JimInOhio

I'm not following you. You never go outdoors to make the connection between ORD T5 and the other terminals... when the ATS is running that is.

username

Interesting topic. I was talking to an agent at SFO and he said SFO's customer service came out last in all the UA hubs. I don't feel SFO is particularly good or bad on that front.

I do like SFO because the concourses are generally pretty open and spacious - unlike E/F in ORD or C/D at IAD. It also has not been OTGed for these expensive and unpredictable food.

I do sense some SFO agents still have that "CO ruined us" attitude. For example, I was asking an agent in the United Club about the new retrofitted 777-200s with Polaris + Premium Plus. He did not even bother to look in the system - just told me there is no information. Then he went on this rant about how slow CO coverts the aircraft and UA would have had to have all of them converted already ("one every 3-4 days")....

I guess for me:

SFO mostly due to the airport/rental car/BART convenience
DEN beautiful airport, good service
IAH
ORD
LAX but mostly because of the TBIT *A Lounge
EWR mostly due to OTG and A/C Connection
IAD even with the TK and LH Lounges

fivevsone

I like driving close to all the international planes, and watching all the hustle/bustle out the window. I am a big 12 year old who just loves looking close up at planes, big and small. And the view from the left side of the 'bus' runs you right past the international heavies in terminal B.

Yup. That's prime plane-watching time!

brp1264

You mean access via the Airtrain? That is a horrible experience - SFO is wayyy better, even if the ride is a bit longer.

I didn't know you could walk from C to the rental cars. How does this work? Okay if you have some luggage as well?

Madone59

1. SFO
2. DEN
3. ORD (I love the tunnel between B & C)
4. IAH
5. LAX
6. EWR
7. IAD

laxmillenial

Man, with these rankings, being LAX/SFO based, it appears I'm missing out on some 'good' airports. Maybe I should be scheduling connections in DEN/ORD to check out these guys out.

narvik

From C it isn't a particularly short walk, as you have to walk past B and A to get to the rental car lots.
I've done it plenty of times though, but limit it to when the weather is nice and I have little luggage.
The path is signposted and not used very much. You would exit Terminal C and take a left toward B.
Also, currently there is some serious construction going on at P3 (where Alamo, Avis, Hertz, Enterprise and National are), which still allows foot traffic, but might make it a little trickier if you're not used to the route.

DenverBrian

1. DEN (when the apocalypse comes, you can just go into the secret underground bunkers)
2. SFO
3. LAX
4. IAH
5. ORD
6. EWR
7. Any other United station internationally
8. Any other United station domestically
9. Any other non-United hub
10. CLE
11. The "United Nails" shop that used to be a United ticket office in the Denver Tech Center
12. A poke in the eye with a sharp stick
13. IAD

stevenshev

I don't understand the hate for LAX (which the exception of the AU/TBIT immigration issue - with two packed 787s a day, I don't understand why United can't shell out for FIS to open earlier at T7 - TBIT space at that hour can't be that cheap). Compact, reasonably friendly staff, virtually always on time (except going to SFO/EWR but guess what causes those delays), has Clear for security, what else could you want?

Likewise don't understand the love for SFO. Sprawling (ever tried walking from 65 to G102? Not fun), super prone to wx delays, largely unhelpful staff, packed UCs, massive security lines (unless you have Clear).

And not sure what's wrong with IAH? Sure, it's big, but lots of UC space, never any meaningful security lines in Terminal C, relatively convenient Airtrain, more friendly staff, no delays.

DEN would be great if it weren't for the absolutely horrible GS staff (realize this is not a problem that applies to all readers, but nevertheless). But the staff situation is so bad that it drops it down.

EWR is a hell hole (and I say that being EWR based). Security situation horrible, helpful/friendly agents are few and far between (GS agents are a mixed bag, but others are largely no good), UCs are an absolute disaster, delays are ubiquitous, takes forever for luggage to come out.

IAD and ORD are largely equivalent to me. Big, slow, delay-prone, but neither is a particular disaster, save for the moon buggies for FIS (not that the T5->T1 ATS is all that fun, but at least it's consistent and quick).

I think I would do this with rankings:

1) LAX
2) IAH
3) DEN
4) ORD
5) SFO
6) IAD
7) EWR

QBK

Ooh, this is fun.
My preferences turn out to be determined entirely by lounge availability.

