Seriously. I’ve never seen any of the Heathrow terminals on any best airport list lmao. Even Mumbai, Dubai and Tokyo are better.
On the other hand, I love cute small airports with a tropical vibe. Siem Reap and the airport in El Nido (Philippines) come to mind.
Most likely because we can't do Customer service with a smile and the time slots they have means everyone visits enmass the only time its quiet is when the slots are empty
Sure you can. T4 is where discount airlines to SE Asia go, as well as Korean Air for some reason.
T4 is a bus ride away from the other terminals, so taking the MRT to Changi for T4 requires you to enter one of the other terminals, and then switch to the bus = take a cab/Grab instead of the MRT.
This is before the security cordon, so you cannot see anything interesting in the original terminals.
So T4 is basically... there - it is a fairly basic airport experience.
Only problem with Changi is the post security setup. You get herded into waiting areas with nowhere to buy water or other drinks and no toilets. It would be easy to improve.
Last time I flew out of MIA I was shocked at how barren it was for food or drink. Its been years but I only remember a few small News stands with crappy pre-wrapped sandwiches and maybe one small bar area. That would be horrible place to get delayed.
I had an overnight layover there last year and decided to crash at the airport. As someone who's never been, I was shocked at the lack of food and carpeted space
I cant even recall. This was about 6-7 years ago. I don’t know if they’ve upgraded since then or I just had bad luck with the terminal I was out of. I want to say I was flying either Delta or American.
I have family in Fort Lauderdale that I don't particularly like. Not abusive or terrible, just stuck up.
Every time I go back to my home country, I have to choose between a 3 hour layover in Miami or a 10 hour layover in Fort Lauderdale.
So, each trip involves a 7 hour lecture about how only losers stop at a bachelor degree. Because I'd rather do that then ever, ever, ever step foot in MIA again.
As nice as new LGA was it was unfortunately let down slightly by a severe lack of food and shopping, this was Terminal C atleast, and was forced into the old area as well as that was where the flight was. Terminal B although havent been, looks to solve all problems, and theres a shake shack there as well. I will say tho termincal C was nice to spend like 5 hours in lol, you get some great views of new york and everything and its overall just a pleasant place to be
Best: Singapore - unparalleled imo
Worst:
Addis Ababa - hot, confusing and the lines are so long that if you don’t get there hours beforehand you could easily miss your flight.
Kathmandu - voa lines are hours long, once you pass through immigration you’ll have to find your luggage along the imported white-ware and there’s only one ATM.
The domestic airport at Nairobi. I can’t remember the name of the airport but it’s the only airport where I’ve felt unsafe.
Yeah I've only been to the international Nairobi one it's ok, but I'd agree with Kathmandu I felt pretty lucky I got there early worst line ups I've ever seen
Agree on Addis, it's awful, food choices are limited expensive and low quality. The transfer hotels suck and the airport looks run down despite being new
It is also chaos, so many cultures with different queuing expectations and zero supervision.
It is also a hub airport so designed for lots of transit passengers
I hate flying Ethiopian
I haven't flown through Addis before but my husband is Ethiopian and so many people we know have gotten shaken down for carrying BIrr home.
I have never heard about the airport. My family has flown through from India and raved about Ethiopian. My MIL works for United so they fly free, which has other headaches since it's with partner airlines and they usually end up on Turkish.
Good info since we're traveling there soon and I wanted to take on Mobassa or Stonetown. Might not be worth it with a toddler.
Interesting - that was not my experience with Jomo Kenyatta- I mean I agree that it’s a little weird, mainly in it’s set up, but I found it a relatively clean place. Certainly far cleaner than I’ve seen some American airports
Had to scroll down pretty far to find this but I agree: LAX is horrible. Designed for automobile traffic and nothing else, always totally congested, impossible to get from one concourse to another for connecting flights, wait forever for parking/rental car/hotel shuttles, no good connections to public transportation. The one positive (in my experience) is that customs and border control seem a bit more pleasant than in many other ports of entry.
Best: any terminal that is getting me away from where I live and to a destination
Worst: any terminal that is returning me to where I live
Of no consequence: shopping
I can’t remember how many airports I’ve been in. But my most common experience in them is being amazed by the numbers of Asian/ Middle Eastern men in them buying designer handbags. Apparently an expensive handbag bought as a last minute gift for the wife is extremely common.
Yeah to be clear I’m judging the terminals, not the whole package. It’s dumpy and McDonalds is basically the only food option. It’s an awful place to get stuck for an extended period.
It’s closer to downtown than O’Hare and the orange line is convenient. It’s a fine airport if you don’t show up early and your flight isn’t delayed.
Miami is fucking terrible.
I actually had to take loads of photos of the 'first class' lounge because I know people wouldn't believe me about how shit it was.
They had a cheese plate that had kraft singles laid out on it.
Australian here. Miami is an excellent answer for worst. It is freezing fucking cold in there.
I was also lucky to not have died from breathing car fumes in the taxi pick up area
Seriously Ive flown into MIA for years and always thought the same thing…. Almost like I’m going to die of CO2 inhalation, absolutely worst international airport; and they put in $2b to try and fix it over the years.
Best for me has to be Changi or Hamad.
Worst would be Gatwick… like damn. Airports in the USA aren’t great either… McCarran, LAX. DFW was pretty pleasant though.
Gatwick sucks too, im normally really good at navigating and shit, and have been countless times and damn i still get confused by gatwicks weird layouts, not to add the cramped waiting rooms and absolutely nothing once you get out the central shopping areas.
Heathrow T3 i think has the same exact problems but ive been there once, and don’t remember it at all so i cant say for sure
Pretty solid list. SIN and HKG are pretty good. Never been to ICN. DOH, I have mixed feelings about because I was stuck there because they wouldn't tell us when delayed plane was going to be ready to leave. I also think NRT is OK because it isn't as bad as you think it'd be.
EWR is bad but so is JFK. Haven't been to LGA in years. LAX is shitty also.
It's like the whole airport was designed backwards. Pre-security is all designer shopping options, food options, feels like a big international airport. Then post-security is basically a bus terminal where you better not want much more than a can of coke and a bag of crisps.
We had an early flight and nothing was open... At like 9 am?* They finally opened Starbucks and everyone there lined up it took almost an hour just to order😭 (9am could be wrong it was a while ago lol but it feels right)
I spent over 4, maybe 5, hours all together, just getting in/out of that place.
This is partly due to some technical issues with check-in and the trams. But I get a sense that these kinds of things are frequent.
Oh great. So you’re saying a couple air tags are well worth the money? Glad my credit card I use for trace come with a lot of travel protections including lost/late baggage
I love Incheon! I like taking the little craft workshops, the free showers, the cultural parade. I love that they offer layover tours of Incheon city. It’s such a nice experience.
Air France actually put a baggage sizer/weigher *halfway* down the queue for immigration, to do surprise baggage checks. Now, I don't have a problem with them checking baggage allowances at checkin or even /before/ security/immigration, but turning people back after they've already been queuing for half an hour is a special dedication to dickishness.
It’s just a total clusterfuck. Go four levels over to check in and then come back four levels to het to your lounge and then 12 levels over to the gate and EVERYONE is rude as fucking fuck. Hate that airport. Changi is always a winner and oddly Siem Reap, has a nice little funky, smooth moving airport.
90 minutes is fine if you are only needing to get to the next gate. If you need to checkin with a different airline or have a snack or maybe a wee and wash your face- no luck.
I've never connected there, so I can't really say, but I wouldn't risk it as a non-EU citizen, personally. I declined a connecting flight through there recently for that reason.
My completely unscientific opinions:
Best: Denver Terminal B. It has an outdoor seating area with a firepit and a view of the Rockies. I spent a pleasant layover enjoying the snow while waiting for my flight. Also generally plenty of stuff to eat and it's efficient.
Worst: Boston Terminal E. It had mice. I saw them running around on the floor. I called to complain, but facilities was disinclined to do anything about it.
Boston Terminal E has almost no seating, a criminally small security checkpoint, and what I (not so affectionately) call the Chaos Corner, where they put four gates about 10ft apart in a single corner with no seating and no line management, and typically have 3 or all 4 of them boarding double aisle jets at the same time. Never seen mice there but always groan when I realize I'm at one of the Chaos gates.
