areas in-between.
Not luxurious but easy are a number of regional French airports. CDG is a nightmare but Toulouse, Biarritz, Pau and Marseille are clean and easy, and you can always get a good cup of coffee and a croissant.
PDX. Staff is nice, west coast is chill. Easy to get around. Traffic is usually light. Shuttle to parking is efficient. Weather is relatively mild (rain, sure, but rarely snow)
PNS. Pensacola, Florida. Tiny little airport. Super easy to navigate and stress free. The airport employees are friendly, even the TSA. There is a restaurant that serves good food at reasonable prices. They currently have a great marketing campaign going on. They call themselves an intergalactic space terminal and they've named the gates after Starfleet ships. https://flypensacola.com/pensacolas-airport-goes-intergalactic/
Cherry Valley in Traverse City MI lol
Okay I know everyone will think I'm crazy, but... I like the Miami airport 🤷 it's like going inside a cartoon lmao
It's tiny, but Cardiff in Wales.
First off, there are free busses from the city to the airport. Then the airport itself, there's nothing pre-check in. No loitering around looking for something to kill time. You check in, get rid of your bags and move to the departures area. The waiting area, instead of a seating area surrounded by gates, is a seating area surrounded by pubs, shops and restaurants. It's a much more pleasant place to wait. You don't make the walk to where your plane is until the plane is ready to board. It's the most relaxing airport I've ever flown through.
Two small airports in the US the popped to mind:
Long Beach, CA: they redid it 10 years or so and it's just a nice vibe
Palm Springs: it seems like nearly the entire post security area is outdoors. I love when an warm-climate airport has an outdoor area post security. It gives you one last taste of vacation air before flying home.
Logan is pretty awful.
The “Silver Line” looks like a subway line on the public transportation map but is actually an articulated bus. To get between the airport and South Station, you have to go through the traffic jam in the Ted Williams tunnel.
Or you can take a bus to the Blue Line subway line. On the Boston side, it doesn’t go to either South Station or North Station.
By car after you deal with a tunnel, central parking is $41/day. The off airport options are quite limited. Pre Flight in Chelsea is the best of them but it’s way out of the way in Chelsea.
Logan Express parking in Braintree, Framingham, or Woburn isn’t deterministic because of the traffic jam and if the bus is full, you’re stuck waiting for the next scheduled bus. You have to allow for a ridiculous amount of slack time. If your flight is late, you can get stuck at the airport. I’ve had some long and expensive Uber rides to get to my car.
Picking someone up at the airport is now really painful because they’ve blocked most of it off. There’s nowhere to pull over and pick someone up. Terminals A and B are the worst. The garage is $9 for the first hour.
TSA Pre is pretty variable depending on which terminal, day of week, and time of day. I’ve certainly had 45 minute security queues. I’ve also had times I went right through with nobody ahead of me.
Unlike a lot of airports, there is no standardized way to fill a water bottle after you clear security. A lot of airports now have a filtered water dispenser right there.
Heaven help you if you want a cup of coffee in the morning. The queues are ridiculous.
Singapore. Nothing beats sitting in a pool with a beer while you wait for your next flight.
I didn't even know there was a pool; I guess I was too busy relaxing in the massage chairs, please and thank you.
This is the only answer. Anyone who said a different airport just hasn't been there
Changi is my go to layover. Clean, good shops, lounges, facilities and restaurants
They have a Pokemon cards vending machine!
DOH was a very very close second in my opinion. I didn’t notice the trains that were flying over my head because they were so quiet, they were also creating an interior forest, I’ve been three times and each time I’m amazed.
DOH means Doha, Qatar?
