Airports

I have experienced new airports in my recent travels... and some secrets to help in case you ever have to visit them as well.

1. Dayton (DAY) - The economy lot is $5, while the Park-N-Go lot is $5.45 per day. They are tearing down the airport hotel to expand the economy lot. Apparantly 6am on Saturdays is the airport's busiest time. The only food option on the public side of security is a coffee bar. Inside, there is a Max & Erma's, Sabarro, Cinnabon, and Boston Stoker. The terminals are easy to locate. You walk there, but there's no people movers. Wifi is free. Surprisingly, they don't have a cell phone lot.

2. Atlanta (ATL) - Insane all the time. The people mover carts beep everywhere and run you over. Switching terminals requires using the train tram. Lots of food and shopping options. Wifi is paid only. Good luck finding a plug-- or a seat. There are a few laptop stations at some gates, but seats are usually taken. Atlanta is not good about posting updates at the gates. One time, they completely left my flight off the flight status screens. I was worried there was a delay or cancellation and would not know about it.

3. Baltimore (BWI) - Small but clean. Security lines always seem to take forever, even when there's not a lot of people. Not a lot of food options on the public side of security. The terminal is all in one place. Parking is awesome. The garage has x's to show if there are no spots in a row, and if there are spots, there are little lighted signs to tell you how many are open. It is confusing going from the garage to the airport.

4. Dulles (IAD) - You take an old-school tram hoisted up in the air from the gate to the main terminal. They do not mess around with security. K-9 teams and security are quite present. They herd you in to long lines for the security check. Lots of food options.

5. Raleigh-Durham (RDU) - Pretty painless. Laid out well. Very clean bathrooms.

6. Greensboro - Very small. Not a lot of food options. Clean bathrooms.

7. Las Vegas - Crazy. They have slot machines everywhere, so the gates are quite noisy. It takes forever to walk from the gate to the baggage claim and there are multiple escalators and a train tram to use to to get there. The baggage claim area is massive. It takes forever to wait for a taxi to the hotels. A shuttle may be quicker to get on right away, but it would probably take about the same time to reach your hotel due to all the stops the shuttle takes. Everyone leaves on Sundays so give yourself plenty of time to check-in. Security is slow and they herd you in weird ways. At least they have free wifi.

8. Houston - Awful. You have to wait for a regular bus to take you from one terminal to another, plus there are multiple people movers and its very big.

9. Columbus (CMH) - I love that each terminal has their own security check point. It makes the line go quicker. The old phone booths now have plugs for laptops and the wifi is free.

10. Knoxville - Looks brand new. Very clean bathrooms. They have rocking chairs for women who are breast-feeding (or tired). There is a nice water fountain on the way out to baggage claim.

11. Reagan (DCA) - Quick. Everything is clearly labeled, even ways to the Metro trains, buses, ground transportation, etc. Lots of food and shopping options on the public side of security. Funny PA announcers. They keep you over informed.

12. Cincinnati (CVG) - Ridiculously expensive. Security has an air-puff machine. You take people movers and a train tram, plus a bus if you have to use the Delta terminal. Delta owns that place. I actually had a flight from Greensboro to Dayton with a four-hour lay-over in Cincinnati. Instead of waiting 4 hours to go 30 mins. I simply got out in Cincinnati. Every time I am in Dayton, I hear people complain about Cincinnati's air fares and crazy schedules/layovers. US Airways terminal is very, very small. Delta's terminal is nice. If you pick someone up, the TSA parking people hound you if you're waiting too long. They have a cell phone lot.