How to fuck up an airport • Hacker News Board

Re: How to fuck up an airport

#181

Post by bobthepanda » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 1:38 AM UTC

xxpor wrote: post #158

probably_wrong wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you listen to the podcast they explain that it wasn't his fault. Spoilers: he designed BER for fast passenger transit, just like Tegel, but the airport authorities wanted more shopping space. So they crammed as many shops as they could in detriment of the passenger experience. And then there's the situation with the rise of low-cost airlines who weren't allowed to use the jetway... I definitely recommend listening…

The whole not using the jetway thing in Germany blows my mind. I flew Lufthansa SEA-FRA in 2019, and the fully packed 747 had to walk onto the ramp, and load up into buses to get to the terminal. Outrageous. The only time I've ever done that in NA is flying at places like CAK in a micro regional jet.

LCCs generally do this because charges for the apron are cheaper than the jetway.

With Lufthansa, I'd assume that FRA is super busy and didn't actually have a gate available at the time; a 747 is a really large aircraft to load using buses.

Re: How to fuck up an airport

#182

Post by rob74 » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 1:48 AM UTC

ubaltaci wrote: post #156

kriz9 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would add two more suggestions here: 1) If you have 50€ to spare always take the taxy to the city center. If you take the train you will hate this airport as much as the one at Frankfurt. You can thank me later. 2) Use security lanes 1 or 5. They are the furthest and less busy. Everyone usually just queues up by the nearest one. Don't trust the indicators.

1) Why though? FEX is really nice, fast and have only couple of stops, it reaches to central station around 30min.

Yup, 50 € sounds like a lot of money for a few minutes saved (not to mention that it depends on the traffic situation if you will actually save some time). Of course, depending on where your hotel is and how many bags you have, a taxi may still be the better option...

Re: How to fuck up an airport

#183

Post by rob74 » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 1:50 AM UTC

benedikt wrote: post #154

biztos wrote: post #115

Arguably off topic, but having suffered through BER several times, I have a few tips to share which might reduce your own suffering. First: post-security you will find some of the most disgusting food ever served in an airport, but hey it’s also expensive and the servers don’t hide how much they hate being there! However, there is a little shop near the left-side stairs that sells better alcohol as well as soft drink…

> You can use a standard subway ticket almost. the airport is one stop into zone C, and a “standard” ticket would only be valid in zones A and B. you need either an ABC ticket or a standard ticket + extension ticket.

...or (during July and August) a 9 € ticket.

Re: How to fuck up an airport

#184

Post by qolop » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 1:54 AM UTC

da39a3ee wrote: post #177

qolop wrote: post #65

Why can't such interesting articles be published without the unnecessary profanity? It actually prevents me from sharing it with a lot of people.

Quoted post unavailable.

Prudish? What are you even talking about? I said I found the article interesting and have no problem reading it myself. I also use such language with my friends all the time. I'm not squeamish about it either. And no I'm not Christian, but even if I were why should it matter?

I don't want to share it with others. These others include young kids and a parent who has an interest in construction. We don't cuss at home, and I've never cussed in front of them. Similar situation for most families in my country.

What I'm saying is that by choosing to use language like this (which is COMPLETELY unnecessary btw, and kinda lazy tbh) you're preventing me from sharing it.

There's a reason why serious newspapers don't publish such headings. They cater to a wide demographic, and not everyone is ok with reading such language, and I don't see what's wrong in that.

Re: How to fuck up an airport

#185

Post by c0mptonFP » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 1:58 AM UTC

kriz9 wrote: post #135

biztos wrote: post #115

Arguably off topic, but having suffered through BER several times, I have a few tips to share which might reduce your own suffering. First: post-security you will find some of the most disgusting food ever served in an airport, but hey it’s also expensive and the servers don’t hide how much they hate being there! However, there is a little shop near the left-side stairs that sells better alcohol as well as soft drink…

I would add two more suggestions here: 1) If you have 50€ to spare always take the taxy to the city center. If you take the train you will hate this airport as much as the one at Frankfurt. You can thank me later. 2) Use security lanes 1 or 5. They are the furthest and less busy. Everyone usually just queues up by the nearest one. Don't trust the indicators.

