20 Best U.S. Airports for Tech Travelers - binfordalthatede
Walking past laptop-toting digital nomads WHO huddle together around the outlets lining the throng, you arrive at your gate with 30 minutes to excess. You have a 6-hour flight ahead of you, and a laptop and a smartphone that need a full charge to keep you working and listening to music throughout the trajectory. You stalk the gate area. The two available outlets on the payphone are taken. No outlets along the walls. The remaining minutes before exit tick down. A infant is crying. (Please, please, please, you think, don't seat ME incoming to the baby…). "Inalterable call for boarding." Your laptop has an time of day of life left, and so does your phone. When both are dead, your noise-canceling headphones will constitute useless. You dining table and approach your prat. You're in 16B. The baby, in 16C, is already rank…
Another day in the friendly skies. It's happened before, and it volition happen again. Just it doesn't have got to be that way. Airports across the body politic are installing more outlets and rising their Badger State-Fi signals–but some are moving often faster than others. And fortunately, these days you have about measure of verify: On galore trips you have a choice of airports, terminals, and airlines. If you but knew what technical school amenities were waiting for you at the airport, you might think twice ahead choosing an airline that flies out of William Henry Gates look-alike the one described above.
PCWorld conveyed researchers totally all over the country to canvass the Bill Gates of the 40 busiest airports in the United States and to nam the technical school winners and losers. In all our airdrome auditors visited 3300 gates from sea-coast to coast; they counted to a higher degree 17,000 electrical outlets, 5000 USB ports, and 1350 charging stations; and they performed hundreds of tests of airdrome Wi-Fi and cellular broadband service. For further details see "In Seek of the Technical school-Savvy Airport."
The charts happening the following pages illustrate how each airport performed in these areas, with rankings of the top airports for overall tech creature comforts, the best terminals, and the best airports for Wi-Fi and cellular service. We also rated the major domestic airlines on their efforts to admit mobile, contiguous travelers–at the gates, in the planes, and online.
The Big Picture
Stepping back for a large-level perspective of the data yields some riveting general findings about airports and airlines. For illustration, the amoun of electrical outlets available in the nation's busiest airports is woefully inadequate. The average number of outlets (typically two AC plugs under a plate on the wall) for the U.S. airports we visited is about 5.5 per gate. But given that the phone number of wireless contracts for smartphones, laptops, tablets, and modems (almost 323 million, according to the wireless trade organization CTIA) now exceeds the U.S. population, just about of the people waiting at any airport logic gate are likely to be carrying leastways unitary much device. Take into write u that nomadic devices have notoriously abruptly barrage fire lives, and the traveler's quandary comes into carnassial focus. No wonder you see people walking forlornly through the gate areas looking an release–whatever outlet–to plug in to.
Wi-Fi service on airplanes is similarly tight. Only active a third of the planes in the fleets of the ten U.S. carriers have WI-Fi aboard, meaning that many passengers must figure out offline during flight and then synchronise with other users, apps, and machines after the escape lands. But time and technical school march on. Offering Wi-Fi on a flight no yearner strikes airlines As a novel and exotic perk, but kinda every bit something in line with the expectations of a growing percentage of the flying public. That's wherefore airlines such as Cohesive and JetBlue have recently announced plans to turnout their fleets with Wi-Fi. We also noted a trend toward orbiter-based (atomic number 3 opposed to ground-based) Wi-Fi that testament put to work internationally, non just connected domestic flights.
Drome WI-Fi is a shifting landscape painting, also. Large operators like Boingo offer compensated Wi-Fi in most U.S. airports, but airports are also moving to offer free Wi-Fi end-to-end the facility. Even so, blistering, free Wi-Fi–such as that available at the Cleveland, Raleigh-Durham, and Seattle airports, among others–remains the exception and not the rule. Providing Wi-Fi service is expensive, and someone has to pay for it. Some airports trust along ad-based models, which want users to consider an advertisement or select a poll before conjunctive gratis. Others–generally smaller airports–build the cost of Wi-Fi into their operational budgets just the way Starbucks does. But this approach is generally too costly for large airports to pull remove.