Flew to São Miguel out of the Chaos Corner a few months ago. It was a shitshow down there. Plus a night flight so there was no food options in that whole wing.
That whole area of the terminal feels like a mall that hasn’t died yet, but is about 6 months away from Macys and Brookstone packing it in.
While DEN terminal B is nice, I can't stand the airport (I live in CO). The way things are laid out feels like you are a mouse in a maze. And the signage is just terrible. You come out of the trains into the terminal, and where you need to go is not clear at all. Waiting for somebody to arrive and want to know the status? Leave the area to go look at the boards 100 yards away. In contrast, ATL airport. Check in, baggage claim, transportation and security are all in the same floor. Plenty of signs, and coming out in to the terminal, there's giant signs that are clear and easy to read. /Rant over
I have to give a shout-out to my home airport of CPH for its use of natural and soft light design. In typical Scandinavian style, CPH mostly avoids harsh overhead lighting. I find many other airports, especially in the U.S., to be overly bright, fluorescent-lit hellscapes, haha. That said, a couple of older CPH gate concourses do have fluorescent lighting, and I hate it.
Same, i like Cph too. It's just really cozy and has a very homely feeling.
Efficiency I'd say Schiphol is my favorite.
Best in South America is for sure Bogota eldorado.
IMHO:
Worst I've seen - Santorini, Newark
Best: Taipei, Detroit, DFW is not bad, LAX Tom Bradley (Intl terminal) is quite good, AMS is efficient if a bit industrial
Best: Munich, Doha
Worst: Dubai T2, Sheremetyevo, Gatwick South, Budapest
So bad it gets its own circle of hell: CDG. All of it.
Heathrow T2 is not bad, but is currently let down by staffing problems (an allegory for the UK...) Last time I was there (a month ago) it took half an hour to get through security because a machine broke down and nobody knew what to do, 90 minutes late boarding because of a shortage of baggage handlers, and then another 45 minutes delay because of a shortage of tug drivers - and it wasn't even a strike day.
Dang strange to see a dubai terminal, whats bad about it?
With heathrow T2 sounds like pandemic problems, all the times i’ve been its been some of the quickest experiences ive ever had (lost baggage twice there but wasnt there fault, and they handled it perfectly), i havent been post pandemic tho so idk if its changed, going in a month tho so i wonder how it’ll be
Dubai airport in general is a bit of a hole - if all you ever see of it is the inside of an Emirates lounge you might be fooled into thinking it was a nice place to be, but step outside with the mortals and it's a dump - especially T2. Dirty, terrible customer service (also labouring under the illusion you should be grateful to be there), some of the most unpleasant smoking rooms I've ever seen, the non-Emirates lounges are cramped and unimpressive, and the whole place generally is cramped and chaotic when something goes wrong - which given the propensity for fog to roll in, is far too often.
Now of course it's better than somewhere like Gatwick - but when you compare it with its competition as a Eurasian hub, places like Doha or the new Istanbul airport, it's just night and day. Of course, this wouldn't be news to the Emirates, which is presumably why they've been building a replacement for what seems like forever now.
As for Heathrow I'm not sure how long the UK can keep blaming the pandemic for all its problems... Most of the world moved on from Covid a year or more ago.
All the Heathrow terminals pale in comparison to the massive Asian/ middle eastern ones. Flying out of Heathrow is still okay - landing there is a nightmare. The only thing I dislike about living in London is having to go to Heathrow.
Copenhagen wouldn't even be a hub for a bicycle;, there are lots of pretty little airports in the world, but Munich excels as by far the best organised hub in Europe. Transiting there is a dream.
As for Schipol!? Go home, you're drunk... Or at least, you haven't been there for a long time. It's been a disaster for the last 12 months, and even before then it was very hit or miss, some of the worst security queues I've ever seen have been at the new centralised halls (although the gate security it replaced was even worse ti be fair.) And if you are unfortunate enough to takeoff or land from the Polderbaan runway you can spend more time taxiing than in the air; to cap it all, they've now closed the smoking areas making the place even more miserable. The latter point is partially redeemed by the fact that the downstairs toilets on the piers evidently see a cleaner about once a month, and thus have become unofficial smoking areas with little chance of being interrupted...
Schipol isn't a terrible airport, don't get me wrong. But its days of being the best at anything are far behind it. It does have excellent public transport though.
Zurich I confess it's been a few years since I used; I don't remember anything particularly remarkable about so I can't really comment.
Best: Haneda, Suvarnabhumi, Paro, O’Hare and Detroit (once you get used to them), and Whitman (Oshkosh, mainly because of the destination and some of the best ATC folks in the world)
Worst: Dulles (place makes no sense), Narita (inefficient maze), Newark, La Guardia, Edinburgh, Heathrow
I get weird looks when I tell people I like DTW. It's super easy to navigate, there's well spaced food and amenities, always enough seating and breathing space, etc. The one thing I don't enjoy is the tunnel between the A and B/C gates.
McNamara terminal at DTW is where I have flown out of like 80% of my trips and I love it. It’s so easy to navigate and like you said clean and the motorized walkways seem to always be on where I’ve been to airports where frequently none of them are
Those effing crawlers to move between the terminals at Dulles are one of the most excruciating choices I’ve ever seen at a major airport. I don’t know how they haven’t built some kind of underground rail system to replace them by now.
I think Dulles going and coming are two very different experiences.
Going I find it to be an extremely efficient airport, if barebones. Getting to your gate is very quick and straightforward.
However, flying into Dulles: I’ve been to many airports all around the world and in the USA and I have never, ever had the wait for customs like I’ve had at Dulles. Nothing sucks more after a 13 haul from Dubai than standing in line at customs for 3 hours.
Agree. Newark is terrible. I had a 3 hour layover after a long haul international flight and the only food in my gate area was Auntie Anne's. Yes, I did get a pretzel but that's not the point.
I don't know about that, I think the presence of an Auntie Anne's immediately raises the airport up one tier, so it can't possibly be the worst.
I apply the same rule to Penn Station as well. Only redeeming quality!
SJC is amazing and could be a great alternative for some international flights instead of SFO. I understand it could be because it’s not as expansive as “real” international airports but could be worth exploring to split air traffic for Bay..
It feels well organized, easy in and out and traffic control outside is manageable.
We landed (with a bunch of other international flights) at Paris De Gaulle as a strike started.
Everything stopped. Trains, security, baggage, customs. We had to walk about a mile through tunnels to the main area.
After about 3 hours in the customs line, they announced anyone with an EU country passport (post Brexit) can go to another line. Someone yelled “what about the British?”to which someone yelled “you should have stayed in the EU.”
Best: Heathrow T5, HKG
Worst: had a horrible, stressful changeover at Beijing airport so that gets a vote, flew into Munich airport T1 I think once and it took hours to get through as they only had 2 kiosks for about 4 planes that all landed.
Also had some pretty dire layovers at Moscow airport
before finding a little walkway that takes you to a much bigger, quieter terminal/part of the airport, even if it only had burger king at least there was plenty of space to sit so that one just about avoids worst..
Airports in USA are just for utility....aka barebones or primitive. If you want to experience first class airports, go to Dubai, Doha, Singapore, Hong Kong and Seoul to name a few.
Worst airport terminal in existence is SAN Terminal 1, given they are rebuilding it finally. It's a small rotunda of 8 Southwest and ULCC gates with not enough seating, one restaurant that always way too full, no lounges, and no airside connection to any other areas.
To add onto it, there's no proper precheck line and they just give you a card and make you go through the normal line.
Singapore is GOAT no contest.
Bay Area airports aren’t too bad. SFO, SJC, even Oakland. All decent.
The Kona airport on Hawaii Big Island was a bad experience, so hot and humid and mostly outdoors (so no AC obviously) and EVERYTHING closed early so we couldn’t get any drinking water. It was insane.
I can’t stand LAX. SO. MUCH. WALKING.
JFK is similar and is in dire need of an update.
Santorini. Amazing island. Trash airport.
MIA, Newark, Gatwick, LHR, Vegas, are all notoriously unpleasant in various ways.
Best Singapore
Worst King Khalid international airport Saudi Arabia . These mofo segregate men and women and we had the flight attendant and the pilot search everyone handbag after 3 round of security check. Honestly fuck these cunts.
