All of the major airports, from L.A. to New York City, are absolutely massive. They are practically cities onto themselves, and trying to find your way around can get confusing. It can also be quite intimidating. If you are a first-time flyer, you will probably do all the research you can so that you know where to go when you need to board a plane or get out of the airport after your plane lands. Here are all the ways that people typically get around the airport hub to make their flights on time:
Escalators
From traditional up and down escalators to moving horizontal floors, you will find several of these modes of transportation to get through the airport and to get from one level to another. Many of the largest airports consist of two floors, placing you at ground level and above, but a few also place travelers below ground level to route foot traffic easier. The horizontal floor escalators may not move you faster, but they are a nice rest spot when you are tired of walking but need to keep moving.
Shuttle Trains
A couple of airports use shuttle trains. Take Orlando's airport for example. You exit your plane, and if you want to go between the landing pod part of the airport and the part of the airport where you will get a car or a bus to get to your hotel, you have to board a shuttle train. It is a very strange sort of airport transportation, especially with the two hubs of the airport so far apart. However, it lessens the possibility of a plane crashing into the airport as a whole, since the planes can only crash into the landing pod portion and not the traveler's arrival and dispersal pod.
Golf Carts
Several extended golf carts or utility cars take people around the airport. You do have to arrange for this type of transportation in advance, and people with physical limitations and disabilities often get priority. You will probably see these carts zooming all over the place, picking up and dropping off people at their gates. The carts do not go through the terminals, but only gate to gate. However, if you know that your flights are booked tightly together for a time, and your arrival and departure gates are extremely far apart, you might want to call in advance and arrange for a cart to meet you at your arrival gate.
Share27 November 2017
I come from a small town. It's so small that there is no public bus service—you can walk everywhere within city limits. People drove their cars if they wanted to leave town. At home, I rarely saw a taxi, and subways were something I only saw in movies. Moving to New York City was a shock in many ways, but learning how to get around using public transportation was one of the biggest hurdles that I faced. I didn't know how much to tip a taxi driver or how to find my way around on the bus. However, I did eventually learn. I know that there must be many people who are facing the same learning curve that I was facing a few years ago. I started this blog to help other small town natives like me learn how to get around in the big city.