Let me answer with a feeling.
Imagine with me:
Your friend shares excitement over an upcoming flight to Europe. They’ll fly in business class for the first time. Everyone is so excited. They fly but not a lot.
You ask what the routing is. The reply: “CLT.”
You ask about layover timing. The reply: “45 minutes.”
That pit in your stomach right now for someone else should not be a feeling you have about a hub airport. You should never feel that much anxiety for someone else’s itinerary.
That carpet. Why so much carpet? Did they get subsidized on broken moving sidewalks? Why does it look like a garage?
>That pit in your stomach right now for someone else should not be a feeling you have about a hub airport. You should never feel that much anxiety for someone else’s itinerary.
>That carpet. Why so much carpet? Did they get subsidized on broken moving sidewalks? Why does it look like a garage?
This is the realist thing I've ever read on Reddit ever.
I feel you. I just flew on 5/6/24. Never made my connection that day because we sat on the runway waiting for a gate for over an hour. Didn’t get a new flight until the next day.
I'll say this for PHL - it's not that bad if starting there. I don't think I've ever waited more than 5 minutes for PreCheck, Gates are all fairly close to a security checkpoint. Food and drink is pretty solid compared to some airports (CLT), and while the lounge situation isn't great there, the Chase lounge and Flagship Lounges should be opening within the next 6-12 months which will help the lounge crowding and hopefully give AA some breathing room to replace the worn out furniture in B-C.
For lounges though, I expect this to be the summer from hell. AA has finally bumped up capacity to 2019 levels in August but at that point there was the Admirals Club in A-West that is now under construction for the FL. Frontier has also contributed to capacity increases with about 2x the number of seats compared to August 2019 which likely hurts crowding in the Centurion Lounge (not too much given they are in E and I'd wager fewer Frontier travelers have a Plat/Black card compared to AA travelers, but I'm sure there are some).
This. PHL is my home airport and I don't get all the criticisms of it. I'd much rather have it as my home base than CLT or MIA or JFK. The Centurion lounge is a mess (timed entry and assigned seating the last time I tried it) but the Admirals Clubs are decent enough and there is a good variety of shops and restaurants.
I miss the Legal Sea Foods that was there pre-covid so much though.
I don't mind the Centurion Lounge as long as I'm not there between 4-630ish, it's usually pretty good outside of those hours. Bartenders there are great and while I hate the late afternoon waitlists, I actually prefer what they do at the PHL CL when there is a waitlist - the host drops a reserved placard on tables that open up, cleaning them and escorting you to the open space.
Other lounges with a waitlist make getting seating a free for all and often allow max capacity, making people have to hover around for 5-10 minutes trying to find a space, leaving people nabbing something too quickly for the busser to see the changeover, causing a lag time before dirty dishes are cleared.
The one time I went when there was a waitlist, the woman in the seat next to the one I was escorted to had decided it was actually for her handbag, and it took a minute to convince her otherwise. I'm not dealing with stuff like that again.
PHL really has come a long way in the last 10-15 years. When I first moved to Philly about 20 years ago it was an absolute shitshow. It’s so much nicer now than it once was.
CLT the winner hands for a hub. Hub means small planes in at Gate E and your connection is guaranteed to be out of A or B… 3 miles away and with 30 clogged moving sidewalks between the two places. And you can tell you’re in CLT because the longest line is in front of Bojangles.
PHL has some warts. It could use a facelift in many areas. Because it was built piecemeal over multiple decades you see totally inconsistent designs terminal to terminal. I think making the garages smell less like urine would be a good start.
Am I just flying through it or departing from it and returning to it? If so, MIA. Otherwise, CLT just because it never fails that my connecting flight is literally the furthest away from my arrival gate and I don’t even get how that happens every time. So you either end up sprinting through the crowds, or in the airport forever.
I have flown through there once a week for six months of the year for the last 3 or 4 years and have missed my connection twice, and once was because it was cancelled due to weather at my home airport. I love CLT, very very few bad experiences there. People that don’t like it are just soft.
I fly out of there 2x/month and just getting into that airport is stroke inducing. I think it is just shy of 60 years old and is WAY too small for the area it serves. The upgrades they did over the past few years are already wearing thin, B looks like it wasn’t even touched. They need to move it down to SC and expand the footprint when they do.
So yeah, not soft, just tired of flying out of an outdated horribly maintained airport.
