Why Stuck at the Airport?

If you’ve ever been stuck at an airport, then Stuck at the Airport is for you.

Here’s why it exists:

I once spent eight hours at a small east coast airport waiting for a flight home to Seattle. I read the newspaper, finished a book, ate old vending machine food, and inspected the three model airplanes displayed in the lobby – twice.

Eventually, I noticed a tiny green sign with a faded arrow and the even fainter words, “Obs. Deck” on it. I followed the arrow, pushed opened a heavy door, and entered a large room with leather chairs and a great view onto the airfield and the surrounding countryside.

Right there I decided there needed to be a guide to airports and airport amenities. (A life goal friends and family declared to be “the stupidest thing” they’d ever heard of.)  So I began visiting airports in search of observation decks, art and cultural exhibits, restaurants with creative menus, shops with gift-worthy inventory, and places where travelers could take naps, take care of business,  get some exercise or just get some fresh air.

A lot of what I found ended up in a book titled “Stuck at the Airport” that was published in 2001, just eight weeks before the events of 9/11. After that, airports and air travel changed so much and so fast that it just made sense to use the internet to share this information.

For seven years I profiled airports for Expedia.com. Now I write about airports here on StuckatTheAirport.com and for outlets such as USA TODAY, CNBC, NBC, Runway Girl Network, and many others. You can see a lot of those stories here

StuckatTheAirport.com is a growing list of airport profiles and news and notes about airports and airport amenities you’ll be glad to know about the next time you find yourself stuck at the airport. And because airports are the front doors to their cities, this site also makes trips into town to see what’s there. 

 

Harriet Baskas

harriettravels1

4 thoughts on “Why Stuck at the Airport?

  1. Welcome! And thanks for the kind words.

  2. Dan Nash says:

    Hi…I just now discovered your website and subscribed. I’m looking forward to your reviews on major and minor airports in the USA, especially ORD (a textbook example of how NOT to design a major international airport) and DFW (not far behind on my least-favorite list). Keep up the good work!

  3. Bob Taylor says:

    Looking forward to reading results of all your efforts! I got your info from the IWASM director, Heather . I’m on the IWASM board of Trustees and was a tour guide volunteer back when airports used to have groups of people congregate without worrying about staying a prop span away from each other!

  4. Simon says:

    By the way, the discussion in “flight delays and cancellations” seem to deal more with getting compensation from the carrier, rather than practical tips on coping with this *knock wood* occasional air travel dilemma.

    One thing I’d like to mention is that getting a hotel room can be quite tricky. In another country, you might need a visa, and even if you can leave transit, you might miss out if a flight suddenly becomes available while away, or in case of bad weather, nearby hotels could be full or ridiculously expensive.

    On the other hand, it certainly beats sleeping on a bench with your carry on like a homeless person…

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