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It's surprising (or shocking) how many of the candidate airports in this list I've been to (here's another vote for Moscow Shermatyov!) but no list of bad airports would be complete without Cotonou, Benin (COO.) Tiny, old building, crammed with people pouring off A340's from Europe (how they land and take off there is a feat of airmanship I don't often want to consider.) I've also seen Belize City, Belize, and agree - charming, but about a quarter of the size and efficiency it ought to be (and here's an interesting tidbit - no runway lights of any kind, and of course no ILS; ergo, the place is VFR all the time. And it is the CAPITAL of Belize!) And CDG - just remembering the bus ride to get from the Air France terminal to the dank corner that United inhabits makes me shudder.
On the happy side, if you are in the greater Chicagoland area and only want to go to Las Vegas, Tampa or Sanford/Orlando on Allegiant or can stand connecting on United thru Denver, I offer the Rockford International Airport (RFD.) Small, not a lot of shops, bag claim is in the middle of the floor, but it offers two things that make a real difference:
Free wifi, and (I kid you not) FREE PARKING.
That makes a difference. Madison WI (MSN) just rebuilt it's terminal in a quasi-Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie style, and it is beautiful - but I refuse to pay $9 a day for parking when I can get to RFD for $9 in gas (and $2 for the tolls in Illinois.) Plus, if you are going to Orlando, Sanford (SFB) is out of the way but about a thousand times more manageable than MCO.
Keep sending back reports, Patrick. Great food for thought and discussion.
BAJ
