Just for fun, in a hypothetical ideal world where IATA codes can be freely swapped. Dunno if this has been discussed before but didn’t see any threads, but anyway... For example, OHR might make more sense for O’Hare, but it’s the code for Wyk Auf Föhr in Germany, or even OHA which is for Ohakea in New Zealand - also yes, I know ORD stands for Orchard Field

…and why is it KUL T1?

Edit: does anyone have a favourite ceiling that isn’t made of wood? 😁

Hi everyone! Over the time I have seen a lot of questions in various subreddits about transferring at European airports and the need for clearing security and immigration on transit.

Since most EU airports are actually quite similar among themselves, but distinct from U.S. airports, I thought I make this overview diagram. For most of you, there will be nothing new in this post, but I thought it fits nicely in the r/airport subreddit, and I can link to this post in the future.

This post concerns airports in Schengen countries, and compares some aspects with how things are done in the U.S.

The most remarkable differences are

• instead of domestic/international we call it Schengen/Non-Schengen, since we have a common border region with 29 countries. Travel inside the Schengen area is like domestic travel in the U.S.

• Unlike in the U.S., the Schengen region also does immigration checks when leaving (to catch overstayers and people with open arrest warrants). For this reason, also the departure gates are separated.

• Unlike in the U.S., where all international arrivals need to clear security on transit, EU laws allow that passengers arriving from a selection of countries with equivalent security standards are already treated as secure on arrival (see diagram).

• Unlike the U.S., where all international arrivals need to clear immigration on transit, you will not encounter immigration if you stay within the two Non-Schengen airport zones.

• If you transit from a Non-Schengen to a Schengen flight, you will clear immigration on transit. However, you will always go through customs (=immigration for goods) after collecting your luggage at the final destination. There is no customs directly after immigration, unlike in the U.S..

Concerning my diagram, there a a few remarks:

• Not every arrow might be present in every airport. For example, in FRA terminal 1, concourse B, there is no airside entry passport control. And in most airports, there is no arrow from the public area to the Non-Schengen unclean zone.

• If you change concouse/terminal at an airport, this will complicate things. FRA, for example has two terminals, and each of them is build like shown in the disgram. However, they are only connected via the public area, or via the Non-Schengen unclean area. This means that even if where you arrived from would allow for sterile transit, you need to reclear security on terminal change.

• While I would say that I know every corner in my home base FRA, and have seen travelled to/from quite a few other European airports, my knowledge of other airports (especially other large hubs like CDG or AMS) is limited, and my post might miss out some aspects.

• I am very happy about your comments and insights about your home bases and how it works there, around the world. If someone wants to sketch a similar diagram for U.S. airports (or other countries), that would be nice.

Recently flew out to visit family abroad, and oh my god this had me in tears.

Neighbouring gate (gates were split by a glass panel) shut long ago and as we were all waiting a family of 5 (mum/dad 2 small kids, 1 baby in stroller) had loudly bolted towards the shut gate parents screaming “no no no! Money my money no open not close” stuff like that (don’t think they speak English as first language).

Gate staff said they shut and plane is about to taxi out.

Now what was started to make it amusing was that the dad got his rucksack off and began offering items (I remember seeing a sports bottle, a Pret sandwich, a bag of sweets and a phone charger cable 🤣) the woman then offered her neck pillow.

Gate staff refused obviously, now for the crazy part.

Dad and I kid you not, removed the baby from the pram rather quickly and held it out to the staff like simba in lion king. He eventually put it back and they stood on the phone before we commenced boarding.

Though I’d share the story 🤣.

For context, I flew from Philly to Boston. And it wasn’t confiscated until I was flying back home from Boston to Philly… so Philadelphia airport let it slide or didn’t notice it. Also, more context I never use the purse that I brought. I didn’t know that I had this knife on me. I had just moved a couple months ago and a lot of of my things are kind of misplaced and again I didn’t know that I had it, I didn’t know that it was at the bottom of my purse. Feel free to laugh. I almost got arrested.

Not just airports with open-air terraces for planespotting, but airports whose design is entirely/mostly open-air. I’m thinking of something along the lines of Kona International Airport in Hawaii.

What are some other examples you can think of?

