As the holiday season rolls around, our nation’s airports will once again kick into high gear to handle the swell of Americans jetting home to see loved ones.
Unfortunately, not all airports are created equal. This week, consumer aviation website, The Points Guy released a study featuring the 30 busiest airports in America. In the process, the website – best known for offering sage advice on how to master frequent flyer programs and airline credit cards – ranked the 10 best among those 30 airports.
To generate the rankings, TPG evaluated each airport on three criteria – timeliness, accessibility, and amenities. In terms of timeliness, the website’s staff looked at the number flight cancellations, delays, and the length of security checkpoint wait times. For accessibility, TPG evaluated each airport’s ease of access in terms of public transit and by car. Finally, amenities were evaluated based on the number of restaurants, lounges, availability and cost of Wi-Fi as well as the cost of parking. TPG staff gathered data from several sources including The Bureau of Transportation Statistics and J.D. Power.
Ultimately, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport found itself at the top of the list.
"Though Phoenix didn't take the top spot in any single category, it was consistently among the best scorers in almost all categories, with excellent flight delay and flight cancellation scores, a convenient light rail, a high number of restaurants and bars for its level of passenger traffic and free Wi-Fi," The Points Guy's Michael Y. Park wrote.
TPG found Salt Lake City and Honolulu tied for the fewest delays. Portland scored well in all categories, but could not take the top spot because it takes longer to access from city center than Phoenix. According to the site, San Diego International was a contender as well, but its flight cancellation rate was less than ideal. Philadelphia International scored high in the amenities section of the study due its excellent restaurant to passenger ratio. However, it struggled in terms of timeliness. Conversely, Charlotte Douglas International did really well in regards to timeliness, but TPG found that it has the worst restaurant to passenger ratio in the study.
Click here to see The Points Guy's full evaluation of the 30 busiest airports in America.
10. Minneapolis- St. Paul International Airport.
9. Las Vegas McCarron International
8. Charlotte Douglas International
7. Philadelphia International
6. Seattle-Tacoma International
5. Honolulu International
4. Salt Lake City International
3. San Diego International
2. Portland International
1. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
