Job Discussion Forums

afowles · Joined: 02 Jan 2004 Posts: 85 Location: USA

I figure everyone here has had their share of airport sitting. I'm sitting in O'Hare right now, eventually en route to South Korea after three years of teaching in Poland.

How do you like to pass the time in airports? I, as you can see, like to use the internet. Sometimes read, although I prefer to read on the plane. The food is too expensive, but sometimes a little nibble is good.

Any fun airport stories?

gmjones · Joined: 25 Oct 2004 Posts: 72 Location: UK

I like to spend a considerable portion of my cash on perfume and other things that I sooooo don't need but figure I might not be able to get wherever I am going... not a good excuse, but an excuse all the same!

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 6:35 pm Post subject:

Getting drunk always works, but be careful to remember where you put your bags.

Other ideas:

Taking that last chance to have one of whatever it is that they don't sell where you're going. Leaving Italy, I always have to have that last italian ice cream.. one last beer when leaving England, etc...

In O'hare, you can do anything- it's like a small city. There are bars, gyms, a cinema...

If you're passing through Miami or Houston on the way to points south, it can be a good time to shake the dust off your Spanish...

Talk to strangers...

Send all the post cards you forgot to send when you really were in an exotic local...

Best,
Justin

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

The Cusco airport has a little massage center. Aaaaaaah. In Tokyo, there are massage chairs. In San Francisco, my dear sweet ex boyfriend upgraded me to business class once, so I got to hang out in their poncy lounge and drink coctails. I think Miami has a gym, but it was closed the last time I was there.

And of course I am always happy to find shower facilities in airports!

I just recently had a 12-hour layover in Lima, and I have decided that it is The Most Boring Airport on the Planet. At least there is a 24-hour internet center, which of course charges about 60 times more than anywhere else in the country.

d

TheLongWayHome · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 1016 Location: San Luis Piojosi

I like to read, people-watch, try to find the least putrid coffee and wonder if the plane will crash.

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

afowles, so where are you going in South Korea. I am near Cheon an.

Chris_Crossley

In practically any of the four terminals at London's Heathrow Airport, the main hobby for travellers is looking at magazines, crumpling their pages, putting them back on the shelves somewhat carelessly, watching (if not hearing) them fall to the floor, then just walking out of the outlet without even caring. I reckon they ought to be made to pay for what they do, so that they would be disinclined to do the same in future.

As for me, I hardly spend any time in airports, but I certainly would steer clear of phones that accepted credit cards, not to mention the internet cafes where you have to buy a membership card you will never have any occasion to use again before it expires in a year's time.

One might as well go to the spectators' gallery and lazily watch planes take-off and land for free!

Gregor · Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 842 Location: Jakarta, Indonesia

mondrian · Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 11:52 am Post subject:

SLEEP!

Use my on-board luggage as a pillow. Seal up all my pockets and sleep.
I usually count past memories of airport lounges as "sheep" until "the calm of infinity" descends on my mind.
Waking up is always a disappointment as I never sleep for long enough.
The most irritating feature of this method is when on waking up I am then told my flight is delayed by an indeterminate period of time. So then I have to content myself with dozing instead.

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

Joachim · Joined: 01 Oct 2003 Posts: 311 Location: Brighton, UK

The best airport for killing time has to be Singapore. Excellent facilities, a "quiet" area with sun loungers (or whatever they are) that you can sleep in, free internet, reasonable food places and excellent duty free.

Dubai was pretty good too.

The absolute worst has to be London Stansted. The MOST depressing and badly organised airport in the world.

Gregor · Joined: 06 Jan 2005 Posts: 842 Location: Jakarta, Indonesia

Singapore does have a damned fine airport. Schipol (near Amsterdam, not sure of the spelling) is good as well. I've heard that Heathrow is good, but I've never seen it.

afowles · Joined: 02 Jan 2004 Posts: 85 Location: USA

Dude, my route from Poland to Korea was CRAZY!!

July 12: Poznan - Dublin then Dublin - New York
July 14: Train to Connecticut
July 17: Train to New York, then NY - Atlanta then Atlanta - Bloomington, IL
July 22: Car to Chicago
July 25: Chicago - Phoenix then Phoenix - San Francisco
July 27: SFO - Seoul, then Seoul - Jeju

I'm not sure if my flight to Seoul stops in Singapore or not. I'm guessing it does, which adds another flight in there.

The highlight of all this flying is that I saw Tom Arnold in the Phoenix airport. Seemed like a nice guy. He was reading a paper.

kaw · Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:22 pm Post subject:

Shop, read, people watch...Agree with comments before - Singapore and Dubai airport great - for shopping........ Worst airport - Ancona in Italy. Was stuck there for a million or so hours before flying back to the UK a few years ago. Absolutely nothing to do - not even any shopping....