While this isn’t the only way to get back home from a nice and refreshing (or not) vacation, being picked up by friends or family from the airport is definitely one of the better options out there.
Unless you really, really hate their sense of humor because, of course, they will somehow find a way to have a laugh at your expense while waiting for you to step through the exit gate only to find an embarrassing “welcome home” sign. In that case, UBER it is?
C’mon, it’s their way of showing love. Embrace it.
#1 Finding A Ride From The Airport Can Be Tricky
Image credits: sarcastagirly
#2 Picking Up Our Bff At The Airport The Right Way…she Couldn’t Stop Laughing At The Sign I Made!
Image credits: DeathStarDoll
#3 I Picked My Mom Up From The Airport
Image credits: reddit.com
Way back when technology wasn’t advanced enough to allow for instant messaging anywhere, anytime, folks used to resort to more conventional, pen and paper versions of communicating information in public spaces.
In an official setting, these were generally used by chauffeurs and shuttle drivers to make sure the right people find their way to the right modes of transport. While that is still the case today, shuttle services, for instance, streamlined the process by simply providing maps and signs that lead folks to designated areas.
As for family members and friends, that’s a bit of a different story.
#4 At The Airport Waiting To Embarrass Jimmy
Image credits: orchid_breeder
#5 Was Picking Up A Friend At The Airport When We Saw This Great Welcome Back Sign
Image credits: TheConYon
#6 Friend Comes Home After A Year Away. I’m Taking This To The Airport
Image credits: Lulubellec
Friends and family members are, by nature, more mischievous and hence more prone to pushing signs to their full potential. That is, to have some laughs at the expense of the person arriving. Hence, this listicle.
Speaking of which, the signs vary from wild to crazy to just downright good one. Baby announcements, cheating declarations, “dad is useless” signs, welcome home from prison gags, surprise colonoscopy affairs—you name it, people have done it.
#7 I Also Made An Airport Sign For My Significant Other
Image credits: binary0101
#8 Today At The Airport, Didn’t Know What You Expect When I Saw The Sign
Image credits: dnozzle
#9 Made My Airport Sign. He Loves Gaming, And So Do I, So I Thought This Would Be Cute. Can’t Wait
Image credits: chromnilian
Signs aren’t the only way to welcome someone home, though. Besides them, there are more romantic approaches, like meeting your partner at the airport with an engagement ring in hand or organizing a surprise (luxury) shuttle.
There’s also the option of keeping it more simple and simply greeting your friends or family with gifts: flowers, sweets or other edibles that hit close to home, gift shop surprises, heck, tickets for another flight or anything else really are also great gestures to welcome someone home (just make sure the tickets are not the same day—they do be wanting their beauty sleep).
#10 My Son’s First College Roommate Picking Him Up From The Airport After Spending Christmas At Home
Image credits: Muldoon1987
#11 Just Saw This At The Airport Waiting To Pick Someone Up
Image credits: TheDapperDoctor
#12 And This Is How I Make Sure Never To Be Asked To Pick Up My Parents From The Airport Again
Image credits: bradtegeler
When it comes to flowers, Billy Heromans has an entire guide on flowers for greeting loved ones at the airport. What you want to say depends on the type of flower that you pick up (e.g. pink carnations represent a mother’s undying love, while yellow roses symbolize joy and friendship) and even the color (e.g. red’s for love and romance, pink is for happiness, peach is for friendship and caring, you get the gist). So, pick up some flowers, arrive early, and dress for the occasion for maximum effect.
#13 I Can’t Believe He Pretended Not To Know Me
Image credits: darlindarthy
#14 On Airport Pick-Up Duty
Image credits: mcnaught.ryan
#15 Waiting For My Bestie At The Airport
Image credits: eager_sleeper
Psychologist Dr Ronnie Siddique, trained in psychodynamic, interpersonal, and cognitive behavioral therapy, as well as mindfulness and meditation, mentioned in a blog post of hers that practical jokes among people are a subtle form of play-fighting. These imply a sense of closeness or an insider group feelings in relationships. Considering this, such pranks are often pulled on folks the pranksters believe are close to them and know they can handle a joke.