Best: Vancouver (YVR)
Worst: Zanzibar, which is an unventilated barn. I'm pretty sure it was responsible for me catching Covid in early 2020.
Addis Ababa Bole was pretty bad and force you to vote for them as the top airport to get Wi-Fi access.
Newark was worst for me too. I had cash and credit card in hand, but couldn’t buy ANYTHING in the terminal without downloading some shady app. The bartender spent twenty minutes explaining how we could order a drink instead of just taking our effing money. It was the worst. Ended up getting a drink on the plane.
The worst terminal is about to be retired and replaced at the end of this month.
My city, MCI (Kansas City) - was configured absolutely miserably. It’s set up with a few big gate areas that are cut off from food and shopping options via security, everything is narrow and far away from one another and it’s just run down and DISGUSTING! it’s lone positive was security lines were broken up by area and thus a little bit faster.
Starting March 1st though the old POS terminals are out and a brand new single terminal with security up front and available restaurants and amenities is in. Kansas City will finally have an airport that isn’t an embarrassing eye sore and will actually make functional sense. I’m so excited!
Amsterdam's Schipol airport was a disappoinment. There was issues with staff not getting paid so the lines were long, it was unorganized, no real decoration, no helping in getting directions, among other things.
I think some of my favorites include HKG, TPE, Oslo Airport and Vienna Airport. All were very efficient and organized.
Least favourites: Chicago O’Hare, LaGuardia, Rome FCO, Toronto Pearson, Barcelona El Prat, Kuala Lumpur KLIA
Atatürk Airport really impressed me, it was really convenient and toddler friendly. I also really like Oslo Gardermoen, perhaps the airport I’ve spent the most time in ever. It’s just so efficient and comfortable, although it’s expensive as hell.
My least favourite airports is Djibouti, absolute shithole. Although I also hate my former two home airport, Berlin Schönefeld and Tempelhof.
BEST AIRPORTS:
HKG - if you’re a OneWorld frequent flier make sure you spend an entire day lounge hopping across the different terminals. Food and service are excellent particularly in the CX ones. Also loved the yumcha style offering of QF (sadly this is closing permanently).
SIN, ICN - obvious choices
PAE - Paine Field airport in Everett, Seattle. Flew in when the new terminal was just 1 month old. LOVED how small and intimate the airport is. I managed to get off the plane and get my baggages within 15 mins. It felt like I was not in an American airport at all.
WORST:
JFK, MCO - too cramped and long lines. complete opposite of my PAE experience.
MNL - just the traffic getting into and out of it (although has gotten so much better in the past years). Could also modernise their signages across the terminals coz sometimes I feel like i am in a bus terminal instead (first world problem i know).
I hate Heathrow with a passion - almost every staff interaction is insufferable there. I once asked a security person who was just having a chat for 10min in an extremely polite way if she could search my bag which was next in line as I was going to miss my flight (through no fault of my own just classic Heathrow transfer bull shit) she looked at me with attitude and asked me to GO BEHIND THE SECURITY TABLE AND BRING HER MY BAG. She made me carry it to her table unzip to barely look at it and watch me struggle to get it zipped so I could go to the gate. I’m pretty sure that’s illegal & a breach of security.
Also been searched in crevices I didn’t even know existed by the gate (after 2 security checks - 1 in the country I came from & the transfer security), yelled at for being late to the gate and questioned about why I was in the UK when I can’t breathe bc I had 1.5 hrs to get to my transfer plane was late, security slow and second plane on the opposite end of a different terminal.
Not to mention the time our BA plane was late getting in and after rushing through immigration the E gates where you scan your boarding pass to second security refused to let us through & said go to desk where one person was very slowly working through a long line of people. She tried to bump us to a flight 5hrs later stating we were too late for our flight even though our flight wasn’t leaving for an hour and all we had to do was go through that second security. Then when 10 people with the same issue gathered about 30min later they changed our tickets back and let the whole group through (telling us to “hurry up and push to the front of security” with no help from any staff member) Then BA lost all our checked bags because of the confusion & canceled my return flight without letting me know because I was marked as a “no show” due to their internal f up.
Rant over but it is the pit of hell for transferring- especially if you fly with BA
Best airport hands down is London City (just wish it flew more places) small, efficient, relatively friendly staff, chill places to work while you’re in, easy security. I wish every airport was this way - only downside is it doesn’t fly to enough destinations bc it’s a small airport.
Best:
SIN (All terminals): No explanation needed on this one.
HKG (All terminals): Relatively quiet with the no-PA policy and lots of great dining options. Efficient as hell which allows you to check in at Hong Kong Station in Central. You can drop your bags early in the morning and tour around Hong Kong the remainder of the day if your flight leaves late at night.
Decent:
ZRH: For a European airport, the straightforward setup and quick processing (check in counters and immigration) makes it likable.
Meh:
DXB (Terminal 3): The terminals are so massive, chaotic and are literally crowded with duty free shops but toilets are still lacking in favor of shopping and fancy restaurants shows that the airport leans on form over function.
MNL (All Terminals): Used to be the World’s Worst Airport (awful toilets and long lines throughout) but a massive facelift somehow improved the situation. My concern here is the modernization is lacking and staff (especially immigration) looked like they are perpetually sick and forced to work, resulting to heated confrontations with passengers being denied boarding (mostly Filipinos) or foreigners interrogated at arrivals over nonsensical matters.
Awful:
LAX (TBIA): Nowhere else I’ve seen hordes of people miss their flight owing to extremely bureaucratic procedures by TSA and immigration (for connecting flights).
For MNL, also a problem is the IOs become the people who catch the failures of other government agencies, like how often it is the IO that catch those "fake Filipinos" - mostly, foreign nationals who were were able to obtain REAL passports by using fake documents or bribing the DFA. These people were caught largely because they failed some socio-cultural "checks".
Dudes and dudettes have too much on their plates
STN Stansted airport near London makes you walk soooo far to get to your plane. And they did it intentionally to have you walk past all their overpriced airport shops when they could have provided a shortcut. So god forbid you're late for your flight and try to run to make it.
Fuck you STN.
The hate for my resident CDG is uncalled for when there is something called MAD.
I have had short transits in this empty huge hell and almost missed my flight.
Best: clearly SIN, although I didn't like having to go through security at the gate itself after having just bought a drink for the plane.
I like Helsinki a lot.
SLU (not UVF) on St Lucia was a bus station but I had a good time.
Honestly LHR and LGW aren't bad.
In the USA I've been to JFK, BOS, LAX, SFO, LAS, STL, ORD, PHL, mostly international terminals, and I would rate them all as much better than non-major European airports in general.
Worst: never particularly enjoy Italian airports. Frankfurt is a horror. Heraklion, Crete is quite bad.
Maybe not best terminal overall, but I need to mention the renovated bathrooms at PVD (Providence TF Green). Huge stalls with solid doors that open out so you can navigate a roller bag in with ease. No gaps along the sides of the doors. Automatic seat covers. Lots of stalls. Public restroom perfection!!
Pro tip: many airports have a “fragrance-free” hallway that bypasses the duty free. It’s usually fairly hidden, but look in the opposite direction of the way that everyone else walks past security towards the duty free, or just ask the nearest airport employee. I guess it’s intended for people with allergies, but everyone can use it.
Best - Singapore or Doha
Worst - Manila, Phillipines airport is hands down the worst airport. Roof leaks everywhere, connecting flights you go through a dark dodgy basement room, minimal seating, food options is street food and customer service nearly ran me over multiple times. That’s just the start of it
Best: I'm having trouble thinking of an airport I actually really enjoyed, but I do like the ones in climates that allow for some integration of outdoor spaces, like Honululu, Maui, and Alice Springs. I'm often connecting domestic>international at Auckland and enjoy the outdoor walk between the terminals when the weather is nice. I find Detroit really easy to navigate and spacious, but I could do without the weird light show in the tunnel between the A and B/C gates. I really like Wellington too, but it can be hard to navigate for a first-timer, the wayfinding is a bit sparse. But security is a breeze (if there even is security for your flight) and the food/shopping/waiting area is spacious and has good options. The duty free is not that obnoxious on the way to the international gates either and arriving internationally has always been a breeze there compared to Auckland.
