OFFICIAL - New KCI Terminal

[dnweava]

At the airport today I noticed multiple Uber/rideshare using the regular pickup lanes instead of their dedicated parking spots, that should get those people banned from being able to do airport pickups....

Also took this pic

[im2kull]

So where do people go who are waiting to pick up arriving passengers?

[KCPowercat]

Garage, cell phone lot, circle around, be better at not going to airport before the person is there?

Like every airport anywhere?

[TheSmokinPun]

So where do people go who are waiting to pick up arriving passengers?

Look man, I'm sorry you can't abandon your car at the gate in a fire zone so you can wait an hour for your arrival because the baggage claim fell apart again. Move on.

[im2kull]

So where do people go who are waiting to pick up arriving passengers?

Look man, I'm sorry you can't abandon your car at the gate in a fire zone so you can wait an hour for your arrival because the baggage claim fell apart again. Move on.

You missed my point. To call a waiting lot a "cell phone lot" instead of simply and directly saying "Pickup waiting lot" or something similar, is the problem. Why call it a "Cell phone lot"? Nobody's pulling off the side of the road to talk on their wirelessly connected cell phone. This isn't 2004.

[langosta]

So where do people go who are waiting to pick up arriving passengers?

Look man, I'm sorry you can't abandon your car at the gate in a fire zone so you can wait an hour for your arrival because the baggage claim fell apart again. Move on.

You missed my point. To call a waiting lot a "cell phone lot" instead of simply and directly saying "Pickup waiting lot" or something similar, is the problem. Why call it a "Cell phone lot"? Nobody's pulling off the side of the road to talk on their wirelessly connected cell phone. This isn't 2004.

It’s the term used at most airports. If someone has been to another airport, they will have seen a sign that says Cell Phone Lot. It was also called the Cell Phone Lot at old KCI so it’s not like it’s a new to KC thing either.


The definition:
“A cell phone lot is a parking lot, typically located at airports, where people can wait before picking up passengers“

[KCPowercat]

yeah that's at every airport approach signage I've ever seen.

[Sani]

There's a USA TODAY article from 2006 about the then-new cell phone lots.

It's a familiar drill. You wait until the last minute before leaving the house for the airport to pick up an arriving friend or family member, to minimize the wait. But unless you're lucky, airport police will have to shoo you away from the terminal door a time or two, the result of tighter post-9/11 security. So you drive the airport loop until the traveler arrives.

That, of course, was before airports discovered cellphone lots — free parking areas where the people picking up fliers can simply await the "I'm ready" call from the arriving traveler.

In less than two years, cellphone lots have gone from nearly non-existent to commonplace. Almost half of the 50 largest domestic airports now features such lots.

Chicago O'Hare and Washington Dulles have recently opened cell lots. Phoenix is considering building one more. Orlando plans to build one later this year.

Of note, the article has a list of airports with "waiting lots" open at that time, and Kansas City isn't one of the airports listed. The list also includes what the airport signs call the lot. The vast majority are some variation on "cell phone waiting lot" or "cell phone lot," but OAK called it the "park & call zone," BWI called it the "arrival waiting area," and SLC called it the "park n' wait lot." Oakland and Salt Lake City kept those names, but BWI has since renamed it the "Cell Phone Lot."

So in summary, it's been the "cell phone lot" essentially since it was invented 20 years ago.

[im2kull]

There's a USA TODAY article from 2006 about the then-new cell phone lots.

It's a familiar drill. You wait until the last minute before leaving the house for the airport to pick up an arriving friend or family member, to minimize the wait. But unless you're lucky, airport police will have to shoo you away from the terminal door a time or two, the result of tighter post-9/11 security. So you drive the airport loop until the traveler arrives.

That, of course, was before airports discovered cellphone lots — free parking areas where the people picking up fliers can simply await the "I'm ready" call from the arriving traveler.

In less than two years, cellphone lots have gone from nearly non-existent to commonplace. Almost half of the 50 largest domestic airports now features such lots.

Chicago O'Hare and Washington Dulles have recently opened cell lots. Phoenix is considering building one more. Orlando plans to build one later this year.

Of note, the article has a list of airports with "waiting lots" open at that time, and Kansas City isn't one of the airports listed. The list also includes what the airport signs call the lot. The vast majority are some variation on "cell phone waiting lot" or "cell phone lot," but OAK called it the "park & call zone," BWI called it the "arrival waiting area," and SLC called it the "park n' wait lot." Oakland and Salt Lake City kept those names, but BWI has since renamed it the "Cell Phone Lot."

So in summary, it's been the "cell phone lot" essentially since it was invented 20 years ago.

I understand this. I'm saying it's time to update the phrase. This isn't twenty years ago. This is now.

Might as well throw up stagecoach waiting area signs at this point, if updating verbiage doesn't matter.

Point being, ONE simple change to the signage and ALL your problems with people parking in the pickup lanes disappears. Folks in KC don't know what a "Cell phone lot" is and I don't blame them. It's an antiquated, irrelevant term. Use something proper, modern, and descriptive.

