Yeah I really like DCA. New gates (and AC) are super nice. Plus as a final destination it's the best airport in the country for connectivity to the city, the Metro is right there.
I fly out of PHX and it is fantastic. Check in is quick, TSA is efficient and you can go to any of the four lines since all terminals connect past security. Weather delays are rare and short when they do happen. You will freeze your ass off in the terminal; we take our A/C seriously out here. I don’t know how the ramp agents deal with the heat tbh, that job must suck.
The downsides: AC lounges are small (but there are several of them), could use more food options, and whatever baggage claim they tell you to claim your bags at when you get off the plane…they’ll be delivered to a different one.
My only gripe about PHX is that it’s a terrible gateway for international departures. We only have like 3 transatlantic flights due to being sandwiched between LAX & DFW.
Totally on board.
I feel like gates at DFW change like they do in Airplane! "Now arriving, C1...C2...C3...C4...C5..."
I live in the upper midwest, and have 3 AA airports I can connect to: PHX, DFW and ORD. I've never been late getting to or out of ORD. It's the only one that works on time.
PHX is the friendliest airport in the whole mix by far. Great place to connect. LAX and PHL are also valid connection hubs. Philly is disgustingly dirty, but they do move a lot of flights through there in the course of a day.
I actually don't have too many complaints about LAX or PHL. Both get super busy and have crowded terminals but in general the food and restroom situation is fine. I don't find PHL to be that dirty, at least not as dirty as DFW's bathrooms. PHX I haven't connected in forever, so I'm curious to see what it is like.
Generally PHL keeps moving. The airport staff see flyers as an inconvenience so the sooner they can get them on the plane and out of their hair the better. Might not be fun while they’re rushing you into the plane but it works out well in the end.
You are right about the bathrooms being way too small at DFW. They redid A but only made it brighter but didn’t expand the bathrooms. C is getting a complete redo though. Customs seems like a normal walk for a large airport though so don’t know what you mean there. I’ll look at the carpet next time.
I’ll second looking at ORD. It use to always be in the new for delays but with the runways reconfigured I can’t remember the last time I had a major delay there. I know that AA has all but forgot about ORD but I’ve found it easy to connect through these days.
DFW does have a bunch of renovations and additions in the works, but it is a weird crapshoot regarding the quality of the terminals. When I visit friends or family in Charlotte or Chicago, both airports certainly "look" nicer and more modern than DFW generally does, but functionally both are a bit of a pain (as people have noted) to navigate through. It also gets very frustrating trying to coordinate getting picked up by my friend in Chicago, since it's passenger pickup area is a mess (particularly with construction projects there).
So DFW certainly isn't perfect, but functionally it's efficient and works for me having to fly out of there. I would agree that TSA pre-check is a bit of a mess now. The green cards they handed us when going through the last time were pretty worn out. May be time to print and laminate a few more.
I have always avoided DFW like it’s a hooker with herpes - only use it when there’s no other options.
MIA and PHX to me are the least bad of them all. ORD and PHL are okay. CLT I think tries to one up DFW every time by showing how much worse it can be.
While not hubs BOS and AUS I don’t mind at all. I’d do a layover in both of those any day. They seem more put together than some of the others.
I have family in the Metroplex, and I have to tell you that I like DFW far more than T5 at ORD or T1 at MEX. In fact I have a huge dislike toward T5 at ORD, which is still a pain in the ass after a huge remodel
DCA is pretty nice
Yeah I really like DCA. New gates (and AC) are super nice. Plus as a final destination it's the best airport in the country for connectivity to the city, the Metro is right there.
I like DCA too unless you have a later connection. Everything is closed so early.
I fly out of PHX and it is fantastic. Check in is quick, TSA is efficient and you can go to any of the four lines since all terminals connect past security. Weather delays are rare and short when they do happen. You will freeze your ass off in the terminal; we take our A/C seriously out here. I don’t know how the ramp agents deal with the heat tbh, that job must suck. The downsides: AC lounges are small (but there are several of them), could use more food options, and whatever baggage claim they tell you to claim your bags at when you get off the plane…they’ll be delivered to a different one.
My only gripe about PHX is that it’s a terrible gateway for international departures. We only have like 3 transatlantic flights due to being sandwiched between LAX & DFW.
All of these are facts coming from another PHX native.
Totally on board. I feel like gates at DFW change like they do in Airplane! "Now arriving, C1...C2...C3...C4...C5..." I live in the upper midwest, and have 3 AA airports I can connect to: PHX, DFW and ORD. I've never been late getting to or out of ORD. It's the only one that works on time.
PHX is the friendliest airport in the whole mix by far. Great place to connect. LAX and PHL are also valid connection hubs. Philly is disgustingly dirty, but they do move a lot of flights through there in the course of a day.
I actually don't have too many complaints about LAX or PHL. Both get super busy and have crowded terminals but in general the food and restroom situation is fine. I don't find PHL to be that dirty, at least not as dirty as DFW's bathrooms. PHX I haven't connected in forever, so I'm curious to see what it is like.
PHX is head and shoulders nicer than PHL, which is my home base.
Only issues Ive had with PHL was during a winter snowstorm. Otherwise it's been good
Generally PHL keeps moving. The airport staff see flyers as an inconvenience so the sooner they can get them on the plane and out of their hair the better. Might not be fun while they’re rushing you into the plane but it works out well in the end.
LAX and PHX are least evil, in ascending order of evil.
The fact most SFO flights leave the remote terminal makes it the worst connecting airport for me.
You are right about the bathrooms being way too small at DFW. They redid A but only made it brighter but didn’t expand the bathrooms. C is getting a complete redo though. Customs seems like a normal walk for a large airport though so don’t know what you mean there. I’ll look at the carpet next time. I’ll second looking at ORD. It use to always be in the new for delays but with the runways reconfigured I can’t remember the last time I had a major delay there. I know that AA has all but forgot about ORD but I’ve found it easy to connect through these days.
I fly out of DFW and it’s pretty great..
I enjoy PHX.
DFW does have a bunch of renovations and additions in the works, but it is a weird crapshoot regarding the quality of the terminals. When I visit friends or family in Charlotte or Chicago, both airports certainly "look" nicer and more modern than DFW generally does, but functionally both are a bit of a pain (as people have noted) to navigate through. It also gets very frustrating trying to coordinate getting picked up by my friend in Chicago, since it's passenger pickup area is a mess (particularly with construction projects there). So DFW certainly isn't perfect, but functionally it's efficient and works for me having to fly out of there. I would agree that TSA pre-check is a bit of a mess now. The green cards they handed us when going through the last time were pretty worn out. May be time to print and laminate a few more.
I have always avoided DFW like it’s a hooker with herpes - only use it when there’s no other options. MIA and PHX to me are the least bad of them all. ORD and PHL are okay. CLT I think tries to one up DFW every time by showing how much worse it can be. While not hubs BOS and AUS I don’t mind at all. I’d do a layover in both of those any day. They seem more put together than some of the others.
I have family in the Metroplex, and I have to tell you that I like DFW far more than T5 at ORD or T1 at MEX. In fact I have a huge dislike toward T5 at ORD, which is still a pain in the ass after a huge remodel
No