http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/23/travel/trfreq24.php I don't get out enough to really have any good comments on the best and worst airports, but I'm sure some of you will have plenty to say, and reading them would be fun for this armchair traveler.
The best I've been to are Frankfurt, Copenhagen's, and Tokyo's International Airports. The worst-Miami International Airport
Completely agree with Hong Kong. Also with Schiphol; I'm always amazed at how quickly you can get out of Schiphol but was convinced that the authorities went easy on me because I'm Dutch, nice to see that it gets a high rating allround. New York JFK is my worst airport experience, by far the rudest airport and immigration authorities I've had the pleasure of meeting.
McCarran in Las Vegas is simply dreadful. By far the worst I've dealt with in the US. Best? Best big one - Newark Best little one - Jacksonville
Worst Frankfurt seems like it's constantly under major construction. Flight delays/cancellations, thy name is O'Hare Heathrow is simply a mess, unless you're flying in/out of Terminal 4 Chang Kai Shek always smells like urine, for some reason. Best Dulles is so much better than it used to be, and will be a lot better when they finally get rid of the buses Hong Kong International is great, although I do miss the old one with the "checkerboard" approach - best rollercoaster ride EVER.
Weird, I've never had any problems whatsoever with Heathrow. That's not to say it's the best, but I haven't experienced anything that would put it in the "worst" category, as it seems many of you have.
Wasn't it just! You could literally see what the people in their flats were having for dinner. Pilots needed special qualifications didn't they, to fly into Hong Kong I mean.
I think they needed a LOT of flight time, but no other special qualifications. The first time I flew in there, I had been warned about the approach. When we landed, I wanted to go up and do it again. I never knew a 747 could do that.
I despise JFK, Dulles, LAX, O'Hare, Da Vinci (Rome), Tampa, De Gaulle, Reykjavik, Boston, and Newark just to name a few off the top my head. Washington National, Sarasota / Bradenton FL, Savannah GA, Milan Italy, Long Beach CA, Amsterdam, Zurich, Venice Italy, Brussels and Catania Sicily are all pretty decent.
You hate Reykjavik, really? It's not a great airport (little more than a terminal and a parking lot), but I've never had any problems there.
Probably has a lot to do with being stuck there for about 5 or 6 hours on the way back from the World Cup last year when our connecting flight to the States had some sort of technical problem. They didn't even bother to tell us what was going on, just herded us into a room with no seats, and after standing around for about an hour finally told us "there will be a delay" and let us go back into the terminal. The fact that there was not a SINGLE TV IN THE ENTIRE AIRPORT so we could actually watch World Cup games that were going on combined to the suckitude. I'll never fly IcelandAir again, no matter how cheap it is.
Think of them as Iceland's version of Southwest (without the frills ), and everything falls into place.
About seven years ago I flew to Amsterdam to visit a friend as well as for Euro 2000.Two very young-looking guys in a booth at passport control did not even open my passport.They seemed too busy joking with each other to be bothered with a Japanese passport holder.It was the easiest time I've ever had with immigration officials-if they were immigration officials,that is. It was a sh1thole once inside the terminal though.I missed a connection there and had to spend half a day in a departure lounge.People were sitting on the floor everywhere littering where they were sitting with rubbish and cigarette butts.It was a total chaos.
The only issue I have with McCarran is the baggage claim (it takes FOREVER and a DAY for them to get the bags out, and when you arrive in Vegas you want to get to the casinos!) I love that you can pop over to the MGM check-in desk (never a line vs the mess at the hotel). There are other properties that have check in at the airport but why miss the fish tank at the Mirage. Houston is also pretty awful and the layout of the KC airport is annoying (oh, horseshoes, that's cute but what a pain to get around!) Providence, Milwaukee and Columbus are small so easy in and out. K
My favorite is MacArthur on Long Island I poop on Miami Newark is great only if you take Continental. For other airlines it is crap.
i have no problem with O'Hare, but I prefer Midway since it is less crowded. Had a 4 hour layover in Milan's airport which was fine. Denver's is nice, except it is way out in the middle of nowhere! my favorite small airport is Palm Springs. been out there 3 times for work this year and it is just so laid back and quiet, which I'm sure is typical of a lot of small airport.
It is funny wrt Newark/JFK. I had been through Newark a few times before and it is imo a lovely airport all-around, but it left me wondering "if Newark is like this, what must the so well-known JFK be like?". I was in JFK maybe 9 months ago... biggest shithole ever. Asshole staff with the worlds biggest chip on their shoulders, absolutely horrible (not to mention perhaps the most expensive, incl. Geneva) in-terminal food, inefficient, uncomfortable and generally really dirty. Oh, the irony. O'Hare is not too bad... except for the fact that if you get off the El into terminal 5 (iirc) and are meant to be in terminal 3 it is an absolute hazard. The tram system is very inefficient and the elevator to it from terminal 5 took about 25 minutes for a 10-person queue ahead of me... very nearly made me miss my flight. I can't say it was unfriendly though, and apart from the fact that I nearly threw up after 2 bites of a Big Mac (I had no money for any better food - got on the flight with 6c left) there were no complaints. The flight I got to Ireland was actually an hour early... probably a first in my many times flying. Also, Schiphol is very efficient and very friendly. I remember last year I was coming back from visiting a friend who was over there for a year on his college Erasmus... I was completely blitzed in the airport and coming up to the passport check in I reached into my pocket and realised I had a small bag of orange bud left o)! I basically just put it back and tried to forget about it, but as I was going through the metal detector right before getting on my flight the security guy who was randomly checking people asked me to turn around. Then he laughed... still blitzed and now really paro I realised it was because I had this t-shirt on. That little anecdote aside, it is a really friendly place.
My family used to fly out of Dulles all the time when I was a kid, back in the early 70's. Back then, it was like we were the only people in the entire airport. It was like someone had taken JFK and put it out in the middle of Nebraska. Good times, good times...
Far from the worst I'm sure but EVERYTIME I've been to Vegas, that airport has been a pain in my ass.
Really? I was going to vote McCarran as one of the best large airports in the country, never had a problem there. Sacramento gets my vote for best smaller venue.