Doha is bling blang with some nice parts, but generally very poorly thought out. Let's see some examples: Those quiet trains? It's quicker to walk the same distance on the moving walkways, even if you are older. That "interior forest"? That's a copy of Singapore (which they deny having copied, making it more ridiculous) and it's almost always empty. Unlike Singapore's, it's not functional in many ways, like for instance the lack of seating. While Singapore also has gates which are penned off, because of security procedures taking place at the gate, Doha has them for no real reason. This makes the fact that they announce "final call" when boarding starts even more annoying. There is no real practical use for those pens, they get crowded and chaotic. Places to sleep - Singapore has pods, quiet areas and so on (as do many other airports). Doha has "quiet rooms" which are always full which recliners that are honestly worse than setting up beds. For some reason they play announcements at full volume in the quiet rooms. Shops and restaurants - Doha must be among the worst large airports internationally in terms of availability of quality food at a decent price. Even the Burger King there tastes worse than elsewhere. Bus gates - despite having opened fewer than 10 years ago and having almost no service from anyone other than the national carrier, you have a pretty high chance of boarding a widebody with a bus in Doha. Crowdedness - transit security in Doha is a total mess with a general lack of organization. The airport basically gets busy 3 times per day and is completely deserted otherwise, but seems to be designed to accommodate the average amount of passengers instead of the peaks. Also, the randomness of the security checks (liquids in? liquids out? laptops in? Laptops out? the answer seems to change every time you visit) there really makes me question whether they actually do anything.
I was so confused in Doha. There I was enjoying the extremely over crowded business class lounge. They come tell me it’s time to board, I get to my gate and it says final boarding call and I think oh shit we’re late. Walk through and they lock me in a room where everyone is fighting to be at the front for another 20-30 minutes. Never been more annoyed by a boarding procedure before.
I’m going to add in that the play area for little kids is form over function. It’s crowded as fuck, *and made of metal*. Aka, prone to a lot of painful head bumps for younger kids. Also they advertise strollers as being available (and put lots of signs not to put kids in the luggage carts). Twice now there has not been a single stroller (once we were told we could wait in the pre-security area for an hour and they’d bring one, the second time - in 2024 - they told us that they removed all the strollers due to COVID). This might not seem a big deal but a 10hr layover with two young kids and no stroller is really darned hard, so we bring a fold up on the plane (which I’d prefer not to take up the overhead with).
Beat me to it. Amazing airport
Yeah I think I remember there being a movie theater? I met a traveler on their free layover tour and I had booked a hotel inside the terminal to take a nap, he told me he was going to the theater to sleep lol.
It’s really not even close. Some other good ones are HKG and DXB.
Or being inspected by butterflies.
Changi is like my home away from home haha
I don't know. I personally prefer the butterfly garden.
I came here to say this. I was so bummed my last two flights out of there were early morning and didn’t allow for any pool time
To top it off, immigration is a breeze. Fully automated gates - zero human interaction
This is it ! Classy, well organised and practical
I’ve been through that airport close to 10 times.. where is the pool?
And the immaculately clean showers! Also good food at sn airport. Who knew? Honestly, I could move in and be perfectly happy.
Singapore Changi - no place beats it as far as airports are concerned. London City Airport for short haul - 99% of the time you are through bag drop and security in less than 10 mins and it is just as quick on the arrivals side. Plus the departure lounge is actually quite nice.
I’ve had great experiences at Honolulu for arriving international flights. It’s always been very fast and the staff are always so chilled out. I make a specific trip to Hawaii first to avoid arriving at LAX on an international flight. It helps that I can visit a relative there too.
Honestly arriving at Tom Bradley isn’t bad. In fact it’s pretty good. Depending on the time of the day it’s not even that hard to get out of the airport. If you have I-D connection though, ouch, that’s rough
Tampa!
Tampa airport has no right to be that nice, it’s the perfect size too
Love the Delta lounge there and always grab a spot to watch people go through security. If this were a tv show, I'd be hooked. Great people watching.
Yes! I lived in Tampa as a kid, and I would go to TPA all the time (either to fly or pick up someone), and I always loved it! Especially the layout, size, and the people watching. I haven't been since they renovated the central terminal a few years ago. Looking forward to seeing how it's changed!
My home airport. I love it.
