Make sure to bring your walking shoes this holiday travel season, as you’ll really need them!

Walking through the airport can take a lot of time – it truly is a long, long journey.

Recently, Dave Dzurick found himself trekking for nearly an hour across Seattle’s terminals after arriving from Canada. He faced a lengthy trek to customs, followed by another long walk to TSA screening, and then another hike to reach his connecting gate.

“It was a nightmare,” recounted Dzurick, who is a retired broadcast engineer residing in Tucson, Arizona.

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Such experiences are becoming increasingly common. If you take a look at the latest airport terminals opening in places like Dubai, New York, or Los Angeles, you’ll notice that little effort has gone into reducing the distance to the gates. If anything, it seems to take longer to board the plane.

However, these are not the worst offenders regarding walk times from check-in to boarding. A survey conducted by Kuru Footwear in March indicated that Dallas holds the record for the longest walks in large domestic airports (2.16 miles), followed by Washington, D.C. (1.62 miles), and Houston (1.52 miles).

“Many large airports across the nation continue expanding and adding new terminals,” stated Victoria Schmid, a representative for Kuru.

If you prefer a shorter walk to the terminal, consider using a smaller airport like Lexington, Kentucky, where getting to the gates is a breeze.

But does it actually take longer to reach the gate, or is it just your perception? How do these distances impact your next travel experience? As someone who spends a lot of time at airports, I can answer these questions and also provide tips for surviving your next airport adventure.

Is the distance to the airport gate increasing?

I couldn’t find any recent studies measuring how far travelers must walk or whether this has increased over time. But it certainly feels that way. To be fair, some large airports have added new trains that can significantly cut down walking time. However, the newest airport terminals are certainly not smaller.

The situation may be even more severe overseas. Claire Ramsdell, a frequent traveler and photographer, recently made a connection at Istanbul Airport, which boasts a new terminal covering 77 million square feet, and was worried about making her flight.

“I ran full speed to the other gate as soon as I got off the plane,” Ramsdell recalled. “Halfway there, I had to stop for security. I navigated a long, seemingly endless hallway, went through security, took an elevator down a floor, sprinted down another long hallway, then ran up some stairs, across that level, and finally down another staircase.”

She managed to board her flight after discovering a quicker security line for international-to-domestic transfers.

I’ve encountered the same challenge in Istanbul – an exceedingly long distance between gates, mixed with anxiety about reaching my next flight. But against the odds, I always made it.

How This Could Impact Your Upcoming Flight

As someone who has been traveling almost continuously for the past eight years, I’ve monitored my steps using my Google Watch during my travels. On busy travel days, I’m often anxious about getting enough physical activity – aiming for at least 20,000 steps daily.

Recently, flying often grants me oodles of steps. Massive airports like Doha, Frankfurt, and London provide ample opportunities for walking, whether I wish to or not.

For someone like me who seeks to stay active, these long treks are not an issue. However, after suffering a severe pelvis injury from a skiing accident a few years ago, those extended walks felt like challenges I couldn’t overcome because I was slowly making my way on crutches while carrying my luggage.

I know many readers who find themselves in this predicament. They enjoy traveling, yet the trek to the gate can feel overwhelming. It appears that the designers of these airports didn’t consider that about 12% of Americans experience mobility challenges.

Elliott’s advice for managing a lengthy walk to the airport gate

This holiday season, you might face a challenging journey to your gate. However, there are strategies to ease the burden.

• Pare down your load. The last thing you want is to be weighed down by a bulky backpack or an overflowing carry-on. Travel light to have a more enjoyable stroll to your gate.
• Select the right footwear. “Make sure to wear comfortable shoes,” advised Schmid, a representative from Kuru. “Major airports demand extensive walking and standing, so it’s vital for your foot health and general well-being to wear supportive and well-fitting shoes.”
• Stay informed. Airport signs can be hard to decipher, and during busy times, it’s easy to stray off course. Most large airports offer an app or website featuring terminal maps. (Sure, your family may tease you for downloading it, but they’ll be grateful when you’re on time for your flight.)
• Allocate ample time. Before setting off on your journey through the terminal, ensure you have enough time. If you’re flying from Dallas or another major airport highlighted in the Kuru survey, allow at least an hour to reach your gate.
• Seek assistance. If you walk slowly or have an injury or disability, don’t hesitate to reach out to your airline or the airport for support. They provide disability services that can offer rides to help you skip long walks. Note: You may need to contact your airline ahead of time to book a wheelchair.

However, the best suggestion I’ve received is to avoid the long walk altogether. Opt for a direct flight to bypass layovers in Dallas or Denver. This way, you only need to manage the walk to and from your departure and arrival gates once.

If you need to book a connecting flight, make sure you have sufficient time to reach your next gate without rushing. This is particularly crucial during the winter travel season in the Northern Hemisphere when travelers are burdened with heavy winter attire. It’s just not worth the hassle.

Perhaps we should welcome the trek

In the end, walking long distances is part of the travel experience, and perhaps these expansive airport terminals are doing us all a favor. After all, are we going to stay home watching reruns of travel shows? No, it’s much better to get out and get some exercise.

“We embrace the walk to the gate as a good form of exercise on travel days,” said Laurel Barton, an avid traveler and guidebook author from Forest Grove, Oregon.

She frequently travels through London’s enormous Heathrow airport, where there’s a tunnel to the C Gates in Terminal 5 that takes about 20 minutes to navigate.

“We willingly skip the moving walkways and walk,” she added. “But then again, we do write hiking guidebooks.”