major wrote:
jfv wrote: Thu Feb 19, 2026 9:35 am
major wrote: Thu Feb 19, 2026 9:29 am
Frankfurt
I abhor this airport, possibly in an illogical way at this point.
I am usually hung over as fuck when leaving it and heading home.
It was under renovation for a while and that sucked.
It has a weird way of handling customs and security…with security happening immediately before you get to your gate…which gives the feeling like you are having to go through security twice instead of a single consolidated annoyance.
Rail connections are great, though.
Sorry I’m spamming this thread.
Never had to deal with customs in Frankfurt. I did have a package of freeze dried horse meat confiscated. The drunkest I have ever been in an airport was at Lufthansa Business Lounge. Maybe the self service idea isn't for everyone.
Adding to the list, I have to say that the Tulsa airport is pretty great. I mean, it sucks, but it's one of those airports that you can arrive roughly around the time you are scheduled to board and have little to no risk of missing your flight.
Frankfurt was ok. Oddly enough, I've also been drunk there, having consumed a whole lot of direct-from-the-wineries riesling at the morning farmers' market in the nearby town of Mainz.
Frankfurt is a huge airport, which is the only real drawback. But it felt soothing enough. That also might be b/c I was coming there from the airport in Almaty, Kazakhstan, which was somewhat trying, mainly b/c it is (or was) somewhat shabby and so many of the flights leave at like 4am.
This was more than 10 years ago, so it's possible that Frankfurt could have gotten worse.
Airports I've hated: Heathrow (too big, fucked up connections, annoying to reach from Gatwick); Atlanta (giant shopping mall hell); Dallas (same); and, perhaps worst of all, Sheremetyevo International, outside of Moscow.
Ok, it's been a decade since I've been to the latter. And I ate a surprisingly decent, homemade-tasting meal (took forever for the cooks to prepare it, but that was worth
it) there w/a voucher. But, Jesus Christ. Nearly every flight I've connected thru there has been horribly delayed. Not particularly friendly or helpful staff. And the security is some police-state bullshit. You're not permitted to leave the airport grounds w/o a proper (ridiculously expensive) visa, letter of invitation, and fully spelled-out registered itinerary. Or an easier-to-obtain temporary transit visa. At the same time, if you're connecting w/only a couple hours' layover, why would you bother w/the transit visa in the first place? Oh yeah, b/c you'll probably get stuck there for much longer than you anticipated!
The most incredible thing was flying there during the swine flu years. A team of very gruff babushki in masks and white nurses' outfits w/ear thermometers stormed thru our plane after landing. They took fucking forever to take everyone's temperature. Anyone w/a fever, even a low fever sans any flu symptoms, was whisked off the plane and taken god knows where. Our temperatures were fine but, of course, we, and most of the other connecting passengers, missed our onward flights. So I was stuck in a very uncomfortable airport (full of incongruously blinged-out shopping) that I was not permitted to leave, for something like 13 hours. At least I ate unexpectedly well and got a story out of it...
