Why you have to walk so far to your gate at the airport

Anyone ever track their steps at the airport?

Why would one do that? Do some people have a 'budget' of how many steps they will walk and if the gate is another 50 steps when they hit the 'limit', do they just stand there and wave good-bye when the plane leaves without them?

The article seems to blame commercial greed for big airports with long walks because of all the shops. The shops wouldn't be there if they were no customers.

Do some people have a 'budget' of how many steps they will walk and if the gate is another 50 steps when they hit the 'limit', do they just stand there and wave good-bye when the plane leaves without them?

Yes, that's exactly what I meant. 🙄

This story from years ago relates to a complaint about the wait time at the baggage carousel. Solution: make the walk longer.

https://amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/sep/07/how-to-beat-bottlenecks-oliver-burkeman

Hey Mary, I’m so glad you changed your username! And by the way, my legal name is Mary, too. One more thing we have in common, lol!

And by the way, I always like it when the plane is a far distance and I can walk. I always try and get my 8 to 10,000 steps in and that’s a good way of doing it. Unless of course I’m pressed for time. Then I would like it to be a shorter distance. 😊

This place is just bursting with Marys and Carols!

It’s the only exercise I get on a travel day. I’m OK with long walks. Although I don’t like the snake-like mazes through Duty Free shops.

I don’t mind the long walks. Especially after a long or overnight flight. It guess the blood moving and wakes me up. I often will skip the moving sidewalks.

Just echoing what travel4fun said: in business school, one of our case studies was about passengers unhappiness waiting at the luggage carousel, and the solution adopted was to make the gates further out so people don't have to wait as long.

Apparently it reduces complaints substantially. Something about it feels wrong to me (particularly since I have become a convert to packing light and not checking bags) but if people are happier overall, who am I to argue? Certain things really anger people: waiting is one of them. Needless walking for the same amount of time doesn't anger people as much.

One of the very few upsides to mobility impairment- I rarely have to walk to the gate or luggage carousel. I ride either in a wheelchair or airport golf cart. But when I do have to walk, let's just say that at my speed, any wait at the other end is usually short.

I don't mind long walks in airports unless I'm under time pressure. Between flights I'm glad to stretch my legs, and I try for multi-hour layovers to reduce stress. It helps if the airport is well-signed, not too crowded, filled with agreeable food options, and well supplied with reasonably clean bathrooms. One thing I hate about Frankfurt is how they funnel you into the duty-free store complex full of luxury stuff that I'll never buy.

Heck, after all the food I eat on trips, I could use the calorie burning before and after!

Although I don’t like the snake-like mazes through Duty Free shops.

and

they funnel you into the duty-free store complex full of luxury stuff that I'll never buy.

These two thoughts, I couldn't agree with more. I don't mind the long walks, for reasons mentioned above (stretching legs, etc). I absolutely loathe being sent through a winding road of shops just to get to the gate area.

"I absolutely loathe being sent through a winding road of shops just to get to the gate area."

IKEA Airport?

You mean it isn't just at Frankfurt they do that?

Mary, aren’t you re-planning your trip to Spain? You may be impressed by the epic trecking at Madrid’s airport.

You mean it isn't just at Frankfurt they do that?

That is correct. For example, flew back from CDG in April, and the same thing there, at least in terminal 2E.

This place is just bursting with Marys and Carols!

So true! It's our age group. When I was in grade school, there were at least 3 or 4 Marys on our class, and a number of Carols, too. The nuns there were the only ones who ever called me Mary - I've been Mardee since I was a few months old. 😊

@Dick, your comment about Frankfurt reminds me of my return home from the GAS tour in 2019. I flew there from Vienna and was connecting to my flight home in Portland at the time. Others may have experienced this also, but when my first flight landed in Frankfurt, I looked up my connecting flight on the board and it said "boarding." I knew that flight wasn't taking off for at least an hour and a half, but I panicked. I ran, can't remember how far, but it was a crazy long way and I was sweaty and exhausted. Then I reached my connecting gate only to find out they were just checking passports. It was unnecessarily stressful.

I'm still a big fan of good exercise based on my prior comment, however creating unnecessary panic, especially for people who have to walk a long way, is not cool.

@Lindy, re your comment about "Ikea airport," wouldn't it be funny if this was the case in an airport in Sweden and they used funny names for everything? 😄

I'm still a big fan of good exercise based on my prior comment, however creating unnecessary panic, especially for people who have to walk a long way, is not cool.

Jill, I couldn't agree more. I had a similar situation about 15 years ago when I was at JFK on my way to Istanbul. I had just arrived from CVG and heard that the plane was boarding so I had to race what seemed like miles to get to the gate. I have never run that fast in my life. They were boarding and I made it, but the plane sat there for another 30 minutes after I got on. So frustrating.

Mary, aren’t you re-planning your trip to Spain? You may be impressed by the epic trecking at Madrid’s airport.

Oh good. As long as I'm not rushing for a connection I enjoy an airport wander.

I will use my AMEX Lounge or Priority Pass longe benefit for lunch . At LAX I board the Delta Bus or walk if connected from Southwest Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 then take it to the midfield terminal and walk to the Centurion Lounge. Why? Because why should I pay the high prices of food and booze and coffee? It's worth every foot .

I will walk at SJC to the lounge ,SFO and any airport with one. It's my reward at the end of the walk I look forward to the Bar! I don't do Buy On Board but will use the lounge as my mecca! The walk back is easy after two Gin and Tonics and curry!

Typically I love the long walks in an airport because it allows me space to move around and not always just sit and be cooped up. And yes, I'm sure that sometimes for fun, I keep an eye on how many steps it took me to walk from say one gate (the one I disembarked from) to another gate (the one I'm going to embark at). My husband and I have at times done that. When we've arrived early with enough time and have already visited all the shops we are interested in, we might decide to just walk from one end of the terminal to the other and back and forth, just for fun. After all, many of our flights can be long in duration and if not for that walking, we'd have sat most of the day and feel all cooped up.

I remember it was not that long ago when shops in airports was not that common or not that plentiful. I remember back in the 80s Schipol (in Amsterdam) had an increasingly number of shops which I think was a bit unusual for that time. In the US, I don't usually find the shops very interesting for the most part. :(

I travel regularly through Denver, where they've extended Southwest's C Concourse. It seems like it goes for miles and miles, the last bit without any people movers.

I normally carry my dog when we're in the airport going home for a visit, but if we come in at the end of C Concourse, she has to walk part way!