Worst Airports?

[Drguano]

After a very long day at LHR, I am not too fond of Terminal 3. You can tell that this picture was not taken there as there are many empty seats. I don't care for MIA all that much either.

[YOM'$]

Newark has pissed me off multiple times as has LAX. 

Can we start talking positive. Maybe a best airport thread. 

[El Presidente]

2 hours ago, SenorPerfecto said:

 I don't exactly know what the "narcissism and belittlement" part is

 

LAX immigration for non Americans is what irks. 

The yelling at people , the rudeness, the purposeful intimidation. it's just not Border Security/TSA.  last November we were yelled at by a hag directing us to  some stairs.  "Take the stairs people...can't you see the lift is full....if you want to miss your flight, don't blame me"  

We had one client called Gordon P. He was kept in a LAX room for 4 hours over medication he was taking (but didn't declare on his visa waiver).  It was an honest mistake (heart meds).  he was so traumatized that he went upstairs and booked a ticket to come home that night. 

That airport has a culture of intimidation. They thrive on it.  I go through Changi fairly regularly. It has the same security measures as LAX.......absolutely zero drama.  

 

 

[Fuzz]

28 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

LAX immigration for non Americans is what irks. 

The yelling at people , the rudeness, the purposeful intimidation. it's just not Border Security/TSA.  last November we were yelled at by a hag directing us to  some stairs.  "Take the stairs people...can't you see the lift is full....if you want to miss your flight, don't blame me"  

We had one client called Gordon P. He was kept in a LAX room for 4 hours over medication he was taking (but didn't declare on his visa waiver).  It was an honest mistake (heart meds).  he was so traumatized that he went upstairs and booked a ticket to come home that night. 

That airport has a culture of intimidation. They thrive on it.  I go through Changi fairly regularly. It has the same security measures as LAX.......absolutely zero drama.  

 

 

Damn straight they are rude. A couple of years ago I went to LAX for the first time in 15 years, I politely asked a Border Security/TSA/Airport Cop (whatever you calls those dimwits) just past the exit (I exited at Terminal 7), "Can you please tell me which way to Terminal 1?". The answer I was given? "Not my problem". Nice response to a tourist.

[PapaDisco]

I've gotta agree on LAX, it's the pits.  In general I think the developed world, and American in particular, is over represented in the "lousy airport" category.  Some of the smaller regional airports (MSP, RDU) are fine examples of well turned out regional fields; but our big international airports can't compete with the quality being built in Asia.  HKG, SIN, ICN, are spectacular examples of terminals (and the transportation to them) being done right.

In the U.S., even when we spend $$ on an expansion or retrofit it still seems inadequate.  IAD (Dulles) had a multi-billion dollar addition to finish the original terminal (which I still love the Saarinen design) and replace the moon-buggy transports.  Unfortunately the designers didn't seem to remotely take "human scale" into consideration and you'll walk a damn mile to the train on one end only to walk another mile when you get off.  It would have been shorter to just lay in a foot trail from the terminal to the midfield terminal and have us all walk out.  And personally, I miss the boarding from the moon buggies ?

I think the updates to the terminals at LHR (Heathrow) are great, but you can walk a half-marathon getting to your gate there.  Still, I find their security quite user friendly and super tight (it flagged an empty perfume cartridge in my wife's luggage once), but despite the high security they always seem to move the line along.

I'm not a fan of any of the NYC airports.  In Europe Brussels is one of the most disorganized and you find a sea of flights that are gate holding in order to collect all of their passengers.  It's clearly a situation they are well used to and everything runs on time-plus-50-minutes.

[Piligrim]

I've been in 2 airports in Manilla. the one for domestic flights is like terrible bus station.

[gweilgi]

5 hours ago, Willy said:

Zurich (still rooted in the 1950s, except for a small but nice walk in humidor that is way overpriced). Otherwise a complete grind. 

Munich -  snacks? Try a pretzel with butter and a green pepper on top. Makes the Fyre Festival look first class. 

