I used to call Berlin Tegel my home airport for about 2 years a decade or so ago and loved it. I also hated it. I hated it for its small size and I loved it for its small size. LateDeparture wrote a couple of times about Berlin Tegel already, but when I recently returned – after years of absence – I couldn’t resist to pull out my notebook and note down some of the new additions since.

What I first noticed was that the airport is now more clearly split into sections of gates, A to D. A is the main, hexagonal terminal, B a side annex used by Lufthansa. The C and D gates are separate buildings to either side of the main complex. So here’s what caught my eyes:

A gates & central area

• Buy some Vienna style bakery delicacies from ‘Erster Wiener’
• Check out the S.Oliver store (Germany’s answer to Esprit – which, by the way, also has a store in the central area)
• Visit the ‘Bon Voyage’ store for books, newspapers, travel accessories, souvenir, toys and small snacks (near gate A15)
• Experience Munich in Berlin by popping to the “Wiesn Grill”. You can’t go wrong with the Weisswurst, Weizenbier and Bretzen deal for €7.90

B gates

• Enjoy great views towards the runways from the Tegel Terrace restaurant upstairs on level 3. You find the lifts opposite the Lufthansa check-in area
• Find a last minute book from a good selection of German and English books at the ‘Pocket Shop’

C gates

• Try the Marché Bakery for some fresh gourmet sandwiches or sit down at the American diner called – you probably guessed it – Cindy’s
• The ‘Relay’ newsagent next door has a small but selected range of last minute Berlin souvenirs (e.g. try the Berlin Ampelmãnnchen salt and pepper dispensers). It also sells beers by the can.

D gates

• The only thing worthwhile mentioning is the ‘die Es-S Bahn’ store on the way from the main building to D. It sells the famous Currywurst, which, if you haven’t already done it on your visit to German’s capital, is a must try. For €2.90 it sure is a no-brainer, even for a cheeky “top-up”.

As you can see there is no shortage of things to see, do and discover despite the smallish size of the airport. You want to be quick with your visit though as the airport is scheduled to close on 3rd June 2012, the day when the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (IATA: BER) is set to become operational.

[Photo from Flickr - Some rights reserved by Matthias17]

Wikipedia tells us that Terminal 7 at John F. Kennedy International Airport (IATA: JFK; LD hub page) was built for the former British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and Air Canada in the early 1970s. As we established earlier, it is currently owned and operated by British Airways. What’s historically more special though, is that this terminal was the only one owned and operated by a foreign carrier on US soil ever, anywhere. Today, the terminal serves a few other Oneworld alliance carriers such as Iberia, Cathay Pacific and Qantas. The Star Alliance carriers United Airlines, US Airways and ANA also use the terminal.

Let’s get back to my experience: After a slightly messy check-in which wasn’t particularly the fault of British Airways (rather blame my packing skills), I made my way to the security queue. Unfortunately the queue looked longer than the guest list of Prince William and Catherine Middleton’s wedding. Suggestion: pull out your frequent flyer card and queue over at the business class security check (with no queue). In fact, those security guys looked so bored, I’m pretty sure you could talk your way through even without an explicit access privilege at hand.

Once through, the terminal still feels somewhat cramped, but a lot less than I had feared initially. And then something weird happened: I started to actually quite like this terminal. Don’t get me wrong, if I had the choice, I’d still rather be at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, but right then, I could definitely spend some time there without getting bored. Here are a few suggestions:

• Check out the “Discover New York” shop for any last souvenirs (I particularly liked the PAN AM memorabilia and the Museum of Modern Art articles) – near gates 9/10
• Sit down for a minute and enjoy a drink in the Bombay Sapphire lounge
• Visiting on of the Xpres Spa franchises is always a good idea, particularly if you want to get rid of some tension before your flight (e.g. enjoy a 15 minute neck and back massage) – next to gate 7
• Score yourself a bargain DVD deal at InMotion Entertainment and enjoy those movies on your laptop while waiting in the terminal
• Grab a cup of coffee from Starbucks, then enjoy it at one of the nearby seats with airfield view and laptop connection points. You can even get complimentary internet – sponsored by British Airways. However, don’t forget to bring an Ethernet cable as only wired connections are free.
• If you’re feeling peckish, you’re in luck as the terminal offers a good range of food options: for a sit-down meal you could try Todd English’s bonfire restaurant near gates 3/4 or wander to the food court which you will find in the middle of the terminal. You will find a selection of outlets: Auntie Anne’s, McDonald’s, Balducci’s food lovers market, Grove and Wolfgang Puck Express.

