Spokane International Airport is honestly a refreshing airport to travel through. I've been through…read morea few times, including recently, and have always had a great experience. It's clean, easy to navigate, and everything seems to run smoothly. Getting in and out is quick and straightforward, without a lot of the hassle you experience at larger airports. It also has a nice, relaxed feel that makes traveling a little more enjoyable. After dealing with some of the bigger, busier airports, Spokane is a welcome relief. Clean, efficient, and easy--I'm always happy when my travels take me through here!

Spokane International Airport (GEG) is a relatively small airport for one that calls itself an…read moreinternational airport. With that being said, there are some perks to being a smaller airport - easy to navigate. What's nice about GEG is that there is a direct flight from LAX to GEG and the Idaho border is only about two-hour drive away from GEG. [Directory]: Just 3 concourses: Concourse A (American, Southwest, Allegiant, and Sun Country), Concourse B (Delta and United), and Concourse C (Alaska). Each concourse has no more than six gates. [Rental Car]: Easy access to rental car counters as they are within 5 - 10 minutes of walking distance from all concourses - no need to take shuttles or use a people mover system. Please note that there is no exit booth for rental cars. Once car key is secured at the rental car counter, then just simply drive out. [TSA]: The TSA line on Wednesday afternoon was short and took less than 15 minutes. [Shops]: Local eateries include Method Organic Juice Cafe, Greedy Cow Burger, Fir & Pine Gastrobar, and Thomas Hammer Coffee Roasters. No retail shopping options and no Starbucks here. [Other notes]: I noticed lots of ads for local casinos. The waiting area also has few rocking chairs if they are available to sit on. [Conclusion]: A solid 3.5-star airport and bump up to 4-star for its no-fuss arrival and departure experience.

"Air Taxis R Us!"…read more SITREP I FIRST flew up from Walla Walla, WA in the Fall of 1980 (where I was in College) to visit my mom who was living in St. Maries, ID by then (where she grew up as a little girl and moved back to when she divorced my dad that same year). I love that there is not a Vietnam-era warplane now standing guard over the air field: https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/st-maries-airport-st-maries?select=hQTr19Z7vzi_zstHUbNSQw THE SETUP Amazing. Upon visiting it again earlier this year, it really has not grown any bigger in 36 years. But you know what? * This is a remote location of Idaho; * It's big enough to get the single-prop / turbo-prop air taxis in-and-out for visitors like me; * It's in an IMPORTANT strategic location for both Wilderness Rescue and Fire Fighting (the helicopters stationed here often go fill up tanks in the reservoirs around my uncle's homestead to go fight forest fires); https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/st-maries-airport-st-maries?select=wVSmsdxVDfJOFNukw5fJ7A and, * Occasionally, we ARE treated to a Learjet or Gulfstream jet that is delivering a V.I.P. or had to make an emergency landing, and THAT is a dramatic event when the jet engines *REVERB* the entire little valley with it's turbine thrust. LOCAL KNIT COMMUNITY Other agricultural aircraft and some private owners with rented hangars balance out the aircraft community here. A fun, tight-knit group, and often with trips to go hang out at THE GEM STATE BAR (as if we were reliving the Cantina-scene from Star Wars). THE LOWDOWN There ain't no f*ckin TSA here, that's all I have to say!!!

Clean, pleasant, appears new. Friendly staff. Fuel prices are fair at 5.35 per gallon jet a.read more

Fairly friendly and efficient given that it is the TSA, but Spokane folks are typically friendly…read morefolks. Spokane International Airport is a small airport so there are usually not too many travelers on any given day. As a result the TSA lines are shorter and move quicker than the big boy airports.

May 13, 2024 at approximately 3:00 pm. There's nothing like showing up two hours early with only…read moreabout 20 other people going through the security checkpoint and having the tsa agent declare your real ID as invalid and demanding another form of ID because his colleague declares that my state "has a problem". I submit it is Spokane and these particular people who have "a problem" considering I have traveled hundreds of times with this ID with no problems and the gal in the adjacent kiosk had no problems. This tsa agent felt it necessary to continue to be obnoxious to us and others as we all tried to traverse a very unprofessional, inefficient and somewhat incompetent security situation. I travel quite a bit and am deeply appreciative of the necessary hard work tsa agents perform. Spokane can and needs to do better!

As far as TSA checkpoints go, this one is... Not great. Not the worst I've seen by a long shot. But…read morenot the best either. First and foremost, the layout is super weird. It gets crowded and backed up quickly. Also TSA Pre-check and the normal screening line terminate at the same group of agents, and then you go through the same checkpoint. The line sometimes backs up so far they run out of que space and then trail out into the lobby. For me personally, I have literally been stopped for additional screening every single time I've gone through this checkpoint. Every single time. So yeah, it's not the best.

Wow!!! That's the…read moreonly word I have for their process. When I went through screening, EVERY passenger was selected for additional screening...regardless of TSA Pre-Check or not. I take a number of meds that my life is dependent on and I never let them out of my positive control. At EVERY OTHER AIRPORT I've passed through, that isn't an issue. It's a very small pillbox and there is no Ferris metal on it at all. At this checkpoint, they refused to let me maintain control of it and took it away from me to screen. As such, I have no idea if they opened it and compromised the medication...because I wasn't allowed to stay with it while they screened it. I didn't make a fuss about it because I'm certain if I do I risk losing pre-check. What was really odd was the little blue laminated card they told me to hold on to throughout the process. When the agent checking my ID handed it to me, he said, "Hang on to this as it's your Golden Ticket to get out of extra screening." As soon as I walked through the magnetometer, the agent on the back side took it from me and told me I was randomly selected for extra screening. In other words, there is zero point to the cards, so I'm wondering why they use them. What also struck me was the fact that they appear to be running an excessive force and are staffing with way too many staff. I liken it to a small town police department with too many officers. They don't have enough legitimate work so they spend their time excessively hassling travelers. Lastly, and I find this funny. As I was walking up the ramp toward the screening area, I remarked to myself that it was going to be a quick process because there wasn't too long of a line. Boy was I wrong. When I flew out of San Jose (SJC), I went through screening in about three minutes. That's a busy airport and the pre-check line was 40 people deep before the agent checked my ID. Here, with no line at all, it took more than 10 minutes. I imagine an efficiency expert would lose their minds if they evaluated the process here. So...be prepared for a LOT of additional screening beyond what other airports do and be prepared for it to take at least three times longer than other small airports.