I am inspired today to write about airlines and airports as I am searching for tickets for my upcoming journey. I have traveled so much in the past few years I thought I would share a little of what I have learned and experienced with you - for better or for worse.

Airlines

I have come to develop some very strong opinions about different airlines since I have flown so much over the past few years. Here is a little summary of what I think of different airlines that I have flown with.

KLM

KLM is my favorite company to fly with. I have had the best experiences and flights when on their planes. On the long-haul flights that I have taken with them (Oslo-Los Angeles and Oslo-Bangalore, both about 10 hour flights after a European connection). Their seats are spacious, which really starts to matter after about six hours sitting in one. I always have a personal tv, so I get to watch whatever I want. I have always thought they had the best food (if there is such a thing as ‘best’ airplane food). And to top it off, during the flights, when they are not serving food, they have an area in the back of the plane with drinks and all kinds of snacks for you.

The service on KLM is not exceptional, but not a problem (which is good enough for me - considering I usually have pretty crappy service when I fly).

Air France

Air France is a partner with KLM and their planes are similar. So one good thing is that they have roomy seats like KLM. This is the airline that I flew with most recently (Oslo-Bangalore) and I particularly enjoyed their dinner, but remember being very hungry and pissed at what they served as ‘breakfeast’. I was really tired, and honestly don’t remember what that was, but I remember being upset because I was really hungry.

As far as service went with Air France, they were nice and smiled at you but it was like a ‘look of death’ smile. Like ‘I hate you because I HAVE to smile at you, and so I am’. A little intimidating and not very comforting. I remember that I had asked for something several times that never came, and the flight attendant just seemed to not really care.

Other than the bizarre attitude of the flight attendants, Air France was not so bad for me. I would choose it again over some others, but just bring some extra food in case they serve bad food again!

British Airways

I have had really mixed emotions with my experience with British Airways. I have only taken them once from Oslo-Bangalore. It was a long flight, and I remember very clearly the seats being very uncomfortable. I wasnt impressed or upset by the food - edible, which is all you can really expect on a flight. The service was horrible one direction, and not great, but at least not offensive going home.

I try to fly with someone else if it is possible, before choosing British Airways. Unfortunately it is usually one of the most affordable companies to fly with. I am actually flying with them again next week. We will see how it goes. At least they are not the worst!

Lufthansa

I will make it short, because I hated Lufthansa. Horrible service, scary inedible food and the smallest seats around. I flew with them from Oslo-Bangalore, and it was a horrible experience. Of course, like most people, price completely dictates which company I fly with, so I pray that other airlines will continue to have cheaper flights than Lufthansa so I do not have to fly with them any more.

SAS

Scandinavian Airlines is supposed to be a ‘luxurious’ airline, somehow. I have only flown with SAS within Europe, so have not had any experiences with them on longer flights. But all I know is that I prefer NOT to fly with SAS. Bad service, small seats and not a pleasant experience.

TAP

I flew with TAP from Oslo-Lisbon. It was a nice experience. It was a while ago, but in thinking back on it, I have nothing negative that I remember. I would be happy to fly with TAP again.

Ryanair

OMG….here we go. Have any of you flown with Ryanair? If you have I would love to hear about it. This is one of the ‘discounted’ airlines that you can fly within Europe with.

Lets just start by saying, that the word ‘discount’ in this situation is relative. Yes, the tickets might be quite a bit cheaper. But did you know you have to pay extra (and not that cheap) fees for any luggage, or carry-on bags you take with you? You have to pay extra to get a TICKET! And all of these other little extra fees, add up to just as much as any other airline.

Plus if you are in Oslo, Norway like I am, the only place that Ryanair flies out of is Torp airport which is a few hours busride outside of Oslo. Not just being an inconvenience with the extra time it takes to get there, but is not a cheap bus trip either.

Ryanair does NOT give you an assigned seat on the plane (unless of course you want to pay extra). So what they do is they heard everyone that will be flying on the plane into a ‘holding’ area where we are all squished like sardines, without anywhere to sit, ready to push and shove your way to the front of the line so you can HOPEFULLY (fingers crossed) sit next to the person you are with, because it is whoever can push their way to the front first, gets their choice of seats. It was so horrible.