Well, who would have thought this terminal could entertain me so much? Sure, it has its bottlenecks and there could be more space to sit down and relax without having to check into a restaurant, but overall, you can surely spend a couple of hours here without getting bored, thirsty or hungry! That is, if you had to, of course.

→ Find further information for John F. Kennedy International Airport on the LateDeparture hub page.

[Photo from Flickr - Some rights reserved by Joe Shlabotnik]

The first impression of the airport is that it’s fairly spacious but looks quite tired. The latter is no surprise as it was built just after the WWII and opened in 1949. In summary, there are two really great things about the place: it offers free WiFi and operations are fairly efficient, so you won’t need to queue too long anywhere.

Generally, however, we advise not to spend too much time there as there simply isn’t terribly much to do. Sometimes you’re forced to stay a bit longer though, so in true LateDeparture style, we found a few tips for you to kill some time:

• If you’re with children, check out the “Discover the Airport” display between the two sections A and B of the arrivals & check-in hall. Whilst it’s a bit dated, it still offers a few interesting displays and a few interactive buttons for your kids to press.
• After security there’s not much at all. Even air condition seemed patchy when we were there. In summer, choose to wait in an area that’s well tempered.
• Go to gates 8/9 and play “plain spotter” – mind you this is no JFK with constant aircraft movement
• Check out the various vending machines featuring electronics or beauty products
• If you’re hungry, there’s a small snack bar offering a few breakfast/food options, newspapers, magazines and books
• If none of the above are your thing, simply surf the web on your phone or laptop – after all, WiFi is free throughout the airport – so you could even check out further tips from the Foursquare community

Airport Name	Syracuse Hancock International Airport
Website	http://www.syrairport.org/
IATA Code	SYR
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall
	n/a
	n/a

[Photo from Flickr - Some rights reserved by waitscm]

Alright, we admit it, not everything is perfect – you still have to queue when dropping off your bag at check-in, but hey, you can’t blame them for that, as this is mainly due to Federal Aviation Administration issues. The agency still doesn’t allow passengers to check-in themselves (already a common practice in a number of countries i.e. Australia on domestic Qantas routes). But, once the FAA is ready for this, JetBlue can simply convert the existing area; and fear not, even if you have to wait a bit, the terminal offers free WiFi, so surely you’ll find heaps to do on your phone while you queue.

Once through security you will be greeted with a large open area, the centre of the 635,000 square feet (60,000 square meters)  terminal that opened in 2008. This is also the area where you will see promotional events and if you are really really lucky, you’ll  see a pop star performing live. JetBlue’s event series “Live from T5” has previously featured amazing talent such as James Blunt, Robyn or Taylor Swift.

From that central area, affectionately  called ‘marketplace’ lead three wide concourses to the various gates. Along those concourses you will find the usual shopping and dining outlets. Hang on a minute, did we say usual? Scrap that – rewind! If you know JetBlue then you know that they don’t do ordinary. Period. What you actually find along these corridors are carefully selected shops, a food corner that provides a trillion options for every appetite and a chef-driven dining program. Dining program? Yes, you read right, at T5 you will find a number of restaurants that you would normally expect to find in a swanky Manhattan area!

Featured local chefs include: Mark Ladner (Aeronuova), Roberto Santibanez (Revolucion), Alex Raij (Piquillo), Lee Hanson & Riad Nasr (La Vie) and Michael Schulson (Deep Blue). Year-after-year, the T5 dining program, which is managed by OTG, are recognized with Customer Care Awards by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for their outstanding contribution to customer service.