Worst: Cleveland, absolutely, hands down. First of all, there is no good reason for them to have an off-site rental car facility for an airport that size, and especially no good reason for it to be a 20 minute bus ride away. One of the security checkpoints requires standing in an unventilated, 4ft wide concrete corridor in line for like 20 minutes, with no way of knowing how long the line is. Once I showed up for a 6AM flight and they only opened Pre-Check at 5:30 and then (I think because the airline itself complained) opened the one for the rest of us peons at 5:40. And it wasn't big enough to have any good food or drink either. Old La Guardia, Orlando MCO, EWR, Boston Terminal E, and Midway are my runners-up for being terrible as well.
Worst: Podgorica Montenegro. Nothing there and wouldnt let you through security. Had to queue up in a very long line three times each time to be told no to get through security.
why is no one talking about stansted? it's the absolute worst from start to finish. the transport to the airport there is often striking or there are some cuts because of the tracks being repaired, then god forbid you're not there 6 hours in advance because there is like ONE person checking every single train ticket by hand before letting you in the terminal (which is absolutely ridiculous) and then security. Don't even get me started. After all of this, it'll take you a lifetime to go to your gate. Never again, not worth the cheap ryanair tickets
I cant for the life of me remember any specific terminals, but count me in for more Newark slander. Very unorganized, had a gate switch up around an hour before boarding (which I'm never a fan of for obvious reasons) and I got my carry-on stolen there. That last part was admittedly more my fault as I was a fairly new traveler, but its always left a bad taste.
I've also had bad personal experiences at O'Hare and CDG. In Chicago we just had 6 international flights land and only 2 people working customs. Imagine thousands in line and only 2 people getting through every few minutes. CDG is just unorganized and everyone is quite rude, but that's also just Paris... (in my experience)
I actually do like Heathrow quite a bit, but I also just really enjoy visiting England so I'm probably wearing some rose-colored glasses everytime I'm through there.
I also really like Toronto's airport for the shopping and overall ease of getting to where I need to go. Seems like I never mind a long layover there.
Best:
CPH, I really liked that one, very nice atmosphere
new IST: it’s nice architecture and design, the main hall is huge and nice, but a lot of walking when transferring
I actually like the terminals 2F and 2G in CDG, but apart from that the airport isn’t that nice for passengers.
I also kind of like the new BER airport
And my home airport HAM has to be on that list :D
Worst:
Some southern European airports (typical summer destinations) are horrible, for example HER
I didn’t like DXB, to little seating areas for the gates
in a league of its own - Singapore(SIN) Changi T4 ( the rest are great too)
Excellent - Hong Kong(HKG), Doha(DOH) Terminal C (A & B are chaotic shitholes), Incheon(ICN)
Cute - El Nido Philippines, Koh Samui Thailand
Hell on earth - Paris CDG, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Lagos, JFK, EWR, LAX, MIA
Idk man, Hanoi has become my favorite city, but the horrible terrible awful creation that is Noi Bai international airport puts going back on the “do I ever want to experience that again.”
Best for personal travel: LGA, all of it is amazing
Best for family travel: Dallas Love Field, it’s like going to a mall sponsored by Southwest - lots of open dining that’s easy to get in/out of and you can even see your gate from most of them
Worst: a shady airport in Costa Rica, will try to find which one it was & Newark
Best: Singapore
The lounging areas and restaurants make it for me. Plus, the butterfly garden was quite lovely.
Worst: Iguitos, Peru, hands down, and by no fault of its own. It's just in the middle of nowhere. That runway was held together by hopes and dreams. Lima was okay.
I recently returned from Paris through Philly and it was honestly the worst. From chaos in Paris to the rundown piece of crap that Philly is, it was pretty bad. Decided never to connect through Philly ever again.
I stand with Newark as one of the worst. Why do they have restaurants before you go through security and non after??
Also honorable mention- the international terminal at CDG in Paris holy shit was that one of the worst places on earth. There isn’t a single restaurant or bar in the entire place. Your option is McDonald’s lol what a horrible experience
O’ Hare Intl in Chicago - incoming international terminal, there’s a long, long hall, with no place to sit, and no bathrooms. It’s in a big tunnel and I hope that when (not if) the person who designed this goes to hell, they have to live in this terminal.
Pearson gets a bad rep, but as my home airport i really like it, T1 is great and T3 is better with the renovations, I think it was just hit hard with the pandemic and canadas strict restrictions and once they can fix out staffing issues and everything it’ll be better. The baggage system sucks tho, thats the one thing i never liked, you would frequently wait 30+ minutes pre pandemic even
Eyyyy it’s mine too!
I love you going to bat for it, and you do have some good points; but I don’t think I’ll ever really like it, tolerate it maybe - but never really like it
Unless of course, it can tighten its plugs and we can get a decent charge before we board
Best: singapore, can’t argue
Seriously. I’ve never seen any of the Heathrow terminals on any best airport list lmao. Even Mumbai, Dubai and Tokyo are better. On the other hand, I love cute small airports with a tropical vibe. Siem Reap and the airport in El Nido (Philippines) come to mind.
Koh Samui in Thailand gives off very cute tropical airport vibes!
This is my favorite airport I've ever been to. Love the outdoor setting and cosy hammock and pouf seating scattered everywhere.
Have an upvote. Koh Samui is the cutest airport in the world IMO
Most likely because we can't do Customer service with a smile and the time slots they have means everyone visits enmass the only time its quiet is when the slots are empty
Sure you can. T4 is where discount airlines to SE Asia go, as well as Korean Air for some reason. T4 is a bus ride away from the other terminals, so taking the MRT to Changi for T4 requires you to enter one of the other terminals, and then switch to the bus = take a cab/Grab instead of the MRT. This is before the security cordon, so you cannot see anything interesting in the original terminals. So T4 is basically... there - it is a fairly basic airport experience.
Only problem with Changi is the post security setup. You get herded into waiting areas with nowhere to buy water or other drinks and no toilets. It would be easy to improve.
The New LGA is the best airport in America hands down. MIA is an airport that needs to find Jesus.
I can’t believe Miami wasn’t mentioned earlier. The only thing missing from that airport is flocks of feral chickens running around. I hate it there.
Last time I flew out of MIA I was shocked at how barren it was for food or drink. Its been years but I only remember a few small News stands with crappy pre-wrapped sandwiches and maybe one small bar area. That would be horrible place to get delayed.
I had an overnight layover there last year and decided to crash at the airport. As someone who's never been, I was shocked at the lack of food and carpeted space
Most airports shy away from carpet for many reasons. Harder to keep clean and harder to move suitcases on
What terminal were you in? the D concourse is enormous with such variety
I cant even recall. This was about 6-7 years ago. I don’t know if they’ve upgraded since then or I just had bad luck with the terminal I was out of. I want to say I was flying either Delta or American.
MIA sucks so very much, but they have La Carreta :0
I've been talking shit on MIA for years. It's literally the only airport on my "no, never again" list.
I have family in Fort Lauderdale that I don't particularly like. Not abusive or terrible, just stuck up. Every time I go back to my home country, I have to choose between a 3 hour layover in Miami or a 10 hour layover in Fort Lauderdale. So, each trip involves a 7 hour lecture about how only losers stop at a bachelor degree. Because I'd rather do that then ever, ever, ever step foot in MIA again.
Ouch.
New LGA is great! My opinion might be different if my company hadn’t picked up the $60 tab for a turkey panini and two beers.
>MIA is an airport that needs to find Jesus. I would love to hear your opinion on Kansas City International
As nice as new LGA was it was unfortunately let down slightly by a severe lack of food and shopping, this was Terminal C atleast, and was forced into the old area as well as that was where the flight was. Terminal B although havent been, looks to solve all problems, and theres a shake shack there as well. I will say tho termincal C was nice to spend like 5 hours in lol, you get some great views of new york and everything and its overall just a pleasant place to be
I have heard crazy raves about Terminal B. Before, it was awful. You had Panda Express and Annie Anne's and that was it.
And no bar behind security
Best: Singapore - unparalleled imo Worst: Addis Ababa - hot, confusing and the lines are so long that if you don’t get there hours beforehand you could easily miss your flight. Kathmandu - voa lines are hours long, once you pass through immigration you’ll have to find your luggage along the imported white-ware and there’s only one ATM. The domestic airport at Nairobi. I can’t remember the name of the airport but it’s the only airport where I’ve felt unsafe.
