Do you enjoy airports?

[marko]

4,000,000 miler.
Yes, I still enjoy airports! Not so much the airport itself but the amenities.

Kuala Lumpur has this unbelievable lounge where you can take a shower, change and refresh. Really unreal facility with fantastic service.
Schiphol had a hotel right inside security where you could catch a few winks between flights (and the charge was listed as "bar" so you could easily submit it without double duty on a hotel). You can spend an entire day at AMS just shopping, going to the arcade and eating/drinking without ever leaving security.
Last time I looked Seoul even had a skating rink...just cool stuff.

I love people watching as they come in from all parts of the globe.

 

[CaptTom]

The only way I can see doing that would be if I were dropping off or picking up a close relative or friend, and wanted to see them off or meet them at the gate, like in the old (pre-9/11) days.

 

[Sue J]

When I was a kid my Dad used to take us to the airport (Cleveland Hopkins) just for fun. There was no TSA to deal with and one of the concourses had an outdoor rooftop area for folks like us to go out and watch the planes take off and land. There were even benches out there so people stayed a while and just watched. I remember it being windy and LOUD and wearing a hat on a sunny day.

The parking must have been cheap for us to do this as a family outing.

As an adult I truly hate flying. I'll do it if I have to. Or I'll do it if there is a beach on the other end.

 

[CardsFan]

Kuala Lumpur has this unbelievable lounge where you can take a shower, change and refresh. Really unreal facility with fantastic service.

Not sure if it is the same lounge, but the First Class Oneworld affiliated Lounge (Malaysian Air, I think) in KL was the nicest (complimentary) Airport lounge I have ever seen. Linen tablecloths, wait service from a menu, high-end cooked-to-order meals.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I guess I'm the partial exception. It depends on the airport, and sometimes the specific terminal, as there are a few really nice airports but obviously a lot of really crappy and boring ones.
Some of the best/memorable ones we've been to:
Changi in Singapore obviously comes to mind. We're visiting Singapore again this summer and we're planning to get to the airport at least 6 hours before our flight this time so we can check out all the stuff they have.
The International Terminal at Haneda in Tokyo has a great outdoor viewing area and a bunch of interesting exhibits.
I can't recall which airport that had a really nice art/museum collection.
Istanbul just opened a new airport and I'm kind of looking forward to checking it out this summer too.

I also took the missus to YVR airport for one of our earlier dates as a bit of an off the wall activity just to watch planes take off and land. IMO, YVR is a pretty cool airport. They set up a summer series called Take Off Fridays where they hosted a variety of events Friday afternoons in the summer to have people come check out the airport.

 

[Dawg52]

No. Hate airport.

 

[Sunset]

So, I see a story on the local news (Tampa) that the international airport will be opening up to the nonflying public. They will allow a limited number of "guests" to pass through TSA and "enjoy" the use of all restaurants, bars, and stores in the particular concourse they select. They can only visit one concourse.
....

So there is currently zero wait time to pass through TSA in Tampa

What a stupid idea, to make the delay through security longer.

 

[Sunset]

Will they include groping by the TSA as part of the experience? Maybe the people from the Jupiter FL prostitution sting could just go to the airport instead.

No all these people will opt for the extra dose of x-ray instead of a grope.

Sure they say the machines are low dose backscatter, but everyone knows the TSA does not want to miss another bomb, so they will crank it up full and take off the govenor, after all they aren't flying.

 

[NanoSour]

They must really take us for fools. Either that, or they're testing us to see how stupid we really are.

 

[brett]

Cannot say I enjoy any airport in North America. There are some in other cities that I think set the standard. Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Seoul come to mind.

 

[Live Large]

Travel purposes near & far we use a lot of airports so to ease the terminal stay we joined “priority pass”
access to lounge - not done traveling everywhere.
It is really beneficial for international flights. Ok

 

[CoolRich59]

... And your post mentioning the Tampa airport struck a particular nerve with me, because I was just there a couple months ago, and was particularly upset about being ripped off for parking. We parked in the elevated parking structure there, for about an hour, having a bite to eat in one of the restaurants while we waited for a friend to arrive. ... The restaurant was overpriced and the food was not very good, but I expected that.

Ditto here. We were just in the Tampa airport and ate at the P. F. Changs. The food was ok, but the service was awful.

I could not imagine going to any airport solely to dine.

