Yelp website shows travelers love TPA
(Jan. 21, 2016) Free Wi-Fi and private workstations where you can use a laptop.
Short check-in lines. Easy to access satellite gates connected by efficient people movers.
Crowd-pleasing shops, restaurants and bars. A convenient cell phone lot. And clean, hands-free restrooms.
The positive reviews pour in for Tampa International Airport, which consistently ranks among the world’s best international airports.
A review of some of the more than 900 online comments posted about Tampa International on Yelp, a ratings website with user-generated content, highlights the airport’s charm and earn the airport 4 ½ stars, the highest rating of any major airport in the state.
Many reviewers post photos along with their comments and share their reviews with other website guests who follow their posts.
National and international heaped praise on the airport for its easy accessibility, convenient accommodations and services designed to serve both business and leisure travelers.
“Even flying out 2 days before xmas with hundreds of others and long lines there was hardly a delay. Lines moved fast...security is friendly and efficient,” wrote Virginia G., of St. Petersburg, a frequent contributor with over 700 reviews on the site. Virginia’s recorded 24 individual check-ins at TPA, most recently on January 19. Almost 200 other website guests follow her posts.
TPA's Yelp kudos come from all over the world.
Bee P. from Paris wrote, “I really like this Airport. It's by far my favorite in Florida. Very efficient and traveler friendly. Hard to beat. There is free fast wifi everywhere, lots of chargers, too, distances are doable, it's really easy to get around. The whole airport is well lit and the bright waiting areas are clean and friendly. Also the bathrooms are clean. Eating options are better than in other airports and Starbucks is everywhere.”
A Beachwood, Ohio, resident summed it up this way: Tampa International is “hands down, the best airport.”
“The way they do security is actually genius,” said the Ohio tourist, who identified herself as Corrine K. on Yelp. “You take a tram to your airside terminal (determined by the airline you are flying) and then go through security. The lines are shorter and move so much faster this way.”
The airport’s unique system of conducting security check-ins at airside terminals rather than in the main complex and free Internet service also struck a chord with Jenna Everman of Seattle.
”First and most important for me is that TPA has free Wi-Fi and TSA pre-check,” Everman wrote a review. “I like how you have to take the tram before you go through security and have never had a long wait in the line.”
A Tampa resident gave Tampa International five stars just for offering free Wi-Fi. The other services are a bonus.
“I’m embarrassed to admit that I used to think that this was just another airport,” Chris W. of Tampa penned in a Yelp post. “Now that I’ve had a chance to travel internationally and to several airports around the country I realize how utterly spoiled I am by Tampa International Airport.”
And even though the Airport is undergoing a major expansion project, one of the more prolific Yelp reviewers gave TPA high marks.
“Even though there's a shedload of construction going on, I was impressed with the signage that pointed me to the rental car return and then into the terminal. Finding the ticket counter was easy, finding the entrance to the terminal shuttle was easy and getting to security was easy. What a super airport,” wrote Bruce K of Charlotte, NC.
Bruce has logged over 5,600 reviews, posted over 9,000 photos and is followed by over 1,000 friends since he first began posting in 2009. And with over 27,000 votes describing his reviews as helpful by other Yelp guests, that’s praise indeed.