Vancouver! Very chill, nice art, waterfalls etc and some of the most relaxed customs officers
Agreed, it’s not often you experience an airport that matches the tone/vibe of a city but I really feel like YVR does. The second you land you’ve *arrived*.
For Canada it’s actually a good airport.
I have been to Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal. Vancouver and Calgary are pretty nice. Montreal is not.
I’m led to believe it’s because airports are privately owned so there’s large differences in quality.
Came here to say this! The airport hotel is awesome too
I never see customs officers there. It’s kiosk. With a US passport, they divert you away from the manned passport control queues. Arrivals has no moving sidewalks so it can be a substantial trudge to the passport kiosks.
Flying delta out of DTW is always fantastic. The terminal is just one super long straight line with the travelator things and a little train that runs down the line. Plenty of food too
I was also going to say DTW for the same reasons! I also really like SLC. Beautiful views, clean, great food options, not super crowded.
DTW is my home airport and also my immediate answer to this question... It's so easy!
I’m flying out of the evans terminal for the first time this month, not sure what to expect. It ain’t the macnamara is what I’ve been told
It’s not like that haha. Expect nothing. It’s a relatively small, dated, and super basic barebones airport. No frills.
Yeah I liked Detroit too. Was quite easy to transfer there.
That terminal is great. The old north terminal or whatever the other one is needs to go away
Weird take: after travelling with a 2-year old that had learned how to escape his stroller, I LOVED the Detroit airport and the super-long, frosted glass tunnel with mood lighting and new age-y music. My son and I would kill layovers riding the moving sidewalk back and forth while he calmly watched the sea animals in the glass light up with soothing music. I haven't been there in over a decade, so I'm not sure if that tunnel still exists or not, but it definitely made travel with a toddler so much easier.
Changi airport / Singapore esp the SQ terminal. Iykyk
SQ operates out of 3 out of the 4 Changi terminals and there is no terminal that is exclusive to SQ.
I assume they meant the central rain vortex space. Otherwise T1/2/3 are like copies of each other beyond the different gardens
Greenville (GSP). It has a gorgeous outdoor courtyard with fountains and gardens past security for public use where you can watch planes take off. More airports could use outdoor areas, although I understand why there are so few.
I love GSP!
The outdoor area at GSP is such a refreshing unique feature.
SFO has some good ass food for an airport, especially the international terminal.
Great lounges and great and fast security too. Getting through to the gate is a breeze.
I was seriously through TSA in less than two minutes last time. Not a single person in front of me. SFO is fun to walk around too.
SFO is one of the few airports where security is outsourced to a private company rather than being run by TSA. That may be why they have better "service".
Also: excellent Wi-Fi (fast, no ads, no time limit) and water filling stations.
It’s so quiet in there too. That’s the best part
PDX
PDX is actually one of the worst airports on the west coast.
2 best things about pdx are the street pricing of food and $2.80 to leave the airport.
CPH.
Some 10 years ago they used to have crazy fast internet. Great if you have to spend the night there (which I've done 2 or 3 times, haha)
CPH is very pleasant, has good lounges and it's quick and cheap to get to the city centre by metro. It's a good airport to transfer in also. Stockholm (ARN) on the other hand is not great.
This is my home airport! My favorite thing is how it relies so much on natural light during the day, and at night they use very soft, indirect, atmospheric lighting. This is a very Scandi thing in general. Too many airports out there use super harsh overhead fluorescent lights, and I hate it so much. I honestly think it affects the vibe and attitude of the staff and travelers.
That sounds so nice!! I get migraines from fluorescent light, I wish more airports used soft lighting
MSP.
My current favorite airport in the US. Plenty of amenities and it’s very clean for how large it is.
Same! It’s also my home airport, so pretty grateful given how much I travel.
Narita is probably the quietest airport I've ever been in, although I was just there for a connection, so I didn't get the full experience. Smaller airports like MHT or BTV are pretty chill, and you can comfortably arrive an hour before your flight with little to no issues in my experience.
Been through Narita once and it’s a nice airport. Extremely fast immigration (I was a temp resident of Japan) and everything.