#16 I Saw This Majesty Today While Visiting The Airport
Image credits: themilkmememan
#17 Picking Daddy Up From The Airport After His Colorado Training For Work
Image credits: xbritbabe
#18 My Greeting At The Airport! Good Lord Do I Love This Man
Image credits: melissa2338
Humor and laughter in general release endorphins and oxytocin—chemicals associated with happiness and social bonding. So, yes, it’s good for us. And by proxy, making someone else laugh because of your prank is good for them too.
But a prank is good in so far as it has a positive outcome. Positive pranking entails a number of things, including making sure that the prank is harmless—one that makes the pranked person laugh too—all the while keeping yourself available for being pranked too. It’s all about play, not taking things seriously, and being able to laugh at yourself too.
#19 When You Get Welcomed By Your Family At The Airport! Couldn’t Help But Laugh
Image credits: judyleighreed
#20 Picking Up My Daughter From The Airport
Image credits: nwgiantsguy
#21 I Embarrassed My Friend Picking Him Up From The Airport
Image credits: Swanhilda
Airport signs are considered positive pranks, though they are only one of many examples. Whoopee cushions, sticky door knobs, “come over here” when there’s nothing there pranks, replacing family photos with celebrities—all are harmless fun if the likely end goal is laughter and fun. If you need more inspiration for some harmless pranks, Bored Panda has a list compiled for that. You’re welcome!
#22 I Embarrassed My Friend Picking Her Up At The Airport
Image credits: MatRich
#23 Embarrassed The Wife At The Airport In Front Of Several Coworkers And Her Boss. She Loved It
Image credits: Blastergv
#24 How You Greet Your Kid At The Airport
Image credits: greeneyedmamma
Now, if you wanna create your own airport pickup sign, it is actually very easy to do so. For the most basic design, you’re gonna need a cardboard box—the bigger one of its sides are, the bigger your sign will be in the end. Cut that out, slap some text using a marker or leftover paint you don’t care about, and viola, you’re done.
#25 Picking Mum And Dad Up From The Airport
Image credits: likealocaltravel
#26 My Daughter Came Back From New York, And This Is What We Made For Her
Image credits: loco_gringo_505
#27 Every Time My Dad Picks Me Up From The Airport He Makes A Sign …
Image credits: Courtdawg22
If you do, however, want to add more depth into your artful sign, get some scotch (not the drink, though that may help too) or duct tape and a stick. Apply both generously on the bottom part of your sign and you now have a sign that’s easier to hold. If you have more than one color and artistic prowess equivalent or higher than that of a 5-year-old, you can draw something on it too. But if any of this is a problem to any degree, there’s an app for that (Apple, Android).
#28 A Wholesome Airport Reunion
Image credits: Jurassic-Bork
#29 Went To Pick Up The Wife At The Airport After Her First Trip Away Without The Kids
Image credits: koalakoolaid
#30 I Flew My Bestie In For Her Birthday And Talked My Husband Into Holding Up This Sign
Image credits: ksboyd20
If you’ve enjoyed this list, boy do we have a surprise for you. This is actually a continuation of another list we posted way back when, so enjoy more funny and embarrassing airport pickup signs.
But if you’ve had enough scrolling for one day, then please be sure to leave a comment detailing some of your favorite airport pickup signs in the comment section below!
