Airports spoiling flying
Discussion
I fly on scheduled airlines several times per year, but pretty much every airport experience is worse than the last.
Here's some examples of the poorer service we now endure:
Passenger drop-off and collection: often now well away from the terminal and chargeable at an extortionate rate.
Check-in: at least 50% of the available desks are usually empty. Many airlines now operate a single vast queue for all flights, meaning that even if you get there nice and early for your flight, you'll still be queueing for ages behind people booked on other flights.
Bag-drop: basically no different to Check-In as above. You still end up queueing and showing your boarding pass and passport to an agent
Security: you will never see all available X-ray machines being used, leading to lengthy queues. Some airports charge you extra for the pleasure of not having to join this self-inflicted queue.
Foreign Exchange kiosk: truly shocking rates offered. I got near parity of 1:1 on a Sterling / Euro debit card transaction of 200 quid. Real rate was GBP 1.00 = EUR 1.25.
Departure lounge food and drink: all ridiculously overpriced.
Flight announcements: usually non-existant
Boarding: Budget airlines usually commence "Boarding" as soon as the incoming flight has landed, resulting in unnecessary standing in line on stairwells or drafty gangways
Arrivals: frequent use of buses to passport control, resulting in a mad exodus to immigration.
Immigration: never more than 80% manned. IRIS out of action. New automatic passport control of of action. Always collossal queues.
Baggage reclaim: if you're lucky enough not to have a lengthy queue at Immigration, you can bet your life that your luggage will keep you waiting instead.
Public transport onward travel: super expensive
Anything else I've missed that the likes of BAA and the airlines like to throw at us?
Here's some examples of the poorer service we now endure:
Passenger drop-off and collection: often now well away from the terminal and chargeable at an extortionate rate.
Check-in: at least 50% of the available desks are usually empty. Many airlines now operate a single vast queue for all flights, meaning that even if you get there nice and early for your flight, you'll still be queueing for ages behind people booked on other flights.
Bag-drop: basically no different to Check-In as above. You still end up queueing and showing your boarding pass and passport to an agent
Security: you will never see all available X-ray machines being used, leading to lengthy queues. Some airports charge you extra for the pleasure of not having to join this self-inflicted queue.
Foreign Exchange kiosk: truly shocking rates offered. I got near parity of 1:1 on a Sterling / Euro debit card transaction of 200 quid. Real rate was GBP 1.00 = EUR 1.25.
Departure lounge food and drink: all ridiculously overpriced.
Flight announcements: usually non-existant
Boarding: Budget airlines usually commence "Boarding" as soon as the incoming flight has landed, resulting in unnecessary standing in line on stairwells or drafty gangways
Arrivals: frequent use of buses to passport control, resulting in a mad exodus to immigration.
Immigration: never more than 80% manned. IRIS out of action. New automatic passport control of of action. Always collossal queues.
Baggage reclaim: if you're lucky enough not to have a lengthy queue at Immigration, you can bet your life that your luggage will keep you waiting instead.
Public transport onward travel: super expensive
Anything else I've missed that the likes of BAA and the airlines like to throw at us?
Whilst I agree with much of what the OP has to say, anybody who is daft enough to use a Bureau de Change at an airport, any airport the world over, only gets what's coming to them 
The other thing I would mention is overpriced food and drink - you get exactly the same on boats and in motorway service areas, and this is due to you being part of a "captive market" in the circumstances. If you don't like the pricing policy, bring your own nosh
The other thing I would mention is overpriced food and drink - you get exactly the same on boats and in motorway service areas, and this is due to you being part of a "captive market" in the circumstances. If you don't like the pricing policy, bring your own nosh
All of those things are one of the reasons I'm happy to fly budget these days - compared to the ordeal of getting to and through the airport, any flight's a comparative dream!
Must admit that food-wise I was very impressed with Jamie's at Gatwick a couple of months ago - wasn't expecting much (always been particularly unimpressed with what's available at LGW) but got decent grub, charming staff and pretty good value (hardly cost more than the Wetherspoon's a few doors away) - even managed to blag a table with a view over the airfield!
Must admit that food-wise I was very impressed with Jamie's at Gatwick a couple of months ago - wasn't expecting much (always been particularly unimpressed with what's available at LGW) but got decent grub, charming staff and pretty good value (hardly cost more than the Wetherspoon's a few doors away) - even managed to blag a table with a view over the airfield!
TTwiggy said:
I don't fly very often (max twice a year, sometimes not at all) but when I do I'm always very grateful for the lounge pass card that Amex sent me.
