Arrived Early: Fast Security

Had use of the JAL First Lounge/Landside Bunker

First Shock: The only Western Food was Old Miniscule Curled Ham and Cheese Sandwich.

Reading Material : One Local Newspaper which I had read at Hotel and One NY Times plus 3 Five week old Times/Newsweek mainly on out of date Super Tuesday.

Left Lounge to look for other Western Reading Material..Gift and Magazine/Newspaper outlet closed

Bar Truck: Closed

Restaurant: Closed

Mobile: Drinks service Not in Operation

Duty Free Shop: Closed

All other Shops: Non Existant

What was this Third World Airport you might ask...None other than T5 at the Worlds Busiest Airport ORD at 11am. Seems most facilities do not open until the afternoon

Perhaps there was a sign before Security warning me. But after this It makes LHR seem wonderful for pre-departure shopping and facilites.

Let's stick to the facts: interms of passenger counts, ORD hasn't been #1 for while. ATL is clearly bigger.

And while we're at it, LHR no longer leads in number of non-stop destinations served. That, too, has clearly been claimed by ATL (a lead of over 50 destinations).

When you said 3rd world I thought you would be complaining about LaGuardia...

don't see what this rant has to do with aa. the flight is oped by jl. aa does not fly out of t5. post this rant on the travel buzz, chicago or jl forum.

you expect aa to have a club for few codeshares?

You ain't seen nothing yet until you have been to GIG. No air condition, you wilt waiting for check in (which takes two people). Luckily, the Admirals' Club is like heaven once you reach it (free booze.

Hush! Don't spoil the rant with something as silly as logic.

Uncle!

You nearly gave me a heart attack. T5?! As it Terminal 5 LHR. I thought Dear God it hasn't even opened yet?!

Thank you for the clarification. What a thing to do to a woman off to California!

Indeed, there is!

"Third World" is an outdated and an inappropriate term to use, especially among people who claim to be travel experts. It implies a numerical value and lower expected conditions of living based soley upon income or geographical location. Like many racial comments, the origins of the term were intended to be descriptive but has changed to become a slur and a way to justify treating classes of people differently. It's offensive, please don't use it.

But most assuredly a post in the tradition of the London tabloids

mike

A little OT. We had an overnight layover at NRT last month. Due to jet lag we were up quite early and took the 6:30am hotel shuttle to NRT.

I was very surprised to see that not much was happening at that time. JAL check in didn't open until 7am. Passport control didn't open until 7:30am.

I would have thought this airport would almost be a 24 hour operation, certainly going by 6am.

People on occasion need to be reminded that the principal (and principle!) purpose of an airport is to connect passengers and airplanes. It is not a shopping mall. It is not a restaurant. Certainly airport authorities typically want to take advantage of the captive audience and sell you crap and feed you while you're waiting, and airlines generally have an interest in making your travel experience as pleasant as possible, but still the principal purpose is to get you on a plane.

You may have noticed a plot or two of land neatly cultivated between Terminal 2 and the 1st runway, a community of about 40 people who are the cause of the massive security at the airport gates, tunnels to permit them to join the outside world from in between the runways, massive anti tank barriers in the event one of them might thing of inviting an Al Quaeda operative for supper, etc... These people are the cause of a night curfew at NRT approximately between 11.30 PM and 8.00 AM for take offs. The whole thing has cost trlllions of yens over the past 25 years. Makes you wonder about the old tar and feathers method in the wild West

One word: curfew.

Wow, thanks for the info. Just thought it was SOP.

Never had to depart from T5 at ORD - only arrived so I can't comment on the accuracy of the OP's post (though I question it because of the several Asian bound departures from T5 around noon) . Nevertheless, despite the principal purpose of airports which I don't agree with, the traveling public has a right to expect at least basic services (food, drink, basic supplies like Tylenol, and basic reading material like newspapers) in any airport bigger than a hut, nevertheless at the international terminal of the one of the world's busiest airports.