Ha! Yes I remember that one, its disgusting. The air quality is about the same as that in Bangkok itself (don't get me wrong, I love Bangkok. And I smoke!)
I've never been to Ibeefa myself! Last time I was in Alicante they didn't even have a smoking room there, it was just one part of the lobby was smoking and the other part was non-smoking.
Hardly ever travel on it. Actually, lines most everywhere else go a lot faster with my US one. They just assume you don't know what you're doing and wave you on through. Plus, coming home would be a problem, because there are complications about being a US citizen but entering on a non-US passport...
I've never had a good experience flying into Atlanta for international flights. Long customs line, surly airport employees, rechecking bags after passing customs.
I my experience, Best: Munich, Brussels, Atlanta, Orlando Worst: Toronto, Philadelphia, Charles de Gaulle
This reminded me of an article from the The Economist recently which surveyed the airports across Russia. Sounds like some of them haven't really changed all that much ... "Sheremetyevo:Landing at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, first-time visitors may be unnerved to see their more experienced co-passengers limbering up, as if for a football match or gladiatorial combat. When the plane stops taxiing, or before, the Sheremetyevo regular begins to run. Sheremetyevo is war. ..." http://www.economist.com/world/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8401107&CFID=12735560&CFTOKEN=15601018
Thanks for reminding me of the article!That was part of Christmas special issue,I believe.Very funny article.
Then take both passports with you, use the Italian one to enter the UK thus avoiding the lines, and the US one to reenter the US. That's what I always do.
I have a more generic opinion on airports. I like the more flexible set up in which no counter or gate is permanently assigned to a single airline. (In practice, many counters are occupied by the same airlines). Instead, they are assigned on a "as needed" basis, using video screens that can be configured for each airline and flight. I find this arrangement less prone to create congestions at peak hours (or under-utilized gates). Many of the modern airports (e.g., Hong Kong) have this arrangement. For some reason, this is rarely done in this country. For those of you who know airport designs, can you tell me if there is any downside on this kind of arrangement (and why it is less commonly seen in this country).
The best small airport i've been to is hands down Portland Intl. Airport (PDX). Wi-Fi, easy to get through, easy to get your bags even during construction, perfect. My favorite large airport has to be San Francisco. For such a large airport, it is extremely easy to get around, second being Dubai. Bad part about Dubai is that when I was there, they didn't have enough skyway's for all of the traffic. We landed on the tarmac and waited for the stairs to take us off the plane. No fun in 125F. degree heat! For a no frills airport Beirut Lebanon ain't half bad either (not the best condition though)! Can't stand O'Hare, everytime I fly through there, I leave 4-6 hours if I need to make a connection just because I know I'll be delayed. Heathrow... Need I say more. Atlanta is terrible. Too packed, hard to get around, but customs is fairly lacking there! Almost forgot about Charles De Gaulle... F**k that place!
Schiphol now are gradually introducing fully automated check-in machines, no check-in counters needed anymore in the near future.
Without check in counters, how can one buy a ticket on the spot or make arrangements to chance one's flight plans? (Other than through the internet).
You can get anything done with those Kiosk's. You can buy a new ticket, change your flight plan, upgrade, etc. There is no way it can be totally automated just because the people who are technologically inept. Usually there are booking agents there to help all of the customers out. I've used Alaska Airlines (US Carrier) kiosks, they're really very easy to use.
Just flew into JFK today. Waiting an hour at Baggage Claim is awesome. I never had a problem at Newark. Admittedly, I haven't departed from there with any airline other then Continental or JetBlue. The worst for me is Lima. Chaos.
Last time I flew out of JFK the US Airways flight I was supposed to be on was 3 hours late. I was supposed to leave at 9:00pm and didn't get out until 12:45 when we were in the air! Best thing was there were no announcements about the flight being late!! Then the proceeded to unload our checked luggage... it was hell! LaGuardia is always faster for me.
Earlier this year on our way to Toronto we had a layover at JFK. What a living, breathing clusterf***. After we got off our plane we had to catch the connecting flight at a different terminal. With all the construction going on they told us we had to take a shuttle bus. I swear the shuttle was no longer than 30 seconds. As soon as we got on the bus, we got off the bus. That's when the fun started. There were four of us traveling together. We get off the shuttle and come to a fork in the passage way. No signs, no ushers, no nothing. Just this poor girl sitting on a stool by the wall. My buddy Duff was the first one off with me behind him and my other two friends behind me. Duff hits the fork in the road and goes to the left and into a revolving door. As soon as he figures out that it takes him OUT of the terminal he stays in the revolving door and goes all the way around and back in. I ALMOST made the same mistake. As soon as he comes back thru this girl jumps off her stool and tells him he's gone outside and can't come back in. That was her whole job. Of course that meant going thru security again. Our flight was leaving in 45 minutes. Talk about being pissed. Duff hauls ass. I'm certain we'll never see him again. I find the first airport person I can find and ask "what the ****" ? He gives me a sort of laugh, says it happens all the time. I ask if MAYBE putting a sign up would be helpful to passengers. He looks at me like I'm from outer space. I consider kicking him in the jimmies. My friends drag me away. Duff comes running up, sweat pouring making the flight by minutes. I frickin' HATE JFK and every last muther that works there.
Thats what I do when I go to Brazil, due to the fact that Americans need Visas to go to Brazil, I use my Brazilian passport to enter Brazil and my American passport to go back to the USA.
since i've only been in 2 airports....here is what i say best: Frankfurt no problems, was easy to find help... no customs issues or security issues. worst: Toronto, Pearson airport. when i got back to Toronto...the ********ing customs assholes clearly sterotyped me for being a younger guy travelling on my own...mysteriously the dogs came up to me (seemed to just be SOMEWHAT friendly) but they questioned me, searched through ALL of my luggage, treated me like i was a criminal, tested all my metallic materials (before doing that, the asshole put on rubber gloves and i nearly pissed myself) this took nearly an hour and it was not exactly the nicest welcome home gift.