What else? Well, there’s plenty more to discover – here a few of our favourites:

• Check out the old, iconic TWA Flight Center building right next to T5 – best views are from the check-in area or the bridge to/from the Air Train.
• After security, walk to gates 14/15 and lounge in one of the Italian designer chairs while watching planes take off and land, talk about luxury!
• Get your kids tired at the playground near gate 12
• Try to find gate 13 (send us a photo proof once you found it!)
• Love your quiet spot in the morning? Walk to gate 2 and have breakfast at the Horizon Bakery Cafe
• If you’re short for time or simply want to hang around your gate area, you can order food to eat in or take away from one of the many “revive” stations – you should get it within 10 minutes
• Hungry and have a little more time? Pick one of the great restaurants, you won’t be disappointed!

Hopefully we got you excited for experiencing T5 yourself. The only draw back of the terminal is that in order to experience it all, you will need an actual JetBlue ticket. So when you fly through JFK the next time, make sure you choose the right airline!

Airport Name	John F. Kennedy International Airport – Terminal 5
Website	http://www.jetblue.com/flying-on-jetblue/t5/ (JetBlue) http://www.panynj.gov/airports/jfk.html (Port Authority)
IATA Code	JFK
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall
	n/a
	n/a

[Photo from JetBlue - all rights reserved]

It would certainly be interesting to compare these British findings with some of other countries in order to check for a possible bias in regards to certain airports. As reported on LateDeparture many times (e.g. here for Heathrow’s Terminal 3), Britain’s airports often feel overcrowded which definitely adds to passengers stress levels.

However, we wouldn’t be LateDeparture if we didn’t believe airports can be fun places and certainly disagree with travellers who say “their holidays only start after they left the airport”. At least we think it shouldn’t be that way. So, how can you reduce your stress levels and increase the enjoyment factor at airports. Here are our top 5 tips:

• Allow plenty of time for the annoying stuff like check-in, immigration and security checks. You can then use any unused time (buffer time) for fun activities at the airport or send off your last office emails.
  
• Get yourself in the right state of mind: there will be a lot of people, there will be queues and there might be delays – calculating with all this will help you feel more relaxed as you’re already expecting it
  
• Play games at queues: no one likes to queue for a long time, but just standing there and looking at your watch won’t help. Play a little game and have some fun while waiting (see some suggestions can be found here) or at least bring a book or magazine you can read while queuing.
• Explore the airport with different eyes. People tend to notice the same things over and over, while ignoring other. Why not walk through the airport in the eyes of a different persona? E.g. pretend you are your son, your wife, etc. and see things differently and therefore rediscover the “familiar” airport.
  
• If your plane is delayed, don’t worry there’s always extra things you can do – check our archive of reviews for your particular airport (if it’s not reviewed, why don’t you write one yourself?)

[Photo from Flickr - Some rights reserved by programwitch]

When you get past the fairly efficient passport control, the international terminal presents itself as a large but light-filled structure facing the runways. The first shop that presents itself to you is a large-ish duty free shop with a fairly good range of all the usual stuff. You then discover a semi-circled walkway on either side of this shop leading to additional stores that range from Sunglass Hut or Rip Curl to more unique outlets like the Rainbow Serpent. Then on either end of the walkways you’ll get to food and beverage outlets. On one side you find the Moreton Bay Ale House (yes, it’s a pub) and several fast food outlets. On the other side there’s Coffee Club and a few others.

Because my flight to Papua New Guinea received a two hour delay that day, it left me with plenty of time to explore the airport. It could have even been more time hadn’t Coffee Club been flooded with passengers that morning. With my coffee at hand I then got slightly more adventurous and discovered the airport offered more than just the usual things you see at every airport: at Brissie you also find some interesting art on display and even free wifi if you know where to go to. First, the art is displayed in form of two large sculptures by Stephen Killick (partially pictured above) on either side of the large glass-sided part of the terminal towards the gates. It’s well worth looking at it for a moment! Secondly, the free wifi, even though this really is a cheeky one, can be found in front of the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer lounge as was helpfully pointed out by one Foursquare tipper.

