In Pursuit of Free WiFi, an Outlet, and a Cushioned Bench at Budapest Airport

January 13, 2010 at 3:23 PM | by Omri | Comment (1)

There are three things we care about in airports, alcohol obviously excepted. They are, in genuinely no particular order: a working electrical outlet, free airport wifi, and a comfortable chair. At any given time in Budapest's terminal 2B¡the half of the international terminal that serves EU countries—you can get two out of the three. Never all three. Sometimes only one. Usually two out of three. But never all three.

We were actually pretty psyched to roll into the airport recently, where Jaunted's Airport WiFi Map correctly promised we would get free wireless. It turns out that using the wireless can be a challenge because the signal is sometimes uneven inside the terminal and, of course, because computer batteries only last so long. The root of the problem lies in BUD's decor, which is this kind of haphazard and postmodern "maybe we'll put cushions on our uncomfortable metal benches and maybe we won't" arrangement.

Benches are molded four seats at a time, with accompanying green cushions glued in - or not - in seemingly random order. Where there are no cushions the seats are painfully uncomfortable. When there are cushions there are almost never four in a row, which makes using the benches as makeshift overnight beds impossible. Take a look:

Our theory is that they simply ran out of cushions and decided to go for the artsy look as a way of coping. But there's at least a slim chance that the entire terminal was deliberately designed to be uncomfortable.

Now the game becomes finding an electrical outlet in a place where there's a cushioned seat, preferably in a wifi-rich location. Unfortunately, the game is rigged.

If you're outside the terminal at night, you can go downstairs next to the elevators, where there is a single electrical outlet and you can get wifi. But the bench down there—in fact, all of the benches downstairs—is all metal. Or you can go upstairs, where there are cushioned benches and wifi but nary an electrical outlet. The ideal would be to open up the downstairs restaurant at night, which they do for the upstairs restaurant, since it has cushions, wifi, and plentiful outlets. But things just aren't that simple.

Once you're past security you face a different problem. Here the limiting factor is electrical outlets. To get to the lone reliably available outlet inside the terminal: walk through the gates, pass all the Citibank nonsense, walk by the Relay bookstore, and go all the way to the glass overlooking the tarmac. Look around the corner to your right. The outlet is right there, about eye level. You'll still have to sit on the floor and kind of tilt your computer to get wifi but at least you'll be able to charge up before the plane leaves, or before you keel over with exhaustion from tracking down this ideal spot.

[Top photo: Cccc3333 / Wiki Commons; Second photo: Omri Ceren]

Related Stories:
· Airport Wifi Coverage [Jaunted]
· Budapest Airport coverage [Jaunted]

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