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Travel Tips


Many of us have a love-hate relationship with airports. We love to travel and airports are where it all begins. Do you ever have that last-minute “I'm not sure I want to go” feeling? But, when you actually are inside the airport terminal with all its hyperactivity and promise of places to go and things to see, do you suddenly become caught up in the excitement and can't wait to get on the plane?

On the other hand, have you ever been delayed in an airport, lost your luggage, missed a flight, got lost, or encountered any number of major or minor dramas that seem to be inherent in the medium — and swore you would never fly again?

Experienced travelers apply their well-honed traveling skills from the get go, and that means negotiating their way through airports.

The websites to the right will help you develop airport survival strategies.


 

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Airports

World Airport Codes

All those who work in the travel industry will tell you that knowing an airport's code will save you a lot of time if you are searching flights on one of the many websites available for this purpose, or for numerous other reasaons. So the next time you are planning a trip to Thunder Bay, you may find this site helpful.

The World Airport Guide

If you like to locate your airport and a guide to it geographically or in other languages, you will find this site useful.

World Airports Index

The clickable world map at the top of the page of this site takes you to whatever airport in the world you need information on. It also has good links for calculating distances between airports, for searching world time zones (local times and dates), and for finding airlines that provide service to any country in the world.

123World

If you prefer to work alphabetically, this site may be more your style.

Airline and Airport Links.com

This easy to use and comprehensive site gives you direct access to databases you can search alphabetically, by region, by city, or by airport code.

Air Travel in the United States

The Transportation Security Administration's general “Travelers and Consumers” summarizes succinctly key issues — check the site's “Key Travel Tips” — that the general public should know before traveling by air.

Flight Delays

This Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) site is a quick and easy way to check on flight delays in the U.S.

Google's Airport Weather and Delays Webpage

Weather is still an airport's biggest challenge especially if the airport in question is an important hub that is also affected by weather delays at airports that feed it.

London City Airport
If you are making connections to European destinations through London, this very traveler-friendly airport may make sense for you.

Mapquest's Airport Terminal Maps

Good old Mapquest provides maps for major airport terminals. However by going to an airport's actual website, you are more than likely to also find a handy map. (See below)

Airport Hotels

Need a hotel at or near an airport? This site can help.

Airport Parking

Sometimes it can cost as much to park at the airport as it does to fly. Check this Yahoo page for your choices.

Discount Airport Parking

A useful site for U.S. aiports.

Air Routing International

This highly sophisticated but user-friendly website is the portal to a number of fascinating and useful resources especially for pilots or armchair/wannabe pilots. Here you will find links to sites that (a) allow you to track commercial flights, (b) live air traffic control and airport webcams, (c) live radar, air traffic control news and general information, (d) an excellent time/distance calculator so that you can determine how far it is from one airport to another, and (e) an airport locator.

Executive Travel Sky Guide

This website is useful for savvy travelers who know how important it is to control your own destiny, travel-wise anyway. The site's travel reference section, for example, will help you find such things as convenient and comfortable waiting places in airports in the U.S., airport business services, and other general airport amenities.

Airports.com

As increased security measures require knowing how much actual time you may need to spend getting from curbside to the aircraft, this site which now gives TSA Security Wait Times may come in handy. Make sure you know your airport code first though.

Free Wi-Fi in Airports

What better way to make good use of the inevitable wait times you encounter in airports than to check email, work online, or research your next trip. However, all airports and terminals are not wi-fi-equal. This website can be a big help.

Essential Travel Information: Airports

This comprehensive site is very easy to navigate, gives airport warnings and alerts as well as direct links to airports around the world.

Airport Security

This page from the excellent HowStuffWorks.com site gives a good overview of what you need to know about how airport security functions.

The Budget Traveller's Guide to Sleeping in Airports

It's not my first choice of venue for slipping into the arms of Morpheus but I have (not by choice) had to sleep in an airport from time to time. Apparently there are travelers who like to save money by bedding down there. This site ranks airports in terms of comfort and security for sleeping based primarily on grassroots traveler experiences.

Wikipedia's “Airport”

Many people underestimate the complexity of airport operations. This overview of what an airport actually is may give you a renewed respect for what a consumer faces when traveling through an airport.