COMMENT OF THE DAY: A WARM UNWELCOME TO HOUSTON TRAVELERS 
“Glad to see these improvements — I hope that one day the airport system will invest some money in making the terminal more appealing to those who arrive in Houston. Baggage claim sucks, and the exit into a dark, humid, and sometimes-overwhelmingly-filled-with-fumes parking garage is even worse. I have never flown into another airport anywhere that has created a less welcoming environment than Hobby, especially in a major US city.” [sjh, commenting on Checking In at Newly Upgraded (and Once-Again International) Hobby Airport] Illustration: Lulu
Sign up for the Newsletter
I don’t fly a lot, but exiting Hobby doesn’t seem any worse than most airports I’ve been to, and a little better than some.
Have you ever been to La Guardia?
I think Hobby is actually pretty nice.
Hobby is awesome… especially when coming from LAX.
Guess you haven’t traveled much. Ever been to La Guardia or LAX?
A real unwelcome is the downtown bus station.
Agreed on LAX and LAG. Louis Armstrong and SFO are were pretty miserable too, the last time I was at each. LA, NY, NO and SF. Good towns – bad airports.
I was going to say it’s obvious that sjh has never flown into LaGuardia. But fdm beat me to it.
Armstrong in New Orleans is absolutely worse than Hobby right now, but they are replacing the entire terminal in 2018. Hobby is not bad in terms of layout, some cosmetic work on the exterior and the garages would go a long way.
Wow. I respectfully disagree. I love Hobby. Convenient and a wonderful size — not so giant that you can get lost. The baggage claim isn’t a huge hike away from the gates. Yeah, the fume issue is bad when you have to wait a while for pickup, but I’ve only had that happen once. LAX, LGA, Boston — all are much inferior to Hobby.
The last time I was waiting for a flight at LaGuardia I was drinking local craft beer and eating scallops ordered from some electronic gizmo. It was about 100 times better than IAH, never mind Hobby. The improvements are recent, but awesome. Add to that decent bagels and we have a TKO for LaGuardia.
WOW! Guess I hit a nerve! The “I love Hobby” fan club is alive and well. Didn’t say I didn’t like Hobby, just said it is butt ugly coming out of into the parking garage. Yes, I have traveled extensively, no, you are right, not into La Guardia. Guess that makes my opinion totally invalid….got to have balls to comment on this site. SWAMPLOT, do me a favor and never make a comment of mine “comment of the day” again! :-) Actually, I have been to many ugly airports, but we can do better in Houston don’t you think? Or is trying to improve our somewhat dowdy national image with a nicer entrance to our city somehow wrong? MSY isn’t that pretty, but it is not as dark or oppressive. LAX does have a view of trees and shrubs….maybe not the whole tree, but something natural and green. And La Guardia? Who the hell cares? Its in NYC and everyone knows that NYC doesn’t have to care.
@sjh: The problem is that airports are always located someplace sort of nasty, usually “out by the airport”. No one wants to do anything near an airport except drink. It’s loud and there’s a bunch of traffic.
@sjh: Why says that they’re mutually exclusive? I don’t think Hobby is the least welcoming airport and I’m not even all that well traveled. A comment like that doesn’t mean that one loves Hobby or that there isn’t room for improvement. Seems like comments touched your nerve. Can people not disagree with you?
@Frank, it depends on what airline you fly out of LGA. I’m told the Delta terminal is very nice, though I’ve never experienced it firsthand. However, I can say with 100% certainty that the United terminal is an absolute armpit.