Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport – VPS

We ate at this restaurant while on a layover at the Ft. Walton airport. The food was excellent, especially the fresh made pizza. The service was good too. And we could watch four different football games on the big screen tv’s.

Travellers be warned: This airport was a completely painful experience. Beginning to end.
You would figure that it would be small and easy? Nope.
First of all, they lost our luggage and then it took them way too long to find it.
The rental place (Hertz) was a complete disaster. They couldn’t find my reservation, the guy working the counter was incompetent, all’s he kept saying was that the computer wouldn’t allow him to do something. LIKE I CARE. I just want my car! He was seemingly incapable of thinking outside of the computer protocol.
To make matters worse the airport had BAD WIFI! and NO AT&T CELLULAR SERVICE!
Find an alternative airport:
The closest major international airport to Destin is Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (
), which is 261 miles to the west of Destin. Other large commercial airports near Destin include Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (
), 51 miles away in Panama City Beach, and Florida and Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport (
), 52 miles from Destin in Pensacola. Destin Ft. Walton Beach Airport (
) is the nearest private airport and is located within the Destin city limits.

Typical regional airport with a handful of gates, a single TSA access point and a couple of baggage carousels. The rental car companies have their counters inside, so when you arrive, go DIRECTLY to the counter rather than stand and wait for your suitcase.
Inside security, there’s a Quizno’s, a bar and a place to pick up a couple of souvenirs. This airport offers free wifi, which is always worth an extra star (Talking to you, Norfolk International). Of course, there’s no SkyClub or Admirals Club here. But you won’t be waiting all that long for your flight anyway.
VPS: Valparaiso.
My boarding was quick, efficient, and easy. That I was in F probably influenced that some.

Could I please depart this airport just once without significant delay? Next time I am making the drive to Tallahassee.

Very small and friendly airport. Only 9 gates total, so easy to get in and out of the airport. No long line of cars and decent food options for such a small airport.
With so few gates and small plot space, the planes are mainly express jets that go to the larger hubs of Atlanta or Houston. Don’t have to wait too long at the gate and the desk attendants are friendly and helpful.
Wouldn’t mind ending up here again.

A basic but nice, bright, new and clean airport.
Arrival was quick and easy — we parked at the end gate and I was at baggage claim within about two minutes. Picking up my car was quick, and it was parked outside the door about a 3 minute walk away.
Returning, you drop the car off at the same place, it’s quick in, quick check-​in, and quick security… but NO Pre-​Check when I was there, which was disappointing but not unexpected.
Free WiFi is fast. There’s several gates with open seating since the airport is bigger than it probably needs to be. Bathrooms and other common areas are clean.
Overall, very nice airport.

Very small and convenient airport. Parking very close and only $ 7/​day for long term. They have a military plane and helicopter out front which is neat since it is close to the base. Only bad thing is no direct flights unless you want to go to Atlanta or Charlotte.

This airport reminds me of the airports on the outer Hawaiian islands. It is small and has all of its amenities in a parking lot that is right out front. The baggage claim has two carousels and the security is made up of one line. There are only a few gates and the people waiting for flights aren’t pushing each other out of the way or lining up before their zone was called. I like the laid back, small-​town feel of this place. There are a few eating options as well as snack and reading options. This is way more than I would expect at an airport this size. Parking is $ 7 a day which is a great deal and the lot is patrolled by staff and trams if the walk is too far or you have excessive baggage. I would highly recommend this airport as it is new and clean and everything an airport should be.

It’s small and the TSA is some of the most overzealous in the country but at the end of the day it’s a small airport and attached to one of the largest Airforce bases in the country so I suppose that a little security insanity is justified.

Easy to get around but rental car return is poorly marked «follow the green line» is invisable if its not sunny or clear out. If it’s raining you get soaked because it’s in an open parking lot a football field from the terminal. The free wifi usually is slow at best, most of the time it doesn’t not even work. Restrooms are dirty and always have broken or out of use stations. This airport is freezing. Summer, winter, spring or fall I have never been in a colder airport. If you can fly into ECP or PNS do yourself the favor and skip this crap hole.

Such a nice little airport that is part of the Eglin Air Force Base.
The airport is small and clean and actually has 2 nice bar areas to eat one on the outside of the boarding areas and one inside past security. Lines are non existent and everything is so easy here.
Way cheaper than flying into ECP, Panama City Beach.

Love this airport. Hardly anyone there, it feels so relaxing compared to the enormous NYC, LAX, ATL airports. Security was a breeze and the staff was very friendly.

I like this airport. In fact, I like it a lot. It’s small, it’s clean, and it’s simple. There’s a couple of decent bars, inside and outside the terminal, and surprisingly decent food. The employees throughout the airport are super friendly, even the often dreadful TSA. This place definitely gives off a «hometown» vibe, I’m beginning to recognize ticketing agents lately. The biggest problem here is the overwhelming amount of delayed/​cancelled flights. The past 3 times I’ve visited I’ve experienced a problem and had to change plans. I’m not surprised anymore, if that’s any consolation.

Not a bad airport at all. Small and convenient. The staff are quit friendly and so are the TSAs. I had no issues going through TSA pre-​check. Once inside the seating had outlets, which was awesome. The little mini bar was fantastic. A bit pricey, but hey it’s an airport.

Tiny airport and only flew in here since it is close to Destin where a work conference was being held. For being so small, why on Earth is the security line so long? Also, there is ONE option for food. Me thinks not…

Here’s the thing — this is not O’Hare. You won’t have some of the amenities found at a major airport. What you will find — free wifi (FREE!), a few food options, on time flights (usually), minimal lines, and — wait for it — friendly folks. An added plus — not too far from the gorgeous beaches but far enough from big cities to be congested.

When you need to fly into Eglin this is likely where you will fly. Not a whole lot to say… small airport. Clean. Security lines move pretty quickly. We had some issues with the Delta Customer service. No one was particularly friendly nor helpful. Not my favorite airport but it does beat Atlanta… :-/

If I scribed a full review, I would echo most of what others have already said. So, I’ll just add what wasn’t said: The runways are far away from the terminal. And I mean a *really* long way away. Empty your bladder before you descend or take off.
We taxied for 10 – 15 minutes to get there after we touched down, at a speed that I would estimate in excess of 100 MPH. The pilot/​driver was making 45-​degree turns at this speed, causing the plane to pitch over to extreme angles. At one point I thought that we were going to take off, because the pilot revved up the jet turbines to speed up.
I’m terrified of flying, but the fear that I experienced during take off and landing paled in comparison to the frisson of fright that shot through my autonomous system as we were tearing around the tarmac. No lie.

For such a small airport, this is a really nice one. It’s clean and well laid out. Security was quick and easy.
Once inside security, I was really surprised to find some food choices. Most little airports have a spot or two OUTSIDE security, and once you go through, you’re just stuck. But here, you’ve got some choices, plus some news stands and stuff.
The restrooms were pretty clean, too. Nice.

The airport is small so security is a very short wait. Not much in the way of food while waiting for a flight. The car rentals are outside — which makes pickup interesting during summer thunderstorms. The lack of crowds to fight is a big plus.