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I’m sitting in a comfy chair—and there are a lot of them—in SFO right now, thinking to myself that I can’t recall many airports that are as comfortable and quiet and low stress as this one.

It’s been years, but I remember Helsinki’s airport being pretty good. And among the smaller ones, Palm Springs.

So, all you travelers, what are the best airports?

T.F. Green in Rhode Island was always pretty chill. Not Logan and not Seatac.

The best airport I've ever been in was Billy Bishop in Toronto, flying Porter Airlines. Just easy to get through (OMG Pearson, eww), clean and Porter Airlines at the time was top notch.

I don't think Airports need much to be good. Just give me cleanliness, timeliness and easy ways to get to terminals.

Really hard to say. It's such a balancing act.

I tend to like tiny, quaint, get-in-get-out airports the most.

Like the ones in the Azores (except for overcrowded-but-still-small Ponta Delgada/João Paulo II). That said, it's not like there's much to eat or a ton of comfort. When I wanted an espresso before an early flight in Lajes, Terceira—where the airport shares the runway w/an American military base—I had to physically leave and go to the cafe across the street, which was both hilarious and charming. Saw a guy on horseback en route. And the flights are often delayed b/c of wind.

There used to be one in Lviv, Ukraine, that looked like an American central post office, w/beautiful columns and a clocktower:

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/lviv- ... y=relevant

The only airport I would ever call "magical" or "charming." Alas, it has since been replaced by some shitty glass structure.

It's been seven or eight years, but Santa Fe had a small, pleasant, user-friendly airport.

Really comfortable airports w/lots of choice, however, tend to be overwhelming and sterile places. They too often feel like shopping malls crossed w/bus stations.

Can't think of a large one that I actually enjoy. LaGuardia is massively improved in recent years, at least.

what makes an aiport good? let's examine.
helpful staff
clean bathrooms
affordable food
short lines
flights on time
easy pickup/dropoff
phone chargers everywhere
bonus: comfortable places to lie down

hbiden@onlyfans.com wrote: Tue Feb 17, 2026 4:24 pm

what makes an aiport good? let's examine.
helpful staff
clean bathrooms
affordable food
short lines
flights on time
easy pickup/dropoff
phone chargers everywhere
bonus: comfortable places to lie down

John Wayne airport story. In 1986 or so, I drove my beater Skylark there to drop off a friend. He had to run in to the airline desk to verify something and I waited in the white zone just in case he wasn't going to get on his plane. My car had a nice spiderweb-cracked front windshield and just generally looked like the piece of shit it was. A couple of airport cops told me to move along and I asked to be allowed to wait just a minute for my friend. They said sure, but ran my plates. My buddy came back out, refused to provide his ID to the cops (he was black), and we ended up getting taken to airport jail and my car impounded. They let us go eventually, but he missed his flight and I had to pay a couple of hundred dollars to get my car back and then had to pay for a new windshield to satisfy the fix-it ticket.

PDX is a good airport now that the years-long improvements project is mostly done.

Krev wrote: Tue Feb 17, 2026 3:48 pm T.F. Green in Rhode Island was always pretty chill. Not Logan and not Seatac.

I like the Sub Pop store at SeaTac and the fact that you’ll occasionally hear a PSA read by Mark Arm. You can get decent coffee there. And for some dumb reason, I’m charmed that there’s an Ivar’s there.

But yeah, it’s otherwise pretty bad. It can be as crowded as a mosh pit. (A bit too on-brand there, Seattle.) You should let your employers know when you’re flying home from SeaTac, because you *will* catch a virus there.

Barra Airport.

https://youtu.be/ik32Nz_OLbU?si=sH6_rBeaSEcR3SU9

Great wee cafe in the terminal too.

iembalm wrote: John Wayne airport story... I waited in the white zone.... My buddy came back out, refused to provide his ID to the cops (he was black), and we ended up getting taken to airport jail and my car impounded.

The "white zone" wasn't white enough that day, I guess. Christ...

Wood Goblin wrote: I like the Sub Pop store at SeaTac and the fact that you’ll occasionally hear a PSA read by Mark Arm.

Wild. Not sure if it's still around, but there was a CBGB record store, bar, and restaurant (gross?) at Newark International the last time I checked. I remember seeing a copy of Swans' Love of Life LP (reissue and overpriced, naturally) in the bins. I was leaving my apartment in NYC (not far from the former location of the original CBGB) while en route to visit a member of Swans. Was a very weird and surreal moment.

Taoyuan International, in Taiwan, had a human-sized display of Pili warriors, these massive, elaborate glove puppets that look like a cross between mythological heroes from Chinese folktales and pretty-boy new-wave bands from the early '80s. They beat the shit out of one another, w/much fake blood, on a late-night tv program. I'm walking down a corridor, en route to a gate, and there they are:

https://www.moc.gov.tw/en/News_Content2 ... 97&s=18201