I really don’t think that flying with Ryanair from Norway is worth the discount. I don’t even think it ends up being a discount at the end anyways, after all the extra fees.

Airports

Oslo, Gardemon Airport (Norway)

Oslo airport is pretty small. It is clean, easy to find everything and nice to be in. You can always know that you are back in Oslo airport by the sound of the clinking liquor bottles that everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) buys when passing through the duty free shop. Alcohol is so expensive that when anyone who lives in Norway comes back from a vacation, they stock up on whatever kind of alcohol they can. It is really funny though, it is the sound of the clinking bottles that lets me know I am back in Oslo!

Torp Airport (Norway)

I have now been to Torp twice. It is smaller than Gardemon, but also clean and efficient. There are no complaints about that airport for me. It is just not convenient to get to when you live in Oslo.

Stansted Airport (UK)

Stansted airport is not too far to London’s city center. So if you can find cheap tickets that fly you there I would highly suggest it because it was very easy to get to London from there. It was a very short (I think 45 min) bus ride directly to the city. Also, Stansted had some great little cafe’s to eat at.

Heathrow Airport (UK)

If you are flying to Heathrow or through there, you can count on two things….1. Your baggage will be lost/sent to a very random and distant location 2. A headache if you have any connections.

It is just too big and confusing and not easy to navigate or to travel through. I really do not enjoy having layovers in Heathrow airport. Not ‘my cup of tea’.

Paris Airport (France)

I recently spent a short time in this airport and just LVOED it! They had great shops, great restaurants, great and very comfortable sitting and waiting areas. It was a pleasure having a layover in this airport.

Amsterdam Airport

This airport is not bad but easy to get confused and lost in. I hate that it takes so much time to get to certain terminals or gates. It is a hassle when you have a connecting flight to make. They though, also have some comfortable waiting areas like CDG airport in France (although, not as nice in my opinion). They have a good selection of places to eat too if you have to spend some time there.

Rome Airport (Italy)

Not impressed. Not a place I would want to spend more time then I had to, and a little dirty in my opinion.

Lisbon Airport (Portugal)

I was surprised at the airport in Lisbon. It was efficient and clean and easy to get around to do what you had to do.

Vilnius Airport (Lithuania)

This airport is so small that there is not much to say about it. But I have had some funny experiences there. When going through passport control in Vilnius, I got really interrogated, like I could be a terrorist or something. It was intimidating, and lasted a long time. But it is funny now that its over!

Bangalore Airport (India)

I have been to the airport in Bangalore many times now. And as anyone who travels to Bangalore knows, that in the past year they have relocated the airport.

My first experiences in Bangalore’s old airport were traumatizing. First the heat, the smell, the mosquitoes and the Indian men trying to help you all attack you at once. It was overwhelming, confusing and really unpleasant. There were few signs and you had no idea who actually worked there or not if you needed help. It was not fun, and I dreaded going there.

I was in India last summer from April to the end of July. When we arrived we arrived at the old airport. When we left, the new airport had been opened and that was where we went.

Well, the new airport in Bangalore is AMAZING. It is now a clean, big, efficient (as efficient as anything in India can be), cool and nice. I can not tell you the difference between the new and old airport in Bangalore. If anyone reading this had experienced either of those I would love to hear your opinions on it in a comment below.

It now feels like a luxurious experience (at least compared to before) when arriving in Bangalore, India.

LAX (California, USA)

Before Bangalore changed to the new airport, they had the award for the worst airport I had ever been to. Now that they have the new airport, the worst airport is definitely LAX. It is disgusting there.

Since I am from California, it is disappointing that out of all the places I have been in the world that my hometown has hands-down the grossest and worst airport to go to. I really hate it. And I don’t understand why they cant make it better.

Have you visited any of the airports that I mentioned? Have you flown with any of these airlines? What do you think of them? Tell us about it in a comment below!