Your most hated “ski” airport?

A snowHead

@MogulMonkey, +1 such a shame as it's got so much else going for it. Last thing you want when coming home and main reason I've stopped using it.

A snowHead

This side, Stansted. Horrible airport and a pain to get to, for me anyway.

I hate Geneva airport. Always rammed with people meaning there's nowhere to sit and it takes ages to get through security. There's also a 10-mile walk and a bus ride to actually get to the plane. Oh and whilst departures is full of posh designer scarf and watch shops, arrivals is a bleak shithole with nowhere near enough toilets.

But even worse in recent times is Grenoble. When I first started flying there a few years back, it wasn't too bad. Small and quite quiet, meaning it was quick to get through.

However last March I had the journey home from hell, the worst I can ever remember. Far too many flights leaving at the same time for such a small airport. Massive queue for check-in, another long queue to drop skis off, then more than an hour to get through security and it was so busy the plane left late. Departures was absolutely heaving with nowhere to sit and no time to get food or even a drink and the place was utter chaos. All this while suffering from the dreaded Mal d'Isere and feeling horrendous. I am hoping there's no repeat of the awful journey home or the illness next month.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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Toulouse , terrible experience.....only two loos working...no pun intended. Laughing

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Any uk airport: they're full of shops and almost all the food is inedible.

Big airports: O'Hare, Frankfurt. You always have to schlep from one end to the other somehow.

After all it is free

Grenoble is the pits. Arrived last month with 3 other planes on the tarmac and were told we would have to wait for 45 minutes before disembarking as they couldn't cope in passport control. When we eventually reached the control we found they had a passenger list with all our names on anyway. At least we didn't have to queue outside the building to check back in as happened some years ago, but we still had to be rushed through at the end to get our flight. And this was a Sunday! It wouldn't take a genius to speed up the process if the will were there. And this is before Brexit.

Salzburg is a joy any time except a Saturday during peak ski season. I believe that's the only time 'Terminal 2' aka 'The Shed' gets used and only for UK flights. On a midweek Schengen flight it's bliss, turn up 30 mins before boarding, then on arrival it's plane to car in five mins.

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My horrendous journey was on a Sunday too. Mark Warner switched to Grenoble from Geneva some years ago, and it appears a lot of other operators have since done the same. The airport simply can't cope.

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@Nadenoodlee,

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You know it makes sense.

I have to think about this one as @rob@rar says I imagine Miami is difficult for transfers.

I was going to say Tampa, but Orlando is much worse.
USA immigration is just ridiculously long winded .. even though you have to set up everything online before you go.
Calgary ain't much better ... but they do make a point of being welcoming in their cowboy hats.

Its hard to say which is worse .. Luton, Stansted, Birmingham or Gatwick I find them all an absolute horror.
And Luton dosen't even have a Wetherspoons ... so breakfast can be very poncy and expensive.

Coming back?
Salzburg is a Particularly bleak shed once you are through security.

I do like the Swiss airports though, Zurich is a real class act, unless you are waiting for a SlEasyJet flight for 10 hours because your plane cant leave Luton because they cant de ice it fast enough to stop it freezing again.

Geneva is nearly as good. There is a lot more to it than the Jazz Bar.

If you go right down the other end into the station part you will find a Supermarket selling almost affordable food.
(A couple of years ago the station area was filled with the model railway club of Switzerland, it was a schoolboys dream)

If you go up to the 2nd floor there is a food court that used to sell Thai Wok curry things that were fabulous.
And if its sunny there is a great terrace where you can get all the second hand tobacco fumes you could ever want.

Security checks are a pain there now as they are everywhere, but it does move with more Swiss efficiency than Luton does.

I feel really embarrassed at our airports ... just these tedious zig zag wander through supposedly "duty free" aisles of crap you don't need just to stress you out even more before are delayed.

Whats the alternative?
St Pancras

I did this three weeks ago and we did nearly enjoy the experience, the security check was a lot less hassle, but you still get the feeling that you are in a "sausage machine".

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I don’t particularly mind the Milan airports except that they charge you for a trolley. Non-refundable. Every time I will drag 30kg of ski bag, plus boot bag, luggage and laptop bag just to not give them €2. Drives me crackers

Geneva airport parking is ridiculously expensive, as is the McDonalds. I realise I sound very cheap, I guess I am

A snowHead

Manchester outbound. Walking through the duty free maze early in the morning, having bored looking women spray a million different perfumes in the air makes me want to chunder, I've resorted to taking free diving lessons to develop my long terms breath holding that will get me through safely🤥
Chambrey coming back is the worst I've experienced, same as everyone else, although the family room was OK if you can stand lots of kids running around and screaming, at least there were seats.