Overall, here are my usual top “time wasting” tips:

• Check the departure board and uncover some unusual destinations (e.g. ever heard of Honiara?)
• Shop for some last Australiana at the “Around Australia” store next to the pub (e.g. they offer a neat Qantas plane toy kit)
• R.M. Williams is the store to go for your true Aussie outdoor hinterland kit
• Buy (or just look at) an original, certified Aboriginal canvas painting at the “Rainbow Serpent” store
• Get up to date on your emails by using the cheeky free wifi in front of the KrisFlyer Singapore airlines lounge
• And if you then must, use the smoker’s balcony behind the Coffee Club for that one last drag before your flight (well if this isn’t a time wasting activity, then I really don’t know!!)

Airport Name	Brisbane Airport – International Terminal
Website	http://bne.com.au/
IATA Code	BNE
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall
	AUD 175
	AUD 65.99

[Picture by LateDeparture - all rights reserved]

Last time I wrote about arriving at Los Angeles International terminal and how to find a decent cup of coffee. Assuming I did that, I now want to make my way to my departure terminal for my flight to Las Vegas. My travel itinerary tells me I’m flying with American Airlines from Terminal 4. So how do I get there? The airport’s website lists a helpful tip under their FAQ section:

[…]if you arrive on a flight at Terminals 1, 2, 3, or the Tom Bradley International Terminals and connecting to a flight at Terminals 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8, you have to exit the secured side of TSA screening and the terminal and walk across to the terminal or board the Airline Connections “A” Shuttle (which operates on 12-15 minute intervals) under the LAX Shuttle & Airline Connections blue sign on the Lower/Arrivals Level islands in front of each terminal.

Got it. But almost more importantly to how to get there is how long it takes. While the airport doesn’t give you that time, you can read into the above that you should save quite a bit of time for getting through “the secured side of TSA screening” (read: immigration and customs and those things can be very thorough in the USA). I remember having queued for an hour in San Francisco once. You then will have to collect your luggage and check it in again for your domestic flight. You don’t need to go through the whole checkin process though as apparently there’s a trolley for connecting flights where you should be able to drop your luggage if you already have a boarding pass.

Once at Terminal 4, I guess you first want to get security out of the way. However, having said that, USA Today last week published the top 10 airport restaurants in the US with one being in LAX. So, I’d definitely want to have a look at it. It’s called “Encounter at LAX” and the newspaper writes that it’s

[…] truly unique, a simultaneously hip and kid-friendly restaurant inhabiting a wacky outer-space-themed building,”.

Interesting for sure! Outer-space though? Not so sure.

Let’s get back to the terminal though. The internet provides you with many great resources to research the terminal prior to your trip. Starting with Wikipedia you find out that Terminal 4 went through a $400 Million revamp in 2001 and is the main terminal for American Airlines. On the official LAX website you find a handy map of T4 and the guys from Aerochannel provide a useful video walkthrough.

So with that below are my top picks of what to do. I’ll try to check them all out when I’m actually there and will report back whether my researched picks were on the money! For now, it’s time to go as my flight is about to board.

Top researched suggestions for Terminal 4:

• Find the neon American Eagle (hint: look up!)
• Check out the newest gadgets in the vending machine close to gate 41
• Find out what a “vivanno smoothie” is
• Pick up a route 66 souvenir key ring from the news stand (and pay for it)
• If “Encounter at LAX” wasn’t your thing, try the Mexican joint “On the border”
• Now time for a sit down meal? Get a “Chili’s Too” On-the-Go meal and hope you don’t sit next to me in the aircraft as I hate don’t like people eating smelly foods next to me
• Check out the newest sunglasses at the “LA Edge” store
• Go nuts at the $10 boutique and buy lots of things for, well, $10 each
• Find “Marvin” and get your shoes shined

[Photo from Wikipedia - some rights reserved]

Well, let me introduce you to the secret language of KL:

• KL = Kuala Lumpur (surprise, surprise)
• KLIA = Kuala Lumpur International Airport
• KLIA Ekspres = the name of the express train that runs from the airport to the city centre
• LCCT = Low Cost Carrier Terminal (we will address this again shortly)
• KLCC = Kuala Lumpur City Centre or the spot where you find the famous Petronas Twin Towers

That wasn’t so hard, was it? But let’s now focus on KL LCCT (IATA: KUL) which is kind of an airport within an airport. Wikipedia has the following explanation of it:

The first purpose built Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) was specifically built at KL International Airport to cater to the growing passengers of the low cost airlines, especially the passengers of Malaysia’s “no-frills” airline, AirAsia.