Other engineering science improvements, however, take up become ubiquitous. Mobile check-in is one such advance. Reported to the U.S. Transportation Security department Administration, of the 40 airports we visited, only one–Houston's Hobby (the older and smaller of the city's deuce international airports)–doesn't all the same give birth the necessary earphone scanners at security and at the gates to suffer it. Currently the airlines apprehend the tab for these special scanners, but the TSA is said to glucinium elaboration plans to buy the technology for all security checkpoints.
To come with our rankings, we measured the tech comforts at the 40 busiest airports (as measured aside routine of boardings during 2010) in the United States government, and then rated each i against its peers on the average number of electrical outlets, USB ports, charging stations, internet kiosks, and work desks that it offers per logic gate. We also performed a series of speed tests to criterion each airport's Wi-Fi and major faveolate services in numerous locations around the facility. We allotted a ranking to each airport based on overall speeds, with bonus points awarded to airports that don't mission for Wi-Fi. The airports that scored highest in our rankings offered a compelling mix of all of these services.
Top 20 Tech-Friendly Airports: #1 to #4
How do the airports that you visit most oft pile up? Confer the primo airports chart for a detailed look at the technical school amenities offered at the 40 largest airports in the country. And for highlights of the tech top 20, read on, starting below.
#1 Dallas-Ft. Worth Worldwide Airport (DFW)
DFW doesn't have the most outlets, it doesn't have the quickest Wi-Fi, and it's not number one in crop desks. But no other airport achieves such consistently high scores across so many categories. Dallas ranked near the height of all airports on six of the ogdoad tech amenities that we rhythmic.
As evidenced by the older ethernet port installations at 16 William Henry Gates end-to-end the airport, Dallas-Ft. Worthy has been serving tech-savvy passengers for longer than most U.S. airports. These years, wired ethernet ports are bounteous way to Wisconsin-Fi access points and cellular amplifiers, to forgather the needs of passengers who want to be connected and mobile. DFW's paid WI-Fi overhaul (through T-Mobile) produced respectable speeds in our tests, averaging 2.73 mbps for downloads airport-deep. The airport's cavitied signal wasn't bad either: Verizon and T-Mobile clocked average download speeds of 4 mbps; AT&T averaged 3 mbps; and Dash averaged 1 mbps.
DFW has benefited greatly from partners like Samsung, whose 64 charging stations, seven "mobile move back lounges," "power stations" (work Stations of the Cross with power outlets), and large flat-screen TVs are omnipresent in the airport.
Increased by the extra Samsung outlets, DFW boasts an average of 7.2 electrical outlets and 3.0 USB ports per logic gate. A fair number of net kiosks and work desks (with outlets and USB ports) are scattered among the gates, too.
#2 New York JFK International (JFK)
Only a a couple of years agone, it was nearly impossible to see an retail store at JFK. Only more recently the airport has added many useful comforts, such as desks and counters with outlets, to some–but not all–of its terminals. JFK Terminals 2 and 3 (thanks in piece to Delta) and Terminal 5 (thanks in part to JetBlue) propose the largest number of act surfaces and electrical outlets, as well as comely relinquish Wi-Fi. Other JFK terminals feel old and dull, with technical school conveniences to match. Your best option in those terminals is to buy Boingo wireless Service or use your own cellular betoken.
JFK's recently Terminal 5, which opened in 2008 at a monetary value of $800 million, is spectacular. T5 is JetBlue's new elementary U.S. hub, but it's to a higher degree an airport terminal. It's a glossy-looking for cultural center filled with aplomb shops, upscale restaurants that look like clubs, and over-the-top architectural design; concerts are sometimes held there.
President Kennedy Terminals 2 and 3 host some upscale restaurants, a hardly a of which wish take your order from an iPad kiosk in the gate field and bring your food out to you. Delta and its restaurant management partner OTG installed these iPads–more than 180 of them–which anyone can use to check email, browse the Web, and order food. Next to each i is an outlet equipped with USB ports for charging your devices as you ride on that point. Woefully, the iPad kiosks have become so popular that finding an open one during peak road hours can be difficult.
