Airport day trips ....
 

ever do a trip just to hit an airport? Or perhaps a lounge at an airport?

Perhaps even just slept then showered in the lounge in order to come back early the next day.



Let's say you have Priority Pass and an Amex Plat and Global Entry/Pre-Check



"KXYZ has a fantastic lounge. Did a stop there, hung out for a few hours, and came right back!"

"K123 is a great airport, took a look at the dining area/shopping area, and came right back!"

"Main City with KABC is a great place and a great airport. Did a quick walk thru downtown, hung out at the Ultra Executive Double Platinum Sooper Dooper lounge, ............ and came right back!"


If so would you have some actual recommendations going out of MIA or FLL? :D


edit: this trip would also be a mileage run. AA currently has a double mileage deal for FLL-LAX (FLL is right nearby)

I'll go somewhere for a day for no reason if its cheap enough. Anywhere within 2-3 hrs and enough flights so you can go into town for 3-8 hrs. Don't care about the airports unless its just a mileage run, but then you go by cpm. From SFO, SEA, YVR, PDX, ORD, SAN...

I can't really say airport day trips in the purest sense of staying in the airport. After awhile, they all start feeling the same. Hitting a lounge that has shower facilities is always nice, but to make that the point of the trip is not enough to warrant it for me. None of the lounges (domestic) have decent enough of a food selection (yes, I'm talking about United Club) to justify it either.

Now, MUC and FRA can be a cool place to go... FRA has an airport tour (not sure about MUC), and you can get a decent meal and clean up there.

For domestic, there aren't that many, but

IAD is a favorite because of the close proximity to Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Annex (Udvar Hazy). There is a bus that goes there and back.

DCA is good because of close proximity to the Capitol.

I've done both in a day.

there's a double mileage deal on AA from FLL to LAX that I'm considering but it says 'certain non-stop flights'

How do I determine which ones they are? :o

I have a few times. When AA offered double miles on their inaugural LGA-BUF flight (2005) I found a $110 fare and flew up for the day. The temperature was about 5 degrees so I ended up staying at the airport, eating wings, then flying home.

On some really cheap MRs when it was not worth leaving the airport I did the same thing. A few years back AA had LGA/ORD/MSP for $49OW++ and when I landed in MSP it was -5 degrees. No way was I leaving that warm airport.

Since the discussion is about stays at the airports rather than a specific MR routing or discussion, I've moved this to TravelBuzz.

Thanks for the Alerts.

BiziB, Moiderator Mileage Run forums

As part of a mileage run? Yes
When I'm the pilot? Yes
Going to the airport just to hangout and sit in a lounge? No

I do not think there is a lounge that is worth just hanging out in for no reason (This includes all the SQ, CX, EK lounges). I can get better food elsewhere. Any food that is decent costs 2x or more at the airport. Shopping is a limited subset of the same stuff i would find at the local mall but with a huge markup. I can shower at home with less risk of getting athletes foot. The wifi may be free but will probably be slow. Plus there is always some idiot that thinks quiet area rules do not apply to them. Just getting there means running the TSA gauntlet which put two strikes on the idea right off the bat.

Some years ago, the water supply at my apartment had been shut off due to some plumbing work over the weekend.

So I jumpseated overnight up to Gatwick, took a shower at the US Airways Arrivals Lounge and flew back at lunchtime.

Fantastic!, B747-437B; you always have good stories to tell!

Awesome. But did you not require a shower when you returned?

Plumbing had been fixed by the time I got back. There are worse ways to spend a Saturday. :)

ok, I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on a FLL-LAX day trip (double mileage deal)

I'm using partial AMEX points to pay just under $100 for the roundtrip.

It is coach ......

arriving LAX tuesday noon local, departing 1215am. (15min into the next day, the red eye.)

Essentially 10hrs in LAX area.

Yea? Nay?


Or I can do a weekend day but use all my points and still shell out 150

Plenty of time to do something interesting. Rent a car (may want to Priceline it). Mass transit is an option but not the easiest way to get around. Drive to some place you want to go (avoid the beach since you are already at a beach, unless you really like a beach or want to say you stepped foot in the Pacific or something). Check out the Destination forum:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/los-angeles-507/

Spend some time searching and reading there. You'll have no shortage of recommendations for your time. You'll get plenty of posts talking about going to In-N-Out; yes, we love it.

I've done IAD-SFO, spent 3 hours at SFO (mostly at Gordon Biersch) and then did SFO-IAD, but it wasn't on purpose-- someone failed to notify us a meeting had been cancelled until I was in the air-- so that probably doesn't count.