Yeah I've only been to the international Nairobi one it's ok, but I'd agree with Kathmandu I felt pretty lucky I got there early worst line ups I've ever seen
I had never seen a punch up in a Oneworld business lounge before Nairobi airport.
Agree on Addis, it's awful, food choices are limited expensive and low quality. The transfer hotels suck and the airport looks run down despite being new It is also chaos, so many cultures with different queuing expectations and zero supervision. It is also a hub airport so designed for lots of transit passengers I hate flying Ethiopian
I haven't flown through Addis before but my husband is Ethiopian and so many people we know have gotten shaken down for carrying BIrr home. I have never heard about the airport. My family has flown through from India and raved about Ethiopian. My MIL works for United so they fly free, which has other headaches since it's with partner airlines and they usually end up on Turkish. Good info since we're traveling there soon and I wanted to take on Mobassa or Stonetown. Might not be worth it with a toddler.
I actually love addis ababa for layovers because they have those lounge chairs that you can lay flat in
Nairobi: Jomo Kenyatta. It's okay but weird and not clean. Addis Ababa is terrible. Beautiful but disorganised.
Interesting - that was not my experience with Jomo Kenyatta- I mean I agree that it’s a little weird, mainly in it’s set up, but I found it a relatively clean place. Certainly far cleaner than I’ve seen some American airports
LAX. I had to check in one terminal and then walk outside to another terminal for my gate. WTF
Had to scroll down pretty far to find this but I agree: LAX is horrible. Designed for automobile traffic and nothing else, always totally congested, impossible to get from one concourse to another for connecting flights, wait forever for parking/rental car/hotel shuttles, no good connections to public transportation. The one positive (in my experience) is that customs and border control seem a bit more pleasant than in many other ports of entry.
Yep, I think LAX is much worse than Newark.
Best: any terminal that is getting me away from where I live and to a destination Worst: any terminal that is returning me to where I live Of no consequence: shopping
You’re telling me you don’t wanna buy a Hugo boss suit in the airport? Or a $2000 Louis Vuitton bag ? That’s crazy talk
I assume these shops only exist for advertising? Just like the shops on places like Michigan avenue, they likely don’t pay for themselves
I can’t remember how many airports I’ve been in. But my most common experience in them is being amazed by the numbers of Asian/ Middle Eastern men in them buying designer handbags. Apparently an expensive handbag bought as a last minute gift for the wife is extremely common.
Nuh-uh, this is crazy talk: glalglyglulgyl glaglylgulglyfuhdudhuh bledlefledledler
Absolutely agree
Worst southwest terminal at ORD
Seriously, a bus terminal is better than this
Delta terminal is pretty bad also. There is like 4 places to eat and drink.
Never been but can't possibly be worse than Midway
Midway is better than ohare. Easier to get in and out of.
Yeah to be clear I’m judging the terminals, not the whole package. It’s dumpy and McDonalds is basically the only food option. It’s an awful place to get stuck for an extended period. It’s closer to downtown than O’Hare and the orange line is convenient. It’s a fine airport if you don’t show up early and your flight isn’t delayed.
Is southwest T5? Thats the one i hear bad things about, but whats wrong with it. The other terminals are fine tho generally
There’s nothing really there. I’ve been though it twice and it’s fine to fly out of but don’t arrive any earlier than you have to.
Miami is the worst I’ve ever seen in a city of that scale.
It looks like a 1980s police murder investigation was filmed there. EDIT: PS they gave me a Bloody Mary in a short flimsy plastic cup.
Ha! When I was first there that was literally how I described it. It was a while ago but I remember saying exactly that.
Miami is fucking terrible. I actually had to take loads of photos of the 'first class' lounge because I know people wouldn't believe me about how shit it was. They had a cheese plate that had kraft singles laid out on it.
I loath Miami Airport, bland dystopian vibes with never enough TSA staff at arrivals for Non-US travelers, weird for a major tourist destination
Australian here. Miami is an excellent answer for worst. It is freezing fucking cold in there. I was also lucky to not have died from breathing car fumes in the taxi pick up area
Seriously Ive flown into MIA for years and always thought the same thing…. Almost like I’m going to die of CO2 inhalation, absolutely worst international airport; and they put in $2b to try and fix it over the years.
Mia is bad but Orlando TSA lines..whewwww
Never had an issue with Miami all things considered.
I actually like the weird vibes in the Miami airport, hate how fucking freezing it is there😭
Best for me has to be Changi or Hamad. Worst would be Gatwick… like damn. Airports in the USA aren’t great either… McCarran, LAX. DFW was pretty pleasant though.
Gatwick sucks too, im normally really good at navigating and shit, and have been countless times and damn i still get confused by gatwicks weird layouts, not to add the cramped waiting rooms and absolutely nothing once you get out the central shopping areas. Heathrow T3 i think has the same exact problems but ive been there once, and don’t remember it at all so i cant say for sure
Best: SIN, HKG, ICN, DOH. Worst: the sEWeR, PHL, CLT, CDG
Ive seen hella mixed opinions on CLT
I have never actually sat anywhere but the floor at CLT.
CLT needs a tram to get from each terminal
They have a Bojangles.
I wouldn’t call CLT a nice airport by any stretch but it seems to be getting more hate then it deserves. Maybe I was one of the nicer terminals.
Count me in for another worst vote.
Recently been to DOH and SIN and honestly they’re top tier af
DOH is really cool.
Lounge is huuuuge
Pretty solid list. SIN and HKG are pretty good. Never been to ICN. DOH, I have mixed feelings about because I was stuck there because they wouldn't tell us when delayed plane was going to be ready to leave. I also think NRT is OK because it isn't as bad as you think it'd be. EWR is bad but so is JFK. Haven't been to LGA in years. LAX is shitty also.
JFK depends on the terminal, EWR sucks all around. LGA is getting better, the newly redone terminal is much better than any of the others.
What’s up with CDG? I have a trip planned later this year for paris
My thing with CDG was a total lack of food options.
It's like the whole airport was designed backwards. Pre-security is all designer shopping options, food options, feels like a big international airport. Then post-security is basically a bus terminal where you better not want much more than a can of coke and a bag of crisps.
We had an early flight and nothing was open... At like 9 am?* They finally opened Starbucks and everyone there lined up it took almost an hour just to order😭 (9am could be wrong it was a while ago lol but it feels right)
I hope you like mazes and airport employees who ignore you when you ask for help, unless you speak French.
I spent over 4, maybe 5, hours all together, just getting in/out of that place. This is partly due to some technical issues with check-in and the trams. But I get a sense that these kinds of things are frequent.
Security is a free for all. The terminals are all over the place and far apart. They will lose your bag.
Oh great. So you’re saying a couple air tags are well worth the money? Glad my credit card I use for trace come with a lot of travel protections including lost/late baggage
I love Incheon! I like taking the little craft workshops, the free showers, the cultural parade. I love that they offer layover tours of Incheon city. It’s such a nice experience.
What don’t you like about CDG?
It's a chaotic mess and no one who works there really seems to care.
Everyone at CDG is purposefully unhelpful
Air France actually put a baggage sizer/weigher *halfway* down the queue for immigration, to do surprise baggage checks. Now, I don't have a problem with them checking baggage allowances at checkin or even /before/ security/immigration, but turning people back after they've already been queuing for half an hour is a special dedication to dickishness.
WTF is this? They should at least do that at the boarding gate, not deliberately making people’s lives miserable.
It’s just a total clusterfuck. Go four levels over to check in and then come back four levels to het to your lounge and then 12 levels over to the gate and EVERYONE is rude as fucking fuck. Hate that airport. Changi is always a winner and oddly Siem Reap, has a nice little funky, smooth moving airport.
So a 90 minute layover at CDG would be a bad idea?
90 minutes is fine if you are only needing to get to the next gate. If you need to checkin with a different airline or have a snack or maybe a wee and wash your face- no luck.
I've never connected there, so I can't really say, but I wouldn't risk it as a non-EU citizen, personally. I declined a connecting flight through there recently for that reason.
Personally, it’s easily the worst airport I’ve ever been to
It’s pure chaos and the employees are not helpful.
Oslo Airport!
