In my limited experience I cannot stress enough how much I prefer small regional airports.
Walk in, bags checked and through security in 5 minutes, walk a short distance through an area that’s not crowded and not full of shops, and be seated near the gate with a coffee a few minutes later. After a short wait, because you don’t need to get there an hour or more early, walk across a bit of open tarmac to a plane that’s not bursting at the seams, then take off after hardly any taxiing. So good.
Counterpoint to this is that security is bored as fuck and thinks everyone is a smuggler. We had to open and ruffle through our kids’ bag of Goldfish crackers and I saw security make a veteran empty his entire dufflebag on the security counter “just because” at the airport in Bismark, ND. Literally all 30 people (it was jam packed!) in line had to go through some form of “enhanced security”
Oh but it brings joy to my heart every time I breeze through security while they are going through my husband’s suitcase. Because he is conservative white guy but born in Pakistan so they always stop him. I am progressive as fuck, white enough for Florida, smile and am waved through.
Agree though - our airport is wonderful but security and customs is a slog.
I’m not the most travelled person ever but I’ve always had good experiences at Edinburgh airport. Staffs been lovely and the security has good (relatively) smoothly.
My favorite ones are:
Singapore - Beautiful, plenty to do and explore, and great lounges in general.
Istanbul - The Turkish Airlines lounge is among the best I’ve ever visited. A bit crowded though.
Amsterdam - Lots to do, efficient design, and fun to explore.
Copenhagen - Very efficient design
Honorable mention: Aberdeen. Small, simple, and with a nice pub. Could’ve used a better eatery, though.
Portland, OR is easy and has some nice carpet
Hollywood Burbank Airport
Its the only airport I’ve ever flown in or out of that lets you board an deplane from both the front and back doors on a 737.
Baggage claim is actually outdoors! You get your bag and are standing about 30 feet from the arrivals pickup road.
Its a fun small airport with a prime location.
