Nine of the most charming airports in America for your consideration

PennyWise: Personal Finance & Travel Tips

Flying isn't always the most enjoyable part of a vacation and some of the biggest airports in America can challenge even the most patient traveler.

But not every airport has to cause frustration. There are a lot of smaller airports, even ones near big cities like Los Angeles or major vacation destinations such as Yellowstone National Park, that offer a charming experience.

On the latest episode of PennyWise, host Nat Cardona talks with Sally French of NerdWallet about her article: 9 of America’s Most Charming Airports

French's list highlights airports that offer unbeatable views, unique amenities and a great atmosphere. To qualify for this list, airports also had to have fewer than 1.5 million arriving passengers in 2022. By comparison, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International had more than 37 million arriving passengers in 2022.

Before you book your next trip, give these airports your consideration.

About this program

Nat Cardona is host of PennyWise as well as Lee Enterprise's true-crime podcast Late Edition: Crime Beat Chronicles. Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.

Episode transcript

Note: The following transcript was created by Adobe Premiere and may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies as it was generated automatically:

Welcome to Pennywise, a Lee Enterprises podcast. I'm your host Nat Cardona. Believe it or not, not every airport will leave you stressed out as you travel. NerdWallet has rounded up a collection of nine U.S. airports that are enjoyable to spend time in. We have travel expert Sally French joining us today with more. We will start at the beginning of the list with number nine.

Hit me with it. One of the airports that NerdWallet loves is Long Beach Airport. It's in southern California and it is not too far from LAX, which is one of the largest airports in America. And that airport is wild to navigate. You have to take shuttles everywhere, even just to get to your Uber or Lyft. But another alternative airport that might be really compelling is Long Beach.

So it is on the larger end of all the airports that NerdWallet analyzed, about 1.3 million passengers arriving each year in 2022 at least. But this airport is absolutely charming. It really has that sort of art deco style. It was built in 1941. The architecture just makes you feel like you're traveling back in that golden age of air travel.

And what's really great about the airport now is that they've taken advantage of southern California's beautiful weather and a huge portion of the airport is entirely outdoors. So as you're waiting for your flight, you can sit and enjoy. And it's not just any old outdoors. It's beautifully landscaped, a really nice. And that you can take advantage of getting that last dose of Southern California sun before you jump on your flight.

I never would have known that. Thanks for sharing. Very cool. Very definitely. If you can get out of the flying into LAX and instead fly in to Long Beach for your Southern California vacations, Absolutely. Do it. Noted. Next up, we have number eight. Bozeman at Yellowstone International Airport is number eight. And these airports are all ranked by the number of passengers arriving or departing from them.

So so this isn't necessarily a ranking of how much we like them, but just their size. But Bozeman, Yellowstone has become especially compelling in pandemic era travel, when everyone wanted to go to national parks. What better National Park to go to than Bozeman, Yellowstone, and chose Yellowstone to be the national park and in most people would fly into Bozeman, which puts you pretty close to the west entrance of Yellowstone.

And this airport, just like the rest of your Yellowstone experience, is probably going to be has really nice cozy mountain vibes. There's a fireplace inside so you can sit by that fire, warm up, feel like you're in the mountains when you're really just in the airport and then eventually go off to your Yellowstone vacation. Yeah, that's a beautiful little addition to your already cozy trip.

Who knew your stay at the airport, whether you're landing or go. And that's great. Number seven. Looks like we have the Asheville Regional Airport in North Carolina. Yes. So Asheville is already a city known for its vibrant art scene. And I love that Asheville Regional Airport sort of extends that directly into the airport. So while you're there, you can see local art on the walls.

It's often coming from local artists, local school groups, and there's often live music. So you might see a local choir performing some folk musicians, a grand piano, and so you get a free little concert before your flight. It's awesome. I got to go there. I love it. Number six looks like we're heading back to California for our most charming.

We're heading back to California, and this time we're going to Santa Barbara, California. And so a lot of people very much like the Long Beach situation when they're taking a trip to Santa Barbara, they might think that they need to fly in to LAX. But if you're heading north of Los Angeles, you can be far better served by flying into Santa Barbara.

This airport is really, really tiny. Only a couple little gates, but it's got an incredible Mediterranean style. And if you've been to Santa Barbara, most of the city is also in this same Mediterranean style. There's Spanish murals that really distinctive architecture. And this airport, again, much like Long Beach, has a small little outdoor airport area. It's not as big as long beaches, but again, you can soak up that SoCal sun while you're waiting for your flight.

And if you do actually go inside, it's absolutely gorgeous. It kind of reminds me of other things you might see in Santa Barbara like this in a Barbara mission or just that general esthetic walking around downtown. And even better, now that I'm looking at the airlines that are there, I mean, the big ones are included American, Southwest, United and Alaska.

That's great. It's also yeah, and it's definitely growing. Southwest just joined to offer service in 2021 and you're looking at departures to Vegas. Denver. Denver is such a huge hub for connections. So is Las Vegas that it can be really easy to get there no matter where in the country you live it Perfect. Next up on the LIST, if you would, please.

Yes. So number five is Jackson Hole Airport, Jackson, Wyoming. And we sort of mentioned going on a trip to Yellowstone. And you might also fly into Jackson, Wyoming, and especially if you're going to the southern portion of Yellowstone or if you're going to Grand Teton National Park. Speaking of Grand Teton National Park, Jackson Hole Airport is really cool because it's actually located within Grand Teton National Park.

