The saga continues.
A brief and pleasant complaint to American Airlines garnered 30,000 frequent flyer miles spread over our three accounts. The spouse and the youngest now have a ticket to fly, and it bumped me over the 30,000 mark, so I’m good round trip to Guatemala City. I’ve already got a spot held for a two week outing next February.
Would it surprise anyone, and I mean anyone out there if I declared my affection for American Airlines? 
American and United both probably have the best frequent flyer programs, especially as it relates to service and to availability of upgrades. I just can’t get past the O’Hare portion of the equation…
Aw, but this time I get to go MKE DFW GUA. Much much better than ORD MIA GUA.
DFW, my #2 least favorite! But then again, that’s before Skylink was upgraded and it could take 1/2 hour or more to go between terminals in some cases!
An airport is an airport. They can’t all be like flying out of Crites Field.
I’d rather connect at a crappy airport than depart or arrive to one. Don’t have to deal with most of the yucky parts, then.
I am probably jaded by the ones that I have had terrible experiences in, or had to spend the night in
Only Denver escapes my wrath, for some reason I don’t mind getting stuck there!
Really? Denver has a bad memory for me. I opened my mouth at the wrong time and was nearly slammed against a wall by TSA. Mouth stays firmly shut in security lines now. (Yes, challenging, but determined to be an important component of getting to the plane on time.)
I’ve been thinking about airports. There are some, like San Francisco, I don’t remember at all. LAX is supposed to be awful, but I rented a car and sailed out of there without a problem. Return was no big deal either. Pheonix has free wifi. That’s gotta be a plus! Let’s see. OKC is easy. I think the umbrellas they use to shield from the sun (poorly designed for a state that gets 100+ temps in the summer!) are funny. Plus, I got to hug a TSA agent I grew up with there. One of my best saves was at DFW, I was late, but so was the plane, so all ended well. (The worst is getting stuck on the loop!) Atlanta’s a zoo, but as long as you pretend you’re a rat in a maze and follow the signs you’re fine. Same for Chicago. Detroit is funky. Like the train but hate the distance between terminals. Memphis has a distance problem, too, but excellent artwork. Is it Memphis or Kansas City where there are lines for the barbecue restaurant every time you go?
LGA, CDG and Heathrow are armpits. Always under construction and really confusing. It’s still an act of God that I made it out of Heathrow. Germany’s airports are enormous with four or five security checkpoints for every flight. Hate Miami with every bone in my body.
Surprisingly, places like Shannon Ireland and Florence Italy are very manageable. My most surprising airport was Marrakesh Morocco. Didn’t fly from there, but picked up luggage. It’s a slick place. Well designed and clean, but really not very used. GUA was surprisingly easy to navigate. They keep anyone without a ticket out of the airport completely. The walk off the plane to immigration is unbearably long, though. There are lots of places I don’t even remember. If a flight comes in late or I’m not the lead traveler (I need to write a treatise on that concept someday) I tend to forget a place.
We could do a whole new list on airport club lounges. What did I fly to Italy? Oh, Lufthansa. It must have been the lounge at Munich that blew me away. Really uncomfortable, but enough food and beer to keep you happy for days.
Oh! I just remembered Maui. That was awesome because it’s all open air. Florida’s airports of Tampa, Ft. Myers, and Sarasota are pretty good about making an easy exit, too.
Strangest airport adventure I ever had was Prague in about 1993 or 94. It was just coming out from behind the iron curtain, so things seemed really different. Key West is a funny airport because it’s like “this is it?”
I have pictures of a friend leaving some island, maybe Puerto Rico? where the gate was a couple of boards stretched across concrete blocks under a slanted corrugated steel roof. Never had one like that myself, but the photo was great.
LAS was the worst I have ever been in. Feels really cheap, smokey, and danky.
Have to say Milwaukee works well for me (especially since i know where i’m going. park right next to the skyway and check in and quickly proceed to concourse C). I can usually make it from car to gate in MKE in less than 20 minutes. Love that.
I hate ORD, but nothing beats MDW. What a pit.
How about London Heathrow? I thought the setup was pretty good. All the shops and whatnot within a quick run of the gates. And British Airways is something else. When you can pay for a 12 hour flight plus a movie and UNLIMITED booze… you are set.
LAS is one of those I don’t remember. Just recalled Fargo, though. Out in the middle of NOWHERE!
Lorax, have you gone through MDW lately – the remodel is fantastic.
I got stuck on the DFW loop, that’s why I hate it so much! Missed a flight by 45 minutes, when I had a 1 hour connection.
Haven’t been in MDW since 2007 so maybe it’s better now. Just really hated the place. Also hate that it can add up to two hours to your airport commute just because you have to go through the city.
I lived in Chicago during the time when they had huge rebuilds on the blue line to ORD. That was a huge pain, but when I had a free morning I would sometimes go to the airport and people watch, have airport food, act like an airport rat. Did the same at Union Station on Thursday afternoons. Miss those days.
Which reminds me, when you get the travel blog up I wouldn’t mind helping you pt together a Chicago bit. I’m a bit of an expert after living there and it’s my favorite city in the United States.
I took an architecture class where we traveled around the city to interesting places, so I know lots off the beaten path.
And heck–it would even give me an excuse to refresh my memory with some fieldwork