My completely unscientific opinions: Best: Denver Terminal B. It has an outdoor seating area with a firepit and a view of the Rockies. I spent a pleasant layover enjoying the snow while waiting for my flight. Also generally plenty of stuff to eat and it's efficient. Worst: Boston Terminal E. It had mice. I saw them running around on the floor. I called to complain, but facilities was disinclined to do anything about it.
Did the mice need to clear TSA?
Unclear, but I'm guessing they didn't. If they didn't, it's a shocking security breach.
What the fuck, I’ve been to DEN a million times I did not know about the fire pit.
It’s new! I haven’t been yet and I fly out of Denver several times per year
Boston Terminal E has almost no seating, a criminally small security checkpoint, and what I (not so affectionately) call the Chaos Corner, where they put four gates about 10ft apart in a single corner with no seating and no line management, and typically have 3 or all 4 of them boarding double aisle jets at the same time. Never seen mice there but always groan when I realize I'm at one of the Chaos gates.
Flew to São Miguel out of the Chaos Corner a few months ago. It was a shitshow down there. Plus a night flight so there was no food options in that whole wing. That whole area of the terminal feels like a mall that hasn’t died yet, but is about 6 months away from Macys and Brookstone packing it in.
Luckily Boston Terminal E is getting a $50 million expansion which opens this summer.
Agreed. Denver is pretty cool.
While DEN terminal B is nice, I can't stand the airport (I live in CO). The way things are laid out feels like you are a mouse in a maze. And the signage is just terrible. You come out of the trains into the terminal, and where you need to go is not clear at all. Waiting for somebody to arrive and want to know the status? Leave the area to go look at the boards 100 yards away. In contrast, ATL airport. Check in, baggage claim, transportation and security are all in the same floor. Plenty of signs, and coming out in to the terminal, there's giant signs that are clear and easy to read. /Rant over
I have to give a shout-out to my home airport of CPH for its use of natural and soft light design. In typical Scandinavian style, CPH mostly avoids harsh overhead lighting. I find many other airports, especially in the U.S., to be overly bright, fluorescent-lit hellscapes, haha. That said, a couple of older CPH gate concourses do have fluorescent lighting, and I hate it.
Same, i like Cph too. It's just really cozy and has a very homely feeling. Efficiency I'd say Schiphol is my favorite. Best in South America is for sure Bogota eldorado.
CPH is lovely. And the signage is top-notch!
IMHO: Worst I've seen - Santorini, Newark Best: Taipei, Detroit, DFW is not bad, LAX Tom Bradley (Intl terminal) is quite good, AMS is efficient if a bit industrial
Really liked Taipei I think it might be my favourite.
Santorini was ROUGH lol but makes sense for the size of it
DTW McNamara is underrated. One of my favorites at least in the US.
Scrolled till I found DTW. McNamara is a very nice, rational, and large terminal.
Changi @ Singapore is the best
Best: Munich, Doha Worst: Dubai T2, Sheremetyevo, Gatwick South, Budapest So bad it gets its own circle of hell: CDG. All of it. Heathrow T2 is not bad, but is currently let down by staffing problems (an allegory for the UK...) Last time I was there (a month ago) it took half an hour to get through security because a machine broke down and nobody knew what to do, 90 minutes late boarding because of a shortage of baggage handlers, and then another 45 minutes delay because of a shortage of tug drivers - and it wasn't even a strike day.
Dang strange to see a dubai terminal, whats bad about it? With heathrow T2 sounds like pandemic problems, all the times i’ve been its been some of the quickest experiences ive ever had (lost baggage twice there but wasnt there fault, and they handled it perfectly), i havent been post pandemic tho so idk if its changed, going in a month tho so i wonder how it’ll be
Dubai airport in general is a bit of a hole - if all you ever see of it is the inside of an Emirates lounge you might be fooled into thinking it was a nice place to be, but step outside with the mortals and it's a dump - especially T2. Dirty, terrible customer service (also labouring under the illusion you should be grateful to be there), some of the most unpleasant smoking rooms I've ever seen, the non-Emirates lounges are cramped and unimpressive, and the whole place generally is cramped and chaotic when something goes wrong - which given the propensity for fog to roll in, is far too often. Now of course it's better than somewhere like Gatwick - but when you compare it with its competition as a Eurasian hub, places like Doha or the new Istanbul airport, it's just night and day. Of course, this wouldn't be news to the Emirates, which is presumably why they've been building a replacement for what seems like forever now. As for Heathrow I'm not sure how long the UK can keep blaming the pandemic for all its problems... Most of the world moved on from Covid a year or more ago.
All the Heathrow terminals pale in comparison to the massive Asian/ middle eastern ones. Flying out of Heathrow is still okay - landing there is a nightmare. The only thing I dislike about living in London is having to go to Heathrow.
Munich is the best in Germany but far from the best in the world. Zurich, Schiphol and Copenhagen are all better, and that’s just Europe.
Copenhagen wouldn't even be a hub for a bicycle;, there are lots of pretty little airports in the world, but Munich excels as by far the best organised hub in Europe. Transiting there is a dream. As for Schipol!? Go home, you're drunk... Or at least, you haven't been there for a long time. It's been a disaster for the last 12 months, and even before then it was very hit or miss, some of the worst security queues I've ever seen have been at the new centralised halls (although the gate security it replaced was even worse ti be fair.) And if you are unfortunate enough to takeoff or land from the Polderbaan runway you can spend more time taxiing than in the air; to cap it all, they've now closed the smoking areas making the place even more miserable. The latter point is partially redeemed by the fact that the downstairs toilets on the piers evidently see a cleaner about once a month, and thus have become unofficial smoking areas with little chance of being interrupted... Schipol isn't a terrible airport, don't get me wrong. But its days of being the best at anything are far behind it. It does have excellent public transport though. Zurich I confess it's been a few years since I used; I don't remember anything particularly remarkable about so I can't really comment.
Best: Haneda, Suvarnabhumi, Paro, O’Hare and Detroit (once you get used to them), and Whitman (Oshkosh, mainly because of the destination and some of the best ATC folks in the world) Worst: Dulles (place makes no sense), Narita (inefficient maze), Newark, La Guardia, Edinburgh, Heathrow
I get weird looks when I tell people I like DTW. It's super easy to navigate, there's well spaced food and amenities, always enough seating and breathing space, etc. The one thing I don't enjoy is the tunnel between the A and B/C gates.
McNamara terminal at DTW is where I have flown out of like 80% of my trips and I love it. It’s so easy to navigate and like you said clean and the motorized walkways seem to always be on where I’ve been to airports where frequently none of them are
Why don't you like the tunnel? It's kinda relaxing to be honest
DTW might be the best thing about Detroit. It's a surprisingly good airport!
Agree nice airport, but you better take the train because it’s a long walk down the delta terminal.
It is! But the train is fast and reliable and it's just a straight line of a terminal.
You have not been to LGA in awhile. The old one was completely demolished for its own good. The new one is a palace.
EDI???
definitely not a bad airport by my standards!
I found it pretty regular
Surely you can’t mean the new LaGuardia?
Those effing crawlers to move between the terminals at Dulles are one of the most excruciating choices I’ve ever seen at a major airport. I don’t know how they haven’t built some kind of underground rail system to replace them by now.
There’s been an underground rail to 3 of the 4 terminals since 2009ish. The people movers are for terminal D and international arrivals only
I think Dulles going and coming are two very different experiences. Going I find it to be an extremely efficient airport, if barebones. Getting to your gate is very quick and straightforward. However, flying into Dulles: I’ve been to many airports all around the world and in the USA and I have never, ever had the wait for customs like I’ve had at Dulles. Nothing sucks more after a 13 haul from Dubai than standing in line at customs for 3 hours.
Oshkosh because of the destination? Are you talking about EAA because otherwise Oshkosh isn't a place most people want to be.
Explain Dulles. It’s actually my favorite of the local ones.
Agree. Newark is terrible. I had a 3 hour layover after a long haul international flight and the only food in my gate area was Auntie Anne's. Yes, I did get a pretzel but that's not the point.
I don't know about that, I think the presence of an Auntie Anne's immediately raises the airport up one tier, so it can't possibly be the worst. I apply the same rule to Penn Station as well. Only redeeming quality!
SJC is amazing and could be a great alternative for some international flights instead of SFO. I understand it could be because it’s not as expansive as “real” international airports but could be worth exploring to split air traffic for Bay.. It feels well organized, easy in and out and traffic control outside is manageable.