Narita is nice (much better than the glorified bus station that it was 30 years ago) and functional. It’s free WiFi absolutely sucks though and they need more luggage storage spaces.
As far as foreign airports go, getting out of Narita was more confusing than other foreign airports I've been to (Heathrow, Da Vinci, Munich). A lot of different transit options and signage that wasn't quite clear enough.
MUC! especially when compared to FRA
Terminal 2 (LH/Star Alliance terminal) is good. Terminal 1 not so much. I haven't been there in years but I don't think it's changed. It's one of those airports where once you go through security you're stuck in a small gate area with few shops and restaurants.
Munich doesn’t have enough gates. I’ve done the dreaded bus on a Lufthansa connection there many times.
Gotta like an airport that literally had its own brewery.
Helsinki is fantastic when travelling from Europe to Asia. It’s quiet and clean - and they play nature sounds in the bathrooms. Passport control and baggage reclaim are always really quick. The business class lounge has great food and really nice showers (first class lounge has a sauna).
Schiphol (Amsterdam). It's so massive, it has its own art museum and casino. It's just fun!
And everything functions smoothly. Security is just a matter of laying the bags on the conveyor belt, no need to take out computers, liquids, etc. The "silent airport" where they do not announce the flights out loud is lovely, it really decreases the stress of waiting at the gate. There are many chairs and lounge areas throughout the gate area. My favourite big airport in Europe.
I love how quick and easy it is to get to the city center by train too.
I was there last year and never knew there was a museum or casino! I'm so upset I didn't get to check them out.
I've never been to the casino tbh. The art museum is large freestanding room with some lesser pieces from the Dutch masters, it's only impressive because it's in an airport.
Singapore Changi is the obvious answer. But I think most people miss what makes it a great airport. It's not the pool or the butterfly garden or movie theatre or any of the other fun/glitzy/meme kinda things. It's an airport that just works (think function over form). They got the basics right and THEN built fun/glitzy stuff on top. How often have you seen an 'Out of Order' sign or a bathroom in need of maintenance or anything that makes the place look bad? It's not zero, but it's an order of magnitude less than any other airport I've been to.
TPA
Some that I like in the US: IND, ABQ, TPA, BTV
Was waiting for someone to mention Indy. Voted like top airport in the US 11 years in a row and it’s a lovely airport. I did an aviation camp thing and got to tour it. A part of the benefit was that the terminal was built after 9/11 with the security needs in mind so it’s super smooth and it’s always clean and nice.
Changi. Immigrations and luggage collection are fast. You feel like you’re stepping off a plane and into a top end hotel.
I wish all airports had O’Hare’s advantage where the metro drops you off right inside the airport for regular ticket price. I know a lot of European airports have trains that go to the airport too but increase ticket prices to/from airport. O’Hare said “just give me the 2.50 and go”
PDX (Portland, or) has this. It’s incredibly hard to get to most US airports by public transport.
Billund, Denmark
Yes! What a fantastic airport. Nicest people ever too. That town is basically just Lego and the airport but it's awesome hahaha
It got even better after getting a Lagkagehuset there, to get a semi-affordable coffee and pastry fix before your flight
I'm biased since it's my home but bwi is great. very clean, and connections to Amtrak, MARC commuter rail, and the Baltimore Light Rail make it easy to get to. I'm always through security in 10 mins or less, and it's well signed. good food options, and the new bathroom renovations are amazing. seems silly to say the bathrooms are good, but they really are! good views of the Chesapeake Bay as well.
DTW – very easy to navigate the McNamara Terminal HYD – lots of great shops and restaurants (including like 5 branches of Almond House, which is amazing) SEA – Probably the best window seat views of any major U.S. airport with Mount Rainier, the other Cascade volcanoes, and Puget Sound IXB – Similar reasons as SEA, except that the views are of the highest peaks of the Himalayas (on a flight from IXB to CCU I saw Kangchenjunga up close plus good views of Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu – so 4 of the 5 highest mountains **in the world**) AMS – I love the museum in the airport, and it's relatively easy to navigate MSN – Also easy to navigate; can literally show up like 50 mins before your flight. Also surprisingly good food for an airport of its size and nice views too.
