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Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport
Rating Details »
24 reviews for Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport
Jason H was right when he said that "Flying through CVG is like flying back in time"
http://I.came through Terminal A from New York Laguardia to catch a connecting flight to Grand Rapids Michigan....I was told by the Delta personnel in NY that we won't be getting off the plane...we'll just suppose to pick up some passengers enroute to Michigan's GRR airport...WRONG....
They let us all out and made us wait for an almost 2 hours...that was fine with me..I was totally engrossed reading this wonderful book "The Spectrum"that Clyde R. send me...Its a very POWERFUL and its Scientifically proven program to feel better...Live Longer...Lose Weight and gain Health...Please do yourself a favor....go and get a copy......you won't regret it.....what more...there are pages and pages of healthy recipes at the back of the book...
Going back was a complete disaster.....Waited allmost 3-4 hours for my flight back to NewYork...Its the catching up from one terminal to another.. .from one concourse to another..... but I enjoyed my book and a snack of Southern Fried Chicken w/gravy and Mashed Potatoes at Wolfgang Puck Restaurant ...Hey...can't really complain..there are far more worst scenarios......just glad to be out of there.....there's no place like home.....
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It was quick and cheap. They also give you a huge portion. I had the two entree meal. The beijing beef and the orange chicken were both good but a little bit spicy.
One of the neatest, most welcoming airport i have been in. There are various stores, the whole ambiance is something magical, the floors elevated you to a certain point of calm and tranquility. But it all falls down when you realize you are in the wrong Terminal and have just informed ur depart from B12 and you are in C13!! You have to run faster than a world record holder, just to end up in a waiting area for a bus to shuttle you to the other terminal.
Ambiance: Great
Pretzels: $2.50
Grey Goose with cranberry: plenty
Ease of finding and getting there quickly to your departure Gate: Not so Good
Missing your flight after you took a bus a train or both to your connecting gate: Priceless
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My review is based only on Terminal 2 for I had no reason to explore Terminal 3. CVG features quite possibly the smallest United Terminal I have ever used. United Airlines is housed in Terminal 2, and they have all of 2 gates.
There isn't much to see or much to do in this old terminal building. I recall one other reviewer referred to the terminal as severely outdated. That it definitely is. The terminal houses a gift store, a newspaper, magazine and knick knack rack, a full service restaurant, and two smaller food vendors. All were closed when I arrived, and all but one were closed when I departed. There are no monitors to update you on your flights; that forced me to rely on the airline updates emailed to my cell phone.
On a brighter note the airport security gate was one of the smoothest that I have ever experienced, or maybe it was just that I was one of five persons using it at the time of my departure. The TSA crew seemed to be an all veteran staff.
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When working in Cincinnati, most people tell you to fly out of Dayton International Airport to save money. They forget to mention that the airport is 50+ miles away!
If you can, fly out of CVG to save time. Unfortunately, Delta has a monopoly on the flights in and out of CVG and have pretty high prices. If you're flying to/from Washington DC, your airfares will be similarly priced as flying out of DAY.
Getting to the airport is a breeze. Take I-75 south all the way through Cincinnati, across the river, through the woods, stop by grandmother's house and then into Kentucky, Yes, the airport is technically in KY. if you're returning a hertz car rental, add 15 more minutes to your itinerary. the return facility is a 5 minute bus ride off-site.
the airport itself is relatively new. after checking in upstairs, you go all the way down into the basement to walk or tram to one of two piers that are parallel with the ticketing building.
never parked there for long-term parking...no info
cleanliness ... good
misc ... the delta flight from CVG to DCA is on a 737-800 ... meaning you save another 20 minutes (total 40 minute flight) over the flight time of the DAY to DCA on a CRJ
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I got this confused with Cleveland airport initially with the terminals.
Unfortunately the B-C terminal (i think?) has all of the gates in ONE waiting area (who's idea was that?) and it's nearly impossible to keep track of what announcements are going on, as the gate attendants are shouting at each other.
The other terminals are normal here, but going through security is a nightmare. Food here is AWFUL, and a bad place to be with a long layover.
