ST LOUIS LAMBERT FIELD AIRPORT review :
5 September 2008 : by M Nixon
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Customer Rating : 3/5 |  |
Flew into East Terminal (Southwest Airlines). Baggage arrived with in 20 minutes of landing. Took
train to downtown St. Louis. Had to walk outside to get train, which would have been a problem
during the Winter. Train station will not let you purchase 1-way fare; must purchase 2-hour fare
for $3.50. Beats paying 40.00 for taxi. No agents at airport train station, and could not use
credit card to pay for train. Return, purchased 1-way fare for 2.00 to airport. Check-in very
quick and efficient, probably more to terminal being used completely for Southwest Airlines.
ST LOUIS LAMBERT FIELD AIRPORT review : 30 June 2008 : by S Srinivasan
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Customer Rating : 3/5 |  |
Not a bad airport, though not great, either. Security can be unpredictable; it only took about 2
minutes on my trip Wednesday, but it took nearly 30 minutes on a previous visit - probably because
they only have one checkpoint for each set of gates (A, B, C, etc.). There's also a noticeable lack
of food choices in the terminals, and the terminals have a rather old, depressing look to them. On
the plus side, taxi times to/from the runway and gates are short since the airport is relatively
compact, and the light rail (MetroLink) station next door to both the main and east terminals is nice.
St Louis Airport by R Pohle
20 June 2007 Customer Rating : 
Lambert International Airport compares favorably with many airports. The
main building and concourses are pleasant and not as congested and
hectic as many other airports. Public transportation excellent. There is
a need for late night information and food services.
St Louis Airport by Rolf Heelas
19 January 2007 Customer Rating : n/a
Flew in to St Louis for a few days on business, not the best airport in
the world, had the feel like others had mentioned of being stuck in a
bit of a time warp, but had no problems. What is great is the metro
station which is attached, about 4 services an hour and dirt cheap at
$4.50 a day travel. Plenty of airport hotels which are good value and
very close to the airport. From US outsider point of view found it
very strange to see a medium sized airport with what seems only small
regional jets using it
St Louis Airport by M Philipak
28 October 2005
I grew up transiting Lambert from the mid -70's to this day. Back in
1976, Lambert was a jewel and a great place to be moving through.
American Airlines did not take advantage of an airport hub and
facilities that could be improved greatly at bargain prices, but
dismantled the whole thing, obviously thinking that DFW and ORD didn't
have enough traffic and weren't quite crowded enough. C concourse is not
user-friendly, has an odor problem, and could sure use a decent sit-down
restaurant. The good news is that C concourse is now pretty much empty,
leaving the post-deregulation zoo-like atmosphere behind. A concourse is
busier, as all the "other" airlines gate there. Although they have good
service, it is crowded at peak times and still has the same odor problem
as C concourse. D concourse, well, what can you say? I long for the
days of Ozark's green tails and civil service to their customers. Now D
is a ghost town. E councourse is one of the nicest I have ever seen.
Southwest hit a home-run here. convenient, good parking, short walk to
the gate, short walk to the baggage claim. The only thing missing here
is a decent place to eat. The security staff is a joke and an insult to
customers. So, with Lambert's expansion closing in on tangible results,
and Southwest's new terminal (which is VERY nice), the airport should be
attracting some new business by lowering gate and landing fees.
Hopefully, this way, they can begin to put some money into renovations
of those terminals and possibly return to the glory days prior to
deregulation.
St Louis Airport by Craig Pirner
10 July 2005
Many of the complaints about Lambert airport (run down facilities, dark baggage claim
area, falling apart parking garage, etc.) are true. In terms of facilities, it is
probably not among the nicest airports in the United States. There have been some
recent improvements, however. The American terminals have new carpet, there's a few
new dining options (Chili's, Wolfgang Puck, etc.), and even some stores (like a
Brooks Brothers) that are opening soon. All of this should help! American's service
reductions have reduced their gate presence to only the C concourse, so making a
connection in St. Louis is relatively easy; you typically don't have to deal with the
constant gate changes that plague other hubs. The service reductions do mean that
more service to St. Louis is done on regional jets. The D concourse is now pretty
much empty, so if you remember St. Louis' "glory days" as a bustling TWA hub, you
will likely find that depressing. A suggestion: if you are an originating passenger
in St. Louis and you see a big security line at the C concourse entrance, try going
over to the B concourse. There's rarely a line at B. The B gates serve the prop
planes, but as soon as you enter the B gates you can take a short walkway to the C
gates and avoid the security mess.
