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| - It would be fairly safe to start off most airport reviews with 3 stars, as in a-ok. After all, most airports fit tend to fit the context in terms of what a city or area needs. On that level, Cleveland Hopkins (CLE) fits that description.
The people working at CLE have a good attitude and seem eager to help. I've encountered this at check-in, at baggage claim, and especially at the information desk. I'd have to say that even the employees working security/TSA functions, in stores and food concessions, and at the gates are pleasant enough. And the latter see a fairly continuous flow of people to deal with.
Lines appear to move quickly in all places, except those at security. There, being processed quickly is hit or miss.
The airport isn't that big, so it's easy to navigate. There is a main terminal and then, once past security, there appear to be three areas: to the left (south) for United, straight head (west) for Southwest and Delta, and to the right (north) for American and all other airlines, such as low cost Allegiant and now even Spirit. The more central entrance to TSA is not for most people. That one is for TSA pre-check folks. The entrances for the plebes, or folks who didn't get TSA pre-check stamped on their boarding passes, are at the ends of the main terminal.
The demerit for CLE isn't CLE's fault. With 6 airlines becoming 3 over the last decade or so, some hubs have been sort of sidelined. United's merger with Continental curtailed its presence here, given that it was previously a Continental hub. Delta's merger with Northwest also quieted down Cincinnati-Covington. And, lastly, American's merger with USAir wasn't particularly helpful to some airports in Middle America, nor to Raleigh-Durham, NC, where Charlotte-Douglas was chosen to be the Southeastern hub. That said, one terminal area at CLE appears to be rather lonely. One can't knock off a star for that. However, not having ridiculous amounts of air traffic means the plane will get off the ground or to the gate quickly.
On the other hand, it's a breeze to get to CLE, unless it's winter and there's one of those weather systems coming in off the Great Lakes. This area, where Cleveland meets its southwestern suburbs, has very good freeways. And, badda bing, there's a train station terminus for the RTA Red Line, essentially the workhorse for the public transit system. From the airport, the Red Line subway type train can take you downtown and close enough to the tourist attractions, the stadiums, Case Western, the Cleveland Clinic and hospitals, and to many useful points in between. So, for the user friendliness of transit options and access, Cleveland Hopkins deserves that fourth star.
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