Sally

I live in Louisiana and usually fly to Europe from Atlanta( via Baton Rouge, Lafayette, or New Orleans), but Atlanta has becaome such a congested nightmare that I am wanting to try an alternative less crowded airport.

I have also flown to Europe from Dallas and Houston. Neither of them was that great either, plus the flight was a lot longer than the one from Atlanta.

Has anyone flown out of Memphis? What are your favorite gateway airports?

francophile03

Is Vegas a gateway now because if it is I like that airport. I hate mine: SFO, one of the worse in the world in my opinion.

Clifton

I live in Memphis and have flown from it many times, but not on the international flight. We leave from St. Louis for our int'l flights, just because we're gone longer and I have family there that watches our pets.

As far as I know, the only int'l flight leaving from Memphis is the Northwest Airlines non-stop to Amsterdam. Memphis is a pretty small airport. Not congested at all. I've been through all of the major airports you listed and Memphis is much smaller and easier to deal with than any of those. It's not nearly as small and quiet as Lafayette's though.

rex

I think Philadelphia is pretty satisfactory. And I went through Atlanta just three days ago (admittedly domestic, outbound to RDU); I didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

Best wishes,

Rex

Sally

I don't have a problem flying through Atlanta on domestic flights, but on a trip returning from Rome several months ago, it took us an hour and a half of waiting in a constantly moving line (similar to the lines at Disney World) to get out of the international wing. That was exhausting after an international flight. We barely made our domestic connection although we had two hours between flights.

mgmargate

Phila is our first choice,Newark next, we try to avoid Jfk but occasionally necessary for direct flights.

rkkwan

Think about it this way... You outbound trip doesn't matter, as you don't have to go through security or check-in counters at all in your connecting point. You should have your boarding passes already, so it's just a simple connection.

Problem is coming back. Now, other than Memphis, all the other cities will have pretty long lines. But think about what happens IF the plane is late and the immigration line is super long, so that you miss your connection. Which airlines has the most flights to LFT, BTR or MSY? What if you miss even the last one? I think through IAH on CO will give you the best and most backup plans. There's really no situation where you could be stranded in Houston - as you can even just rent a car and drive home.

I'd say MEM if you are flying from AMS. IAH if you're coming from LGW or CDG.

ira

Hi,

Try Birmingham or Charlotte.

ncgrrl

I like the RDU to London Gatwick flight. I think RDU only has 2 international flights (the one above and one to Bermuda) so passport control isn't too long.

I flew from Baltimore to Cancun and it was pretty good getting through, but I was near the front because I did carryon only.

If I can avoid Chicago O'Hare, I will. The airport is just too big. I'll take Atlanta over Chicago.

huebie

We prefer going through Detroit for int'l flights. We live in NE Ohio but the drive to DTW is not bad. NW and BA both have direct flights to London; NW has direct flights to many other European and Asian destinations. We've never had any delays going through customs on our returns even when a couple of flights have come in at the same time.

ncgrrl

Duh, moment. RDU has a couple of daily AirCanada flights to Toronto. Yes, I know Canada is foreign, but it's not Europe.

susie

Philadelphia is not a good choice for connecting passengers on return. The line for re-screening of international passengers keeps getting longer and longer. Last two times it was 2+ hours.

Generally, I have found that airports that have limited international service to be the best. RDU for example, has just one international flight to Europe so you go through customs etc. without competition from 5 other flights arriving at the same time.

Nidwaldner_Chris

I'm curious how immigration and customs through Cincinnati rates??

bardo

Anywhere but O'Hare or JFK!!!!!!!

Grasshopper

I don't understand, Francophile, why you think SFO is bad. The international terminal seems incredibly easy to me. I've never even stood in line.

mr_go

Not that I feel the need to defend my home city's airport, but O'Hare for international flights is not so bad if you're departing from the separate International Terminal. It's pretty far removed from the mayhem of terminals 1 & 3.

Mayhem. I love that word. And I love my Red Carpet Lounge privileges.

grandmere

PIT, but not for long probably since we are losing hub status with USAirways.

BTilke

Sally, I have had no problems flying to Europe from Orlando. If you are flying to the UK, Dusseldorf or Amsterdam you could go from Orlando. The UK is best choice from Orlando as there are daily flights to Gatwick and Heathrow on Virgin and BA, plus charter flights to Birmingham, etc.). The flights to Dusseldorf are with LTU and to Amsterdam with Martinair (not sure if Martinair flights are still going, but they were last time I looked).
My parents fly to Europe regularly from Orlando and say it's fine. I find the airport less stressful than many others, including O'Hare and Atlanta.
Philadelphis is fine to fly from, but it can be a nightmare flying back if you have a connecting domestic flight. They have some of the slowest immigration/passport control services I have EVER seen. If you fly from Philly, give yourself at least 3 hours between your landing time at the airport and your connecting flight to Louisiana.

MelJ

Took a Delta flight direct out of Cincinnati and it went very smoothly. Return was through Atlanta, however, and it was a nightmare getting through customs!

Usually fly through Newark and I prefer that to all other airports, but that's partly foror personal reasons of special memories. However, since they finished all the construction taking place at the International terminal it's even better--coming and going.

I don't like O'Hare because, since we fly in on domestic and have to traipse over to International it's a long haul. Also, we arrive several hours ahead of time and the International terminal leaves a lot to be desired, IMO, especially since they have just one small, LOUD food court. Or perhaps I keep missing another cool area. I find it hard to believe that O'Hare doesn't have better facilities for waiting around in International. Is there another area?

Philly is fine, just so tattered looking it's not too pleasant to spend hours in.

So my vote goes fo Newark!

Vicky

Flew Tampa, FL to London over Thanksgiving; coming back thru customs was a breeze tho we did have drug sniffing dogs and had to walk about a mile thru desserted corridors to get from plane to customs. Atlanta used to be OK , was AWFUL in March returning from Italy - the Disney World lines, hot, going back thru security AGAIn (had already gone thru in Florence and Milan - and were on plane so what did they think we were going to HAVE?? Detroit I think is pretty good, or used to be but haven't flown back thru lately. Philly is a nightmare!!