Bingo, that sounds like a great idea, doesn’t it? It’s not.

The “extension” is located on the opposite side of the apron from the Main Terminal Building (KLIA), near the cargo area. By road, LCCT is about 20 km (!) from the Main Terminal Building; this is important to factor in when you’re choosing you’re route out. Don’t make the mistake we made and board a shuttle bus to the main terminal building (thinking it was 1 minutes away) and then take the KLIA Ekspres from there. First of all, this will cost you about 4 times more and secondly, the buses departing straight in front of the KL LCC terminal (you have the choice of several different companies) take you directly into KL Sentral in at least the same time, if not quicker – approx an hour depending on traffic.

When departing, there are a few things you can do at this terminal, although KL LCCT is nowhere near as entertaining as its richer big sister (read our review here):

• Since you’re at LCCT and the LC stands for Low Cost, surprise, “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch, dinner or breakfast” so make sure you stock up with some goodies from the small supermarket on the public side of the terminal before going through security
• Then, right after security, there’s a toy shop where you can buy “bribes” for that little monster in the seat in front of you (did I just say that?)
• Now this is a real find: you’ll be amazed at the selection of sweet and savoury delicacies that the ‘Country’s Tid-Bits & Candies Cottage’ has to offer. Trust me, amazing they are: You will find anything from boring safe candy’s, liquorice plum, dried mangoes and kiwi pulp, various cookies, nuts and chips to the taste bud challenging dried spicy cuttlefish. I dare you to try it! The best thing with the store is that you can try everything before you buy! (Find some pictures here)
• Use your last Ringgits or get some fresh ones from the ATM in the terminal and shop for your life at the souvenir shop offering all sorts of tackiness (I actually bought a Twin tower fridge magnet there, I must confess…). If you’re not into shopping, count the amount of different merchandise they offer with – wait for it – the twin towers on it.
• If by now you either feel sick from trying all that dried fish or are thirsty from counting, go next door and buy my all time favourite KL drink, a ‘100plus’. How good is it, people? Now you wish you filled the remaining luggage with this wonderful, thirst-quenching drink. Good news is AirAsia also sell it onboard.

Airport Name	Kuala Lumpur, Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT)
Website	http://lcct-klia.com
IATA Code	KUL
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall
	not available at LCCT
	MYR 320 (Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Rose)

[Picture from Flickr - some rights reserved]

Wellington International Airport, even though located in New Zealand’s capital city, is a relatively small airport with only one runway and not a lot of flights in and out. Interestingly, all pilots are super experienced and well trained to deal with the “thrilling” arrival conditions (watch this, but be warned, this is not for the faint-hearted! The airport today is designed to predominantly cater for Domestic passengers so you won’t find much on the international section when departing as most business is done on the public side.

It seems, however, that the airport’s owners have recognized the international side might need an expansion if it’s going to be able to manage the probable increase in traffic thanks to international low-cost carriers continuing to increase their route network in and out of Wellington. So, work is furiously underway on a, well, interesting extension which will open to the public on 21 November 2010 and has been creatively named “The Rock”. Why? Because it is built in the form of – wait for it – a big brown rock. Really! You can already see the exterior clearly when driving to the airport.

Let’s now cut to the interesting to-do-list. Note, all tips are from the “public side” of the airport unless noted otherwise.