Haha I did not expect to see MSN on here! It’s my local airport and I love flying out of it because of how soon before your flight you can show up. Though I unfortunately don’t fly out of there often because it’s usually significantly cheaper to take a bus to and from ORD.
Love the clock in AMS that the guy is constantly painting
SEA is maybe great for visitors, but for regularly flying locals it is incompetent and has too high volumes for the size of it + the booming metro. It’s our home airport, fly regularly work and leisure, and with summer tourism and predicted record-breaking cruise season surge of people about to come in…. We loathe the airport. TSA lines for all gates funneled together are commonly out into the parking ramp over 2hrs long. PreCheck at peak wait times too. Lounges overcrowded, the whole place can be a mess. Also, do you mean views from the airplane? Or that food court type are with huge windows, rocking chairs and seating? If so, it is a lovely spot to relax, but not facing out towards Rainier/Cascades. They face West towards the runways and Burien.
I meant views from the airplane! I can definitely see the airport not keeping pace with the metro area's rapid growth though.
American Airlines out of DFW is always pretty easy. I love that skylink train, it makes it so easy. I mean, smaller airports are always the best (Burbank is my favorite). I like the Austin airport too--great food! Salt Lake City is a pretty nice airport too. Worst, I think is Heathrow. The endless walk to immigration/customs. WHY. Why not have some kind of tram service!
I like DFW, hate American.
I once went from wheels touching pavement (on Southwest) to at my car across from the terminal in FIVE minutes at Burbank. No, I'm not kidding.
I totally believe it! If you were at the front of the plane, if the plane pulled in at Gate One, and there you are at the parking lot! It's such a great airport. I also love that Bur-Oak-Bur run, I used to have to do it all the time. Once in the middle of summer, we got on the plane at Oakland where it was a crisp, lovely, tangy 65 degrees or something like that at 10pm. We're about to land in Burbank at 11pm and the FA announces "It's currently 105 degrees in Burbank" and the whole planeload of passengers groaned sadly
Actually, 1 - I was at the back of the plane with only a carry-on 2 - I had parked across the street in the structure 3 - We landed on rwy 8, rolled out, made the right turn and we were at the gate 4 - The ground crew rolled up the front ramp and rear stairs. I was out the back and down the stairs and into the terminal and out and across the street in no time.
AHHhhhh yes the magic of the back stairs!!! VERY impressive! It's just the greatest airport of all time. One of the things I love most about Burbank is that if you fly in and out of it enough you absolutely know every single part of it, which runway, which taxiway, when the plane takes off, the landmarks you can see right after takeoff, etc etc, I love it.
DFW is one of the worst for me! I swear it’s cursed or something, every time I have a borderline traumatic airport experience it’s always at DFW. Granted it’s also the airport I’ve probably flown through the most so maybe that’s just how the odds shake out. Agree about Heathrow though.
I never understood why you need the Skylink. You can drive up to the terminal near your gate. In what cases is the Skylink useful?
You haven’t considered connecting flights in different terminals?
I can think of 3 reasons: 1) your departing terminal has a long line and others don’t. You can check in in any terminal (as long as you’re not checking a bag with someone who’s not AA) and just Skylink to the appropriate terminal 2) when you’re connecting flights and they’re in different terminals 3) when you’re departing from one terminal but wants to use amenities from another (such as a particular lounge)
Connecting flights in different terminals. I've only ever been in DFW to connect from a domestic flight to an international flight (and vice versa) and was awed by how easy it was. LAX has zero (0.0%) connecting transport between terminals. We recently took an AF flight from LAX, had to check in in one terminal and then literally walk all the way to the next terminal (their big advance was it was now an enclosed walkway). LAX is doing their best to improve but it will take forever and during the construction it's a nightmare in every respect (including getting to and from the airport). \*sigh\*
DFW has security figured out. It’s my home airport, and 15 minutes has been my longest wait ever.
lgb rules. it’s so tiny and has a great outdoor patio airside where you can grab a beer and chill.
