The Traveling Professor travels a decent amount each year. There are people who fly more than The Professor and people who fly less. But here are The Professor's picks for the best - and worst - airports he has had the pleasure of flying through.
The Best: Bergen Airport, Norway. The tram from the center of Bergen practically takes you into the airport lobby and it only costs under the equivalent of $5 USD. It is clean and well laid-out. No need to walk and walk and walk to find your gate. The security process is quick and easy. Lots of places to eat, but no lounges.
The Worst: Cusco, Peru. The airport is old and dingy. There are really no dining options. The lounge is tiny and usually full. Good luck finding a place to sit while waiting for your flight. However, this is not a reflection on the Peruvian airlines, which are some of The Professor's favorite.
The Best: Kansas City. When The Professor arrived here for the first time, he got off the flight and said, "“Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore, we must be over the rainbow!” But we were in Kansas! What a beautiful airport. Wide hallways, good food options, easy and quick to get luggage and quick access to rental cars and parking. We love flying through Kansas City.
The Worst: Manchester Airport, England. This place is old, low ceilings and I recall check-in having ridiculously long lines in a basement, or at least if felt like a basement. Don't expect good food options either. It is kind of convenient to the rail station.
The Best: Now here is a surprise. La Guardia Airport in NYC. We never thought we would say it, but it is true. They did a really great job in renovating it. It looks beautiful, access to Lyft/Uber is good, the food options are very good and it has some great lounges including the Chase Sapphire Reserve Lounge. And a big shout out to the TSA agents who work there - they are kind, hard-working, and professional. The downside to the airport is that we wish it had better public transportation options.
The Worst: Islip Airport on Long Island. This airport really should be a superstar. People would rather fight the crowds traffic at LGA and JFK than use this place. We mostly dislike it because it is served by low-service airlines, the schedules are terrible, and it serves lots of destinations we would never want to go to. I have never seen an airport with worse food options. We wish this was a good airport, but it isn't. The parking stinks too.
The Worst and the Best: We have a Love/Hate relationship with Charlotte, NC airport. It is close to the city, but has lousy transportation options. We love just being able to walk a few yards to rent a car after grabbing luggage, but hate how crowded the place is. They have a few good lounges, but they are always super crowded. Security is a long process but hopefully that will be done with once they complete renovations.
The Absolute Worst: London Heathrow. We would do anything to not fly through this mess. It always seems like you arrive in Terminal 3 and then need to transfer to Terminal 5. Doesn't sound to bad, does it? But it is. Long walks to seemingly nowhere, bad signage, and slow passport control lines. Then you have to get on these overcrowded busses on a relatively long ride to another terminal, while sweating it out to see if you will make your connection. Then when you get to the other terminal, you need to go through security again. And if they find one teensy thing that looks suspicious in your bag, expect to be there for a while they empty out your bag and put it back together again, without a care in the world if you will miss your flight. Then you have to walk, walk, walk to get to your gate.