So unsurprisingly, the views at this airport are absolutely astounding. You're looking at the mountain ranges and then, you know, even besides just these unparalleled views, the airport itself is absolutely charming. There's a little Teton County Library bookshelf and you don't even need to be a library member to use it. It's one of those take a book, leave a book style shelves so you can leave one behind and then take, take, take a book with you for your flight home.

Oh, good old middle America for you. I love it. I love it. I love it. Very cool. Very cool. Number four, it looks like Cherry Capital Airport. Tell me more about this. Well, we're staying in Middle America and absolutely, just like those Jackson Airport vibes, Cherry Capital Airport has those very similar homey, cozy vibes. This airport is located in Traverse City, Michigan, and this airport has really incredible architecture.

It's inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright. So you can expect to see kind of that stained glass esthetic, all that stone, a lot of really nice copper light fixtures, much like how the Jackson airport's got a fireplace. This one has a fireplace, too. So it's one of these places where it feels like you're hanging out in an amazing lodge rather than in this horrible gross airport is just getting, say, dirty carpets and blank white walls.

Yeah, I would definitely trade that. For all of the things you've mentioned thus far. I mean, out of any of these places. Number three here, tell me how to pronounce this. This is a tough one. Oh, you know what? You're putting me on the spot, but I'm going to guess that it precludes International Airport. And we are heading to Alaska now.

This airport made the list for obviously being really small. There were about 125,000 passengers departing in 2022. But the reason it makes the list in particular for being charming is how you get to this airport. You are not rolling up in the shuttle bus. You're not driving up in your car to get here. You are boarding a ferry.

So you take a brief ferry ride. It's like 5 minutes on, but you need to take the ferry to actually get to the airport, which I think just completely adds to this experience of an incredible, memorable vacation. Awesome. I might never find myself there, but maybe I wish I do now. But you can't have too many bags because you're going to have to take them on the ferry as well as the airplane.

It's probably my husband's dream. You don't need to bring that big of a bag. All right. Number two, looks like we have Martha's Vineyard Airport. We are heading to Martha's Vineyard for number two. This is in Massachusetts. And this airport reflects the same Cape Cod style that you can expect to see across the broader island of Martha's Vineyard.

So we're talking those cedars, shingles, views of the lighthouses, views of the beach. It is It's located in the middle of the island, which makes it a really convenient location. And what's nice about this airport is it's so close to where you're probably going to stay. Many people, when they stay at Martha's Vineyard, if they're not staying in a bigger vacation rental farther off the island, they'll probably stay in Edgartown.

And what I love about this airport is a lot of people are thinking about Martha's Vineyard as being a public transit hub. But you can hop on the bus and it is a three minute bus ride to Edgartown, which is that Maine Seaport Village. So incredible location, which makes it really easy to get on your flight home. You don't need to take a ton of time to get to the airport because it's so conveniently located.

And once you're there, the trip hasn't ended because you're getting that beautiful Cape Cod vibes even while you're waiting for your flight.

All right. My personal favorite, the last one on the list. You know, now I feel like this is my personal favorite as well. It's number one for being absolutely tiny. There were about 6000 departing passengers in 2022. So that's why it makes the number one spot. But I really do think it deserves the number one spot. Just in general.

This airport is located in the Ozark Mountains in Branson, Missouri. Now, Branson, Missouri, is this absolutely amazing family entertainment hub in the Midwest. So, you know, when you go to Branson, there's a lot to do. There's a lot of live entertainment. There's a historic downtown. There's lakes, there's museums, and it's kind of like this like Wild West vibe.

And that's exactly what the airport is like as well. In fact, there is an actual creek that flows inside the airport. And then when you're there, the Missouri Fun doesn't stop. But Bass Pro Shops is headquartered nearby, and so there's actually a mini bass pro shops inside the airport. What better suited area than that? And if you don't want to do that, you can just hang out inside the airport, which has absolutely hilarious and adorable facades like a saloon and a sawmill.

It just seems like so much fun inside this airport. It's like a it's like a miniature Disneyland as you're waiting for your flight special place. Looks like it's out of a storybook, which is actually very fitting for that area. So. Oh, I love it. Well, that wraps up the end of this. And most nine most charming airports list.

I got to ask you, Sally, have you been to any of these yourself? You? Yes, in fact, I have been to most of them. I haven't been to Alaska, but I'm waiting to hop on that boat. I'm actually a Southern California girl at heart. So I make it a point to fly in and out of Long Beach Airport whenever possible.

It's not the closest to my family, but it is worth it because it's a far better airport experience. So many people think of airports as being miserable, being loud, being chaotic. It's a long TSA line. And then once you get there, you're sitting in this chair that seems like it was designed for like some sort of elephant to sit in because it fits No.

One. And, you know, the loudspeaker is blaring, but all of these airports really make air travel enjoyable. And so many people hate air travel. And I think it's because they've only been exposed to these brutal airports. But when you go to these charming ones, it really, really makes air travel actually fun and actually part of the vacation experience.

So I would go out of my way, whether it's long Beach for me to go home or just taking a little trip to any of these other airports, absolutely worth it. I'm glad I asked that. Thank you so much, Sally. I appreciate it. Thanks for taking some time out with me. Absolutely.

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