If I see an itinerary SMF-ORD, I read it (in my head) as "Smurf to Auwd". KORD is "Kay-Auwd", and LHR is "El-Aitch-Ar".

Does anyone look at "DEN-MSP" and actually think "Denver to Minneapolis" instead of "Den to Em-Es-Pee"?

I call Sacramento "Smurf", I call Nashville "Banana", and I call Baltimore "Biwi". Other than that, usually the city name is the first thing that pops into my head when I see a code.

Reading the codes I tend to convert them to their city-name, like Tampa for TPA and Orlando for MCO. But when typing them I'll be saying to myself "I need to fly from T-P-A to C-D-G."

Which brings up the two-airports one-city phenomena and how my brain interprets it. CDG is "Charles de Gaul" and ORY is "Orly" right away in my head, and while i frequently use PAR to search for both, it's not Paris, it's "Par" as in "Par for the course."

So, I've definitely searched and typed and thought "Tampa to Par" more then once.

MSP to me has always been "Minneapolis St. Paul." and I'm not even sure if that's even right.

And odd note - SNA is "John Wayne" (not "Orange County") and the alternate airport for that route for me is often SAN, which is read by me as "S-A-N *pause* Diego" as if the SAN triggers the "Diego" immediately in my mind.

And the problematic route i've been trying to hash out as an open jaw recently: "TPA-PAR, VCE-TPA" which is "Tampa to Par then Marco Polo to Tampa." Which brings up routings with stops in IAH or EWR frequently - making me question "Do I want to stop at George Bush and get the extra miles or go via Newark?" and sometimes I call HOU just "Continental" or "Intercontinental."

As for Chicago, ORD as "Ordh" is a place and MDW as "Midway" is a place but i've never said "I'm flying to Chicago" and the idea of a "Chicago Airport" is totally foreign to me.

CVG is "CeeVeeGee!" said with a cartoon character voice - and to be honest I have issues remembering where it actually is since I never fly into or through it.

And my mind likes to think BWI is "Board Walk International" kinda like from the game Monopoly.

I read my home airport, JFK, as "Juliett, Foxtrot, Kilo".

letter-by-letter, unless it's pronouncable as a word (e.g. DEN, SAN)

i caught myself as i was about to say o-r-d to a friend instead of chicago.
too much time on flyertalk....

Did you mean to say "Chicago" or "O'Hare"?

chicago

I always try to make the delineation between the airport and the city, especially when one is not next to the other (e.g. SFO).

Interesting one...

I really think it depends on the airport. BWI is "Bee-Double-U-Eye" for me, but DCA is "National," and definitely not "Reagan." ORD is "O'Hare," but LAX and SFO are "Ell-A-Ex" and "Ess-Eff-Oh." SEA is "Sea-Tac" and JAX is "Jacks," Houston is "Intercontinental" and Dallas is "Dee-Eff-Double-U."

When I write them, I almost always use airport codes, even for the ones that I use names for (like National or Sea-Tac).

That's exactly how I think. After seeing these three letter codes so many times, it's like fluency in another language (and I can go back and forth between airline-speak and English on the fly...same is true with two letter codes).

Even though I've flown thru it many times and know simply by the freezing cold that it is not, I to this day still think "Orlando" when I see ORD. I used to try to correct myself, now I don't even bother.

You can always think of Orchard when flying to ORD.

Had a pilot earlier this month announce, "Welcome aboard tonights flight to The Orchard" when doing the pre-flight announcement. Saw a few strange looks around the cabin when he said that. (name comes from Orchard Field)

That said, I just consider ORD to be O'Hare...

Just remember before Disney there was absolutely no reason to fly into Orlando and it used to be McCoy Air Force Base Civilian Passenger Terminal.