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There's nothing at CVG that's markedly different than any other airport in north america; you get dropped off at the terminal like any where else, check in like any where else, go through security like you do anywhere else (security is actually a little quicker than average here.) There's fast food and souvenir shops and rows of black leather seats in front of gates.
You'll only recall that something about the place was a little off; Maybe it was the flourescent lighting and bare walls in the long underpass leading towards the delta terminal, or the art deco inspired touches here and there that seem a little out of place as if the architects toyed with it as a theme for the building but abandoned their plans. Maybe it's the restrooms in need of upkeep, or how the two smartasses in the sunglass hut joke with each other and with customers and the weary politeness of the airport employees. It'll be hard to place, and once you've been home for a few days, you'll just shrug and forget about it. You'll think maybe it was just you. Maybe it was just me.
CVG is one of delta's east coast hubs; Chances are you'll transfer here. And it's not bad for that, though the weather is a little iffy during the winter. Aside from that, there isn't too much to complain about.
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Allow me to summarize many of the previous reviews: if you're flying out of Cincinnati, stick with Delta and hang in Concourse B, Terminal 3.
This and the unconnected Comair terminal are the only areas I have flown out of and I have never been disappointed with the variety of things to do, see, and eat in the concourse.
Concourse B features an Outback Steakhouse (the quickest service for a sit-down steak restaurant that I've ever seen), a Max & Erma's (that's open for breakfast and actually serves up some decent fare), and a Wolfgang Puck restaurant. There is also a food court that features the basics: McDonalds, Sbarro, Gold Star, and TCBY. For coffee addicts, there is a Starbucks and for those in search of somewhat healthier fare, a Grove.
I love getting to this terminal early so I have ample time to shop around. My first stop is usually Borders to get reading material for my flight and then I have to pay a visit to Toto. I don't know if these stores exist outside of airports (Cincinnati's has two locations, one in the Comair terminal) but Toto has a great selection of the most unique and interesting knick-knacks for sale. I love their line of Wisdom cards/magnets and interesting clocks. Shoppers will also find a selection of lamps, pet novelty items, and travel-themed gift items (adorable luggage tags). I could spend hours in Toto, despite the store's small size. A Brooks Brothers, a Brookstone, a few news shops, and a store celebrating Kentucky round out the shopping experience in this concourse.
Other than shopping, travelers can spend lay-overs getting manicures and pedicures at the 10 minute Manicure station, or getting their shoes shined.
I have flown out of CVG through Delta or Comair at least fifty times and have actually never had a bad experience with long security lines or flight delays at their airport...the prices may be high, but CVG seems to know what they are doing. They've never lost a piece of my luggage, either!
Long-term parking=$40/day
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As an American Flyer, I usually go through Terminal B/2 something (well I think that is it). And yeah, I'm bitter that I have to fly on the tuna can (regional jet) between Dallas and Cincy.
My god this airport is old and scary. Forget being able to find electrical plugs. It is death match 2000 to get one.
And the puff machine (you know the machine that blows air on you and analyzes for bomb material). Do we really need to test everyone flying out of cincinnati for bomb materials on our clothing? I live in Dallas and have only been sent through the puff machine at DFW ONCE. In cincinnati it is almost every time. REALLY. I'm all about safety, but lets be real.
The one time I flew on Delta out of Cincy, it was the CVG Death March. A bus and a loonnnggg walk to get from security to the plane? really? geez.
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Though the Cincinnati Airport is maybe the prettier and wealthier of our local airports, it is also the more expensive to travel out of, and the experience is often pretty inconsistent. The terminals themselves are in varying stages of modernity and efficiency.
The CVG website might be the airports greatest asset. You can check your flight status, get directions and terminal information, and shop fare deals.
One of the more interesting things about the Cincinnati Airport is its history. It is intrinsically linked to Union Terminal, the many murals around the airport having been salvaged from the train station in 1972, and that is pretty cool.