• Have a look through a great range of skin care products from New Zealand at “Essity”
• Stock up your winter warming wardrobe with clothes from the Icebreaker store or simply find the most ridiculous puffa outfit and try it on – just for fun!
• Feed your empty stomach with one of the many different “Prêt-a-Manager” inspired sandwiches at “Wishbone” (towards gates 4-17)
• Want something quieter, more exclusive yet totally affordable? Head to the “Wild at Heart” lounge upstairs where you can purchase a day pass, indulge in their food and beverage offer, surf the net or just chill out (day pass weekdays NZ$25, weekends NZ$15). The weekend rate is a bargain when you think that you will easily spend that kind of money on a coffee and a sandwich downstairs! Great value – Great idea!
• Enjoy a perfectly brewed coffee from the stylish Mojo coffee shop (right before the entrance to the International side of the terminal). I was told Mojo was the best coffee Wellington has to offer – after trying a few coffee shops – l tend to agree and the competition is stiff! The Wild at Heart lounge (see above) also offers Mojo coffee by the way.
• If you’re looking for some excellent wine from the close-by Marlborough region, you’ll find it in the Duty free section on the International side. You will, for example, find Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc for NZ$ 17.90, Wither Hills Chardonnay for NZ$ 14.90, Stoneleigh Pinot Gris NZ$ 25 or the famous Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc for NZ$ 35. Remember to check the allowance of your final destination though (i.e. Australia allows for 3 standard-size bottles (2250 ml to be precise) per person. Not nearly enough but hey, rules are rules.

Airport Name	Wellington International Airport
Website	http://www.wellington-airport.co.nz
IATA Code	WLG
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall
	NZ$ 198
	NZ$ 99 including ice jacket

[Picture from LateDeparture.com - all rights reserved]

But since I’m supposed to write a review of an airport I shouldn’t muck around with naming conventions too much I guess. So, let’s look closely at Denpasar International airport (IATA: DPS). In fact it’s nowhere near Denpasar either. Alright, alright. I’ll stop it. Hmm, what can I say? The airport doesn’t offer too much actually. Bali, after all, isn’t particularly on the cutting edge of economic development. Don’t get me wrong, the charming island is doing fine but it still has that  “2nd world” feel about it. Maybe that’s exactly why it attracts Millions of tourists each year.

Most of us would probably first arrive in Bali before we depart. What I mean is, the arrival procedure is probably the thing that’s going to be of interest to you first. And what a procedure it is! Fresh off the plane and bursting with holiday energy you first need to join the queue to pay  the entry visa (make sure you bring US$ 25 in cash per person). With the visa voucher you then queue for the actual immigration officer. Check which line is the quickest before you spend 15 minutes looking at the queue next to you moving past swiftly. After that it’s straight forward: find the luggage carousel, pick up your luggage and head towards the taxi counter outside the terminal building and off you go on your Balinese holiday.

Leaving the country requires, you guessed it, another queue and more cash payments. They call it “airport service fee” and it comes in the amount of Rp 150,000 per person (about US$ 16). So don’t spend all your Rupiahs before you head back to the airport or you will have to pay a penalty exchange rate at one of the conveniently located little exchange stalls right in front of the service fee counter.

Once you’re in the inside of the terminal, you will probably still have some time to kill as most airlines require you to check-in 2 hours prior to your departure time.  So, let’s look at my list of things to do:

• Check out the funniest McDonald’s outlet ever (a tiny pushcart with a menu)
• Visit the toilets (well you probably are going to do that anyway) but if you can, err if you’re a man that is, check out the fish tanks above the urinals
• Get a shot of Illy coffee close to gates 5 and 6
• You MUST finish you heavenly holiday with a  final and oh so affordable Balinese massage at one of several massage outlets (e.g. the one towards gate 7,8,9)
• Why not buy yourself access to the Garuda Indonesia airline lounge for Rp. 100,000 (about US$ 11)
• Grab a Ku De Ta CD to remind you of your partying at Bali’s most famous beach club

Airport Name	Denpasar Ngurah Rai International Airport
Website	http://dps.ngurahrai-airport.co.id/i/
IATA Code	DPS
Design
Shopping
Toilets
Overall
	US$ 69
	US$ 127

[Picture from Flickr - some rights reserved]