First time through DTW today and...
 

I loved it! Excluding Reagan National up in D.C., I'd have to say that DTW is my favorite airport in the U.S. I was blown away at how, well...amazingly cool, the A concourse (and tunnel between A and B/C) is! I was doing a MR all on NW today, and my last stop was up north in DTW. Very hip and 'futuristic' design, especially with the express tram up top. Awesome. I also happened to see the entire 12-person Lufthansa crew walking together. Talk about them pretty much owning the walkway, haha. They had this, "yeah, we are that cool, now please out of our way" aura, haha.

Anyways, from now on, I will definitely try to schedule more NW flights through DTW instead of MSP or MEM. Although, MEM does have that great bbq... :)

Back in the days....
 

I must agree! Back in the late 80's, I swore to myself often, never to connect in DTW due to congested terminals, narrow walkways, and long walks between concourses....... but that has all changed, with the new Detroit World gateway. With so much conveniences and uncluttered feel, Detroit is now my prefrerred gateway to Europe.

Jiburi

I haven't tried MEM yet, and I do enjoy MSP, SEA, NRT and AMS, but in terms of being able to find my way from one flight to the next, DTW is hard to beat.

I agree DTW is an awesome airport. I don't really mind DCA's old terminal. I like to play the "spot the TWA logo" game when I am in that terminal. j/k. Usually I hang out in the Worldclub (some of the best staff in the whole system!) until 30 minutes prior to departure, breeze through the easiest security line at DCA (longest wait in two years of flying out of DCA exclusively has been 5 minutes), and get to the gate just as boarding begins.

MEM (home base for me) is a decent airport...easy to find your way around, small enough that you can quickly go from one end to the other. Decent local food options (Interstate BBQ). But IMO you don't want to do longer than a 1-hour layover here. Climate control in the terminals sucks and the gates are not comfortable at all.

I always find it hilarious to watch the John Grisham movie "The Firm", filmed in 1992-1993, and see the airport scene (when the Chicago mob guys arrive in MEM). Nothing has changed, the airport still looks exactly the same.

Sorry to hijack this thread from its original DTW subject line, but in response to the above post:

MEM is my "home hub" (no choice but to use it to/from GPT unless I fly non-NW), and I agree with your assessment re Interstate BBQ and your "The Firm" reference (lol), but they DID update the food/vendor courts within the last 1.5 years...much better than before (except that there is not nearly enough seating at the main food court during the 3 daily flight blocks). And you can get your Interstate BBQ fix at 2 locations: by B27 and also by B17.

I must also admit that for a "near-major" hub, MEM does a pretty remarkable job at getting flights down and up on or near schedule...there's seldom a long ground delay a la EWR or other "notorious" hubs.

Glad you enjoyed your visit through DTW.

The NW Worldgateway is a source of pride for Southeastern Michigan. It gives a great first impression to those just arriving or passing through. Its one of the few bright spots amid the doom & gloom currently hanging over the state. Come back often!

Hey, I'm a fan of MEM. There are a lot of good things about it from an operational standpoint and from the perspective of grabbing a bite to eat and hauling a** to your next flight. From a "functional" standpoint it's pretty good. But I think it's a total PITA if you have to spend more than about an hour there (if you don't have a WorldClub membership).

Yeah. And if you actually visit Detroit, it's all downhill from there...

<duck>

Like any other city, it depends on where you go. There are some great places to see, and fun things to do here. There are also areas to stay clear of. Just like everywhere else.

Before they built the new terminal, the baggage area was the worst of all. It was like being in a dark cave, with zillions of people and no one having any clue as to what was going on. I tried to fly any airline that didn't drop their baggage at the NW area, just to avoid going down there. Hard to do when NW owns most of the flights here.

Can't wait till they open the new north terminal and pull down LS Smith... that place sucks...

When is that supposed to be? Doesn't look as pretty as the NW terminal from the runway--

Q2/3 in 2008. They are pretty much on schedule:
http://www.metroairport.com/project/milestones.asp

The terminal will be smaller, but they have learnt some lessons from the NW terminal (more eateries on the landside, better immigration and better facilities for people waiting for intl. pax to arrive. etc)

I always try to connect through DTW. New, modern, and very easy to navigate for me. I get off my flight, look at the gate #s and immediately know which way to turn for my next flight. As for MEM, I'v found the GAs there to be the friendliest of any airport I'v traveled through in the US.
Dave