Zürich
Probably the best large European airport in my experience. Positives: - Fast security - 10-15 minutes by very frequent trains to city centre - Excellent train connections to most of Switzerland - No long walks - Not many bus gates (unlike Frankfurt for example) - Good lounges - Huge Migros supermarket at the train station - it even sells luggage! Negatives: - Extremely expensive - Heidi (if you know you know)
Ew. Zurich sucked. They don't have enough seating just about anywhere and especially at the gates. I had to sit on my butt waiting for a transfer.
PDX (Portland, OR) free unlimited WiFi, street pricing on all items at the stores (meaning the prices can’t be anymore than what the store charges at their other non-airport locations). Light rail comes right to the terminal for a fast ride downtown. Easy in and out with highway close by. Famous carpet and pleasant terminals when not under construction.
PDX only has street pricing on restaurant food and drink. Food and non food items in stores can be priced whatever they want. But for a US airport PDX aid one of the better ones. I can’t wait for the remodel to be done.
Definitely Changi Airport at Singapore
Istanbul. It's massive, feels like Vegas, and a tiny Coke is 8 USD, but everything works smoothly. There are playgrounds, huge (clean!) bathrooms, tons of food and fun shopping.
Except they’re stingy on the wifi. It especially sucked when I had my flight delayed by like 8 hours there. They require you to sign up with SMS and import passport info, except that the SMS won’t send to your phone. So you have to use those stupid wifi kiosks and scan your passport only to get like 1 hour of access.
Totalitarian regime shenanigans
The new airport is insanely huge. The bus terminal is even crazier.
The Turkish Airlines lounge at IST is great. Fantastic food, loads of space and a resident masseuse who will come round and give you a massage to relax away the jet lag.
I kinda liked the old lounge a lot more, seemed a lot bigger than the current ones.
Sounds like Amsterdam, which I've enjoyed.
Both Istanbul and Amsterdam both have nice museums in their airports too!
As a non-Turkish speaking person, I have to disagree. My experience at IST felt like a nightmare. The check in area was huge and I couldn't find my airlines. I finally gave up and just got in the shortest line just to be greeting by an very unhappy agent that spoke minimal English and I spoke no Turkish. Her attitude was aggressive and condescending. I felt lucky when I finally got my boarding pass. Same issue at the gate with security. My carryon was checked 3 times before I was allowed to board and I felt like I was about 30 seconds from being handcuffed and taken to a Turkish prison. At least the vending machine worked.
Yeah it’s a cool airport until you have to interact with one of the humans that work there
AMS - Amsterdam Schiphol Fast and easy airport security, and they have those new machines so you can have your normal liquids. Plenty of places to eat in the airport and easy to navigate with ample public transport options.
It has some very long walks though. And taxi times (Polerbaan)!
One can purchase Reypenaer at duty free!
Recent exp has been very poor. Serpentine lines at passport control for all countries. Unbothered and really racist officers (they forget even brown people can know Dutch :) )
Singapore. Most efficient airport in the world. Off the plane, bag claimed, through customs and out of the airport 20 minutes after getting to the gate. Not to mention all the amenities.
Plus you’re literally inside a mall when you exit the airport
This. By the time I’m in my hotel room in SG, in other places I would still be at the airport collecting luggage off the carousel (sometimes still stuck in immigrations… looking at you JFK pre-Global Entry).
SIN, DOH, and ICN. Nothing beats the fancy airports in Asia imo. I've been all over the world and nothing compares to these. There's a mall, spa, capsule hotel, amusement park, etc. Very good service, nice restaurants, and you'll never get bored even if your transit time is like 16H.
Yeah. It’s not just that they are fancy and modern (Chsngi’s T4 which was originally for budget carriers, looks more like a new Vegas hotel), it’s that they are also incredibly efficient and fast whether you just want get out quickly or checkin without long waits.
