Where to smoke at U.S. airports

— -- These days, you can shop, eat, drink, and get an internet connection at pretty much every U.S. airport. At many airports, you can also get a massage, a manicure, a haircut, a pint of micro-brewed beer or a glass of fine wine. But to the dismay of some, and the delight of others, there are fewer and fewer airports where you can smoke a cigarette without being forced to exit security and stand outside on the curb.

That's as it should be, says Bronson Frick of the non-profit Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights group: "Smoke-free air is now the norm in most airports and people expect it." But to frequent travelers like Rebecca Argenti, it's a pain in the butt: "I respect non-smokers and I don't think it's right or fair for them to be subjected to my cigarette smoke. However, I do wish airports would designate an 'outside' smoking area, past security but near the departure gates, so that persons who wish to smoke don't have to go all the way to the front of the terminal in order to go outside and smoke."

Argenti would have appreciated the post-security outdoor patios that Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) used to have in two of its terminals. But an amendment to the anti-smoking laws in California a few years back forced the airport to close the patios and the enclosed smoking area at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. However, there are still more than a dozen U.S. airports that have post-security smoking spots. Argenti and others just need to sniff them out.

Airports with smoking lounges

The nation's busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, has two smoking lounges on every concourse except Concourse E, where smoking is permitted in Sojourner's Restaurant. Smoking is also permitted in the Budweiser Brewhouse on Concourse A and in the Georgia Juke Joint on Concourse D. As part of a recent $67 million airport renovation project, five of the six lounges have been upgraded with new ventilation systems, new seating, new windows and new flooring. Airport spokesperson Al Snedeker says the specially-ventilated lounges now even have doors.

At Washington Dulles International Airport, smoking is permitted in four smoking lounges beyond the main terminal, including two lounges in Concourse B, one in Concourse C and one in Concourse D. For hungry smokers, Max & Erma's Restaurant, by Gate B72, delivers food to a few tables in the adjacent airport smoking lounge.