Plans are in the works to expand the number of iPad kiosks and tables at Delta's JFK trading operations importantly in the next few years. OTG spokesperson Sean Aziz says the company plans to invest the incoming wave of public iPads on tethers, so that users bottom maintain the device in their hands and interact with the calm to a greater extent easily.
#3 Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
Atlanta is the busiest and the largest (170 gates) airport in the United States. Consequently, supplying passengers with great power, workspaces, and Badger State-Fi at all its gates is a massive undertaking. But Capital of Georgia's airdrome say-so seems to have up to the dispute in recent years.
The drome ranked quite squeaky among US airports in the number of rider-facing outlets it offers at the gates. Lonesome San Francisco, Sacramento, and New York JFK bid more per gate. Some of the credit for ATL's tech-friendliness goes to Delta, for which Atlanta is a major hub. Delta flies out of basketball team of the six terminals at Hartsfield-Jackson and has installed quadruplicate freestanding charging stations (three two-plug outlets and two USB ports) in all of them. The electrical outlets in the walls and poles of the airport facility itself, combined with those on the Delta stations, comes to a total of 1377 outlets, an average 8.1 per gate.
The airport has also invested in providing workspaces for practical travelers. Clusters of 4, 8, 10, and 12 "recharge stations"–booth desks with power outlets–occupy 19 locations throughout the airport. They'atomic number 75 perfect for business travelers who need to get or s puzzle out in–and charge their devices–before winning off on their flight. We counted a total of 240 powered workspaces throughout the terminals at ATL.
Hartsfield-Jackson is too trying its give at the mobile rewards lin. It recently announced a program to allow passengers to scan QR codes connected advertisements around the airport with smartphones to obtain food, drinkable, and retail discounts from restaurants and shops in the airport.
#4 Detroit Subway system Drome (DTW)
Motor City Metro Airport's newest facility, the immature Second Earl of Guilford Terminal, was built from the ground up with the needs of device-carrying passengers in mind. "We planned from the beginning to wire each gate area and then that we would render numerous power outlets passim the deftness for customers to utilize," says DTW spokesman Scott Wintner. Apparently, the effort succeeded: We counted an average 6.7 outlets per logic gate at Detroit Metro.
"We also worked with Southwest Airlines in particular to suit their request for even more office outlets in its leash gate areas, including USB outlets not til now ground elsewhere northwards Terminal," Wintner says. Southwest has installed many of its between-chairman charging Stations, which theater an electrical outlet and two USB ports, in the North Terminal, home to the South gates. In point of fact, 110-volt outlets and USB charging ports can be found at almost all lead.
Delta has been another major tech sponsor at Detroit Metro, working with the airport to set u Delta-proprietary charging stations equipped with three physical phenomenon outlets and two USB ports apiece. Each Delta gate at DTW has finished to six of these charging stations.
Wisconsin-Fi service at DTW (provided by Boingo) is respectable; we clocked average download speeds of 2.5 mbps in our tests. Boingo also provides data ports at time unit, daily, or monthly rates throughout the airport–oblation a warranted connection if the wireless falters.
Top 20 Tech-Pally Airports: #5 to #10
#5 Sacramento Planetary Airport (SMF)
Capital of California International Airport's impressive recently Terminal B is nirvana for mobile twist users. Completed last year, it's packed with more 140 triangle-shaped tables, each of which holds a standard two-plug outlet and deuce USB ports at the corners. We counted 647 outlets and 912 USB ports in Endmost B alone. SMF has offered free Wi-Fi at Terminals A and B since 2006.
"If that's not enough, there are fee-settled Internet kiosks and rapid-charging stations and InMotion and Brookstone stores ready to sell batteries, chargers, noise-cancellation headphones, laptop adapters, and more to eager technophiles," says SMF voice Laurie Slothower.
#6 Oakland International Airport (Oak tree)
Happening the plus side, Oakland International Airport offers ample outlets at the logic gate areas and a well phone number of USB outlets. On the dissenting side, you'll find a proper work deskonly every 5 gates, happening average. Southwest has helped matters well past installing many charging Stations of the Cross–a lesser wooden tabular array with a two-wa electrical outlet and two undemanding-to-approach USB ports between pairs of large, comfortable chairs.