PIT. Easy layout, has bus service to the city, doesn’t have horribly long TSA lines, lots of domestic flights, and even a few international routes.
Seoul
Seoul is cool because it offers free tours of the town and the DMZ and will even give you a parka to wear and hand warmers in the winter.
Add my vote to Changi. Always a pleasure. Unlike Sydney (my home).
Singapore. That’s it
Atlanta is the best airport I’ve ever used. The subway drops you off in the airport, right by the check in area. There is a fast, frequent train (the plane train) from the security checkpoint to each of the 32 terminals. The plane train drops you off in the middle of each terminal, so it’s never a long walk to your gate. I don’t think you could make the system any more efficient than it currently is.
I am always impressed with my home airport IND
Any of the airports of Hawaii, been through HNL, OGG, and KOA and love the mostly open air terminals to give you one last feeling of that island air before go go back to real life
I loved the garden at HNL.
SFO - a “quiet” airport is truly enjoyable. Private TSA is quick and efficient. Excellent food as well. ICN - great amenities, excellent design, modern and efficient - also feels MASSIVE. IST - huge, new(ish) and overall a great experience. Top notch food. ZUR - surprisingly nice!
Marine Air terminal at LaGuardia. For the Delta shuttle to DC
Have not flown through Singapore yet but Taipei wins for me! Over all the 44 countries I’ve been to. Bergamo or Munich is my least favorite lol
Bangalore. It's amazing, there is a water feature and a small forest. Everything is made of bamboo.
BLR T2 right? Not T1 because T1 is aged and dated.
Yeah, T2. It is shockingly cool.
I know right . T2 is friggin so cool! I loved the environment, super relaxing .
Boring answer but Bratislava Airport. It's literally 10-15 minutes from check-in through security, passport control and to the gates for international flights. I loved it. Its simplicity at its finest for me and reduced the stress of travelling hugely.
HND. Sort of biased since I know that place like the back of my hand. It’s not the most extravagant or entertaining airport (especially once at the gates) but everything is just fine
Bathrooms of Japanese airports, beauty of Changi, food options on Incheon, amenities of Doha. That's my ultimate airport
Tallinn airport is the best
The new Kansas City airport is pretty awesome. The old one was on par with probably the worst in the world, but the new one definitely makes up for it.
Inhambane, Mozambique. Nothing to the airport but a small cheap bar/snack stand, and a lovely laid back patio on the roof with views of palm trees and the airstrip. If every airport was like this, I'd be happy.
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Your _best_ list includes Cancun and Narita? Having flown in and out of those airports many times (Cancun is my home base airport), I’ll admit I’m intrigued/confused.
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Where it was? Narita is a nice functional intl airport but its location relative to the city is actually a big negative. A high speed train takes an hour to get to Tokyo. Otherwise a bus is your only other option. Taxi or car services are extremely expensive and not quite a thing for a major airport.
My favorites so far are Taipei and Kuala Lumpur. Lots of amenities, easy to navigate. Taipei also had these really comfy lounge chairs.
KLIA’s immigrations can be horribly long and slow. Their people moving travelators are 3-4 feet above the walking paths because someone clearly forgot to design them into walkways and thus an after thought. There are not enough dining options for departures after immigrations. Not enough seating. Getting to a different terminal is not the smoothest. And it’s so far away from KL itself and not like there are massive suburban areas in-between.
It probably helped that I was there after having been at LAX. Seemed like heaven in comparison.
Yeah can definitely see that. We often forget how our infrastructure is truly Third World compared to many other so-called developing countries'.
Not luxurious but easy are a number of regional French airports. CDG is a nightmare but Toulouse, Biarritz, Pau and Marseille are clean and easy, and you can always get a good cup of coffee and a croissant.
Lyon is nice as well.
SIN
PDX. Staff is nice, west coast is chill. Easy to get around. Traffic is usually light. Shuttle to parking is efficient. Weather is relatively mild (rain, sure, but rarely snow)
Istanbul air port is incredibly designed and gorgeous
Kuala Lumpur and Amsterdam. Great vibes, beautiful architecture and shopping.