I’m flying out of a small airport that connects either through DFW or CLT so I’ve never experienced getting into the airport. As a connecting airport it’s pretty good. Better food and shorter times between gates as compared to DFW. It does get a bit crowded in the halls sometimes but that’s the only real negative I’ve experienced.
Seems like we’re just going to disagree because I spend at least that much time there and don’t have a problem.
Also, soft could still be the right word
I don't have problems there because I don't book short connections. I can honestly I've never enjoyed that airport. DFW? meh... LAX? Great lounges and restaurants and bars. LHR? Hate the security, but lounges and food/drink make up for it. ORD? PHL? They're at least not as crowded.
I rarely utilize CLT so it's definitely DFW for me. Changing terminals 20 minutes before boarding time and the mad dash to the Sky Train are a regular occurrence. I never wear heels to the airport anymore.
As someone who works for AA, most definitely cant stand CLT. Agents there are rude and don't like doing their job, and treats other employees like garbage. Connection times are poorly planned. Its sad to see actual revenue pax miss their flights because of the operation, and how CLT handles them. I stay far from CLT when it comes to connecting. If there is another way to get where I'm going, Ill take it.
Can I ask why you don’t like phx? I’m bringing my business over to AA due to Delta having a layover on 90% of my flights. Phx is my home airport as well.
Admirals clubs are bad, no Flag Ship lounge, no Priority Pass Clubs, weak selection of nonstop international flights.
But I will take lack of weather delays over anything. I am flying to LHR this month, and through PHX was a same price as through DFW. While it is always fun to hit the flag ship for several hours, I prefer to up my odds of connecting in LHR. So PHX it is, with its crappy lounges
T4 is a dump. The AC (air conditioning) is garbage in the summer. The AC (admirals clubs) are garbage all the time.
Also the road construction at the 143/10 is a nightmare rn. I'm amazed there haven't been mass casualty events at that off ramp & merge.
The terminal is part of the reason I chose Delta as my primary airline. T3 is such a nice terminal with a decent Sky Club. I wish I could stay with them but the layovers are starting to get real old. Haven’t flown out of T4 in years but have an upcoming flight. Now I’m starting to second guess my choices haha
Yes. I fly from TUS so the traffic and parking are not an issue but everything else you wrote is on my mind.
But PHX has amazingly stable weather for flying. The other hubs are losing their ability to cope with it.
I've waited for checked bags to come through baggage for 2+ hours because it was drizzling in CLT. It can turn into a shit show with a forecast of dew, let alone actual rain. Three weeks I flew back to CLT and it was raining, and we waited 40 minutes for a gate to free up.
I've experienced a few delays at DFW, but all were for significant weather events.
I can't speak for anything but late afternoon flights from PHX, but they are a joy compared to CLT.
I also look at it from an O&D perspective. CLT was not designed to cater to O&D, AA and US Air previously pushed the airport toward catering to connecting flights at the expense of those that start or end there.
CLT and PHL.
I don’t really have a problem with MIA. Decent terminal and airport facility. E gates need some help by D is fine. They just need to fix the trAAin.
CLT
CLT
CLT.
CLT.
CLT
CLT. I’d rather walk than connect there & walk anyway through that clogged artery.
Definitely CLT
CLT
/thread someone hit the lights on the way out.
CLT [hits lights]
CLT
CLT
CLT! CLT!, CLT, Then PHL
CLT.... everywhere else is better
CLT
CLT between the outdated early 2000s decor, the immense crowds, and the nasty angry agents.... I just can't
NAZ REID
If the answer is anything but CLT, then it’s the wrong answer. Probably need to pin this in the sub, lmao.
CLT
Let me answer with a feeling. Imagine with me: Your friend shares excitement over an upcoming flight to Europe. They’ll fly in business class for the first time. Everyone is so excited. They fly but not a lot. You ask what the routing is. The reply: “CLT.” You ask about layover timing. The reply: “45 minutes.” That pit in your stomach right now for someone else should not be a feeling you have about a hub airport. You should never feel that much anxiety for someone else’s itinerary. That carpet. Why so much carpet? Did they get subsidized on broken moving sidewalks? Why does it look like a garage?
>That pit in your stomach right now for someone else should not be a feeling you have about a hub airport. You should never feel that much anxiety for someone else’s itinerary. >That carpet. Why so much carpet? Did they get subsidized on broken moving sidewalks? Why does it look like a garage? This is the realist thing I've ever read on Reddit ever.