St Louis Airport by Chad Koehnk
3 February 2004
I have been living in St. Louis for 4 years now and frequenting it often. The airport is probably
one of the worst in the country, however it has its positive notes. 1) There is a metro (light
rail) train which pulls up directly to the airport and can take you to anywhere around 20 locations
around St. Louis. In a matter of 30 minutes (about the same as driving) you can be in the shadow of
the arch. It makes it nice for layovers. 2) The food is interesting. The Burger King both inside
and outside security are not too overpriced, and the California Pizza Kitchen is fantastic (although
expensive)
St Louis Airport by Scott Robert
26 August 2003
Lambert always seemed run downed and depressing to me. I used it a few times with TWA, but won't
fly on anything that has to bother with stopping in St Louis.
St Louis Airport by M Devor
31 July 2003
I found the previous comments about St. Louis Airport amusing. They are true and it is an old
airport. I used to transit St. Louis many years ago when we flew TWA.
It was nice back then. What happened? It is old, run down, and not comfortable at all. The walks out
to the gates take forever and the eating places are terrible, unhealthy. They need to re-do the
entire airport. It probably doesn't matter. American took over TWA, who had bought out Ozark. AA is planning on
scaling down its new St. Louis hub (having O'Hare and DFW, so excessive) so there won't be much
there before long, save Southwest. St. Louis is actually a good location
for a hub. One positive, they actually do have a fair amount of airport hotels in the area.
St Louis Airport by Jeffrey D Sarver
3 November 2002
I have practically grown-up transiting St Louis' Lambert Field.
Like all other airports it was once a pleasant experience, before the hub and spoke system destroyed
all civility in the flying experience, especially in the larger airports.
As airlines disappeared after deregulation of the industry in 1978 and huge, omnipresent carriers,
like TWA which used reign at STL, took over the show, STL became a nightmare and remains one to this
day.
STL is one of those horribly designed octopus-airports. You have a choice of walking down one of
the two endlessly long gate corridors (running is usually the mode of transport unless you are lucky
enough to snag a golf cart or wheelchair which isn't easy given the hoardes of the elderly
travelling cheaply on Southwest airlines which hubs there) and when you finally have arrived at your
gate of departure there is rarely anyplace to sit, but that usually doesn't matter because boarding
has already begun and one is lucky to have made it in time from the connection gate 1/2 mile away in
the dusty old bus-terminal-like annex used for the commuter planes that buzz like flies in from all
over the midwest! Not a pleasant experience.
If you are travelling point to point on any other carrier besides American or Southwest you will not
have to wear your running togs because all the other airlines are stuck in the little old terminal
off to one side. The only advantage to that quaint old building is that it is next door to the
restaurant, which has since become an enormous McDonalds. I may be wrong but I don't think there is
a proper dining facility at STL any longer. Anyway the other advantage to arriving at the old
terminal on the other carriers is that you can get out of the airport very quickly, which is a good
thing. My point being, don't join American's frequent flyer program just because you do business in
St Louis alot, stick to your hometown carrier.
If you are strictly into "cheap" then STL is the place for you.
Southwest is rapidly gaining strength in that market. That's good because the money you save on
flying like a heifer to market is that you can then afford a hot-dog and beer at one of the grossly
expensive junk food emporiums that abound there.
The hot-dog stands (ubiquitous in St Louis Airport) and dirty bars are grossly over-priced unless
you want a half-gallon-sized plastic beaker of Budweiser which is the most cost-effective purchase
in the gate areas, not to mention the fastest way to numb yourself to the chaos around you, that is
if you've managed to miss your flight or arrive in time to sit down and dry off for a few moments
before running to your connection.
I no longer transit STL when visiting "home". It's too degrading. Every time I have found myself in the vortex of that maelstrom in one of those endless arms to
infinity I find myself meditating on Dante's Inferno and wondering which circle of hell I have
landed myself in this time.
I doubt very much if American Airlines can improve a bad situation that TWA didn't seem to notice.
The airport staff, once past the check-in counters, are nasty and unhelpful and slightly threatening
more often than not and clearly hate their jobs.
So, if you are going to the Midwest, which is a nice place to go, skip STL and use Chicago O'Hare.
At least at ORD you will have a choice of airlines to fly, meaning lower airfares if
transiting on
to the west coast or the southwestern US.
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