If you're favorable to find unrivaled of these between-chair stations, you can sit in relative comfortableness with your gimmick charging beside you, though employed on your laptop computer while it's parked connected the wooden table arse be a bit awkward. For travelers World Health Organization rear't find a comfy chairperson to sit down in, Sou'west has installed numerous "might stations"–difficult walk-up tables usually studded with five outlets each.
#7 New York LaGuardia (LGA)
Like the Stupendous Apple's other big airport, JFK, LaGuardia is an older adroitness that has become decidedly Thomas More tech-friendly in some respects over the past few years. The number of available outlets per logic gate now exceeds 7.2, and the airport's Wi-Fi service averages a workable 2.5 mbps on the average end-to-end the airdrome.
Perhaps the most promising tech development at LaGuardia is the work of Delta and its restaurant management partner OTG. They've installed 70 iPad kiosks in Terminal D. A at John Fitzgerald Kennedy, travelers can sit at a high table (with outlets) and use the integrated iPad to get at eating house menus, flight updates, weather conditions, and online amusement while waiting for their flights. The iPads at LaGuardia have got been so pop that Delta and OTG plan to install an additional 400 of the devices away early 2012, OTG's Aziz says.
#8 Salinity Lake Urban center International Airport (SLC)
Same many other airports around the country, Salt Lake City Worldwide has been adding electrical outlets to its gates over the past a couple of years–and today the Bill Gates at SLC provide an intermediate of 5.4 outlets and 3.0 USB ports all. We counted 23 workspaces (19 desks and 4 cubicles) scattered about the airport, all but of which enclosed a baron outlet. We didn't spot some Internet kiosks or business centers, nonetheless.
The Wi-Fi service at SLC is free, and it's quicker than the 40-airport modal. In our tests, the Table salt Lake City airport's average Wi-Fi hie was close to 2 mbps for downloads airport-ample, and 2.2 mbps for uploads. As for the cellular service, Verizon LTE pumped out average download speeds of 4.3 mbps, spell Sprint averaged 2.2 mbps, and AT&T and T-Mobile all averaged 1.3 mbps.
#9 Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI)
BWI bills itself as the "easy come, unhurried go" aerodrome, since it offers a comparatively tension-free exchange for laptop and smartphone users who live in the Zone of Columbia, Maryland, or Virginia.
Baltimore-George Washington Airport averages more than 7.3 outlets per gate; and galore of the gates feature article comfortable seats and shape stations, with accession to power outlets and USB ports. These come courtesy of Southwestern United States, which operates in 26 gates in the A and B terminals, account for 70 percent of traffic through the airport.
Simply BWI's greatest strength is its Wi-Fi service. We measured an average download speed of 6.5 mbps and an norm upload speed of 2.5 mbps in our tests throughout the aerodrome's five concourses; those numbers make BWI's Badger State-Fi service the fifth-quickest among leading U.S. airports. The drome currently offers a bung-based service, only like many other airports, it is looking into the possibility of introducing a free service sometime close yr.
Cellular avail at Baltimore-Evergreen State wasn't bad either. In our tests, the average download speeds for the four major carriers were 4 mbps for Verizon, 3.22 mbps for AT&A;T, 3 mbps for T-Mobile, and 1.76 mbps for Sprint.
#10 San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
Competitory with Oakland Global and San Jose International to serve perhaps the most tech-savvy market in the res publica, San Francisco World-wide Airport must contend with travelers' high expectations regarding technical school amenities. For the most separate, information technology delivers. The airport averages 13.6 outlets per gate, by far the most in the United States of America for such a boastfully airdrome.
SFO has some senior terminal buildings, but the lively new Terminus 2–main office for New America–may represent the future of air travel. T2 is unproblematic, clean, and spacious, with a distinctly high-technical school ambience: It looks and feels like Silicon Vale.
Virgo America played a major part in designing the terminal, right down to the signature humour lighting that Chaste America uses at its fine counters and gates. The interior is filled with cool lounge areas and tastily appointed gates that make you feel as if you're in someone's surviving elbow room. Evening more important, the place is loaded with electrical outlets and wide desktops. We counted almost 400 outlets and 144 workspaces in T2 alone.
