The reason I don't fly anymore is because I can't stand airports. So called hostile architecture and sometimes hostile staff. This article confirms my bias. Nowhere appropriate to rest without noise, terrible lighting and hard surfaces.
My main memory of LAX was being accosted by Hare Krishnas.
I fly often and I think the airport hate is overblown.
Airports are designed to keep large groups of passengers moving as efficiently as possible, and as a result they need to make some tradeoffs. Airports aren't and shouldn't really be designed for sleeping - there's a thing called hotels for that. A lot of airports have capsule hotels paid per hour for exactly this purpose.
The root cause seems to be airlines aren't actually forced to provide enough compensation to cover a hotel. Regulation would be a much easier solution than redesigning airport to accommodate sleeping.
Only complaint I agree with is the "please do not leave your bags unattended" spam on the PA. Whoever came up with that idea deserves a couple years of solitary confinement with said PA in the cell, for increasing the danger due to alert fatigue and people completely tuning out the PA, making the channel completely worthless.
Not for me. I find them very unpleasant spaces, representing a lot of what is wrong with the modern world. You say hotels are designed for sleeping, but people get stuck in airports due to delays and sometimes can't go outside them due to border control in many countries.
Airports almost always sell everything at vastly inflated prices and are designed to take every penny off you. At Edinburgh Airport, some years ago, the staff were even disallowed free drinking water from a bar even though the entire place is full of air conditioning. No idea if that has changed but heard that off someone who worked there.
Haven't been to the others, but have found most major airports around the world are hostile. They are designed so you aren't comfortable unless you are forking out a lot of money to be in a bar or restaurant, or a business lounge. Everything is overpriced, even the buses going in and out of them.
> "It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression 'as pretty as an airport'"
I somehow got interested by quote and searched it (as is?) on duckduckgo to find a relevant reddit discussion where people were (are?) discussing trains and many other things.
Interesting quote to say the least. Here's the relevant reddit discussion
Also, every time I visit a new airport in the US, it comes to mind how damn near every medium-sized city has a sprawling, fairly clean, air-conditioned airport, with shops and seating, usually open 24 hours. The Amtrak stations in those same cities, if they exist, are usually one-room buildings that close for most of the day. The Greyhound station is nowadays usually just a spot on the side of the road.
Why the disparity? I guess there are just that many more people flying than taking the bus or train? (Built-in security and a generally richer clientele certainly help too, I'm sure)
"Yeah what are we comparing the airport to, home? Plenty of airports are amazing and beautiful.
"
The only thing they compare favourably with are shopping centres. A horrible place to spend several hours or more. Noisy, expensive, usually sterile and ugly. Not my idea of fun. Little or no natural beauty (I gather Singapore and some others have tried to turn this around.)
I have yet to enjoy a train station or bus station more. They are smelly, polluted, greasy, full of pickpockets and worse, usually no places to nap safely without a lookout, and horrendous toilet situations. Maybe there are a few crown jewel stations in very wealthy places that are better than some airports in impoverished places but if you take location into account I doubt you'd be able to come up with many examples.
Utilizing lounges well is an art in itself, and some planning is required - depending on the airport and the airline there may be multiple lounges and options.
But the cost (unless free) often ends up being somewhat similar to just parking at the bar anyway.
I prefer to not arrive THAT early. Maybe if I had more layovers I’d care more about it.
I can't say I've ever understood this sentiment. Flying itself is pretty annoying, especially on budget airlines with tight seats. But airports are just... buildings, nothing particularly special. Going through security is a pain but after that you just sit down and scroll on your phone, I've only encountered one airport that didn't have at least some seating.
I went to airports before doomscrolling was a thing but that is not really my preferred way to wile away several hours. The seating is uncomfortable, the lighting is almost always awful, everything is extortionately priced, and the security staff are often boneheads.
That's totally fair. I can't say I'm ever terribly bored at airports even without my phone, the people-watching is second to none (and plane-watching, of course).
The expensive stores are a good point though, I always bring in my own food.
My main memory of LAX was being accosted by Hare Krishnas.