5 ms·

There were other points too. Our airports are older...like much of our crumbling infrastructure, we don't spend enough to keep them modern and the financing maz

by curun1r 10y ago

There were other points too. Our airports are older...like much of our crumbling infrastructure, we don't spend enough to keep them modern and the financing maze between Federal, State and local government makes finding the money to modernize airports more difficult than it has to be. And the airlines oppose increasing the fee added to ticket prices, so improvements can't be financed by travelers. But yeah, the dingy and cramped gate areas are just the final insult added to the TSA's already-ruined travel experience.

prawn 10y ago
I swear two trips ago, I went through LAX and it was going through renovations. Then the most recent trip, the security procedure and wait was longer than before. I hope that they were renovating areas other than the security process! In Australia, the wait times seem like they're generally due to low staffing at peak times rather than process or infrastructure.
- robbiep 10y ago
  After 2 weeks jumping through US airports recently (currently at LAX on a Qantas A380 headed home), I can't understand all the unnecessary waiting at security clearance. I've rarely waited longer than 5 minutes to clear security at any airport in Australia, the queues flow quickly and efficiently- cf. my recent experiences at LAX, Charlotte Douglas and JFK where I made sure I was turning up 3 hours early for domestic flights, and still came close to missing at JFK despite having a priority line through frequent flier level. What a joke. The procedures are unnecessary and demeaning. It looks like they could improve efficiency by just having a longer conveyor for the XR machine! Pathetic.
  - ajmurmann 10y ago
    I wish I could upvote your conveyor comment many times!
  - prawn 10y ago
    Missed a flight at LAX by two minutes the other week despite showing up almost two hours early. Wasn't going to be enough time to get through security/etc. Very frustrating. Was just thinking about longer conveyor belts too. The body scanner is rarely a chokepoint. Seems to be either the guy manning the x-ray machine, or people loading/unloading on the conveyor.
- nl 10y ago
  Flying back into Adelaide on an international flight was the most horrible experience I've had at any airport anywhere. Maybe it was the 7 staff standing around behind the 2 desks processing a full plane of people? Or maybe the other people whose job it seemed to be to threaten anyone who took their phone out with a $10,000 fine? Or the yet-more-people walking around in the luggage reclaim section checking something so that then you can queue to have another person check the same thing to choose what other queue you can get into. I've found US and European immigration much better.
  - prawn 10y ago
    I think the scale in Adelaide means that they just don't handle the rise and fall in demand well without spending more on staff. That said, I'm sure it could be done better. Maybe get the beagles to man a desk during peak times.
    - andyjdavis 10y ago
      I am actually a little surprised that there are direct international flights coming into Adelaide. I mean, I guess it makes sense in retrospect but my initial thought would be that getting to Adelaide would involve a stop a Brisbane, Perth or maybe Sydney.
- sandworm101 10y ago
  LAX is a nightmare. I had one experience where I had to change terminals quickly because my first flight was late. There was something wrong with the bus. So I found myself running, in a suit and dragging my carry-on, across the parking lot at 1am. Dirty, dark, depressing and loud is LAX. On the other end is YVR, perhaps the best airport in north america.
fudged71 10y ago
I'm in Florida on a trip from Canada. The Orlando airport doesn't have a single SIM card provider. Travel forums seem to validate this. If you can't have cellular communication when you land... just WTF?! Backwards country.
- JohnTHaller 10y ago
  Most US phones are either locked to a single provider or only have full radio support for a single provider. Most US customers don't even know what a SIM is. So, shops like that are completely uncommon here. Unlike Europe where everything just works, we have 4 separate major mobile networks (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint) that use separate and incompatible technology. "Competition" beat out standardization here and we all suffer for it. Depending on where you are from and what kind of phone you have, there's a good chance your phone wouldn't even work here with a SIM anyway. You'll want to find the nearest AT&T or T-Mobile store as those are the two networks that support semi-standard 3G. Note that they both use unique radio networks so you'll need to check what bands your phone supports and what bands each provider supports in a given area for compatibility. Yes, it really is this stupid here.
  - sjwright 10y ago
    Travel tip: If you're in London Heathrow airport, there are vending machines that sell a ready-to-go pre-activated pre-paid all-sizes SIM card from Three, for £20. It gives you 30 days of near-unlimited roaming to 19 countries including in the USA where it uses AT&T and T-Mobile. The only catch is tethering is not allowed. Oh, and you won't have a local phone number. But if you really want a local phone, your best bet is to pick up a hilariously cheap disposable phone from a retail store.
    - noobermin 10y ago
      >T-Mobile If you're from the US and you have T-Mobile you get free roaming almost everywhere...at 2G. I ended up buying a datapass which gives you LTE if possible at 50 usd...for 500 MB for two weeks. I ended up using it all, but hey, even when that was gone, I could still connect albeit slowly. Last week, I used it across London, Singapore, and Seoul. It was a god-send without having to buy a new SIM...yes, it used my old number, from what I understand. EDIT: The free 2G is real...no extra fees. It's free data (out of your usual plan) and texts, but I think it's a couple of cents for calls, as if I give a shit about that.
jws 10y ago
The gate area overcrowding is odd. The airport administrators know how many people go on an airplane, then put about 80-90% of the required seating in place. It seems to be a deliberate failure. I suppose you can multiplex seats between adjacent gates by making sure you don't schedule flights at the same time, but I see that not happening. And generally you can't hear the announcements from the adjacent gate.
snowwindwaves 10y ago
Vancouver airport YVR is fantastic. It has a magical calming feel. They used to charge $15 to every passenger before they went through security as an airport improvement fee. I can't believe that now that renovations are done they no longer collect the fee, but it is true. User pays. And as an added bonus you can take a train right to downtown in 22 minutes
- dingaling 10y ago
  > User pays The users of airports are the airlines, not passengers. Airports that charge "improvement fees" are double-dipping; they already charge a per-passenger fee as part of the aircraft handling fees.
  - snowwindwaves 10y ago
    Those fees should just be high enough to cover operation and maintenance though, not a 10 year renovation

