What are the best airports for Southwest flight layover?

[CarlyeThornton]

What are the best airports to spend a layover?

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) has my heart because most of the dining options are locally-inspired rather than a bunch of chains and there are some pretty neat seating areas. I'm not leaving that airport without the Banh Mi tacos from The Peached Tortilla. The BEST!

[dfwskier · Accepted solution]

Las Vegas or Reno. Food and one armed bandits to keep you entertained.

[bec102896]

With AUS being my home airport it’s hard for me to have a layover there 😂 although most of the ops agents know me and several of the local food places know me very well (Amy’s ice cream for dessert yumm) 

during Covid I loved MDW layovers because I’d take my lunch/dinner and go to the very quiet A4A/A4B concourse (a nice walk from the other gates ) and was a peaceful place to take a break from the mask and eat. Before covid I couldn’t stand those gates for layovers 😂 but now with those gates back in use I still enjoy MDW but not the hike on short layovers 

now days still enjoy MDW but LAS is fun for slots and  BNA is fun for music I used to like HOU for pappadeaux but they are no more so I skip HOU when I can (yeah I’m salty about it) 

[DancingDavidE]

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@CarlyeThornton

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) has my heart because most of the dining options are locally-inspired rather than a bunch of chains and there are some pretty neat seating areas. I'm not leaving that airport without the Banh Mi tacos from The Peached Tortilla. The BEST!

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EDIT: fixed my formatting

MDW my most common home airport has some great local options too - Big City Chicken, Home Run Inn, Big and Little's, Porkchop, M-burger, Reilley's Daughter, Billy Goat, I'm forgetting a few. The airport itself doesn't have the vibe for hanging out though. Easy public transit to downtown if you had a layover long enough. I've never personally connected here, only originated.  

BNA I think is great, and I have a blog/trip report to offer for that after a long layover with my daughter that went great. Lots to do, see, listen, and eat.

DEN is also good with the lounge and several good coffee spots, nice and airy design, outdoor patio sometimes, its a little behind the others on food although I haven't explored the A and B concourses very much.

BWI I like O'Brycki's crab cakes and several other good food options, newer concourses are spacious some of the older section is a little cramped.

AUS I enjoyed the restaurants and local flair, nice and airy - but haven't made a connection there, only a destination. I'd consider it though if I wasn't going through DEN.

[floridaguy]

I feel like Knoxville Tennessee is a great choice for a layover.

[ksbrg]

I've ended up in BNA a few times traveling between DAL and the east coast. Always enjoy spending an hour or two there - live music, nice bars.

[DancingDavidE]

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@ksbrg wrote:

I've ended up in BNA a few times traveling between DAL and the east coast. Always enjoy spending an hour or two there - live music, nice bars.

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I didn't get one of these on my recent visit there as they were out of the ingredients, but Barista Parlor about 2/3 of the way down the BNA C Concourse makes an iced drink called the espresso tonic which is espresso, tonic water, and lemon syrup, over ice. 

It is life-changing, on my trips to PNS I would order two of these one to drink right away and then another in my insulated cup to have later.

As it turns out it is extremely rare to find any coffee shops that have both lemon and tonic water to attempt a re-creation of the beverage.

The other coffee shop in both C and D concourses is also good, but they don't have an espresso tonic.

[SoCalFlyer97]

Based on my experience and location, I would vote for LAS mainly because one can access just about any amenity or restaurant on any concourse at either terminal via the network of airside connectors and tramways.

SoCalFlyer97 likes to retreat to a quiet unused gate area too if he's got a long wait before his flight and that's almost a certainty at LAS.

Just make sure you're know where you're going so you don't get lost in this giant labyrinth of an airport and as @dfwskier mentioned, watch out for those glowing bandits!

[DancingDavidE]

Everytime I've been in that gate section as LAS it has been complete pandemonium.

Lounges I give it an B, they are nice but over in the D Gates which is a little inconvenient but doable with enough extra time.

We only almost missed a flight one time due to that arrangement.

Overall I'm underwhelmed with the B and C gates restaurants and it is a little crowded so given the choice of LAS or DEN for a layover I'd take DEN, unless it was long enough to get out of the terminal and come back.

[5280Av8r]

I'm biased toward DEN because I grew up there, but the new renovations are looking nice!

Anyway, I currently have a mission to fly to or connect through SWA's largest airports, so far my favorites apart from DEN are DAL and BNA. I wasn't a fan of HOU when I went through there this past Christmas, but maybe that's because I was in the international gates area and felt far removed from the happenings of the airport. I have yet to try out AUS, BWI, LAS, FLL, MCI, MCO, OAK, SJC, SMF, STL, TPA - clearly I have a long ways to go. Not to mention, it's been awhile since I've been to both LAX and SAN.