Munich has actually been voted best airport in Europe ... I suspect mainly on the strength of having a wave pool within walking distance of the check-in and a Christmas market complete with ice rink.  How this benefits travellers, most of whom will not have thought to pack their swimming trunks or ice skates escapes me.  

[Bill Hayes]

Henderson Airfield, Honiara, Solomons. Sooooooooo hot! I remember flying in from Tavinapupu Island and the pilot flew to a different island to pick up some friends (true story), making us late for an international flight. So the light plane landed on the main runway and drove up to the Jumbo. We jumped off with our luggage and straight onto the plane. Everyone on the plane hated us for delaying the flight. Not sure if that makes it the worst or best airport!

[Derboesekoenig]

45 minutes ago, Bill Hayes said:

Henderson Airfield, Honiara, Solomons. Sooooooooo hot! I remember flying in from Tavinapupu Island and the pilot flew to a different island to pick up some friends (true story), making us late for an international flight. So the light plane landed on the main runway and drove up to the Jumbo. We jumped off with our luggage and straight onto the plane. Everyone on the plane hated us for delaying the flight. Not sure if that makes it the worst or best airport!

Well it's his fault for making you guys late. Good for him though, that is awesome! Glad everything worked out. Can be a pain in the ass missing an international flight like that

[ChanceSchmerr]

My worst:
LGR - Worst ever.  Just a depressing blight on the travel landscape
YHZ - I hate Halifax. The Airport sucks, it's in the middle of nowhere with poor transport links (taxi-union in full force), and they didn't do a proper geo-assessment when they built it on cheap land so it's perpetually fogged in.  
MEX - I'll echo El Prez - An intimidating, terrible airport, with bleak food options and a ghetto atmosphere.  Plus they tried to deny me taking my Hotel Nacional Ashtray in my carry on luggage when I was transiting through - BS!
FRA - Why is every flight I take here on major aircraft never allotted a jetway?  I shouldn't be leaving an Airbus 330 via outdoor staircase.  German efficiency-fail, if you ask me.

My Best:
LHR - I love the Queen's Terminal, and I tend towards Star Alliance Carriers so I typically fly out of there.  The old LHR terminals were rubbish but the new one is great.  Just hate that endless Escalator walk to the other side.
HNL - I like the open-air-ness of this airport, and the services are good.  The Pineapples are ridiculously priced though.
YYZ - I didn't like it at first, but it's grown on me. Fares better in comparison to others in the world.

[shippers]

4 hours ago, PapaDisco said:

I think the updates to the terminals at LHR (Heathrow) are great, but you can walk a half-marathon getting to your gate there.  Still, I find their security quite user friendly and super tight (it flagged an empty perfume cartridge in my wife's luggage once), but despite the high security they always seem to move the line along.

I quite like LHR the duty free area is pretty good and as you say security is quick but done well. London Gatwick on the other hand is a constant mess and the food options are not great.

Havana airport wasn't great for me. Security was fine but once you went through your food and drink options (unless Havana Club and crisps counts as subsistence) was next to none. It made me look forward to my inflight meal!

[HopeUgood]

9 hours ago, SenorPerfecto said:

LAX is bewilderingly awful. I don't exactly know what the "narcissism and belittlement" part is, but on the bright side, they're spending a bunch of $ to improve the transport aspect in the next couple of years.

 

A good airport? Burbank. It's small, and the bag claim is outdoors!

I go through Burbank 100 times a year (literally), no way I could fly that much if I had use LAX.  I am speculating the "belittlement" part is dealing with customs.  The "narcissism" maybe some of the more inconsiderate/ self absorbed stereo types of Los Angeles? 


Ya, LAX sucks. I was not a fan of Charles de Gualle either.  Riding around on a bus shuttle for what seemed like an hour. Maybe my experience was different as I was there during the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris. 

[Duxnutz]

10 hours ago, helix said:

Any good Airports ? LOL.

