Which is AA's nastiest gate?

Old Dec 15, 2017, 9:36 am
  #31  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: VPS
Programs: IHG Diamond, Delta PM, Hilton Gold, Accor Gold, Marriott Silver
Posts: 7,210
Originally Posted by salut0


I googled it: it's a tiny airport presumably with EAS, whose only airline is AA (Eagle? Connection?) and which mainly serves general aviation. I'd have been surprised if there were many amenities there.
For those kinds of airports, I adjust my expectations and call myself happy if there are public toilets both landside and airside, and the vending machines can consistently keep a diet cola chilled to a drinkable temperature. (Old VPS terminal, how I so do NOT miss you)
beachmouse is offline  
Old Dec 15, 2017, 9:47 am
  #32  
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: CLT
Programs: AA EXP, 2 Million Miler
Posts: 815
Originally Posted by arc727
How about the E35/E38 gates at CLT? Miles from civilization, jam packed among a bunch of other gates with flights leaving within 10 minutes of each other...the reward, of course, going outside, down a rickety wooden ramp, walking along a fence under a temporary canopy, and stepping onto a wonderful Dash 8!
This
robertablake is offline  
Old Dec 15, 2017, 9:53 am
  #33  
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,302
Originally Posted by salut0


I googled it: BPT is a tiny airport presumably with EAS, whose only airline is AA (Eagle? Connection?) and which mainly serves general aviation. I'd have been surprised if there were many amenities there.
Yeah, BPT is kinda sad looking outside, wonder if the inside is just as bad. Pretty pitiful when the ARFF station (on right in pic)
is nicer than the passenger terminal. So not the most prosperous airport, on the other hand, whoever sells chain link fence in town has made a lot of $ selling to BPT.
LovePrunes is offline  
Old Dec 15, 2017, 10:26 am
  #34  
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Western PA
Programs: ExPlAAt; United 1K
Posts: 480
I just got off a flight out of 35X. Everything about that gate is maddening, from the long lines that frequently block the bottom of the escalator, to having to get on buses that are ever-so-slightly smaller in capacity than the jet that you are going out to, to having to wait out in the cold and rain to collect your gate-checked bag if you are coming in to 35X, to everything else that I can think of. That gate can't die quickly enough.

Last edited by jackonferry; Dec 15, 2017 at 10:27 am Reason: quoted the wrong post
jackonferry is offline  
Old Dec 15, 2017, 1:14 pm
  #35  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: KHOU/KIAH
Programs: AA EXP | Marriott Bonvoy Titanium| Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 11,120
Ok - I've flown out of DCA a ton of times.. what is the 35X gates? Which concourse is it on? Somehow never managed to end up on it... (lucky me it seems)

My vote was for the mess at LAX. Last flight we got parked at a hardstand... bussed to the Eagle's nest.. then bussed to T4 and then had to walk to TBIT. Awful
Antarius is offline  
Old Dec 15, 2017, 1:20 pm
  #36  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,501
Sorry, for any of your suggestions to qualify for this award, the gate must have it's own line of clothing.
cedric likes this.
pinniped is offline  
Old Dec 15, 2017, 3:22 pm
  #37  
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: W29
Programs: It's Complicated...
Posts: 6,796
Originally Posted by jackonferry
I just got off a flight out of 35X. Everything about that gate is maddening, from the long lines that frequently block the bottom of the escalator, to having to get on buses that are ever-so-slightly smaller in capacity than the jet that you are going out to, to having to wait out in the cold and rain to collect your gate-checked bag if you are coming in to 35X, to everything else that I can think of. That gate can't die quickly enough.
Yes. I recently had my first experience at this gate in all my years of flying out of DCA and it sucked and exactly as described.
mcgahat is offline  
Old Dec 15, 2017, 5:03 pm
  #38  
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: New York, New York
Programs: AA Gold, Alaska MVP; Free Agent Super Duper Diamond Treasure Chest ;)
Posts: 4,682
Originally Posted by birdiedouble
Does it have those tv's you drop a quarter in to watch too?
Whenever its 1981
knit-in is offline  
Old Dec 15, 2017, 5:06 pm
  #39  
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: New York, New York
Programs: AA Gold, Alaska MVP; Free Agent Super Duper Diamond Treasure Chest ;)
Posts: 4,682
Originally Posted by salut0


We had no short walk. At LGA terminal B gate D9 yesterday we took a bus to the plane was parked outside the old brick hangar AA use the other side of which you can see when driving or taking the bus back from LGA to the city.