An unremarkable addition to my list of airports visited. Stuck here for 3 hours on a layover to Columbus. It's better than some, worse than some. The security announcements aren't so painfully frequent here as they are other places, but on the other hand Terminal A is pretty old and lacks much in the way of eateries. WiFi is only available by way of a T-Mobile hotspot, which is $7 for 60 minutes or $10 for a whole day. Way too expensive.
Some points of interest:
* Terminal C is actually really nice, probably the most-recently built. Lots of food over there.
* Terminal A doesn't have much of interest. If you're trying to charge your laptop, search around a little for an outlet before paying for one of the "charge stations". There are actually a few old outlets in random places.
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Flying through CVG is like flying back in time. Coming in from Denver I'm always coming into Terminal A and of course I always fly out of Terminal B. For most airports this isn't a problem, you just jump on the little train or take a small hike, but for CVG this terminal dance is needlessly complicated.
You get to ride the bus. Say what?! A bus? Really? Yes, sadly that is the truth. So when you are stuck with a close connection you don't run to your terminal. You run to a bus and wait for the driver to finish chatting with someone else and then drive SLOWLY across the tarmac to the other terminal. Sorry, but that is just stupid!
Then you get to wait in the cattle corral for Comair to call your flight. The huge holding pen for passengers with numerous gates means you are always having to dodge around people to get to your gate. And then you have to hope it really is your gate, since they board two flights at once out of the same gate. Really the stupidest idea some flunky MBA ever had.
There is also the Terminal B to Terminal C bus, for those unlucky enough to come into the cattle pen and need to get out on the bigger regional jets that fly from Terminal C. If CVG would get rid of the bus and move to something more 1990's, like a train I would give them back 2 stars. If they would update the terminals from the 1970's I'd give them half a star back. And finally, if they would get rid of the cattle pen in Terminal B I'd give them another half star back. It's an airport, I don't think 5 stars is allowed for a US airport.
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Right off the bat, this airport has some of the softest toilet paper my bum has ever been privy to in a public place. I'm not a big fan of going twosies in a public (i.e. not my home commode) restroom, but this nice surprise helped.
I had a layover here before my final destination in Louisville and while there wasn't a whole lot of new or interesting or non-chain-y things to do, it was a clean and well-lit airport. Easily manageable.
It's interesting to see the clientele shift when flying in from a coastal city. People aren't dressed up as much and you start to see a lot of matching sports tops and shorts. The average passenger seems to weigh a bit more also. The biggest shocker happened after I was airborne. The guy next to me kept reaching for his cup and it took me a few minutes to figure out what was up. He was dippin'. Chaw that is. And spitting his tobacco filled saliva back into a cup that was sitting precariously close to me. I haven't been around this pleasant habit since high school and I can easily say I still think it is as disgusting now as I thought it was then. Who the hell "dips" on a plane???
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I don't generally review airports, but maybe this is the start of a trend. So here's what I have to say about CVG. This place would easily merit four stars if they did one of the two following major changes.
1. Put the car rental at the terminals.
2. Fly more planes.
I try not to talk about the Midwest as flyover country, but the paucity of flights coming to and from Cincinnati is proof that it actually is. And if that weren't bad enough, you almost cannot get to the Midwest from here. Which is to say that if you try to fly to Cleveland, there is no commuter flight, as in 250 buck commuter flight. There are 800 dollar commuter flights though. That makes no sense whatsoever.
The other week I was trying to get from Cinci to Detroit. Ahem, but they don't even have direct *trains* between the towns. What's up with that? Well, Dayton's up with that. Apparently all the short flights that you would expect to get from Cincinnati you can only get from Dayton which is about 50 miles north. Almost twin cities - they should put one big fat airport in the middle.
But. CVG as a collection of terminals and all that is first rate. It comes complete with Quizno's and Panda Express and a bunch of other neat eating and shopping places. Security is swift and the place has a generally spacious and uncrowded feeling. It's newer and better laid out than Cleveland and I actually enjoy it enough to get there really early.
This airport actually has two personalities:
There's the Delta terminal, very new, nice, clean, and spacious; shopping and restaurants, Starbucks on every corner.
Then there are the other terminals. Run-down, cramped, and without a Starbucks.