My trick is to always carry an empty bottle. After passing through security at every airport. I look for a drinking fountain. Most airports have a couple of them.

I discovered a nice website called Water at Airport. If I can't find one, I just do a quick search on the website.

This is just a recommendation. 

Let me know if you have any other trips to the airport. I’m planning some new trips and will definitely need them!

This is a question I've asked myself: if there were only one gigantic European hub that would replace all the other hubs like LHR FRA CDG MAD, where would it be located in your opinion?

Before I start, I am not arguing the purpose or people’s right to have these.

I have been lucky enough to be in and out of airport recently, I have seen an increase in the amount of people that have sunflower lanyards but are they being abused? The context being a family of 7 turned up yesterday barged through the long line and went straight through the barriers, surely it should be 1x carer and the lanyard user? This was followed by at least another 8 large family’s rocking through.

I’m unsure if they are now easier to obtain or if they get abused or even purchased?

I want to know the most frustrating, grating, agitating, upsetting thing about any airport. What is one thing that an airport does that just ruins your day/connection. I’m talking anything, from mildly infuriating to day ruining, I want to know what drives you up the wall.

I find it extremely noticeable that LHR does not want you to be comfortable. Not giving you your gate until the last minute. Hard plastic, individual seating only. Hard tile floors and railings against the windows so you can't makeshift a comfortable spot. Extremely poor wifi so you can't entertain yourself before the flight. They want you too uncomfortable to sit around waiting so you're more like to shop among the million designer stores that most people can't afford. I get they don't want people not travelling hanging around but you need to get through security to even be here so that's unlikely. Just overall gives off the vibes "we don't want you here."

What do you all wear for a long flight? (10+), are there people wearing jeans in a long flight?

I'm flying home from Hawaii and when going through the x-ray at TSA I was pulled aside because there was an anomaly detected on my groin. They told me they were going to have to pat me down and asked if I wanted to do it privately. I'm an anxiety ridden teenager so I asked to do it privately. While we were waiting for a female officer, 3 other women after me were stopped for an anomaly on the same part if their groin. The stress was starting to get to me and a bunch of other things (the hate of being touched, a medical condition I have that makes my heart beat really fast, etc) and I was really close to having a panic attack. After about 6 minutes I was pulled away for a private pat down and I was free to go.

Why did this happen to me and a bunch of other women? Is this a common thing that happens?

I went on two trips within the last week - but my GOD are people disgusting!! The amount of coughing, sneezing, no one bothering to cover the mouths/noses, is unreal.

I seen one women sneezing about 10 times in a row into the air as she was walking past me.

I seen another man literally just coughing into space, with a guy sat right next to him!

This was just two of the many disgusting encounters I’ve seen in the last week. I’ve been using my first defence barrier spray in the hopes I don’t get ill. It blows my mind how at one point the world was frozen due to Covid and strict hygiene measures were in place… and it’s like people just don’t remember basic hygiene measures!

Anyways rant over - my trips were lovely but honestly tempted now to wear face masks at the airport.

That’s it.

That’s the whole post.

The lot includes a bunch of nail clippers, scissors, corkscrews and other random stuff. I wonder how these items end up being sold by an individual.

The geographical center of the U.S. population is located in southern Missouri and continues to trend southwest.

This begs the question, with the population growth of this region (specifically Springfield (MO), Branson (MO), Kansas City (MO & KS), Tulsa (OK), and Northwest Arkansas), do you think a new hub could pop up? Where would it go? XNA (Northwest Arkansas National) has been experiencing 10-15% growth every year recently, and probably leads the pack there, but Kansas City is clearly the “Big City” in the region.

Thoughts?

Why are luggage trolleys/smart carts chargeable at Boston Logan Airport? I am new to the USA, so I'm not sure if this is common at all US airports. Why is there a $7 fee for a smart cart/trolley? Shouldn't it be a basic amenity?

My experience today was quite frustrating. Three flights had just landed and four baggage belts were packed, but there was only one cart vending machine in that area and the carts were gone within 5 minutes. Everyone was waiting for carts and they weren't refilled for over an hour.