Doesn't help with all the other awful stuff you list, but at least it's somewhere nice and peaceful to sit while waiting to fly.
When I was contracting [south of France donchaknow] the sheer BLISS of the BA lounge was remarkable. Doesn't help with all the other awful stuff you list, but at least it's somewhere nice and peaceful to sit while waiting to fly.
They even said, "Mr MoJo it might be time to go to the gate" quietly.
Marvellous and worth every bloody penny.
Hmmm, the drop-off charging thing really resonates, I dropped my ex-flatmate off at Bristol Airport a couple of months ago and they charge you £2!
Previously, for a while, the car park had a 15-min limit policed by automatic barriers, if you stayed longer you paid... Now you have to pay for any time. Barstewards!
Previously, for a while, the car park had a 15-min limit policed by automatic barriers, if you stayed longer you paid... Now you have to pay for any time. Barstewards!
0000 said:
Having to use their clear bags for grouping liquid containers and then being charged for them.
I dread flying these days.
Never really understood the "need" to carry liquids onboard [babies excepted, even then whats wrong with the boob?].I dread flying these days.
Well apart from the fact you've actually paid to get on the bloody thing of course...
TTwiggy said:
I don't fly very often (max twice a year, sometimes not at all) but when I do I'm always very grateful for the lounge pass card that Amex sent me.
Doesn't help with all the other awful stuff you list, but at least it's somewhere nice and peaceful to sit while waiting to fly.
Priority Pass is brilliant and for anyone who can't always fly business or first it's well worth subscribing to even if it's not a perk of your credit card or bank account. The only place it doesn't help is LHR T5Doesn't help with all the other awful stuff you list, but at least it's somewhere nice and peaceful to sit while waiting to fly.
carreauchompeur said:
Hmmm, the drop-off charging thing really resonates, I dropped my ex-flatmate off at Bristol Airport a couple of months ago and they charge you £2!
Previously, for a while, the car park had a 15-min limit policed by automatic barriers, if you stayed longer you paid... Now you have to pay for any time. Barstewards!
Same at Birmingham Airport as well, luckily I can pass on the cost to the client.Previously, for a while, the car park had a 15-min limit policed by automatic barriers, if you stayed longer you paid... Now you have to pay for any time. Barstewards!
Mojocvh said:
They even said, "Mr MoJo it might be time to go to the gate" quietly.
Marvellous and worth every bloody penny.
I have a (very foggy!) memory of similar experience in Virgin lounge at LAX. V nice lady informed us that our flight would be boarding shortly, but we'd def have time for another beer - excellent customer service!Marvellous and worth every bloody penny.
LBA is really starting to hack me off...
On 27 September we flew to AMS. The departure lounge at LBA has been completely refurbished. Unfortunately the large area of chairs and tables that we chose is so closely packed that you can only sit on the chairs are the edges as it's physically impossible to get through the gaps between the chairs further in. And, they're all pushed so far under the tables that you wouldn't be able to sit on them even if you could reach them.
Still, that had nothing on the experience we had when we returned on 3 October. Our tiny Fokker 70 landed at LBA and the 85 of us disembarked. Unfortunately a Ryanair 738 had landed seven minutes earlier and, even worse, a (30 minutes late) PIA A310 from Islamabad had arrived three minutes before that. So, having spent just 50 minutes flying from AMS we then had to endure over an hour queueing to get to passport control. Worse still, LBA is unique among airports in having NO TOILETS between the point at which you enter the terminal and the border control desk, so if you need the toilet and you've landed behind a couple of other flights you're screwed.
Monarch and BA are both starting flights from LBA in December. God help them!
On 27 September we flew to AMS. The departure lounge at LBA has been completely refurbished. Unfortunately the large area of chairs and tables that we chose is so closely packed that you can only sit on the chairs are the edges as it's physically impossible to get through the gaps between the chairs further in. And, they're all pushed so far under the tables that you wouldn't be able to sit on them even if you could reach them.
Still, that had nothing on the experience we had when we returned on 3 October. Our tiny Fokker 70 landed at LBA and the 85 of us disembarked. Unfortunately a Ryanair 738 had landed seven minutes earlier and, even worse, a (30 minutes late) PIA A310 from Islamabad had arrived three minutes before that. So, having spent just 50 minutes flying from AMS we then had to endure over an hour queueing to get to passport control. Worse still, LBA is unique among airports in having NO TOILETS between the point at which you enter the terminal and the border control desk, so if you need the toilet and you've landed behind a couple of other flights you're screwed.
Monarch and BA are both starting flights from LBA in December. God help them!
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