People who fly a lot have the dubious distinction of having been to the airport of a particular city, but not to the city itself. With the hub and spoke model that is popular in places such as the USA, I imagine this is pretty common.
I do wonder if people count having touched the airport as actually having visited the country. Being in transit probably doesn’t count, but if you arrive, stay overnight in an airport hotel and leave again, have you been there?
Where I’ve Been To The Airport But Not The City
Auckland, New Zealand springs to mind. I’ve flown through Auckland on the way to Sydney from Doha and Los Angeles and never seen the city. I did overnight in an airport hotel once, but it remains one that sticks in my mind, probably as it was my first one.
The USA is easy pickings for places where I’ve been to the airport only. Charlotte and Phoenix are ones I’ve passed through and Dallas Fort/Worth is another, though I stayed in an airport hotel. No prizes for guessing which airline I fly when I’m stateside.
-
- Are there any reasons to actually visit Charlotte?
In Asia, the only city I spent in transit is Taipai in Taiwan. Heading over to Europe, and I have never been to Madrid, though I’ve been through the airport a couple of times.
Budapest in Hungary is the same, though I did leave the airport for a walk around as my connection was quite long. I went to Prague just to get a flight back to the USA on a cheap fare. Luxembourg and Lyon were for first class lounge access, though I did overnight. The most recent was Zurich in Switzerland. I think that’s my entire list.
Overall Thoughts
While not too extensive, a lot of the places on the list are destination cities that a person should visit. Having only been to the airport is to miss out on all the vibrant culture a city and its associated country has.
At the same time, I am not too bothered by it. The cities aren’t going anywhere, and while great, they are not places that would be high on my must do travel list.
Have you visited many places where you’ve just been to the airport? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
To never miss a post, follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
All my flight and lounge reviews are indexed here so check them out!
Featured image by Pascal Meier on Unsplash.
Charlotte image by Intelqual via Wikimedia Commons.
Zurich, Munich a few islands, Cincinnati, Minnesota Pensacola, Amsterdam ,Quito, Shanghai, Taipei, Siem Reap, ,Mexico city,Newark
Two Quitos and two Nadis in this list, places I honestly did not expect in my wildest dreams to be on it. The big airports, sure, but they are quite random. Thanks for that!
Tokyo, Mexico City, Amsterdam, Quito, Santiago, Bali, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, I think that’s all on my mileage runs. Don’t get me started when I was actually going somewhere.
Makes sense when it comes to a mileage run! I’ve really only done a couple of those, one was to Varna in Bulgaria on a cheap BA fare but I overnighted and walked around the local area the next day and the other included LAX and MIA, both places I’ve been before. You have some good ones there!
Portland; Houston; Salt Lake City—all of which I’s like to visit.
I’ve been to Portland, it’s a lovely city. I enjoyed my few days there. I’d like to visit the Space Center in Houston, so it’s on my list too. Thanks for that!
Frankfurt, Mumbai, Beijing, Shanghai, Houston, San Francisco, Atlanta, Warsaw.
Would love to visit and stay one day not just change planes.
A decent enough list and some nice places there too! Hopefully you’ll get to visit them sometime. Thanks for the comment!
So many to name, let’s go roughly west to east: ANC*, SEA*, OAK, LAX, PHX*, SLC, ABQ*, DAL, ICT, SUX, MCI, ALO, HOU/IAH, MEM*, MWA, CMI, MKE, IND, BNA*, CLE, YYZ*, ATL, PIT, MIA*, CLT, NAS*, EWR, YUL*. That should be it, I think. Some of those I never got off the plane, was merely part of a multi-stop itinerary, some were connections, and in the case of ABQ, EWR and MKE it was simply a day trip to the airport and back. As a courtesy some of the obscure airport codes: SUX: Sioux City, Iowa ALO: Waterloo, Iowa MWA:… Read more »
Some good ones there – I’ve been to Seattle, great place to visit for a few days. Great food around that area of the world. You’re not wrong in saying some of those airport codes are a little obscure. Thanks for sharing those, nice list!
I definitely don’t count the country if I do not leave the airport.
U.S./Canada/WestHem: Charlotte, Kansas City, Calgary, & San Salvador
Asia-Pac: Seoul & Nadi, Fiji
Africa: Dakar, Accra, Bujumbura, & Gaborone – actually didn’t even get into the airport for these flights.
I agree with you on that, I don’t count the country if I have not been out of the airport. You’re the second person to have passed through Nadi, which I wouldn’t automatically think of. I have yet to make it to Africa, but I really need to rectify that once we can travel again. Thanks for that, nice selection!
I’ve got MCI and YYC as well, plus AUS, PDX, PHL, SLC, SVO, OSL. I never got into Nairobi but I did change airports from NBO to WIL for a safari. You do need to go to Africa. It’s amazing.
Nice and you’re completely right, I really do need to get to Africa!
I’m on an All 50 States Visited quest and I DO count the state, If I get off the plane but stay in the airport. One could argue that as I would be subject to Municipal/County/State laws and ordinances while in the terminal, I am technically “in” the state. Ain’t gonna spend hundreds of dollars on airfares and hotels to make the claim!
That’s a good point, you have been on the ground in the state, so it does make sense. You’re not exactly flying over it if you are in the airport on the ground. I think your method of counting is as legit as any other version. Have you many to go?
Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, Delaware, Connecticut and Rhode Island. 7 to go.
Not many, that’s great!
Beijing, Auckland, Nadi, Male, Chicago, Abu Dhabi, Delhi.
A nice selection there. I’d like to go to Nadi sometime. Thanks for sharing that!