In the States, I like Portland, Detroit (DTW), Vegas, Long Beach and Seattle. Internationally, I absolutely hate Sydney, security are rude and a right royal pain in the butt. Japanese airports are largely a pleasure if a long walk between gates.

[Cayman17]

1 hour ago, Duxnutz said:

In the States, I like Portland, Detroit (DTW), Vegas, Long Beach and Seattle. Internationally, I absolutely hate Sydney, security are rude and a right royal pain in the butt. Japanese airports are largely a pleasure if a long walk between gates.

I like McCarran (Vegas) too. It’s clean and fairly easy to navigate. And there is an Amex Centurion club for cardholders-well worth the annual fee for the Platinum card. 

[Eric E]

I actually like ATL. Yes, it is spread out, but it is very easy to navigate. As long as I have one hour for my connection, I’m in good shape with no running.

Their Global Entry is a breeze.  From plane door opening to immigration to baggage claim to being in my car is always less than an hour. 

[skalls]

Didn't care for ORD or DFW.

getting from normal planes to the regional planes at MSP can result in a dead sprint across the airport.  Thankfully I've only had to do that once.

 

O'Hare though takes the Cake for worst airport for me.  Atlanta is second.

[GrouchoMarx]

Fort Lauderdale - how anyone cannot say it sucks would be beyond me.

Heathrow - escalators between terminals are downright scary!

Toronto YYZ - well, once you GET to your terminal its pretty good. As they say "getting there is half the fun"

Montreal YUL - you'll get your 10,000 steps in on your fitbit for sure!

Rome - you get to hunt for your bags are various carousels...

[HDGSN]

5 hours ago, Eric E said:

I actually like ATL. Yes, it is spread out, but it is very easy to navigate. As long as I have one hour for my connection, I’m in good shape with no running.

Their Global Entry is a breeze.  From plane door opening to immigration to baggage claim to being in my car is always less than an hour. 

I second all of this. 

EWR is the worst airport. CLT can have the longest time to navigate between gates - end of E to end of A terminal may be a 20 minute sprint and 35 minute walk.

[David88]

I found LAX pretty grim. Charles de Gaulle was poor but i hope I just ended up in a poor terminal, as the others did look better when I drove past. Kuala Lumpur airport was awful when I was departing from there at the start of the year. I had a very late flight, but they closed all of the food outlets and shops just after 11, leaving only a Burger King open that was in no rush to serve 100+ people. There wasn't even anyone around to complain to!

I have been to airports much worse than these, but I think my expectations were a lot lower which makes it almost acceptable.

[zyxwvu44]

LAX is definitely the worst I have been through...bad accommodations and horrible organization, and it just feels dated. I remember one time the line to get through security was 4 blocks long, snaking through the airport and blocking the check-in counters. 

My favorites would be LHR and HKG because of the good stores and lounges, plenty of good ways to waste time while waiting for a flight. I actually bought my first box of CC's at HKG, BPC's.

[rckymtn22]

LAX is the worse airport I have been to. Had to go from T5 to T2 but no signs saying how to get there. Eventually figured out but had to go outside to get there.

[wineguy]

20 hours ago, El Hoze said:

LaGuardia: there is an area of LGA if you’re flying United or American that once you get past security there is not a single place to buy an alcoholic beverage. Unfathomable in my mind. 

Unfortunately well aware if this.....

[Ethernut]

LAX is easily the sh**iest airport in the US. I cringe that LAX is the first bits of the US many people see. 

I actually don't share the disdain for ATL. I rather like ATL. Pretty fast and efficient to get around (if you have good strong legs)

 

[cgarner]

LAX 

[amberleaf]

Is it only Cuban airports that make you go through a security check on arrival? Had a nightmare at Holguin a few years ago when three planes including ours arrived at pretty much the same, cue several hundred people in the arrivals hall having to wait to have their bags scanned through only one working x-ray machine.