The 10 most overrated, and nine most underrated, things about flying

Some airports now actually manage to be fun places, but Japan’s Haneda and Auckland’s Wi-Fi-challenged offering seem to have missed the memo. Read on for Traveller’s list of the most overrated, and underrated, things in air travel right now.

Overrated

Airline breakfasts

Suspect sausages and overdone eggs … inflight breakfasts have a lot to answer for.Credit: Getty Images

Be honest, have you ever had a great breakfast on a plane? It’s either a goopy mess of overdone scrambled eggs, plastic-looking sausages and spongy hashbrowns, or a cholesterol-trebling muffin with sickly sweet yoghurt and a granite-hard fruit platter that’s only a few degrees above absolute zero. Our advice? Skip breakfast and grab something tasty and nutritious when you land.

Gate lice
As more airlines bring in zoned boarding, there’s no need to hang around at the gate, waiting to be the first to board. If you really want to be first on the flight (thus making your time squished in an aircraft even longer), buy a priority boarding pass, or simply admit your carry-on bag is oversized so you need to hog all the overhead locker space.

Haneda Airport

Japan’s Haneda Airport has gone from favoured to dreaded destination.Credit: Getty Images

A once-favourite airport is frustrating to visit these days. Arrival is the worst, with frequently long queues for passport control that can take an hour or more – not to mention a convoluted system for getting through customs. Security queues on departure, particularly from domestic terminals, are also long and slow.

Pay-per-use airport lounges
Paid lounges are overpriced for what you get, which is probably limp and lacklustre food, terrible coffee and overcrowded spaces where you’re lucky to find a seat. You’ll save money by paying for a decent meal at an airport restaurant and finding a quiet corner of the terminal – there’s always one somewhere – to await your flight.

Frequent flyer points
Free flights! Free upgrades! Earn just by using your credit card! This all sounds great, right? Except, frequent flyer programs are rarely what they seem, particularly when actually finding an available flight to use your points is mission impossible.

Airport security screening

Laptops in or out? Perhaps one day airports will adopt a universal approach to security.Credit: iStock

One day perhaps, all airports around the world will adopt a unified code at their security screening checkpoints. Until then, international passengers will continue to have only the fuzziest idea of what’s expected as they approach the conveyor belt. Shoes on or off? Is my footwear shoes or boots? Laptops in or out? Sigh.

Sydney International Airport
Had the dubious pleasure of arriving into Sydney’s international airport lately? It’s likely you were greeted with chaotic scenes thanks to the airport’s chronic inability to streamline the arrivals process. Kiosks, wayfaring signage and lanes have been rearranged multiple times but to no avail. More e-gate kiosks are on the way – let’s hope they help.

Airport Wi-Fi
Some international airports get it right – you can log onto Wi-Fi and browse for hours. Others force you to find a kiosk, get a code, delay heading to your far-flung gate or to lurk outside a lounge. Old-school travellers without e-sims hoping to log on at Auckland Airport face quite a challenge. Officially, Wi-Fi is available but good luck connecting to it at either the international or domestic terminals. Hopefully, this will be rectified when both terminals are integrated, with the mega-terminal set to open in 2028-29. See aucklandairport.co.nz

Closed boarding gates

Pre-flight petri dish ... sealed departure gates are never a good idea.Credit: iStock

Boo to those airlines that insist we sit in their sealed boarding gates for up to an hour before a flight, with no access to water, food, often no bathrooms, limited powerpoints, and never enough chairs for the number of passengers. These giant cubicles also limit air-flow, creating a petri dish as we sit on the floor, waiting until we sit on the aircraft.

Wi-Fi on planes
It’s a miracle of our age: by connecting to Wi-Fi on a plane you can communicate with anyone, or read news and social media while high above the planet. But should you? In-flight Wi-Fi is notoriously unreliable, especially on international flights over oceans; it’s often expensive; and do you really want to doomscroll or argue with user Troll4327 on the way to your relaxing holiday?

Underrated

Airport pick-ups
Is there ever a more welcome sight, at the end of a long flight, than that of a smiling local holding up a board or iPad bearing your name? You know they’re going to heft your bags, escort you to an air-conditioned car, then drop you off safely at your hotel in an unknown city. It’s a fabulous investment in a great start to any trip.

LAX Terminal 3, Los Angeles

LAX’s revamped Terminal 3 is clean, modern and efficient.Credit:

Completed 18 months ahead of schedule, Delta’s new Terminal 3 in LAX has automated check-in kiosks, 14 security lanes and a dedicated air-side walkway to the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Throw in plentiful seating, a fabulous Delta Sky Club lounge and an impressive food and retail offering and suddenly LAX is no longer the soul-sapping experience it once was. See delta.com 

Quiet rooms in airports
Rooms without screens, boarding announcements or food smells … the quiet rooms at Doha’s Hamed International Airport have it right – distanced recliner seats, in cool, darkened rooms with space for your carry-on. They’re free and offer respite during long layovers or delays for economy passengers without the luxury of an airport lounge. Istanbul’s very special guest rooms are low-stimulation rooms for travellers with such conditions as autism or dementia. See dohahamadairport.com, istairport.com

Fun in airports

Hamad International Airport, Qatar.Credit: Getty Images

Airports don’t have to be sterile spaces that set kids screaming. Defuse the stress at Denpasar domestic’s beanbag reading spaces and street art that you can have fun posing with; Doha’s giant sculptures that double as kids’ playgrounds; the Korean hanbok dress-ups at Seoul’s Incheon airport, or the museums and art galleries found in Amsterdam, Cairo and Istanbul’s airports.

Carry-on only

Carry on carrying on.Credit: Getty Images

Here’s the deal: ditch half your clothes, and then don’t worry about queuing for check-in, or standing around at the carousel on arrival. Also, don’t worry about your checked luggage being “misplaced” by baggage handlers. And feel just a little bit better because your lighter luggage means fewer carbon emissions. There’s almost no downside (except if everyone does this, there’s no overhead space).

Valet parking at Sydney Airport
Have you actually checked the cost of valet parking at Sydney’s international airport? It’s less than you think, and not at all the outrageous rip-off that short-term parking represents. For parents with young kids, or travellers coming from afar, the cost of hassle-free valet is barely higher than trying to find a parking space at Sydney Airport and walking to the terminal yourself. See sydneyairport.com.au

Vietnam Airlines

A business class seat on Vietnam Airlines.Credit:

A carrier growing in both size and popularity, mostly because of its competitive pricing, great service, generous luggage allowances, discounted domestic flights for those flying internationally, and willingness to allow pets on board. The major downside is the sometimes long lay-overs in either Ho Chi Minh or Hanoi, but they make fabulous places to break the journey. See vietnamairlines.com 

Special meals
Sure, there’s often a veggie option available from the trolley, but it’s best to always pre-book vegetarian meals when flying economy. More thought and innovation is often put into the creation of vegetarian meals (particularly on any Indian, South-East Asian or Middle Eastern airline); plus you’ll be served before everyone else. It can be a lottery, but 90 per cent of the time, it’s a winner.

Airport lounges

Dining booths at Air France’s Paris-Charles de Gaulle lounge.

You can’t beat a good airport lounge as a delightful place to hang out, shower, sometimes sleep, consume free food and drink, recharge your devices and get some work done. Some, like Air France’s lounge in Paris, are a blissful escape with a magnifique selection of cheese and wine. But if you pay to enter a lounge, always check first on how crowded it is.

Contributors: Ben Groundwater, Belinda Jackson, Brian Johnston, Katrina Lobley, Kristie Kellahan, Rob McFarland, Julie Miller, Tim Richards, Sue Williams