#31 When You Pick Your Friend Up From The Airport
Image credits: nevertaco
#32 My Sister Picked Me Up At The Airport Holding This Sign
Image credits: GeorgieWashington
#33 A Buddy Went To The Airport To Pick Up His Girlfriend. This Was The Sign He Brought With Him
Image credits: The_Tintin
#34 My Brother Extended His 3-Month Trip To Thailand Nearly The Same Day He Was Supposed To Be On His Way Home. He Finally Came Back. I Was Eagerly Waiting For Him At The Airport
Image credits: Jmhpdx
#35 When You Ask Your Brother To Pick You Up From The Airport After A 25-Hour Flight
Image credits: doctor.singer
#36 Picking Up Some Special People At The Airport Today
Image credits: BigDawsTv
#37 A Photo Journey Through Airport Pickup
Image credits: _jake.bassett_
#38 They Have Finally Landed. I Can’t Explain How Happy I Am
Image credits: the_life_of_winry
#39 When Your Life-Long Best Friend Of 25 Years Comes To Visit, You Have To Pick Her Up From The Airport In Style
Image credits: shaleah02
#40 My Boyfriend Probably Won’t Ask Me To Pick Him Up From The Airport Again
Image credits: ATLbritta
#41 Please Enjoy This Sign I Made To Greet My Friend At The Airport
Image credits: sjs404
#42 I Like To Welcome Home My Friends From The Airport With Funny Signs
Image credits: cptomgipwndu
#43 Seen At The Airport Tonight
Image credits: 4x4ivan4x4
#44 Friend Showed Up To Airport To Pick Up A Male Roommate
Image credits: Enrager
#45 Made It To Israel With Some Dude
Image credits: themelissazimmerman
#46 After A Week Off From Being A Dad, I Had To Embarrass My Wife And Daughters At The Airport
Image credits: reddit.com
#47 I Picked My Boyfriend Up From The Airport Today. You Can’t Say I’m Not A Romantic
Image credits: awesomefox42
#48 Sign My Sister And I Made For Picking Up Our Brother At The Airport
Image credits: Waterproof_soap
#49 Boyfriend Exposed His Girlfriend’s Cheating At The Melbourne Airport Arrival Gate
Image credits: ReaganAbe
#50 We Made It Home. And The New Sign Is A Winner
Image credits: xomckee
#51 We Were So Happy To Pick Up Family Members Last Night At The Airport! They Flew Home For The Iowa State Fair
Image credits: buckyjonesillustration
#52 When Your Brother Picks You And Your Family Up From The Airport After A Family Vacation
Image credits: heathers_endeavors
#53 British Guy Here, Flew To Vietnam To Meet My Aussie Mate. Told Him I Wanted Him To Have A Sign For Me While Waiting For Me To Cross Through Customs. Guess Which One He Is
Image credits: khaggis
#54 We Decided To Embarrass Our Daughter At The Airport After 3 Months Away (We Don’t Normally Dress This Way)
Image credits: ron1337
#55 12 Years Of In-Person Catching Up To Do. Welcome To Ottawa. Had To Keep The Signs PG-13
Image credits: alexdugal
#56 Rich Went All Out For My Last Airport Greeting In 2022
Image credits: bestairportgreetings
#57 Sent Half Of My Team To Omaha For Training This Week, Welcomed Them Back In Style Tonight. I Don’t Think They’ll Be Asking Me For A Ride Again
Image credits: hmcritelli
#58 Welcome Home
Image credits: angielakoskey
#59 My Sister Thinks She’s Funny
Image credits: amberskyez32
#60 Best Husband Ever
Image credits: laurapoz26
#61 My Buddy Is Very Easily Embarrassed So We Found Out Which Flight He Was Flying In On And Decided To Make Sport Center Game-Day Signs And Meet Him At The Airport
Image credits: MrCrash2U
#62 Welcome Home, Mum
Image credits: peterlow100x
#63 All My Life I Wanted Someone To Meet Me At The Airport With A Giant Sign, And It Finally Happened
Image credits: janelleblarg
#64 This Airport Greeting
Image credits: becsmunnsy
#65 The Comedian We Hired To Perform At Our Convention Asked Us To Pick Him Up At The Airport In Uniform. We Misunderstood
Image credits: axshonjackson
#66 This Is Pure Love And Surprise From My Joy Guides And Amazing Friends
Image credits: awaken_change
#67 Exactly How I Expected To Be Picked Up In Ketchikan, Alaska
Image credits: caseyromanempire
#68 Picked My Daughter Up At The Airport After Her First Semester Away From Home And Made A Sign
Image credits: buffcleb
#69 This Is How The Airport Sign Turned Out
Image credits: heygirlhey2020
#70 Should I Expect Anything Less When Your Friend Picks You Up At The Airport
Image credits: the_running_redhead
#71 I Promised I Wouldn’t Post It. I Lied
Image credits: amy.mauvan
#72 My Boyfriend Picked Me Up From The Airport
Image credits: salonichopraofficial
#73 Who Doesn’t Like A Loving Sign Waiting For You In Arrivals? Girl Knows Me Too Well
Image credits: thecuriouscaribou