Minneapolis St Paul Airport

The airport is aesthetically beautiful but it is not set up for easy access to other concourses/gates and baggage this is especially true for those on small commuter planes that use the B and C concourses. After flying packed like sardines in planes not designed to accomodate anyone over 5'5" and 150"s you then have to walk from what feels like downtown St. Paul to get to the main concourse. If you need to go to another concourse you are hopeful that you have the time or are phsyically able to do so. The main point of this is don't ever count on the Tram on Concourse C to be working. In the last 4 months the times I have flown which is often I have been able to use the tram 3 times. Landing yesterday 4-16-2009 at gate B 13 I found out that it will be down for at least 10 days to replace the cable sytem. Which is wonderful if it was well used and several years old but it is less than 5 years old I believe! Again if you are training for a marathon you will love the airport. If not be prepared to walk or if late run!

What makes MSP not bad is security always moves fast no matter how crowded. All the check in counters are within one roof and the concourse are connected which means no need to take any trams (although that option is still there if you dont want to walk a whole lot). It is spacious than most of the airport I have been to like Phoenix Vegas LAX etc. Shops are decent. Baggage are is not all that posh but not dirty either. You can pick up your bag without much hassel and be on your way. The best part is the ground transportation. You have light rail that you can take.

Travelling from Canada to Europe via Minneapolis/St. Paul was less trouble than experienced. Outbound most Canadian passengers can take advantage of U.S. Customs and Immigration pre-clearance which is a fairly painless experience at smaller airports such as Winnipeg and go straight to their connecting flight on arrival. Clearing U.S. Customs and Immigration on the way back to Canada was a breeze at MSP thanks to short lineups and affable staff. There's a good selection of airside stores and restaurants too. Ubiquitous TVs tuned in to CNN are a mixed blessing: they just add to the din at a crowded gate but if you can find an empty gate you can stretch out relax and watch the news while waiting for your connecting flight.

This has been my home airport for several years. Downsides: size (I suggest at least 60 minutes between flights) price (Northwest's fault not the airport) lack of airside transportation between terminals and not enough shops/food landside. Also the baggage claims are old and can easily back up (I heard recently that they will be replaced in the near future). Now for the good parts. Plenty of diverse reasonably priced shopping and food airside and clear signage throughout. The Customs/Immigration staff while not overly friendly were very professional and reasonably quick. Also I have never seen security or (Northwest) bag check lines longer than 10-15 minutes). There is an easy fast light-rail connection to/from downtown Minneapolis. There is also a separate underground tram from the parking ramps to the terminal eliminating the need to carry your bags outside. The entire facility is clean and well-lit. For those with a 2-3 hour layover there is a little-known observation tower in Concourse D (go to the block in the center of the concourse and all the way up the stairs) which is usually uncrowded and a very nice place to relax. Overall it can be large and expensive but it is otherwise redeemed by atmosphere and ease of use.

I had a connection flight through MSP to Mason City IA a city served with only three daily flights. Even though I had arrived some 15 minutes late inbound from Newark I still assumed I had enough time to make my connection flight. That was until MSP came into play. I had originally had approximately 45 minutes to connect flights and even with the 15 minute inbound delay it still left me (and my older aunt who was traveling with me) 30 minutes to go from one gate to the other. I took off in a rather fast-pace walking from one gate to another following the overhead signs to my connection terminal. Following the directional signs it took me nearly 20 minutes to walk between my two gates mind you walking at the pace of a 20-some year old sprinting at times once I kept looking at my watch. In the end I arrived at my connection-departure gate 5 minutes prior to departure the departure door had already been closed and I missed my connection flight. In a nutshell MSP is a much much too spread out airport which makes a connection of less than 90 minutes nearly impossible. As a result of this I will never be booking a flight that offers a connection though MSP again. I will happily pay extra to avoid this airport.

A clean and friendly airport with lots of shops for all your needs and plenty of seating area. Plenty of nearby gates for eating while you hang around. There is a family room here too for resting up where there are children travelling. If they had seating without arms that you could lay out on as they do at Gatwick they would warrant a 5 star. Distances between gates sometimes are extensive but there are carts floating around for your help too.

After disembarking from my NWA flight it was so easy to find my way to the tram that would take me to my next terminal. Even though I had a 3 hour stop over I felt that there was plenty to keep me entertained especially when my flight to LAX was delayed 45 minutes. The shops were different and had variety - when I stopped in at a convenience store to get a magazine and a Coke lady at the checkout was personable and keen to converse beyond how much my purchases came to. The gate lounge was clean and seats were confortable. One thing that struck me as particularly odd though was the amount of dogs that were allowed to walk around on a lead with their owners. Never seen that before at an airport!

I have traveled internationally for many years. This year was the first time in the US that we were treated very rudely by Customs at the MSP Airport. They were not at all kind or respectful and treated us as if were trying to be dishonest on our declarations. I have never been so frustrated as I was by them.

I have used Lindbergh terminal for several years and have always been impressed with it's ease of use and the shopping - I usually have a 7 hour layover and find plenty to do during that time. My last trip was less than memorable as I was flying Northwest from Minot ND to Minneapolis and Icelandair from Minneapolis to Glasgow. This time Icelandair had moved to Humphry terminal so I had to transfer from one terminal to the other. My impression is that Lindbergh and Humphry terminals have an ongoing war of some kind and really don't give a damn about their customers. There is no transfer for baggage so I had to drag my bags with me - on the outward journey I had to take a bus from just outside Lindbergh to just outside Humphry (signs and directions were practically non existant). On the return journey I found that after already traveling for 16 hours I had to drag my bags through the entire parking garage to reach the mass transit train this took me about 20 minutes. I am a person who is not easily scared by anything but I have never felt so unsafe walking through the parking garage on my own at 7:00 pm - no airport staff or security anywhere in sight I really wondered where on earth I was going and if I was going in the right direction. Once I got on the train (absolutely exhausted) I found that there were a couple of young men about 20 feet away from me starting a fight! What a wonderful impression this gives to any travellers coming to this country for the first time. Unfortunately I have very few choices of transport between North Dakota and Scotland and will probably have to take the same route again (I usually make two trips a year). Minneapolis needs to have a dedicated means of transport for airline passengers between the two terminals and more security. I would add that I am 64 years old and in reasonable shape when I finally reached Lindbergh terminal I was absolutely exhausted frustrated and upset by the whole experience I still had another 7 hours travel time before I would be home. I am writing letters to everyone I can think of regarding this incident I would encourage anyone else who has had the same experience to do the same.

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport seems optimum in the sense that it is large enough to offer passengers multiple shopping and dining venues and yet it still maintains a very clean and modern environment despite its size - something I have to appreciate after having been to more rustic monstrosities such as Chicago O'Hare. It is true that Northwest Airlines dominates the airport and its passengers may have to walk long distances to and from its many dispersed concourses but this actually seems to translate into an advantage for passengers flying other airlines because most of them seem to have their operations concentrated on one concourse that is quite close to check-in baggage claim and the Northstar Crossing dining/shopping. So if you are traveling say American Continental Delta etc. you may not even realize the immense size of the airport because you are not likely to contend with it. My one complaint about MSP is that there are very few shops and restaurants open during the early hours of the morning which is an inconvenience for persons such as myself who normally arrive at the terminal quite early for flights departing at 6 or 7 a.m. with international connections and would like to eat or shop before boarding. However in all fairness I doubt that many airports have much to offer at that hour.