Imagine having "spare" 50€.

Unless you're absolutely rich, you probably shouldn't default to using a cab in a city known for it's amazing public transport.

Re: How to fuck up an airport

#186

Post by Timwi » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 2:02 AM UTC

ginko wrote: post #47

franze wrote: post #26

I just landed in BER 20 minutes ago and I am just amazed how bad the signage is The signs tiny and all in the same red/white color. The monitors tiny and sparse. The placement of the tickets for the trains placed where you do not pass. And just good luck if you go down the wrong stairway and then reached the nowhere, without any visible signs. They cared about the CI way more than about fast passenger throughput.

>They cared about the CI way more than about fast passenger throughput. Continuous integration?

Coming In

Re: How to fuck up an airport

#187

Post by bigDinosaur » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 2:04 AM UTC

c0mptonFP wrote: post #185

kriz9 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would add two more suggestions here: 1) If you have 50€ to spare always take the taxy to the city center. If you take the train you will hate this airport as much as the one at Frankfurt. You can thank me later. 2) Use security lanes 1 or 5. They are the furthest and less busy. Everyone usually just queues up by the nearest one. Don't trust the indicators.

Imagine having "spare" 50€. Unless you're absolutely rich, you probably shouldn't default to using a cab in a city known for it's amazing public transport.

If you're doing business travel you can probably justify 50€ fairly easily.

Re: How to fuck up an airport

#188

Post by jonnybgood » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 2:04 AM UTC

enlyth wrote: post #164

biztos wrote: post #115

Arguably off topic, but having suffered through BER several times, I have a few tips to share which might reduce your own suffering. First: post-security you will find some of the most disgusting food ever served in an airport, but hey it’s also expensive and the servers don’t hide how much they hate being there! However, there is a little shop near the left-side stairs that sells better alcohol as well as soft drink…

I was just there over this weekend, they sold us those 9 eur train tickets saying you can use it for any train anywhere. Then we board the first train that Apple Maps suggested and the first thing we hear from the announcer "9 eur tickets are not valid on this train".

The 9 euro ticket is only for local and regional trains. However, you can just get about anywhere taking only local and regional trains, but it'll be a very long day.

Re: How to fuck up an airport

#189

Post by qolop » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 2:04 AM UTC

mattcaldwell wrote: post #67

qolop wrote: post #65

Why can't such interesting articles be published without the unnecessary profanity? It actually prevents me from sharing it with a lot of people.

The world is falling apart and people are still worried about harmless words. Talk about misplaced concerns...

You could literally say that about anything.

The world is falling apart and people are worried about Nim compiler version 2.0. Talk about misplaced concerns.

The world is falling apart and people are worried about who wins champions league this year. Talk about misplaced concerns.

Where exactly is the line for you? What if this article began with a picture of a guy with his dick out fucking a pig that had a picture of an airport drawn on it. Would that still be acceptable? Because if its not then I have to say. The world is falling apart...

Re: How to fuck up an airport

#190

Post by 2143 » Mon, Jul 04, 2022, 2:04 AM UTC

And I'm told they're punctual.

Haven't been to BER myself.

There are some well designed airports in Asia (multiple countries).

In USA, I personally felt SEA (Seattle-Tacoma) and DFW (Dallas/Fort-Worth) were rather good.

LAX is a mess for domestic/international transfers, with remote terminals and having to go though multiple buses right through the middle of planes on tarmac. However, I've gone through LAX many times that I now know my way around.

LAX was also the airport where I physically spotted the plane I had to board, and then figured out how to reach there by going in the general direction (because if you started your journey at a smaller airport and is changing planes at LAX, the original boaring pass you received may not have the gate written on it).