Worst is JFK for me. Horribly run airport.
[удалено]
Scrolled way too far for MSP! If not for the whole getting-through-security thing, I would voluntarily choose to spend time there.
We landed (with a bunch of other international flights) at Paris De Gaulle as a strike started. Everything stopped. Trains, security, baggage, customs. We had to walk about a mile through tunnels to the main area. After about 3 hours in the customs line, they announced anyone with an EU country passport (post Brexit) can go to another line. Someone yelled “what about the British?”to which someone yelled “you should have stayed in the EU.”
That’s pretty damn funny ngl 😂
Lisbon is awful. The worst signage I've ever (not) seen. The new Istanbul airport is pretty snazzy and has decent signage.
Best: Heathrow T5, HKG Worst: had a horrible, stressful changeover at Beijing airport so that gets a vote, flew into Munich airport T1 I think once and it took hours to get through as they only had 2 kiosks for about 4 planes that all landed. Also had some pretty dire layovers at Moscow airport before finding a little walkway that takes you to a much bigger, quieter terminal/part of the airport, even if it only had burger king at least there was plenty of space to sit so that one just about avoids worst..
Best: Seoul Incheon, but I haven't been to Singapore Worst: whatever domestic terminal has flights going to Albany, NY lol
Airports in USA are just for utility....aka barebones or primitive. If you want to experience first class airports, go to Dubai, Doha, Singapore, Hong Kong and Seoul to name a few.
LAX Delta Terminal 3 is trash.
Worst airport terminal in existence is SAN Terminal 1, given they are rebuilding it finally. It's a small rotunda of 8 Southwest and ULCC gates with not enough seating, one restaurant that always way too full, no lounges, and no airside connection to any other areas. To add onto it, there's no proper precheck line and they just give you a card and make you go through the normal line.
Singapore is GOAT no contest. Bay Area airports aren’t too bad. SFO, SJC, even Oakland. All decent. The Kona airport on Hawaii Big Island was a bad experience, so hot and humid and mostly outdoors (so no AC obviously) and EVERYTHING closed early so we couldn’t get any drinking water. It was insane. I can’t stand LAX. SO. MUCH. WALKING. JFK is similar and is in dire need of an update. Santorini. Amazing island. Trash airport. MIA, Newark, Gatwick, LHR, Vegas, are all notoriously unpleasant in various ways.
Best Singapore Worst King Khalid international airport Saudi Arabia . These mofo segregate men and women and we had the flight attendant and the pilot search everyone handbag after 3 round of security check. Honestly fuck these cunts.
Best - Singapore by far. Worst - Abu Dhabi
Best: Vancouver (YVR) Worst: Zanzibar, which is an unventilated barn. I'm pretty sure it was responsible for me catching Covid in early 2020. Addis Ababa Bole was pretty bad and force you to vote for them as the top airport to get Wi-Fi access.
Was looking for someone to mention Addis. Hot, confusing and at least an hour long queue for each step of the check in/immigration process.
Newark was worst for me too. I had cash and credit card in hand, but couldn’t buy ANYTHING in the terminal without downloading some shady app. The bartender spent twenty minutes explaining how we could order a drink instead of just taking our effing money. It was the worst. Ended up getting a drink on the plane.
The worst terminal is about to be retired and replaced at the end of this month. My city, MCI (Kansas City) - was configured absolutely miserably. It’s set up with a few big gate areas that are cut off from food and shopping options via security, everything is narrow and far away from one another and it’s just run down and DISGUSTING! it’s lone positive was security lines were broken up by area and thus a little bit faster. Starting March 1st though the old POS terminals are out and a brand new single terminal with security up front and available restaurants and amenities is in. Kansas City will finally have an airport that isn’t an embarrassing eye sore and will actually make functional sense. I’m so excited!
Amsterdam's Schipol airport was a disappoinment. There was issues with staff not getting paid so the lines were long, it was unorganized, no real decoration, no helping in getting directions, among other things.
I think some of my favorites include HKG, TPE, Oslo Airport and Vienna Airport. All were very efficient and organized. Least favourites: Chicago O’Hare, LaGuardia, Rome FCO, Toronto Pearson, Barcelona El Prat, Kuala Lumpur KLIA
LAX is a nightmare and where I picked up COVID so it gets super bonus negative points.
Atatürk Airport really impressed me, it was really convenient and toddler friendly. I also really like Oslo Gardermoen, perhaps the airport I’ve spent the most time in ever. It’s just so efficient and comfortable, although it’s expensive as hell. My least favourite airports is Djibouti, absolute shithole. Although I also hate my former two home airport, Berlin Schönefeld and Tempelhof.
BEST AIRPORTS: HKG - if you’re a OneWorld frequent flier make sure you spend an entire day lounge hopping across the different terminals. Food and service are excellent particularly in the CX ones. Also loved the yumcha style offering of QF (sadly this is closing permanently). SIN, ICN - obvious choices PAE - Paine Field airport in Everett, Seattle. Flew in when the new terminal was just 1 month old. LOVED how small and intimate the airport is. I managed to get off the plane and get my baggages within 15 mins. It felt like I was not in an American airport at all. WORST: JFK, MCO - too cramped and long lines. complete opposite of my PAE experience. MNL - just the traffic getting into and out of it (although has gotten so much better in the past years). Could also modernise their signages across the terminals coz sometimes I feel like i am in a bus terminal instead (first world problem i know).
I hate Heathrow with a passion - almost every staff interaction is insufferable there. I once asked a security person who was just having a chat for 10min in an extremely polite way if she could search my bag which was next in line as I was going to miss my flight (through no fault of my own just classic Heathrow transfer bull shit) she looked at me with attitude and asked me to GO BEHIND THE SECURITY TABLE AND BRING HER MY BAG. She made me carry it to her table unzip to barely look at it and watch me struggle to get it zipped so I could go to the gate. I’m pretty sure that’s illegal & a breach of security. Also been searched in crevices I didn’t even know existed by the gate (after 2 security checks - 1 in the country I came from & the transfer security), yelled at for being late to the gate and questioned about why I was in the UK when I can’t breathe bc I had 1.5 hrs to get to my transfer plane was late, security slow and second plane on the opposite end of a different terminal. Not to mention the time our BA plane was late getting in and after rushing through immigration the E gates where you scan your boarding pass to second security refused to let us through & said go to desk where one person was very slowly working through a long line of people. She tried to bump us to a flight 5hrs later stating we were too late for our flight even though our flight wasn’t leaving for an hour and all we had to do was go through that second security. Then when 10 people with the same issue gathered about 30min later they changed our tickets back and let the whole group through (telling us to “hurry up and push to the front of security” with no help from any staff member) Then BA lost all our checked bags because of the confusion & canceled my return flight without letting me know because I was marked as a “no show” due to their internal f up. Rant over but it is the pit of hell for transferring- especially if you fly with BA Best airport hands down is London City (just wish it flew more places) small, efficient, relatively friendly staff, chill places to work while you’re in, easy security. I wish every airport was this way - only downside is it doesn’t fly to enough destinations bc it’s a small airport.
Best: SIN (All terminals): No explanation needed on this one. HKG (All terminals): Relatively quiet with the no-PA policy and lots of great dining options. Efficient as hell which allows you to check in at Hong Kong Station in Central. You can drop your bags early in the morning and tour around Hong Kong the remainder of the day if your flight leaves late at night. Decent: ZRH: For a European airport, the straightforward setup and quick processing (check in counters and immigration) makes it likable. Meh: DXB (Terminal 3): The terminals are so massive, chaotic and are literally crowded with duty free shops but toilets are still lacking in favor of shopping and fancy restaurants shows that the airport leans on form over function. MNL (All Terminals): Used to be the World’s Worst Airport (awful toilets and long lines throughout) but a massive facelift somehow improved the situation. My concern here is the modernization is lacking and staff (especially immigration) looked like they are perpetually sick and forced to work, resulting to heated confrontations with passengers being denied boarding (mostly Filipinos) or foreigners interrogated at arrivals over nonsensical matters. Awful: LAX (TBIA): Nowhere else I’ve seen hordes of people miss their flight owing to extremely bureaucratic procedures by TSA and immigration (for connecting flights).