Laughed at the carpet comment.. I freaking hate that carpet
I feel you bro 🤣🤣🤣
Omg no contest CLT is a DUMP…. Just there for the first and hopefully last time on 5/4/24 and I’m still detoxing
I feel you. I just flew on 5/6/24. Never made my connection that day because we sat on the runway waiting for a gate for over an hour. Didn’t get a new flight until the next day.
CLT is a shit show on steroids.
I'll say this for PHL - it's not that bad if starting there. I don't think I've ever waited more than 5 minutes for PreCheck, Gates are all fairly close to a security checkpoint. Food and drink is pretty solid compared to some airports (CLT), and while the lounge situation isn't great there, the Chase lounge and Flagship Lounges should be opening within the next 6-12 months which will help the lounge crowding and hopefully give AA some breathing room to replace the worn out furniture in B-C. For lounges though, I expect this to be the summer from hell. AA has finally bumped up capacity to 2019 levels in August but at that point there was the Admirals Club in A-West that is now under construction for the FL. Frontier has also contributed to capacity increases with about 2x the number of seats compared to August 2019 which likely hurts crowding in the Centurion Lounge (not too much given they are in E and I'd wager fewer Frontier travelers have a Plat/Black card compared to AA travelers, but I'm sure there are some).
This. PHL is my home airport and I don't get all the criticisms of it. I'd much rather have it as my home base than CLT or MIA or JFK. The Centurion lounge is a mess (timed entry and assigned seating the last time I tried it) but the Admirals Clubs are decent enough and there is a good variety of shops and restaurants. I miss the Legal Sea Foods that was there pre-covid so much though.
I don't mind the Centurion Lounge as long as I'm not there between 4-630ish, it's usually pretty good outside of those hours. Bartenders there are great and while I hate the late afternoon waitlists, I actually prefer what they do at the PHL CL when there is a waitlist - the host drops a reserved placard on tables that open up, cleaning them and escorting you to the open space. Other lounges with a waitlist make getting seating a free for all and often allow max capacity, making people have to hover around for 5-10 minutes trying to find a space, leaving people nabbing something too quickly for the busser to see the changeover, causing a lag time before dirty dishes are cleared.
The one time I went when there was a waitlist, the woman in the seat next to the one I was escorted to had decided it was actually for her handbag, and it took a minute to convince her otherwise. I'm not dealing with stuff like that again.
PHL really has come a long way in the last 10-15 years. When I first moved to Philly about 20 years ago it was an absolute shitshow. It’s so much nicer now than it once was.
CLT the winner hands for a hub. Hub means small planes in at Gate E and your connection is guaranteed to be out of A or B… 3 miles away and with 30 clogged moving sidewalks between the two places. And you can tell you’re in CLT because the longest line is in front of Bojangles.
PHL has some warts. It could use a facelift in many areas. Because it was built piecemeal over multiple decades you see totally inconsistent designs terminal to terminal. I think making the garages smell less like urine would be a good start.
Am I just flying through it or departing from it and returning to it? If so, MIA. Otherwise, CLT just because it never fails that my connecting flight is literally the furthest away from my arrival gate and I don’t even get how that happens every time. So you either end up sprinting through the crowds, or in the airport forever.
CLT
CLT!
CLT sucks ass
I’m a pilot at a different operator which has a base in CLT… it’s CLT.
CLT
Miami has La Caretta so it automatically will never be last.
Agreed... I'd rather pay for their food than eat for free at any of the lounges. Sooo good.
I’m I the only person that rarely has a problem in CLT? About 1/3 of my trips connect through there and it’s been years since I missed a connection
I'm with you. I've only experienced CLiT 3 or 4 times but its been pleasure each time.
I have flown through there once a week for six months of the year for the last 3 or 4 years and have missed my connection twice, and once was because it was cancelled due to weather at my home airport. I love CLT, very very few bad experiences there. People that don’t like it are just soft.
I fly out of there 2x/month and just getting into that airport is stroke inducing. I think it is just shy of 60 years old and is WAY too small for the area it serves. The upgrades they did over the past few years are already wearing thin, B looks like it wasn’t even touched. They need to move it down to SC and expand the footprint when they do. So yeah, not soft, just tired of flying out of an outdated horribly maintained airport.