A snowHead

The old charter flight tent at Lyon was pretty grim; is it still there?

Chambery - horrible experience, thanks to Crystal dropping me off eight hours before my flight.

Stansted - grim.

Luton - even more grim.

Birmingham - ludicrously long queues for security.

Bracing myself for the renowned Turin chaos in a few days time!

In contrast, Zurich - excellent.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

The worst thing about Geneva airport has to be the EasyJet "mouse maze" for check in.

I suppose that easyjet must handle 50% of the traffic through the airport, but they think they can handle it with just 3 overworked check in clerks on the first Saturday after Easter. Its Bonkers, just open more desks 60mins + is far too long to be shuffling your baggage and stresses-sing out.

Come on Stalios pull yer finger out.

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Chambery coming home on a Saturday is grim, and even if it could save me 2 hours of travel it simply is not worth the discomfort of sitting in a tent. They really need to make some investment in departure lounges, de icing and automated landing systems, given what they must earn ... and it will get worse after Brexit.

I now use Geneva, never had a problem, though worth spending a few quid for Speedy Boarding to improve EasyJet check in.

Have had a bad experience with Innsbruck and will do best to use alternatives in future, though the alternatives are by no means convenient.

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@DrLawn, Johan Lundgren is the man at EJ to complain to.

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@DrLawn, get global entry and discover that you can get into the us faster than you get into your own country. And with TSA precheck it means minimal security lines as well.

After all it is free

Heathrow T5 is very nice.

Has Chambery flown into first place for this dubious honour?

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Hi @cad99uk I wonder how long the queue is to get into his office? I'll drop Johan a line.

and hi @snowdave I just went to the TSA website, and I'll go there again before my next trip to see if I qualify. There was an interesting article on their website...

Most common items left at check in.

I have to own up to an almighty cockup at Tampa in January.
I decided to take advantage of the USB chargers at the seats at the gate.
I only realised I'd left the phone plugged into the seat once I'd boarded, and I was the last to board.
There was no going back, quite a fretful time going home, imagining all the things that could happen.

This was a Friday night and nothing could be done to several hours later.
You can imagine my relief next day when I got a call on my home phone from the manageress of Tobacco Republic calling me on my missing mobile.

Some colleagues picked up the phone from the bar on airside that evening and brought the errant comms kit back to the UK for me. Lucky Lucky Lucky Very Happy

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Geneva at the wrong time is a nightmare- at the right time it is 'OK' unless you want to buy anything.

Most of our more unpleasant experiences at Geneva however have been the results of (almost always) fellow British (actually English- south of the Watford Gap) travellers. It is really amazing just how many really really really important people there were in the Easyjet queues on the morning of Saturday 17th February 2018! There were the men who strode through the endless lines at bag drop and the man (and his family) in the black Rab down jacket and yellow rucksack on the Bristol flight at security to start with. Amazing, I think in the order of precedence it goes- Man in the Black Rab jacket from Bristol- The Queen- everyone else... (actually I did shout after him- "are you very very important?")

Also in mid January the very very precious young man who wanted to go in front of me at passport control (I'd just let someone else go in front- who'd asked very politely) then when I said 'no' started to ask 'so you want me to miss my flight???' (my flight was already boarding).

In the past we've also had an SCGB leader / rep (in his jacket) barge past us with our then at least 2 small kids and push chair at security.

Recent queues for Easyjet drop off and security and passport control have brought out the inner back bottom in too many of our fellow travellers to make for a pleasant experience.

As it happens we live in Liverpool and usually find Liverpool to be fine- except the taxi drivers have some strange sort of demonic possession type experience when they start to queue up at the rank.

@DavidYacht, Chambery only operates more than a couple of flights a day for 20 weekends. Try and run a business case for massive expenditure on terminals and deicing (which is generally also lacking at most airports). As for automated landing systems you clearly have no understanding of them. Chambery's approach limitations are to do with the surrounding terrain. The current ILS is as good as it is going to get, if a missed approach was initiated at a lower altitude you would hit the mountain to the south of the airfield. An instrument approach to the northerly runway is impossible as the required rate od descent would break the aircraft into little pieces.

Chambery allows many people to fly to the Alps that would otherwise not be able to do. Lyon, Grenoble and Geneva are operating at max capacity at skiing weekends.