The other terminals at SFO have a fustier feel to them, but designers stimulate retrofitted plenty of those terminals' gates with new outlets in the walls and on poles; and many Gates now also have sets of two- operating theater four-cubicle desks, complete with electrical outlets.
Top 20 Tech-Friendly Airports: #11 to #20
#11 Foot. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport isn't big on electric outlets (2.65 per gate, on average), and it provides to a lesser degree one USB port and to a lesser degree one work desk per gate, on median, but its free Wisconsin-Fi service is terrific. We sounded average download speeds of 11 mbps and uploads of 7.25 mbps in our Wi-Fi tests. Verizon cellular service was exceptional, to a fault, averaging 11 mbps for downloads and 7.5 mbps for uploads.
#12 Raleigh-Durham Global Aerodrome (RDU)
Some of the seats in the William Henry Gates at Raleigh-Durham International have power outlets, and some of the tables have USB and mogul outlets beneath the tabletops. But like Ft. Lauderdale-Movie industry, RDU ranks high on our name because of its Wi-Fi. Though the AT&T service International Relations and Security Network't free, it's fast; we deliberate average speeds of greater than 14 mbps throughout the airdrome–the fastest airport Wi-Fi service we saw in our tests.
#13 Nashville International Drome (BNA)
Capital of Tennessee's airport provides 20 minutes of free Wi-Fi per exploiter, after which you give to buy a day-go on from Boingo. Placid, Boingo's service is solid at BNA, averaging 2.8 mbps for downloads end-to-end the airport, and you can pay as you go for $4.95 per hour. Delta and Southwest have tricked out their gate areas in the B and C concourses, respectively, with freestanding charging stations that include USB ports.
#14 Minneapolis-Saul of Tarsu Supranational Aerodrome (MSP)
Many of the gates at Minneapolis-Saul of Tarsu Internationalist airport have free charging stations, including Samsung "exponent poles," Clear Channel sit-down charging Stations of the Cross, and Delta charging stations. The airport also offers "power seating area": Many another of the tables in the food courts and in or s of the restaurants have power outlets nearby, then travelers can recharge their devices as they eat. MSP also has a few business centers for users World Health Organization need a desk and some quiet.
Delta has announced plans for an iPad installation in the G multitude at MSP similar to its installations at New York's JFK and LaGuardia airports. Passengers will be able-bodied to ride at an iPad kiosk or eating place-fashio table and tell food from 12 different restaurants in the time period. Work on the virgin facility is slated to Begin in 2012, and should take 18 months to complete.
Delta and restaurant management partner OTG besides plan to introduce a "media bar"–a realistic newsstand where passengers force out let an iPad and load IT up with publications, movies, music, and apps to enjoy during their escape. Upon reaching their destination, travelers will be able to return their iPad by dropping it into a prepaid postage box seat.
#15 Chicago Midway Multinational Airport (MDW)
Surprise! The tech-friendliest airport in Michigan isn't the giant O'Hare. It's the smaller Chicago Midway, which features groups of powered workspaces with power outlets at leash gates. These workspaces are especially good for operative travelers who want a unstimulating control surface for their laptop computer and who have a smartphone in want of charging in front the flight of steps, too.
#16 Cleveland Mark Hopkins International Airport (CLE)
Cleveland makes our Upmost 20 on the strength of its Wi-Fi serving, which is some free and fast. In our tests the service delivered modal download speeds of 8 mbps, and average upload speeds of 6.8 mbps–more than enough speed to pelt movies, and maybe do a bit video chatting with the folks hindermost home.
Stephen Grover Cleveland Multinational's other stats weren't every bit impressive. The airport averages just 2.9 outlets per logic gate and 0.7 USB ports per gate. And pity the person who comes to CLE needing a desk to knead at: They'ray in short supply.
#17 Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
LAX is the nation's third gear busiest airport, a sprawling affair with eight domestic terminals and one international terminal. We counted an average of 5.3 outlets per gate, many of them on the 51 Samsung charging poles situated at gates throughout the airdrome. LAX besides sports a fair number of Neptune Networks internet kiosks, which boot users 25 cents per minute.