Luckily the two are not a long walk from one another, over an air-conditioned bridge.
Pro: The non-Delta terminals have Cincinnati Bell WiFi, which is free for those with Cincinnati Bell DSL (Zoomtown).
Con: The Delta terminal has only T-Mobile WiFi. Why couldn't it have both?
Pro: The non-Delta terminals have extremely short security lines and generally they move very fast. You can get to the terminal much closer to your flight than on a Delta flight.
Con: Once you get through security, you get to sit in a cramped hallway that has no wireless, no outlets, and barely any seating. You don't want to arrive very early. In the Delta terminal, it's wonderful inside, but you'll want to arrive 2 hours early, because there will be plenty of waiting in line and it's like a mile to your gate (though some of it can be on the underground train).
The Delta terminals are very nice and very clean, and there are even outlets at the gate if you know where to look.
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Ask me where I'd want to spend 12 hours of my life, and I can guarantee you that the answer wouldn't be "Cincinnati's airport", but it happened. This was after the fiasco of trying to get to Austin and eventually having to take a separate flight from my boyfriend.
My layover was supposed to be about 40 minutes on Friday and stretched out into the aforementioned 12 hours, encompassing a flight being delayed and then canceled, returning to the airport the next morning after 4 hours of sleep in a dingy motel room, being denied my flight coupon at security and having to check in, going back through security, racing through the concourse to get to the other concourse, missing my flight, and piddling away an entire day before the next flight I could get on at 4:45 pm.
The airport food is, as all other airport food is designed to be, nothing to write home about. There was a Harpoon Tap Room that I'm sure would have cost way more than I was willing to spend, since drinking at the airport is high-priced. I finally tried Quiznos and got through about 2 bites of my sandwich before having to toss it out. There is one sparkling exception, though: Moe's in the Delta terminal, where I had a huge, delicious breakfast after not eating for 20 hours, along with a giant Screwdriver to simultaneously coat the synapses and get my Vitamin C requirements for the day. There was only one guy on staff that day (aside from the cook) due to Cincinnati getting buried in snow the night before, and he was incredibly friendly and fast with the food and the bill. I felt for him and left him an extra-large tip as a result.
I spent the day in the A (?) terminal. It was the older one, so there wasn't much in the way of shopping/distractions, but I was beyond exhausted, so it didn't matter much either way. My overall impression, though? Bland.
I have flown THROUGH CVG dozens of times. This was my first ever experience flying OUT OF. No wonder the fares are so high. They need money to renovate from the 70's architecture and my gosh, update TSA PEOPLE (they already have the most expensive equipment).
This airport always impressed me whenever I flew with Delta. I thought it was state of the art! Well, only Terminal B...anything else is severely outdated.
Security was downright STUPID. Only three lanes open out of a possible fifteen. The TSA staff looked somewhat educated, but why would it take close to ONE HOUR for a line of about 40 people to go through??? TSA agents kept showing their frustrations at the people waiting in line, "People, you must have your liquids in a one quart zip-lock bag. If you don't you are holding up the line like these people. (Pointing to Middle-Easterners holding up the line)"
Just a tip: Fly THROUGH CVG on BIG equipment only (737 or larger). That way you can stay in Terminal B without taking a BUS to Terminal C and catching an E145 or CRJ to your connecting city.
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They have a CLEAR lane that makes things so much easier! It's clean and I like the shops. It's an airport. I mean, nothing stands out about it to me. Except maybe the generous amount of electric walking floor there is. Since reading the other reviews I must tell you that I fly Delta coming through. So this older, rougher side of CVG I have never and do not wish to experience. Thanks for the heads up.
My fiance and I flew in from San Francisco via Delta, arriving Friday around 6 am.
Even for that time, the airport was still jumping - a good sign. The airport is beautiful and well-lit (maybe too well-lit, as one cannot sleep at the gate waiting) and BUSY! As true for all airports, if you have time, you'll appreciate the airport but if you're running from one end to another, screw and curse the place!