[KCPowercat]

lol

[dev49]

If people here don’t know what a cell phone lot is then we have bigger problems.

I’m not sure how people let you know they are ready but for me it is a call or text on my cell phone.

[GRID]

Trip back home was great. The new terminal functions well, is efficient and has plenty of amenities.

The terminal was really busy but the wait for TSA was like 2 minutes. We have tsa pre, but the regular lines looked like 5-10 minutes. Buses to rental car facility on both ends were so much better. No wait, buses not overcrowded because you don't have departing and arriving passengers on same buses. Still wish the buses dropped off at Departures level though.

Bathrooms were plentiful and clean and the all gender restrooms were especially nice.

We had some BBQ at Meat Mitch and it was pretty good.

The airport was really busy, concourses were pretty maxed out with people at least concourse B. Still plenty of room though, didn't feel overcrowded.

I still feel like the terminal is pretty bare bones for a brand new terminal. I don't think anybody will think anything of it. It will be just another airport to people that travel a lot. But it's so much better than the old setup.

FYI, cars sitting waiting at the curb was a much bigger problem at BWI when we got there than it was at MCI which only had a few cars doing that while we were passing through about 4pm. It's a constant battle everywhere to get people to not sit at the curb.

[KCPowercat]

Wonder what made it feel bare bones to you? I mean it's basic build out so maybe that's it. I think the amount of art helps give it some character. It seems to be everywhere.

[GRID]

Wonder what made it feel bare bones to you? I mean it's basic build out so maybe that's it. I think the amount of art helps give it some character. It seems to be everywhere.

Architecturally mostly. I mean it's just a few boxes connected together. The artwork helps for sure, although I feel like most airports have some of that too.

Don't get me wrong, I really like it, I think it's fine. It just feels like the most basic/cost effective airport design ever. It's like the starting point of designing an airport without really doing much else (except adding the art).

I don't think there is anything wrong with that. It does what it's supposed to do and offers a pleasant traveling experience. I think people will like it and certainly won't hate it or have negative impressions like the old one. I do think the locals might be overrating it just a tad though simply because they are not used to having what is essentially a normal functioning airport terminal with basic amenities people are used to in any other airport.

[KCPowercat]

fair point, I can see that.

Yeah I always describe it to people as we have a normal airport now. Nothing sexy just that normal is so much of an upgrade, you can see why locals may overrate it.

[GRID]

I will say it's neat to be in a bustling airport in KC now. Everybody always thought KCI was just a low volume airport and that was just not the case. Sure, it's not a hub, but it was not as dead as it felt most of the time either.

You only saw tiny parts of the terminals and very small amounts of other travelers at the old KCI. Now with all the common areas, you have that "big airport" bustle. KCI now feels like it actually services a major metro area.

Hopefully it gets even busier. I feel like KCI needs about 50% more flights to really serve the market well along with at least one transatlantic and the terminal is now ready for more flights. Hopefully airlines take notice and route more flights through there.

[swid]

I hadn't realized that Chase was partnering with "The Club" lounge ownership for their Sapphire-branded lounges; given Southwest's (and United's) card partnerships with Chase, I wouldn't be surprised if that's what winds up in the empty lounge shell.

[langosta]

I would be shocked. Its almost the farthest possible walk from the Southwest gates and nearly just as far to United

[KCPowercat]

I'd highly doubt we get a chase lounge. I'm up for whatever but I'd put that well behind the smaller amex escape lounge in probability

[Highlander]

Just picked up a friend at KCI arrivals. Went to the cell phone lot and waited for a text from a friend saying they were out. It all worked out pretty well but a couple of observations:

1) they need a new or expanded Cell Phone Lot. The lot was full. A lot of parked cars with nobody in them so I suspect it was being used by some other entity at the airport as a parking lot.
2. Kansas Citians still haven't mastered the art of retrieving people at the arrivals area. The right hand lane on approach to arrivals was backed up quite some ways outside the arrivals despite a sign saying to use the right two lanes for pickup.
3. Some (meaning a lot) people still wait indefinitely for people in the arrivals area. We went around the rightmost approach lane and did not have too difficult of a time picking up our friend but it was hard to find a spot we could pull over into to do so. People in the rightmost line were trapped after they picked up their people by cars parked indefinitely in the next lane over. No cops were around to move people along.
4. I was kind of surprised by the volume of pedestrians walking from the garage into the terminal. Not seen that at KCI before (the outdoor approaches to the old terminal were normally bereft of people). It actually took some time getting past the crosswalks in our vehicle as we were leaving. Some drivers were impatient and entered the crosswalk with pedestrians very close at hand.

It's great to see the airport have the appearance of being busy again. As Grid pointed out, all the activity use to be spread throughout 3 and then 2 long arcuate terminals so visitors were always isolated from each other. Now most of the users get concentrated into singular areas that seem much busier.