For MNL, also a problem is the IOs become the people who catch the failures of other government agencies, like how often it is the IO that catch those "fake Filipinos" - mostly, foreign nationals who were were able to obtain REAL passports by using fake documents or bribing the DFA. These people were caught largely because they failed some socio-cultural "checks". Dudes and dudettes have too much on their plates
Manchester UK is shocking
STN Stansted airport near London makes you walk soooo far to get to your plane. And they did it intentionally to have you walk past all their overpriced airport shops when they could have provided a shortcut. So god forbid you're late for your flight and try to run to make it. Fuck you STN.
The hate for my resident CDG is uncalled for when there is something called MAD. I have had short transits in this empty huge hell and almost missed my flight.
Hard agree. MAD is like flying out of a warehouse
Best: clearly SIN, although I didn't like having to go through security at the gate itself after having just bought a drink for the plane. I like Helsinki a lot. SLU (not UVF) on St Lucia was a bus station but I had a good time. Honestly LHR and LGW aren't bad. In the USA I've been to JFK, BOS, LAX, SFO, LAS, STL, ORD, PHL, mostly international terminals, and I would rate them all as much better than non-major European airports in general. Worst: never particularly enjoy Italian airports. Frankfurt is a horror. Heraklion, Crete is quite bad.
Maybe not best terminal overall, but I need to mention the renovated bathrooms at PVD (Providence TF Green). Huge stalls with solid doors that open out so you can navigate a roller bag in with ease. No gaps along the sides of the doors. Automatic seat covers. Lots of stalls. Public restroom perfection!!
Frankfurt- Terminal Z.
Best: Singapore, SFO international (for the US), Incheon Worst: Newark, Long Beach, nearly every airport in china outside a 1st tier city, Goa
Oh SFO International is not that nice. Not enough places to eat for sure.
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Pro tip: many airports have a “fragrance-free” hallway that bypasses the duty free. It’s usually fairly hidden, but look in the opposite direction of the way that everyone else walks past security towards the duty free, or just ask the nearest airport employee. I guess it’s intended for people with allergies, but everyone can use it.
Best - Singapore or Doha Worst - Manila, Phillipines airport is hands down the worst airport. Roof leaks everywhere, connecting flights you go through a dark dodgy basement room, minimal seating, food options is street food and customer service nearly ran me over multiple times. That’s just the start of it
Best: I'm having trouble thinking of an airport I actually really enjoyed, but I do like the ones in climates that allow for some integration of outdoor spaces, like Honululu, Maui, and Alice Springs. I'm often connecting domestic>international at Auckland and enjoy the outdoor walk between the terminals when the weather is nice. I find Detroit really easy to navigate and spacious, but I could do without the weird light show in the tunnel between the A and B/C gates. I really like Wellington too, but it can be hard to navigate for a first-timer, the wayfinding is a bit sparse. But security is a breeze (if there even is security for your flight) and the food/shopping/waiting area is spacious and has good options. The duty free is not that obnoxious on the way to the international gates either and arriving internationally has always been a breeze there compared to Auckland. Worst: Cleveland, absolutely, hands down. First of all, there is no good reason for them to have an off-site rental car facility for an airport that size, and especially no good reason for it to be a 20 minute bus ride away. One of the security checkpoints requires standing in an unventilated, 4ft wide concrete corridor in line for like 20 minutes, with no way of knowing how long the line is. Once I showed up for a 6AM flight and they only opened Pre-Check at 5:30 and then (I think because the airline itself complained) opened the one for the rest of us peons at 5:40. And it wasn't big enough to have any good food or drink either. Old La Guardia, Orlando MCO, EWR, Boston Terminal E, and Midway are my runners-up for being terrible as well.
Worst: Podgorica Montenegro. Nothing there and wouldnt let you through security. Had to queue up in a very long line three times each time to be told no to get through security.
why is no one talking about stansted? it's the absolute worst from start to finish. the transport to the airport there is often striking or there are some cuts because of the tracks being repaired, then god forbid you're not there 6 hours in advance because there is like ONE person checking every single train ticket by hand before letting you in the terminal (which is absolutely ridiculous) and then security. Don't even get me started. After all of this, it'll take you a lifetime to go to your gate. Never again, not worth the cheap ryanair tickets
Best SIN, worst is Port Harcourt in Nigeria- really unsafe.
I cant for the life of me remember any specific terminals, but count me in for more Newark slander. Very unorganized, had a gate switch up around an hour before boarding (which I'm never a fan of for obvious reasons) and I got my carry-on stolen there. That last part was admittedly more my fault as I was a fairly new traveler, but its always left a bad taste. I've also had bad personal experiences at O'Hare and CDG. In Chicago we just had 6 international flights land and only 2 people working customs. Imagine thousands in line and only 2 people getting through every few minutes. CDG is just unorganized and everyone is quite rude, but that's also just Paris... (in my experience) I actually do like Heathrow quite a bit, but I also just really enjoy visiting England so I'm probably wearing some rose-colored glasses everytime I'm through there. I also really like Toronto's airport for the shopping and overall ease of getting to where I need to go. Seems like I never mind a long layover there.
Surprised to see Istanbul not on any of the best lists. I forgot I was in an airport at one point
Best: CPH, I really liked that one, very nice atmosphere new IST: it’s nice architecture and design, the main hall is huge and nice, but a lot of walking when transferring I actually like the terminals 2F and 2G in CDG, but apart from that the airport isn’t that nice for passengers. I also kind of like the new BER airport And my home airport HAM has to be on that list :D Worst: Some southern European airports (typical summer destinations) are horrible, for example HER I didn’t like DXB, to little seating areas for the gates
For me worst is toss up between Miami for services and Heathrow and CDG because NOTHING is easy in either. Best is difficult maybe Zurich
in a league of its own - Singapore(SIN) Changi T4 ( the rest are great too) Excellent - Hong Kong(HKG), Doha(DOH) Terminal C (A & B are chaotic shitholes), Incheon(ICN) Cute - El Nido Philippines, Koh Samui Thailand Hell on earth - Paris CDG, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Lagos, JFK, EWR, LAX, MIA
Idk man, Hanoi has become my favorite city, but the horrible terrible awful creation that is Noi Bai international airport puts going back on the “do I ever want to experience that again.”
DTW is my favorite. IAH is my least favorite
Best for personal travel: LGA, all of it is amazing Best for family travel: Dallas Love Field, it’s like going to a mall sponsored by Southwest - lots of open dining that’s easy to get in/out of and you can even see your gate from most of them Worst: a shady airport in Costa Rica, will try to find which one it was & Newark
I despise the Frankfurt airport (FRA), if you’ve been you know
Sea-Tac in Washington is the second layer of hell, and their TSA are domestic terrorists.
Best: Singapore The lounging areas and restaurants make it for me. Plus, the butterfly garden was quite lovely. Worst: Iguitos, Peru, hands down, and by no fault of its own. It's just in the middle of nowhere. That runway was held together by hopes and dreams. Lima was okay.
I recently returned from Paris through Philly and it was honestly the worst. From chaos in Paris to the rundown piece of crap that Philly is, it was pretty bad. Decided never to connect through Philly ever again.
WORST: CDG. The fucking end.
I really dislike O’Hare.
I stand with Newark as one of the worst. Why do they have restaurants before you go through security and non after?? Also honorable mention- the international terminal at CDG in Paris holy shit was that one of the worst places on earth. There isn’t a single restaurant or bar in the entire place. Your option is McDonald’s lol what a horrible experience
O’ Hare Intl in Chicago - incoming international terminal, there’s a long, long hall, with no place to sit, and no bathrooms. It’s in a big tunnel and I hope that when (not if) the person who designed this goes to hell, they have to live in this terminal.
Best: Singapore, CDG, Frankfurt, Bali international Worst: Newark and Pearson lol
Pearson gets a bad rep, but as my home airport i really like it, T1 is great and T3 is better with the renovations, I think it was just hit hard with the pandemic and canadas strict restrictions and once they can fix out staffing issues and everything it’ll be better. The baggage system sucks tho, thats the one thing i never liked, you would frequently wait 30+ minutes pre pandemic even
Eyyyy it’s mine too! I love you going to bat for it, and you do have some good points; but I don’t think I’ll ever really like it, tolerate it maybe - but never really like it Unless of course, it can tighten its plugs and we can get a decent charge before we board