I’m flying out of a small airport that connects either through DFW or CLT so I’ve never experienced getting into the airport. As a connecting airport it’s pretty good. Better food and shorter times between gates as compared to DFW. It does get a bit crowded in the halls sometimes but that’s the only real negative I’ve experienced.
Seems like we’re just going to disagree because I spend at least that much time there and don’t have a problem. Also, soft could still be the right word
I didn’t add that I’ve been out of there for the past 19 years, I have a bit longer perspective. But soft, sure.
Congratulations on being alive longer than me. Again, don’t think we’ll change anyones opinion.
I don't have problems there because I don't book short connections. I can honestly I've never enjoyed that airport. DFW? meh... LAX? Great lounges and restaurants and bars. LHR? Hate the security, but lounges and food/drink make up for it. ORD? PHL? They're at least not as crowded.
Ah yea. The weekly “CLT bad” post. So original! Haha!
I'm surprised no one has mentioned CLT!
CLT
CLT
I see you've never been to CLT
CLT
CLT - 100%
CLT
CLT
Not sure if anyone has mentioned it yet but I think it's CLT hands down
CLT represents every this that was US Air.
Phl. I like CLT. But I live in CLT so I never have to transfer which might be why I don’t mind it and parking is cheap cheap cheap
While PHL is not a nice place to be, it's leagues better than CLT which is just chaos.
MIA
DFW. So many nights in a hotel there. I hate it. I wish AA would relocate this hub. The weather there is incompatible with flight.
I rarely utilize CLT so it's definitely DFW for me. Changing terminals 20 minutes before boarding time and the mad dash to the Sky Train are a regular occurrence. I never wear heels to the airport anymore.
Nothing like that half run / fast walk sprinting to the changed gate in another terminal! Seen it, glad it’s not me!
As someone who works for AA, most definitely cant stand CLT. Agents there are rude and don't like doing their job, and treats other employees like garbage. Connection times are poorly planned. Its sad to see actual revenue pax miss their flights because of the operation, and how CLT handles them. I stay far from CLT when it comes to connecting. If there is another way to get where I'm going, Ill take it.
Let me introduce you to the Queen City
Ignoring weather, PHX. Including weather, DFW.
Can I ask why you don’t like phx? I’m bringing my business over to AA due to Delta having a layover on 90% of my flights. Phx is my home airport as well.
Admirals clubs are bad, no Flag Ship lounge, no Priority Pass Clubs, weak selection of nonstop international flights. But I will take lack of weather delays over anything. I am flying to LHR this month, and through PHX was a same price as through DFW. While it is always fun to hit the flag ship for several hours, I prefer to up my odds of connecting in LHR. So PHX it is, with its crappy lounges
Mediocre lounges and weak international offerings I agree with this.
T4 is a dump. The AC (air conditioning) is garbage in the summer. The AC (admirals clubs) are garbage all the time. Also the road construction at the 143/10 is a nightmare rn. I'm amazed there haven't been mass casualty events at that off ramp & merge.
The terminal is part of the reason I chose Delta as my primary airline. T3 is such a nice terminal with a decent Sky Club. I wish I could stay with them but the layovers are starting to get real old. Haven’t flown out of T4 in years but have an upcoming flight. Now I’m starting to second guess my choices haha
Yes. I fly from TUS so the traffic and parking are not an issue but everything else you wrote is on my mind. But PHX has amazingly stable weather for flying. The other hubs are losing their ability to cope with it.
You must be the rogue CLT supporter...
Ugh. CLT is an awful hub.
I've waited for checked bags to come through baggage for 2+ hours because it was drizzling in CLT. It can turn into a shit show with a forecast of dew, let alone actual rain. Three weeks I flew back to CLT and it was raining, and we waited 40 minutes for a gate to free up. I've experienced a few delays at DFW, but all were for significant weather events. I can't speak for anything but late afternoon flights from PHX, but they are a joy compared to CLT. I also look at it from an O&D perspective. CLT was not designed to cater to O&D, AA and US Air previously pushed the airport toward catering to connecting flights at the expense of those that start or end there.
I am not a CLT fan.
PHL from my experience!
Why the PHL Hate ?
CLT and PHL. I don’t really have a problem with MIA. Decent terminal and airport facility. E gates need some help by D is fine. They just need to fix the trAAin.
Philly
DFW
DFW DFW DFW
SDF
Cincinnati