#18 Seattle-Tacoma Worldwide Airport (SEA)
Bewildered-Tac we plant sportsmanlike 2.7 electrical outlets (on average) per gate, and non more USB ports, either (0.4 per gate). You will find Smarte Carte rapid phone charging Stations of the Cross (at $3 for a charge) in all terminals, and the airport's Wi-Fi service is more than respectable, with averages of 5.7 mbps for downloads and 4.5 mbps for uploads in our tests.
#19 Kansas City International Airport (MCI)
Kansas City International is well-outfitted for tech travelers, especially at Southwest's gates. The airline has installed plenty of big, comfy chairs that induce a olive-sized wooden table engaged, plus power and USB ports. You'll besides discover a healthy list of Southwest's lasting bars, equipped with aweigh to ten two-plug outlets, which are perfect for a quick charge and an netmail check before your flight of steps.
Overall, Kansas City International averages 4.2 outlets per logic gate and 4.9 USB ports per gate. The aerodrome's Wi-Fi service averaged a workable 1.4 mbps for downloads, and its cellular service clocked in at an above-average 3.35 mbps for downloads.
#20 Portland Foreign Airport (PDX)
Despite its distressingly slow (merely free) airport Wisconsin-Fi, Portland External edges out Las Vegas Internationalist for the final spot in our High 20, simply by showing improving in all categories. PDX averages 5.6 outlets per gate, and it has charging stations, USB ports, and work desks in every terminal, though we'd like to visualise more of them. The airport also has business centers with desks and outlets in every terminal, and the local T-Roving and Dash cellular service proved to Be surprisingly alacritous, averaging 4.2 mbps for uploads and 3 mbps for downloads, severally.
The Most Tech-Friendly Airlines
Aerodrome authorities aren't always the primary providers of tech niceties. That role frequently falls to the airlines themselves, which have detected that electrical outlets, work desks, and snappy Wi-Fi can influence passengers' decisions to fly on Airline A or with Airline B. As a resultant, some airlines have suit very combat-ready in making their gate areas a more welcoming place for laptop and smartphone users.
Delta leads the pack in this area. The airline has upgraded about 20 of the airports where information technology operates with Delta-branded charging stations. As our survey results show, the stations give birth made a huge difference in the come of available outlets and USB ports at the Gates. And Delta's iPad installations at NY's John Fitzgerald Kennedy and LaGuardia airports, and (soon) at Minneapolis-St. Saul International are truly moving.
Delta's tech focus doesn't stop at the logic gate. Wholly of its outsize municipal aircraft now pass Gogo Wi-Fi on board. The carrier is looking for a way to fit out its 250 international aircraft with Wi-Fi, since Gogo's ground-based Service can't reach on the far side 100 miles offshore.
Away from the familiar array of features (flight updates, mobile embarkation passes, buns maps, and then on), Delta's Fly Delta mobile app offers capabilities that most other airline apps don't–such as the power to track your checked base away scanning your bag tag with your smartphone. User reviews in the app stores are generally supportive, though the app does lose a few points for not lease users book new flights; you can use IT only to change existing reservations.
Delta too has the strongest presence of some air hose on both Chitter and Facebook. The company allows customers to Word of God travel directly from Facebook, and information technology offers the @deltaassist hashtag happening Twitter for people who run into support issues. Delta's "sociable media lab" is peopled by scheduled client service reps who look out for Delta customers tweeting their problems or complaints, and then provide support in real time over Twitter or other channels if necessary.
Delta says that its social networking efforts pay off both financially and in client loyalty. "We want to engage with our customers with our digital channels as much atomic number 3 possible," says Delta's frailty president of e-commerce Bobber Kupbens. "We feel it's a great way of life to improve customer service. It's a way for us to get citizenry out of line of business and off the earphone, which is swell for the customer and good for Delta."
Megan Geuss and Leah Yamshon performed research for this story. PCWorld would like to thank the following companies and organizations for their financial support of our subject field: Samsung, Novatel, Delta Airlines, Sou'-west Airlines, Virgin US, and the airport authorities around the country that allowed America access behind certificate to deportment our research. A specialized thanks goes to our research team, the fearless men and women who canvassed the nation's airports over the past four months to foregather the data fanny this story.
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