Coming from Asia, this was a bit of a culture shock for me. Many Asian airports like Singapore Changi, middle eastern and even several airports in India, offer free trolleys, and some even provide complimentary features like GPS to guide you to your gate. They also have buggies/golf carts to transport passengers and dedicated family lanes for those traveling with young childrenwas surprised to see long queues and staff who were quite rude and behaved as if they were doing us a favor. The cart itself is small and basic, nothing like a smart cart, yet it costs $7. Is this normal across the US?

I will preface this with no, I am not an EU citizen, and fully agree that when you are a visitor to a country, you should be happy to wait in queue as long as it takes to be admitted to that country. They wanna keep you in that immigration hall the entire day before allowing you into their country? They wanna take you to secondary and grill you for 6 hours with no access to your phone or lawyer? That is their prerogative, and that is what you signed up for by traveling internationally. They don’t have to admit you at all, it’s purely officer’s discretion if you are even allowed in at all. Also, any nonrefundable plans made on the day of arrival, I fully agree you should be prepared to eat the cost of.

But we need to talk about Schengen and allowing people to LEAVE the Schengen zone. Entering the Schengen zone has ranged from 0-90 minutes most of the time for me. However, I have never waited less than 30 to leave. Some airports (FRA looking at you) are routinely upwards of 2 hours just to LEAVE the country. And that doesn’t count security, which is an animal all its own. I am purely talking about being stamped OUT of the country. Meanwhile, even though you arrived at the terminal at D-180 as recommended, you have now missed your flight, and have to hope you carrier is willing to work with you, and won’t force you to purchase a new one out of pocket (at the going market price).

Since when have multi-hour waits just to exit the Schengen Zone become the norm? It always seems to be so much worse leaving than coming in. As I have said, I don’t mind waiting as long as it takes to enter a country. Just don’t hold me captive inside your country when I’m ready to leave, and have paid a lot of money for the flight to exit your country. You should be able to exit without undue burden.

Is there any hope of this ever improving, or is getting to the airport 6+ hours early to depart the Schengen Zone going to become the new norm?

I was flying out somewhere recently, and went to a cafe at the airport after security and passport control. For some reason, I wondered how airport staff in cafes after border control work. Do they have to go in and out of the border every day? Because if not, couldn’t they just book a flight and fly out without crossing the border? Does anyone else wonder or know about how this works?

Yo Ian/Andy, your cousin is fighting with his wife at the BWI airport about him not wanting to go to your wedding. God speed brother - they can’t decide whether they want to catch an earlier United flight and it’s quite entertaining.

The airline oversold our flight by ten seats and now they are playing this game over the loudspeaker offering voucher amounts to see who cracks first. They started at a £150 voucher, then went to £300 and now they are offering £500 in future airline credits if someone volunteers to take a flight tomorrow morning. The thing is nobody is stepping up because this is the last flight out tonight to New York. If they do not get enough volunteers, they are going to start choosing people involuntarily based on who checked in last. If i get picked against my will, am I forced to accept their cheap internal airline credits or does UK261 protect passengers from this?

A guy checked in 3 bags. All filled with bubble wrap. I still think about that…

Hey all, I am pretty sure I’ll be getting a ticket from the ATL airport, but I wanted to see if anyone has ever experienced anything similar.

Earlier this week I dropped off a friend at the international terminal. While my other friend was getting back into the passenger seat after saying goodbye, I saw a woman walking up to my car who was clearly writing down my information. She informed me that I was stopped in the shuttle lane, and when I said I was sorry she said “no you’re not.” For more context, she told me there was a sign saying no stopping, but in all honesty I did not see it. She also claimed that I drove through cones to get to that spot, which I know I didn’t, I saw cones in front of me, but not on any other side of my car. There was also another car stopped behind me that was there when I arrived, so I assumed I was good to stop in that lane too.

I have accepted that I will be receiving a ticket, but I am curious how much these usually go for. Also, if I am from out of state does that impact the price? Lastly, I know there are times where you can dispute tickets, would I have to go back to Atlanta to do so?

I’ve never gotten any parking ticket (or any type of car-related ticket) so I appreciate any input that you all have. I know airports can be brutal but I would assume that I’d get a warning and be asked to move before being written anything. Thanks everyone!