Hubs I like:
0) Anything with a Polaris lounge if I'm lucky enough to have access.
1) IAH - Centurion lounge. Surprisingly classy terminals, except for B.
2) SFO - Centurion lounge. Easy to get around.
3) LAX - Star Alliance lounge in TBIT (and I like the walk). Terminal 8 is depressing.

Totally on the fence:
4) IAD - The entirety of C and D are borderline Greyhound bus station. However... LH and TK lounges!

Hubs I'd avoid if I could:
5) DEN - No full-service lounges. Boring.
6) ORD - How does an airport this size have no decent lounges that I can access? More wx cancellations than any other hub. Sadly, 80% of my connections are in ORD.
7) EWR - Poor customer service, and no full-service lounges unless I can sneak into B for the LH lounge.

Billygreg

Hate to chime as I feel compelled due to the IAD bashing

1- IAD. Nice clean bathrooms. Very good food options. Quick Security. Next door to my house. Direct flight everywhere. Love the moon buggies for the flight OPs views. FIS is fast and easy. Rarely a weather delay.
2- LAX Renovated LAX is nice and the new club is spectacular. Food options still suck and the walk from T7 to T8 is a killer. No weather delays. Easy to grab a cab right at baggage claim.
3- IAH Food is good. Not much else. Always run into thunderstorms so feels like lots of delays. Mostly out of the way to connect in. Lots of walking and horribly overcrowded clubs. Lots of low ceilings
4- SFO Spend more time here than anywhere but IAD. Don't usually connect. The clubs are lousy (what motivated them to build such a small uncomfortable club near the 60's gates). Obviously IrrOPS are bad but I normally have good luck. Staff not great. Food is okay but should be way better. Gates are always overcrowded especially the new ones in the 60's.
5- Den- Easy connection because of layout, good location to connect thru. Not so much weather IrrOPs But the gates are so far apart and the CRJ gates are a 1000miles away. Terrible food choices (although Elways is nice and the Chik-Fil-A) helps and the clubs are so-so. Security is lousy and slow as well. Not too much walking, love that they still have the moving walkways.
6- ORD - Terrible weather, terrible food (except the sushi place between terminal b and f). Too much walking. Too much walking. 20 minutes from c gate to f gates.
7-EWR - Horrible security, confusing layout, no cabs or UBER, Airtrain, locations, weather. Nothing good here.

I get the negatives to IAD (I don't connect thru there so those negatives don't apply) and the train is an abomination, a gates are awful and the clubs are mediocre (as is the seating at the gate) but it gets you in and thru, faster than any other airport and for that I am thankful

whlinder

Agreed; being able to walk in the door at home 45 minutes after hitting the runway on an international arrival is awesome. Having nearly missed flights due to EWR airtrain construction, replaced by overcrowded shuttle buses, dealt with LAX, SFO and ORD traffic, and tried to figure out how to get out of IAH to the proper pickup area, IAD is so easy (for me) in comparison. I know where to go and how long it takes me to walk from my car to whichever terminal I am flying from (or whichever lounge I want to visit). It's the sleepiest major international airport I've ever seen. Sure, the UA terminal is massively cramped and outdated. The UA clubs stink. ATC will single thread departures on one runway for no apparent reason.
It's entirely possible I would like another UA hub better if I lived there and knew it inside and out like IAD, but the goal is to get where I am going quickly, and for that IAD delivers in ways that other UA hubs have never done for me.

Aspen

I've come to the conclusion that MEL & SYD get to disembark at TBIT because the gates are all full at T7 at 6am and since they are not using the aeroplanes immediately for flights to LHR or PVG logistically they then get towed to the hanger.

HNLbasedFlyer

Agreed on terrible security - what do you mean no Uber? I always grab an Uber out of EWR, usually very quick - granted the traffic at the terminal is often bad but I just call the driver to confirm where I am standing. Never waited more than a few minutes. The scrum just gets me used to Manhattan,

fjfv19

This is easy for me. Exaggeration implied on some of these.

1. SFO - Clean, efficient, nice.
2. DEN - A bit removed from the city and lines can be nuts. UA clubs old. Generally good experience.
3. EWR - It has improved dramatically in the past two years or else it would be closer to LAX on the list. Polaris Lounge is great.
4. IAH - Nothing particularly noteworthy but generally good experience there.
5. LAX - Old, dirty, but the UA Clubs are at least nice.
6. ORD - Jaded from perpetual flight delays. Feels more like purgatory than an airport to me at this point. Love Chicago though.
7. Getting hit by a decrepit Wiki Wiki bus at HNL.
8. IAD - All the charm of a minimum security aviation prison.