The indignities of modern air travel are legion.

From the cramped cabins and stale air to the interminable security lines where, along with their liquids, travelers surrender a little bit of their soul with each pat-down, the joy of jet-setting has departed long ago.

But in some places, the airport itself can provide refuge.

In Hong Kong, travelers can play a round of golf while waiting for a connecting flight. In Seoul, South Korea, people can strap on skates and kill time on the ice at the Sky Rink. And in Paris, parents are provided with free strollers as they cruise newly upgraded terminals.

At La Guardia Airport, the best a traveler can hope for is a stool at a crowded bar, an available electrical socket or a lukewarm pretzel from Auntie Anne. There are no day spas, no hotels within its grounds, no free Internet service, and even luggage carts, free in many international airports, cost $5. The situation is so bad that when Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. wanted to illustrate the dire state of infrastructure in the United States, he chose La Guardia as the prime example, likening it to what one might find “in a third world country.”

As the crowd laughed, he added: “I’m not joking.”

Mr. Biden’s comments on Thursday in Philadelphia might be perceived as insulting or funny, if they did not have an element of truth.