 

[Telly]

This thread topic reminds me of an old movie, I think it was Charlton Heston, who drove into his barb-wire-laced compound and into the garage, while atomic mutants poured burning oil down on him. Airports and air travel give me the same feeling.
Back in the 1970's, it wasn't too bad.

 

[samclem]

This thread topic reminds me of an old movie, I think it was Charlton Heston, who drove into his barb-wire-laced compound and into the garage, while atomic mutants poured burning oil down on him.

The Omega Man--a classic. Copied, but never topped.

 

[marko]

Not sure if it is the same lounge, but the First Class Oneworld affiliated Lounge (Malaysian Air, I think) in KL was the nicest (complimentary) Airport lounge I have ever seen. Linen tablecloths, wait service from a menu, high-end cooked-to-order meals.

That's the one!

I'd do the Paris > Singapore run with a 2-3 hour stop in KL. Hot shower, fluffy towels nicer than most hotels and then a good meal before moving on.

(Just don't mistake the small in-flight prayer room on Malaysian Air for the bathroom!)

 

[Aerides]

The best part of going to an airport is the anticipation of a trip - so take that away and go to the airport as the destination? Um no.

That said, I do have one of the nicer airports near me, PBI, Palm Beach International. Very nice, clean, easy, smaller... unfortunately small enough that for most direct and all international travel I need to go to FLL or MIA.

 

[cooch96]

I honestly enjoyed airports as a young man in my 20’s. Bustling, exotic, paragons of logistics, and you could get a beer at an absurd time in the morning. I would walk the length of every concourse. Back then, a 5mile hike with all my luggage was just stretching my legs while waiting for the connecting flight.

Even just a few years ago I remember enjoying the architecture of John Wayne airport in OC, and the 1980’s quaintness of the Grant County airport with its single terminal in NM.

But now I concur with the herd: din and crowds and getting treated like cattle. Flying is a necessary evil of expedient travel and airports are the worst part of it.

 

[Nick12]

I just want to get from point A to point B so no. But I do get a kick watching those old Airport movies with Dean Martin. All the customers are wearing their Sunday best!

 

[CRLLS]

It would be nice to greet visiting friends and family at the gate when they arrive. Like we could in the old days. Would this be possible?

 

[frayne]

Not at all, I'd rather have a root canal. Crowds, waiting in line, waiting on baggage, pat downs and going through x-ray detectors, removing shoes off, postponed flights, crummy food, getting rental cars, returning rental cars, taking shuttles from long term parking in freezing/raining or excruciating heat are not enjoyable. Flew enough in my work career to fill a lifetime. Will only fly now if it makes sense not to drive. I actually thought the question was tongue in cheek.

 

[ckelly78z]

I can't imagine paying for parking, walking a mile +, and going through TSA/security check points just to enjoy the ambiance, and restaurants of a major airport where everyone is just trying to get somewhere.

Go to a relaxing waterfront bistro, and chill, keep excess congestion away from the airports.

 

[foxfirev5]

After 3 years of retirement and a number of long road trips I am finding that airports aren't too bad after all. Sure beats sitting in traffic and dealing with another set of hassles. We have the ability to pick our flights, always direct with no connections, along with less busy times. Furthermore we find it much healthier than sitting in a car for a couple days. We arrive at DTW an extra hour early and get in about 3 miles of walking which we never do on the road. It is also a great stress reliever. A whole different experience than the old days of business travel every week.

 

[MichaelB]

Well, there’s the security issues too. Usually they don’t let you through security unless you have a boarding pass which means you have a ticket.

The airline ticketing agent will give you a guest pass to go to the gate if you give a reason, such as receiving an arriving passenger in person, or helping a passenger board.

The Omega Man--a classic. Copied, but never topped.

+1

 

[Rianne]

I don't think much about airports. They're necessary for travel. Just like gas stations and fast food while you're driving long distances. There are some that are nice (clean) and some that are creepy. O'Hare is not my favorite but I don't have a choice. I have to go through there for the best prices.

 

[Steeler75]

Spent many years w*rking in airports.

1. MRY had a great pre-checkpoint restaurant that served fresh fish from the bay, overlooked the runways, and many locals would come out to enjoy the ambiance and food.

2. KOA’s outdoor terminal huts with ground loaded wide body airplanes was fun. Gave an immediate sense of place when de-planning, with the smell of plumerias In the air and instant humidity.

I think the need to have such high load factors on airplanes has definitely impacted the enjoyment and romance of air travel.

+1 on Omega Man... just be sure to keep the generator fuel topped off!