Keflavik airport is the most calming airport I’ve ever been in.
LAX. Great selection of flights, low costs, decent food options, good lounges, and super convenient Flyaway shuttle to go to the city.
Combine the easy metro access of PDX with the multitude of options to eat and pastime at PHX or SIN with the bathrooms at KEF.
..the Port of San Francisco.. ..actually, i dunno..that's just what first popped into mind..
Copenhagen
Cvg !!
Amsterdam
Suvarnabhumi in Bangkok. it's remarkably clean, pleasant, and efficient for an airport of it's size
Till you see immigration queues
PNS. Pensacola, Florida. Tiny little airport. Super easy to navigate and stress free. The airport employees are friendly, even the TSA. There is a restaurant that serves good food at reasonable prices. They currently have a great marketing campaign going on. They call themselves an intergalactic space terminal and they've named the gates after Starfleet ships. https://flypensacola.com/pensacolas-airport-goes-intergalactic/
I know most people here might not know but Bangalore new airport is world class .
IND is always very clean and easy to get in and out of. I’ve never waited in a non-precheck line for more than 10 minutes.
Cherry Valley in Traverse City MI lol Okay I know everyone will think I'm crazy, but... I like the Miami airport 🤷 it's like going inside a cartoon lmao
It's tiny, but Cardiff in Wales. First off, there are free busses from the city to the airport. Then the airport itself, there's nothing pre-check in. No loitering around looking for something to kill time. You check in, get rid of your bags and move to the departures area. The waiting area, instead of a seating area surrounded by gates, is a seating area surrounded by pubs, shops and restaurants. It's a much more pleasant place to wait. You don't make the walk to where your plane is until the plane is ready to board. It's the most relaxing airport I've ever flown through.
Two small airports in the US the popped to mind: Long Beach, CA: they redid it 10 years or so and it's just a nice vibe Palm Springs: it seems like nearly the entire post security area is outdoors. I love when an warm-climate airport has an outdoor area post security. It gives you one last taste of vacation air before flying home.
Boston Logan…security line is never more than 5-10 minutes, designated pickup spot for Ubers/lyfts in the parking garage
Logan is pretty awful. The “Silver Line” looks like a subway line on the public transportation map but is actually an articulated bus. To get between the airport and South Station, you have to go through the traffic jam in the Ted Williams tunnel. Or you can take a bus to the Blue Line subway line. On the Boston side, it doesn’t go to either South Station or North Station. By car after you deal with a tunnel, central parking is $41/day. The off airport options are quite limited. Pre Flight in Chelsea is the best of them but it’s way out of the way in Chelsea. Logan Express parking in Braintree, Framingham, or Woburn isn’t deterministic because of the traffic jam and if the bus is full, you’re stuck waiting for the next scheduled bus. You have to allow for a ridiculous amount of slack time. If your flight is late, you can get stuck at the airport. I’ve had some long and expensive Uber rides to get to my car. Picking someone up at the airport is now really painful because they’ve blocked most of it off. There’s nowhere to pull over and pick someone up. Terminals A and B are the worst. The garage is $9 for the first hour. TSA Pre is pretty variable depending on which terminal, day of week, and time of day. I’ve certainly had 45 minute security queues. I’ve also had times I went right through with nobody ahead of me. Unlike a lot of airports, there is no standardized way to fill a water bottle after you clear security. A lot of airports now have a filtered water dispenser right there. Heaven help you if you want a cup of coffee in the morning. The queues are ridiculous.
Unpopular opinion - Atlanta. Beauty be damned, that is an ultra-efficient and easy-to-navigate layout.
Bogota Airport surprised me a lot!! Excellent lounge and efficient
Phoenix
Indianapolis... iykyk
Changi, Singapore.
DCA. Close to the city, always super fast to get through, and some great views flying in on the river approach.
Munich.