Minneapolis airport? Salt Lake City airport?

[Colleen27]

Okay my well-travelled friends, tell me your experiences with either of these airports. I'm particularly interested in what amenities they have for killing time during a layover and how easy or difficult they are to navigate, because my 16yo daughter is going to have a layover at one or the other next summer and her opinion on the flight itinerary was "Whichever airport is easier." She'll be traveling solo and will have 3-5 hours between flights. The trip is in June so weather shouldn't be a major factor.

 

[AlohaNow]

SLC will have better views for sure! Sorry that I can't help beyond that.

 

[mnrose]

The MSP airport is very nice. Tons of shopping and places to browse. Nice artwork displayed if you care to search it out. Grand piano to play (if that's your thing). Not hard to navigate. You only need to know what concourse you are on. They can be pretty far apart, so I never advice close connections in MSP, but it's not difficult. With 5 hours, I'd be tempted to leave the airport (allowing 90 minutes to get back through security) and take the train (about 5 minutes away) to the Mall of America and wander for a bit. With 3, I would stay put.

 

[ols386]

We had a layover in the Minneapolis airport once, but it was a short layover. All I can really say is that it was easy to maneuver around in it.

 

[Jennasis]

I had a short layover in Minneapolis and remember thinking it was very pretty.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

Totally personal preference here, but I vastly prefer MSP to SLC. While both airports connect you to your next flight, I felt that the food/shop options were better at MSP. I also thought that the gate areas were better at MSP than SLC, but that also has to do with the airline I was flying through SLC. I didn't like the Delta gate area there at all, where the one at MSP seems larger and less congested to me.

Hope it's a wonderful trip!

 

[auntfrannie]

Plenty of food options at MSP; easy to navigate; and some nice shops to browse if you want to kill some time.

 

[tvguy]

Both are hub airports so should have lots of food and shopping and people watching options. I've been through both and neither one stands out in my memory as being better.

 

[Jen4400]

Which airline would she be flying? There are a few airlines (Southwest is one of them) that fly into terminal 2 at MSP, which is much smaller than the main terminal. Terminal 2 was just redone and there are a few places to eat and look around, but it's very small compared to the main terminal. The plus side is that it's not nearly as busy.

 

[mnrose]

Which airline would she be flying? There are a few airlines (Southwest is one of them) that fly into terminal 2 at MSP, which is much smaller than the main terminal. Terminal 2 was just redone and there are a few places to eat and look around, but it's very small compared to the main terminal. The plus side is that it's not nearly as busy.

That's a really good point. Terminal 2 is tiny. However, I'd not want to be stuck in Terminal 2 for more than a couple hours. Very little to do! On the plus side, it's so small, and security so relatively easy (compared to Terminal 1) that it would make it easy to go off airport to the mall.

 

[Colleen27]

Which airline would she be flying? There are a few airlines (Southwest is one of them) that fly into terminal 2 at MSP, which is much smaller than the main terminal. Terminal 2 was just redone and there are a few places to eat and look around, but it's very small compared to the main terminal. The plus side is that it's not nearly as busy.

She'll be flying Delta either way. Detroit is a Delta hub so that tends to be the default for any major-carrier flight for us.

From the feedback I've gotten so far, it sounds like MSP is probably the way to go. The airport looks like an easy enough place to kill some time, and I keep hearing how easy it is to navigate which is a plus since this is her first changing-planes flight without an adult. I doubt she'll leave the airport, even with the long connection, for the same reason - if I were going, she'd probably jump at some mall time, but on her own she's saying she just wants to browse the shops, grab some coffee, and wait for her next flight.

 

[elgerber]

Totally agree with MSP. It is my home airport and sometimes when I fly, I wish I had more time to spend there. There are tons of places to eat, and some really nice stores for browsing.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I would go with MSP -- a lot more shops. SLC is boring.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I've had to travel for work to Grand Forks, ND, several times over the past couple of years, and always go through Minneapolis airport. I really like it. They have a small mall, some nice places to eat, and in terminal G you can get a little table and hook up your laptop or plug in your smart phone to charge. They also have ipads you can use for a fee.

 

[Boardwalk Jedi]

It's been 25 years since I regularly flew to Minneapolis. Darn I'm old. Anyway, the airport is nice and I never had any issues. I'm guessing it's the same or better by now. No experience with SLC airport, but I've been told flying into SLC is beautiful.

 

[Golf4food]

MSP is very nice, Delta should be in near all the main shopping and dining.

 

[Jen4400]

She'll be flying Delta either way. Detroit is a Delta hub so that tends to be the default for any major-carrier flight for us.

From the feedback I've gotten so far, it sounds like MSP is probably the way to go. The airport looks like an easy enough place to kill some time, and I keep hearing how easy it is to navigate which is a plus since this is her first changing-planes flight without an adult. I doubt she'll leave the airport, even with the long connection, for the same reason - if I were going, she'd probably jump at some mall time, but on her own she's saying she just wants to browse the shops, grab some coffee, and wait for her next flight.

Delta is in the main terminal, so she's good there. I have never flown into Salt Lake City, but being from Minnesota and having frequented the airport there, I'd go with MSP. She will have plenty to do without leaving and it's very easy to get around.

 

[Kimberle]

Okay my well-travelled friends, tell me your experiences with either of these airports. I'm particularly interested in what amenities they have for killing time during a layover and how easy or difficult they are to navigate, because my 16yo daughter is going to have a layover at one or the other next summer and her opinion on the flight itinerary was "Whichever airport is easier." She'll be traveling solo and will have 3-5 hours between flights. The trip is in June so weather shouldn't be a major factor.

I grew up in MN and still have family there. I fly in/out of MSP all the time. It's a very nice airport. It's very large, but the signage is good. I generally fly Delta, too. There are plenty of food choices at fairly reasonable prices. There are lots of cute stores to browse.