by curun1r 10y ago

prawn 10y ago

I swear two trips ago, I went through LAX and it was going through renovations. Then the most recent trip, the security procedure and wait was longer than before. I hope that they were renovating areas other than the security process! In Australia, the wait times seem like they're generally due to low staffing at peak times rather than process or infrastructure.

robbiep 10y ago
After 2 weeks jumping through US airports recently (currently at LAX on a Qantas A380 headed home), I can't understand all the unnecessary waiting at security clearance. I've rarely waited longer than 5 minutes to clear security at any airport in Australia, the queues flow quickly and efficiently- cf. my recent experiences at LAX, Charlotte Douglas and JFK where I made sure I was turning up 3 hours early for domestic flights, and still came close to missing at JFK despite having a priority line through frequent flier level. What a joke. The procedures are unnecessary and demeaning. It looks like they could improve efficiency by just having a longer conveyor for the XR machine! Pathetic.
- ajmurmann 10y ago
  I wish I could upvote your conveyor comment many times!
- prawn 10y ago
  Missed a flight at LAX by two minutes the other week despite showing up almost two hours early. Wasn't going to be enough time to get through security/etc. Very frustrating. Was just thinking about longer conveyor belts too. The body scanner is rarely a chokepoint. Seems to be either the guy manning the x-ray machine, or people loading/unloading on the conveyor.
nl 10y ago
Flying back into Adelaide on an international flight was the most horrible experience I've had at any airport anywhere. Maybe it was the 7 staff standing around behind the 2 desks processing a full plane of people? Or maybe the other people whose job it seemed to be to threaten anyone who took their phone out with a $10,000 fine? Or the yet-more-people walking around in the luggage reclaim section checking something so that then you can queue to have another person check the same thing to choose what other queue you can get into. I've found US and European immigration much better.
- prawn 10y ago
  I think the scale in Adelaide means that they just don't handle the rise and fall in demand well without spending more on staff. That said, I'm sure it could be done better. Maybe get the beagles to man a desk during peak times.
  - andyjdavis 10y ago
    I am actually a little surprised that there are direct international flights coming into Adelaide. I mean, I guess it makes sense in retrospect but my initial thought would be that getting to Adelaide would involve a stop a Brisbane, Perth or maybe Sydney.
sandworm101 10y ago
LAX is a nightmare. I had one experience where I had to change terminals quickly because my first flight was late. There was something wrong with the bus. So I found myself running, in a suit and dragging my carry-on, across the parking lot at 1am. Dirty, dark, depressing and loud is LAX. On the other end is YVR, perhaps the best airport in north america.

