After just a 2-months trip, my passport is almost full a half because of visa and stamps. Among so many unforgettable experiences, taking off and landing on 7 different airports is also a memorable experience. I spent quite a long time to layover in those airports: 4 hours, 6 hours, 8 hours, overnight and even spent whole day in the airport. Each of them brought me different views about not only service of airports, airlines but also the country and people over there. Noi Bai Airport (Vietnam) - Shanghai (China) - Toronto (Canada) - Lima (Peru) - Santiago (Chile) - Barcelona (Spain) - Incheon (Korea). 7 Airports - 7 experiences.
1. Shanghai - China.
I transited in Shanghai Airport over 4 hours, after that I told myself that from now on, if I need to transit in somewhere, I will never choose to transit in some airport belonging to a populous country like China. It was full of people and extremely tired.
I meant to set a schedule that I had 4 hours at least to complete procedure comfortably. But it turned out to be just enough time in a hurry. It took almost 3 hours to pass through immigration and check-in. I still remember tons of people lining up in front of AirCanada counter. At that moment, I recognized that how the billions population country be like.
The thing that I dont like in this airport is Wifi. It was required to provide phone number to get free wifi. You put your phone number in, and they will send you a code via message and yu enter that code to get wifi. So it means You need to have Chinese phone number. Example, my Vietnamese phone number was not working outside Vietnam, how can it get the code via message in China. And the fact is I couldn't use my Vietnamese phone number to get that code. Fortunately, there was a chinese boy was willing to help me. He shared his phone number with me and I register wife with the code which was sent via his message. Then I could use wifi but I wasn't able to access facebook. Ok fine!
One more thing makes me dont want to be back here anymore that is the attitude of staff in Information counter. The information counter is the place for asking, but I felt like they don't really want to answer.
Rate: 2.5/5
2. Toronto - Canada.
This is an airport that I spent time for lay-over the most (almost 24 hours) and also one of the airports that are the most modern, convenient I have been. Due to transit visa, I couldn't get boarding pass online as people but needed to wait until the last 5 hours before departure.
The Toronto Airport is large enough to make a girl who isn't good at remembering like me lost sometimes. I needed to walk around airport 3 times just to find out where was 7Eleven, even though I had just had a meal 1 hours before. The food here is quite expensive. around 15$ for a basic meal. Fortunately, there is 7Eleven (it is still more expensive than 7/11 in other countries, but if comparing with restaurants else here, it is much cheaper). Especially, everything sold here is showed not only price but also how much Kal in the food. That is the thing that I didn't see in any airport else. It means people here really care about food and live healthily.
Not like Shanghai Airport, Toronto airport is quite big but not crowded, every convenience in airport is really awesome and free (of course). There is even an area that provides tablets for guests using freely. There are a lot of machine using for check in automatically, so it doesn't take long to finish procedures. Many staffs are always friendly and willing to support and direct you.
The only one thing I can complaint about Toronto airport is the chair. it was made separately like this so I couldn't lay down to take a nap.
Rate: 4.5/5
3. Lima - Peru
Lima Airport is the place that I stayed twice, one when I visited Peru and one when I transited on the way going back Korea. It is one off airports that I'm disappointed the most.
The first is wifi, it provides wifi free with just the first 30 mins of using. That is so mean tho.
The second is food. The food here is so poor, there are not a lot of choices for guests.
I was so disappointed enough to not comment anything about this airport.
Rate: 2/5
4. Santiago - Chile
This airport is an airport that reminds me an unforgettable memory. My flight from Santiago (Chile) to Incheon (Korea) was canceled in the last night before departure without any notice (if I didn't check my flight, I would never know). It caused me to go to airport right away in midnight and change flight. fortunately, everything was fine after that. I just needed to stay in airport, sleep on the ground 12 hours to wait for my flight instead of sleeping comfortably in my hotel.
Santiago Airport is quite big and convenient. it will be better if they put more seat for people who wait for check in.
Rate: 3/5
5. Barcelona - Spain
I transited in Barcelona for 8 hours and just stayed in the boarding gate. But it was really large and modern. There are tons of duty-free shops and restaurants,... the arrangement is also awesome, not just poor looking like Lima. They sell a lot of souvenirs related to Barcelona football team. When i was staying here, I just slept a lot, so there are not many things to talk about. With me, the airport that has a lot of choices to eat, free wifi to use, long bench to lay down, it will be a great airport. lol
Rate: 4/5
6. Incheon - Korea
This airport is the largest aiport I have ever seen. I couldn't even see every check-in counter since all of it was in such long line. It is big enough to make every brand (such as MC donal ) need to put 2 restaurants on both sides to help their customers no need to walk too far. From airport to the airplane, we need to move by subway.
Korean people are known that always being polite. That is why I always felt satisfied when I asked them something. Not like in Shanghai Airport.
The immigration procedure is really fast and modern. With Korean, they have the electronic passport to go through immigration by self-check. With foreigner like me, they have some machine that speaking with your own language. it helps someones who know neither English nor Korean can pass immigration easily.
Not only that, even some services connected with airport are also awesome. like airport bus, subway,... In short, it can be considered as the best airport in this list.
Rate: 4.5/5
7. Nội Bài - Vietnam
I think I dont need to say a lot about this airport. It is just a normal airport, in average level. it may be worse than so many modern airport in the world but I think it is better than some airports in this list. at least it has free wifi for guests, a lot of choices of food, infrastructure is not bad,...
Rate: 3.5/5