And then we had to walk up a narrow, sloping ramp to the ERJ we were flying on. Weird on many counts. Aside from the fact that priority boarding onto a bus means that you get on the plane last, it was a nasty experience.
Interesting. My flight to BNA a few weeks ago was parked close to the gate and we just walked over. Strangely, there were no passengers to board till Zone 4 was called. Perhaps, they had the impression that there will be a bus to board that will leave them boarding last.
knit-in is offline  
Old Dec 15, 2017, 5:09 pm
  #40  
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: DCA
Programs: AA EXP; BoNVoY Tit LTP
Posts: 1,920
Originally Posted by Antarius
Ok - I've flown out of DCA a ton of times.. what is the 35X gates? Which concourse is it on? Somehow never managed to end up on it... (lucky me it seems)

My vote was for the mess at LAX. Last flight we got parked at a hardstand... bussed to the Eagle's nest.. then bussed to T4 and then had to walk to TBIT. Awful
It is in the end concourse and it is distinguished in many ways from other gates. Like the Trailways Stations I used to visit, there is a call for the various flights that depart that mostly sounds like yelling. Then you go down stairs and find your particular gate (and there is little clue as to which one is which). You end up getting on a bus that as noted above has a capacity of 20% less than the plane you are flying on. Then you stand in the rain/snow/heat to gate check your bag and walk up the wooden ramp (now ADA compliant I imagine, but a step up from the stairs of a few years ago).

There must be a guess your weight scale and one of those machines that you can try to use the little crane job to extract a toy that is worth less than the quarter you inserted if you are lucky.
ckendall is offline  
Old Dec 15, 2017, 5:28 pm
  #41  
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Not sure yet
Programs: Marriott - Lifetime Platinum Premier, AA - CK
Posts: 263
Having never flown into our out of 35X, I just had to do some googling to see what it was all about. Based on the descriptions is sounds a lot like the junky B terminal in IAH from my CO days back around 2005 or so. Anyway.... I was checking out google imagers and this one seems to sum it up based on what I've read.

Head is offline  
Old Dec 15, 2017, 5:47 pm
  #42  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Programs: American Airlines Platinum, National Executive
Posts: 3,790
I'd say the nastiest was the pair of AA gates in the former US Airways terminal at LGA. The gates were added at the side of the escalators leading to baggage claim. The space wasn't meant for a gate, but AA just crammed them in. Now they're gone, with the change to the central terminal, though.
ibrandsguest is offline  
Old Dec 15, 2017, 8:33 pm
  #43  
Ambassador: Alaska Airlines
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 7,390
Originally Posted by Antarius
Ok - I've flown out of DCA a ton of times.. what is the 35X gates? Which concourse is it on? Somehow never managed to end up on it... (lucky me it seems)
Generally only 50 seaters or smaller aircraft uses 35x. E175 and larger uses the regular jetway gates.
golfingboy is offline  
Old Dec 16, 2017, 8:36 am
  #44  
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: IL
Programs: UA-SIL MR-TIT HYT-GBL IHG-PLT HH-DIA WYN-PLT AMEX-PLT
Posts: 150
Id second the nomination of the whole CLT Airport. The whole operation: angry low rent customers...had to dodge a profanity strewn near fistfight on the way to the AC the other day in a completely crammed terminal with the ceiling out presumably for replacement or we could only hope for demolition, surly unhelpful LUS agents, garbage old LUS Airbi, the apparent lack of any business travelers except those whose business involves golf and colored pants (and not the BA Galleries First type of colored pants folks). Then the ends of A and B where there are approximately 4 738/321 gates on each where there is space for about one...barely individual boarding lanes let alone any type of priority lane. Kind of like the circle AA shares with virgin at EWR...yuck...but that is a second-tier outstation and CLT is their primary southern domestic transit hub.

To echo AANTC1981: what a garbage operation. The whole LUS thing (with the notable exception of the stews, who Ive found to be almost universally better than LAAs) oozes nasty, cheap, and low-rent.
iadisgreat, Head and samm like this.
schertz is offline  
Old Dec 16, 2017, 9:02 am
  #45  
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: DEN
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,563
Originally Posted by schertz
Id second the nomination of the whole CLT Airport. The whole operation: angry low rent customers...had to dodge a profanity strewn near fistfight on the way to the AC the other day in a completely crammed terminal with the ceiling out presumably for replacement or we could only hope for demolition, surly unhelpful LUS agents, garbage old LUS Airbi, the apparent lack of any business travelers except those whose business involves golf and colored pants (and not the BA Galleries First type of colored pants folks). Then the ends of A and B where there are approximately 4 738/321 gates on each where there is space for about one...barely individual boarding lanes let alone any type of priority lane. Kind of like the circle AA shares with virgin at EWR...yuck...but that is a second-tier outstation and CLT is their primary southern domestic transit hub.

To echo AANTC1981: what a garbage operation. The whole LUS thing (with the notable exception of the stews, who Ive found to be almost universally better than LAAs) oozes nasty, cheap, and low-rent.
Please tell me. How can we identify a business traveler by the color of their clothing?

CLT is a great airport to connect through. The operation almost always runs efficiently; and its less likely to impacted by significant delays than many other AA hubs. It's one of the few airport where I am perfectly happy to take a 35 minute connection. Sure the facilities are a outdated and a bit crowded (they are working on both of those things...), but who cares if I am not spending any time there?

Hardly compares to the 35X hellhole or the national embarrassment that is LGA.

Oh, and this thread had somewhow managed to go 43 posts without a pointless off-topic rant about managment LUS/LAA ...so thanks for that contribution.
bse118 is online now  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.