fudged71 10y ago

I'm in Florida on a trip from Canada. The Orlando airport doesn't have a single SIM card provider. Travel forums seem to validate this. If you can't have cellular communication when you land... just WTF?! Backwards country.

JohnTHaller 10y ago
Most US phones are either locked to a single provider or only have full radio support for a single provider. Most US customers don't even know what a SIM is. So, shops like that are completely uncommon here. Unlike Europe where everything just works, we have 4 separate major mobile networks (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint) that use separate and incompatible technology. "Competition" beat out standardization here and we all suffer for it. Depending on where you are from and what kind of phone you have, there's a good chance your phone wouldn't even work here with a SIM anyway. You'll want to find the nearest AT&T or T-Mobile store as those are the two networks that support semi-standard 3G. Note that they both use unique radio networks so you'll need to check what bands your phone supports and what bands each provider supports in a given area for compatibility. Yes, it really is this stupid here.
- sjwright 10y ago
  Travel tip: If you're in London Heathrow airport, there are vending machines that sell a ready-to-go pre-activated pre-paid all-sizes SIM card from Three, for £20. It gives you 30 days of near-unlimited roaming to 19 countries including in the USA where it uses AT&T and T-Mobile. The only catch is tethering is not allowed. Oh, and you won't have a local phone number. But if you really want a local phone, your best bet is to pick up a hilariously cheap disposable phone from a retail store.
  - noobermin 10y ago
    >T-Mobile If you're from the US and you have T-Mobile you get free roaming almost everywhere...at 2G. I ended up buying a datapass which gives you LTE if possible at 50 usd...for 500 MB for two weeks. I ended up using it all, but hey, even when that was gone, I could still connect albeit slowly. Last week, I used it across London, Singapore, and Seoul. It was a god-send without having to buy a new SIM...yes, it used my old number, from what I understand. EDIT: The free 2G is real...no extra fees. It's free data (out of your usual plan) and texts, but I think it's a couple of cents for calls, as if I give a shit about that.

jws 10y ago

The gate area overcrowding is odd. The airport administrators know how many people go on an airplane, then put about 80-90% of the required seating in place. It seems to be a deliberate failure. I suppose you can multiplex seats between adjacent gates by making sure you don't schedule flights at the same time, but I see that not happening. And generally you can't hear the announcements from the adjacent gate.

snowwindwaves 10y ago

Vancouver airport YVR is fantastic. It has a magical calming feel. They used to charge $15 to every passenger before they went through security as an airport improvement fee. I can't believe that now that renovations are done they no longer collect the fee, but it is true. User pays. And as an added bonus you can take a train right to downtown in 22 minutes

dingaling 10y ago
> User pays The users of airports are the airlines, not passengers. Airports that charge "improvement fees" are double-dipping; they already charge a per-passenger fee as part of the aircraft handling fees.
- snowwindwaves 10y ago
  Those fees should just be high enough to cover operation and maintenance though, not a 10 year renovation