We arrived @ Terminal B and had to hop over to Terminal A and dude, it was such a freakin long walk! I have no prob walking but my fiance had shoe problems. The underground tram was a nice touch, rushing ppl over about 500 feet in a matter of seconds.
While this airport has a decent amount of dining options, it really cannot support the people load. McDonalds & Cinnabon had a Black Friday line, as well as Starbucks. Terminal A has a Panda Express, open @ 8 am and obviously not crowded.
What this airport needs is a hell of a lot more coffee options. One Starbucks and two Peets are not going to please anyone.
After not following my OWN review and using Delta Airlines... I had to suffer the wrath of the Delta Mechanical problems at Cincinnati airport. From a one hour delay to a CANCELLED flight... my $7 voucher for food DID not make me a much a happier camper. The airport was OK. Not having another flight to SFO within a four hour time frame, NOT OK. Trying to sleep on the benches with the immobile armrest... not OK. Trying to sleep behind the delta counter... ok, pretty dark... Trying to sleep behind the Delta Counter when all you can hear is "please stand to the right of the mobile walkway" everytime you start to drift off... NOT OK!
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Lots of places to grab something to eat (for that I was thankful, given there was no meal services back to LA). It has been over ten years since I have been to this airport, a lot of nice changes. I just wish there were more displays giving gate information. Sorry there isn't more to say, I didn't have a long layover to explore further.
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This is a decent airport sitting on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River. WiFi is available if you are a Cincinnati Bell customer which is great if you're a local, but no help in my case. The airport has a distinct old section and new section. If you fly with Delta Airlines, who has one of their main hubs here, you will arrive in the new terminals. Tons of restaurants, shopping, video screens showing you flight information, etc. Nice and modern with all the expected amenities. Otherwise, you'll most likely end up in one of the old terminals which consists of one long tunnel with 8 gates, 4 to a side. There is one magazine stand located in the middle of said tunnel with bottled water, a few different sodas, Doritos, and gummy bears. Breakfast of champions. I think I'll be waiting for my layover to grab some grub... although I'd probably be the first to Yelp on the magazine stand in Terminal 2... lol...
Flying in: I came in via Delta Airlines and finally got to see the new portion of this airport. Landing and taxi time to the gate was fast, and the terminal looked so nice (compared to my previous visit on United) I was a bit shocked. The bad thing is that this new terminal is located in the land of Shrek (Far, Far Away). After wandering a bit, I found the tram to baggage claim and the rest of the airport. The tram stops proclaiming your arrival at baggage claim. Shyeah right. Don't get off here (like I did). You will walk and walk and walk and walk and walk. The stupid tram that informed me I arrived will actually make 3 more stops along the way, which I noticed as I was sweating my ass off. I guess it was good exercise... but not in a business suit. By the time I got there my luggage was already making laps on the carousel. Rental car pickup is curbside right outside baggage claim.
Flying out: I thought I was running late (about 90 mins before departure), but it turned out ok. For a Friday, traffic was super light. No lines at check in so that only took a couple minutes. There were only a handful of us going through security so that took about a minute. And now I'm sitting in the old school tunnel that is Terminal 2. At least it's air conditioned. Electrical outlets are few and far between. You'll find them in the ground, slightly camouflaged by the carpet maybe every 2 or 3 gates or so. I think they were put there for the vacuum cleaners and were probably there since before laptops were invented.
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I hate this place... its crowded and chances are - it'll cost you twice as much to fly out of than Dayton even though they're a damn Delta hub. Usually I end up driving to Dayton from Cincinnati only to fly back to Cincinnati and then to some airport on the East Coast. Counter productive - those two words pretty much sum up CVG.
Definitely an interesting airport to say the least. I've had a couple of delay scares but never been terribly late going home from Cincinnati. I don't really understand the boarding process here. Some of the terminals have these random doors where your flight will be called into or something. I don't even know. I always just have to go ask people where the heck to go because its not your typical gate letter and number. The food is alright as they have a Qdoba, which is always serves for a tasty dinner. Extremely crowded in the gate areas, however, because everyone is so confused regarding the door numbers and lack of gates.