I ran across an interesting cross-section of surveys today. One was a Travel + Leisure reader survey of the U.S. airports with the most annoying security checkpoints. The other was a Concur survey of airports that are the most stress-inducing for travelers, as judged by confusing signage, poor service, bad bathrooms, sorry Wi-Fi, and a lack of outlets to plug into.
Not surprisingly, the top three offenders in the most stressful survey—Chicago's ORD, Los Angeles' LAX, and New York's JFK—also show up in the top 10 of the T&L list. Seems like where there's stress, there's TSA trouble. Or is it the other way around? Anyway, congratulations to Dallas-Fort Worth for being named the least stressful U.S. airport.
Do you agree with these picks? What about an airport stresses you out?
For me I think the biggest thing is being trapped on the concourse after going through security, especially when it's a small one. I pace like a caged tiger dragging her wheeled tail behind her up and down the concourse, past the same stores and food outlets ("restaurant" is too kind a word for many of these), but even the big windows don't help that feeling of being stuck. Maybe that's why the Wi-Fi and outlets are so important—along with a good book—at least our minds can go elsewhere.