shuttle driver makes me miss my flight

[Pagan]

I am fortunate that I fly out of probably one of the easiest airports to negotiate that there is..... Kansas City International.

I think El Paso International or the Albuquerque Sunport can beat that. Granted, they're not that big....!

The worst one for non-contained chaos that I've ever seen is Dublin.

[Cats]

We had something like this happen to us 20 odd years ago. The taxi service we had called and reserved a ride to the airport in the moring forgot about us, and by the time we got a hold of them and to the airport, we had missed our flight and had to wait 5 hours to take another.

I was too young to remember most of it (I was about 4 or 5), but I do recall the hella long wait for the flight!

[Kiwi]

whenever I book a shuttle they ask what flight Im on

I always look up the airport beforehand and tell them one about 2 hours before thats in the same terminal

but then my flights are usually between NZ and Canada so theres no way in HELL Im missing them!

It means I get to the airport 2 hours earlier than I need to, but its saved my arse many a time due to traffic or the flight time changing.

very sucky of the driver to drive straight past you

[Chromatix]

I thought you were supposed to get to the airport 2-3 hours early anyway, in order to guarantee that you get through check-in and security despite any unusual delays or problems.

Once, I was at the airport 2.5 hours early, but that wasn't enough. The whole place was utter chaos due to inefficient checkin and security practices. By the time I got to the gate, the *following* flight was boarding. I had to wait overnight for the first morning flight instead.

[smileyeagle1021]

Once, I was at the airport 2.5 hours early, but that wasn't enough. The whole place was utter chaos due to inefficient checkin and security practices. By the time I got to the gate, the *following* flight was boarding. I had to wait overnight for the first morning flight instead.

you'd like Salt Lake International... I've before made it through check in and security in just over half an hour

The longest I've ever taken was just under an hour... and that was the first day of winter break

[Amandarthegreat]

Navigating O'Hare is an art, plus its the only airport that has consistent delays. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the weather outside is 75 and sunny so there will be a delay for inclement weather."

Smaller airports are ridiculous, IMHO. Every time I go through Nashville, I am stuck in security for 30 minutes, they confiscate something that the TSA brochure says is allowed, flights are delayed, and there is nothing to do. I will give Nashville one thing though, they have rocking chairs everywhere. Now that's civilized!

[auntiem]

I don't blame the driver as much as the company that he worked for. I would think "class on where the airport is" would be pretty much a given but I guess not.

You'd think. I've seen it happen though, to a whole bus load of cruise passengers (luckily not our bus).

On the airports: I have several clients that are very particular about what airports they will connect thru and what airports they will go thru customs. Myself, I haven't routed myself thru O'Hare for many years and will only route thru PHL if it is domestic - never again for international. If I'm going thru LAX then I'll take Alaska (only if I'm not checking bags) because I know where the smoking area is.

[Chromatix]

you'd like Salt Lake International... I've before made it through check in and security in just over half an hour

The longest I've ever taken was just under an hour... and that was the first day of winter break

Oh yes, some airports are very good. My horrible experience was at London Stansted; I've had consistently good ones at Manchester, Helsinki-Vantaa and Tampere (which is very small). Unfortunately to fly from Tampere you pretty much end up at Stansted.

Manchester is a fairly well-designed airport in general, in fact. It's a bit too big to be truly streamlined, but it has enough capacity in the terminal to avoid bottlenecks in awkward places. So I am confident about turning up "only" 2 hours in advance there. Also helpful is that it has it's own railway station with direct (or nearly direct) links to most parts of the country.

Helsinki is simply streamlined. The whole place is designed to get you through checkin and security straight away, and then give you somewhere vaguely comfortable to wait for your gate to become available. The only bad point is that it doesn't (yet) have a railway station of it's own, so you have to take buses or taxis if you haven't parked a car there beforehand. Since that's in the process of being corrected, Helsinki provides a first-class example of how an airport should be designed.

Other airports I've sworn to avoid in future are Heathrow and Paris-CDG. The latter is a serial monument to the triumph of form over function - serial because each terminal was built at a different time, yet learned nothing from it's predecessors. Heathrow is just a perennial clusterf**k, probably akin to O'Hare.

The only London arport I will tolerate, if necessary, is Gatwick. It's somewhat more difficult to reach from the North, though. And I suppose Stansted is okay to arrive at, but not to depart from.

[Primer]

One time, coming back from Alaska, my flight was delayed an hour getting into O'Hare (which was spent circling overhead before we finally got clearance to land). I had an hour layover. You know how the flight attendants will announce connecting gates? Mine wasn't even announced.

Got out, asked, turns out my plane is still at the gate. I had no idea I could run that fast. So, I raced there, got on board my plane, and then sat in my seat as the plane sat on the tarmac for another hour waiting for clearance to take off.

Sounds like the connection I made there in 1975, with 2 exceptions: 1) I was a 15 yo kid traveling alone, 2) the metal detector caught me, and security had me up against the wall---over a safety pin holding my underwear together!

[Lil Bunny]

salt lake can be a pretty big PITA too... without fail if you are switching from a long distance to a regional or visa versa you will end up having to go from E903456 to B106 (OK, only a slight exageration... but E concourse does go up to 70 something and every time I have relatives pass through Salt Lake on their way to visit family in Reno or Eureak CA they end up getting the last gate in E concourse going to the furthest gate in B concourse... with only a half hour layover).

Need to read the rest but I'm parking my agreement here BIG TIME. I swear to Gord every single time we fly through there, we have problems. Delays, weather, you name it. Oh, and a really bad sandwich. Ever flown after eating a bad sandwich? *growls looking west*

[smileyeagle1021]

Need to read the rest but I'm parking my agreement here BIG TIME. I swear to Gord every single time we fly through there, we have problems. Delays, weather, you name it.

yes, but if you are flying on Delta and your flight is canceled and they put you up in a hotel there is about a 1 in 4 chance that you'll end up staying where I work

[AirHostess]

I just hate all airports!

[Dreamstalker]

Isn't that a Murphy's Law??.......The shorter your layover, the further away your connecting gate will be.

Corollary: If your connecting gate happens to be within a short walk, there will be as many delays as possible getting to the arriving gate.

Further corollary: If there are no delays on landing, the takeoff will have been delayed just long enough that the connecting flight leaves as yours is deplaning.

[Lil Bunny]

yes, but if you are flying on Delta and your flight is canceled and they put you up in a hotel there is about a 1 in 4 chance that you'll end up staying where I work

LOL that would make stalking you easier now wouldn't it?? The worst is I cannot for the life of me think what takes us in and out of there. It's small, cramped and wonderful when you've just busted your tail bone snowboarding in Montana.

I'm whining aren't I?

[smileyeagle1021]

LOL that would make stalking you easier now wouldn't it?? The worst is I cannot for the life of me think what takes us in and out of there. It's small, cramped and wonderful when you've just busted your tail bone snowboarding in Montana.

I'm whining aren't I?

only whining a little

and you always go through Salt Lake because if you use Delta, Salt Lake International is the western hub... any trip that originates or ends Minnesota westward (I think Minnesota is the cutoff) will go through Salt Lake... compliments of Delta's hub-and-spoke route system...