Oh and your Brexit side swipe is just facile.

You know it makes sense.

Given the nature of the thread, I think that Chambery is fair game ... I have been bused to Grenoble and Lyon from Chambery in the past, due to fog, or lack of de icing equipment.

Despite the convenience of Exeter to Chambery, compared with Bristol to Geneva, which would shave over 2 hours off my typical journey time to the 3V’s, I have learnt to my cost that Geneva is a much more reliable, cheaper option with flights that allow more time on the piste.

With regard to Brexit, whilst this may seem to be a cheap shot; having seen the queues at the Non-EU passport controls in major European airports, I will be amazed to see how Chambery copes, given that passport control is the first pinch point.

Each to their own, but the OP asked the question.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

They are all terrible , when you get a delay , they are all terrible when they are busy , its like everything in life.
I have sailed through Geneva with minimal disruption as many times as i have been in long queues. I hate gatwick , and love LHR t5.
Chicago takes some beating , however this year flying into Vegas with all our gear saw me detained in a locked room with no info for an hour due to some issue with my fingerprints.

Any public transport system is always a pain when its popular , the best way is to just smile , be polite , and get on with it .

A snowHead

@harvsurrey, or not travel. For various reasons, my natural preference is for one week’s skiing at a time. This year I have gone for two sucessive weeks at the same resort, thereby eliminating one set of flights. It’s also cheaper, but that is not the main reason for the decision. I confess that airport misery has brought me close to stopping skiing.

A snowHead

I remember, 7 yrs ago, queuing outside, howling gale and rain, to get through passport control at Grenoble. There was a small covered area, but 2 flights arrived at once and there was 200 people getting very grumpy outside of that. The passport control was just inside the door - Barmy.

On the way back we had a row with security as they made a lady in her mid 50s (not one of ours) take off heer knee brace, dumper her crutches, and hop through the scanner Shocked

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Just in case anyone is interested, here's what an approach into Chambery looks like when the wind is from the north. Doesn't take much imagination to see how a pilot might decide more or less anywhere else is a better idea if there is a bit of snow thrown into the mix!

http://youtube.com/v/47fjpw3AOU0

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@ achilles , i agree !

3 weeks in the USA earlier , and flying this saturday to Lyon , Avoid school hols , and travel wisely , though i will admit the room in Vegas with my wife collecting our baggage was a tad worrying. It is worse when other occupants of said room are being escorted out in cuffs !!

I agree also with the above about rule inconsistencies on security , with what you are asked to remove or not but you just have to comply. It also seems to differ between regular security and when i am using fast track. However , i certainly find it better to fly than to drive all the way to the alps as thats just too stressful.

I also chuckle every time i read the baggage threads , what you can and can't take , plus can i get a miles flight etc ........... most of my routes are determined by , can i get it on miles , therefore where and when.

PS having no kids is great Razz

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Blimey, reading these posts makes you wonder why we bother. Chambery idn't covering itself in glory - that video is so interesting Pandora. You don't want your brakes to fail on that landing. Made me laugh when it says "aim for the block of flats" - hope the residents never see it!! Thanks for posting.

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PS having no kids is great Razz

[/quote]

Yes huge advantages on holiday. I'm so jealous!!!

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Air travel has become a chore instead of an experience now, and it is because of the airports, specifically security queues. I hate them, I feel like I'm being treated like a criminal just because I want to travel somewhere.

For me Manchester is the worst by far, you get everything out of your bag, put it in out so they can see what it is, they still put it in the follow up queue and you end up waiting for them to explain why they have stopped you this time, they say its because there are too many wires in your bag of wires (chargers) that you had set out separately so they can see it is a bag of wires. Then it has to go through security again before you can have it back to get onto your flight.

Other airports are better, but it's still something that I find stressful and irritating.

As someone mentioned I also hate how UK airports have now developed those mazes of duty free goods that you have to wind your way through before you can get to the departure lounge proper, and you have to walk through the gauntlet of "have you tried this new fragrance sir?" a dozen times before you can breath properly and finally find somewhere to sit whilst waiting to board your flight.

After all it is free

@Sack the Juggler

If I choose my normal airport out of LHR T5 , then on average in the morning its 40 to 50 mins from closing the door to enjoying my breakfast in the terminal , and coming home around 50 mins to an hour .

Meet and greet parking and we live about 10 miles away ................ airports are as stressful as you chose to make them. However as i posted above i expect the experience is different with a few kids in tow .

I just hate airports generally.

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Your most hated “ski” airport?

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