The best, worst, ugliest, busiest airports in the world

American Airlines is highly aggravating, from stinking toilets on long haul flights to unfathomable pricing policies.

DFW terminal D is really good but the rest are absolutely crap (pardon my French)

Aerolineas Argentinas has to be the worst airline in the world thanks to the disputes between unions. And Ezeiza airport is way too small, even after the renovation.

Tampa airport… yuck! Miami creeps me out, I don’t know why, maybe thousands of people trying to go through immigration and reclaiming baggage has to do with it. I have to say I have a soft spot for Atlanta airport and Gatwick (great shopping) .

You forgot Halifax Stanfield International Airport!
From wikipedia:
“The airport was ranked the best airport in the Americas for the second year in a row, as well as the best airport in the less than 5 million passengers a year category for the third year in a row (worldwide), and best domestic service for the second year in a row.
In March 2007, Halifax Airport earned two first-place finishes in the 2006 Airports Council International (ACI) Service Quality Awards held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. For the fourth consecutive year, it ranked first in overall passenger satisfaction for airports worldwide with under five million passengers. In addition, the airport ranked first in the Americas in the new category of Airport People Awards, and second in the best domestic airport worldwide category.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Stanfield_International_Airport

I’ve spent many hours in ATL Terminal E (the int’l one) and I love it there. They have a bookstore connected to a starbucks, and its usually not too crowded. So I try to go through Atlanta as much as possible when traveling. On the other side, the Sheremetevo airport in Moscow is the most hellish place I have ever been. I think its only that bad if you’re flying to the United States, but it’s small, dirty, and with absolutely NO places to sit..each gate has about 20 seats while the planes are boeing 777′s flying across the atlantic ocean. Worse yet, they ransack your luggage completely, and arent even apologetic about it. I’d pick two layovers over that airport anyday. (ironically, the national moscow airport is much nicer)

try landing at lindburgh field in san diego, ca……the drop is quick and short….from a hill….with tall buildings that you can almost toss a dime on when landing.

I’m flying into Newark in June. I really hope it isn’t that bad. The airline I got tickets with doesn’t fly into LGA or JFK.

I remember really liking Vancouver’s airport, though I haven’t been there in years so it’s probably completely different.

Detroit (DTW) is least aggravating? Hmm, I wonder how they rated that. Anyway, as my home airport, I’d have to say it’s also quite ugly. But the newer Northwest terminal is pretty nice.

Atlanta is a pretty big international hub. At Christmas, I had a layover there on the way back from Munich.

Gee….I’m kind of surprised that Philadelphia didn’t take top honors as the worst airport in the US.
Newark is bad I’ll grant you that, but Philadelphia is like one of the 7 layers of Hell.

If you’re flying between Canada and the US or vice versa avoid Vancouver at all costs! I despise that airport. It has to do with flying a domestic flight into the airport and a international flight out – every time I’ve done it I’ve landed at one end of the airport, had to RUN to the other end to go through customs, and then my next flight is back where I started! Not to mention the loss of luggage that occurred AFTER customs…

However, flying to Beijing I was in a completely different part of the airport, and it was a lot nicer and smoother. So it all depends on where you’re flying from or to.

Its true about the airport of newark its really confusing. I dont like the seattle airport at all i missed my flight just cus of the ticket checkin they are slow and rude.
Ive never had to sleep at any airport so I dont have an idea of how that experienced is.
Atlanta airport is to big i landed like on the main terminal and i had to go to like the second to last terminal it was so tiering. I also dont agree with the coment of El Paso airport its small but its never failed me nice treatment nice seats good everything maybe there talking outside of the airpport becuse el paso has scorching heat almost ass bad as phonix heat.
Ive been to about twenty to thirty airports in my life and i think the top worst were Newark to ugly and bad at everything. Then Mexico city airport its just old i thought if i jumped once the whole airport would fall on me. Probably the worst airport ive been to is the Dubai airport i got there and iwould ask someone a question they would say to hold on and take thirty minutes to tell me were my next gate was at yeah its nice but bad service and there all scatered around thats wat i thought.

I don’t fly to many airports, but I figured I’d chime in anyway.

I have the distinct displeasure of having to choose between Newark (EWR) and Philadelphia (PHL) airports to get to my destination. In Newark, I usually go out of terminal A, while in Philadelphia, I usually go out of terminal F.

Both of these terminals will make one want to retire from the human race, and I find it very hard to pick which one is worse. On the one hand, the Newark terminal has slow security lines with overly sensitive metal detectors, is overcrowded, noisy, hot, and has one always packed, uncomfortable restaurant with lousy food (Budweiser “Brew House”). On the other hand, the Philadelphia terminal requires a bus to get from the rental car lots (Newark has a monorail), also has an always packed, uncomfortable restaurant with lousy food (Jet Rock cafe, slightly bigger than the Budweiser “Brew House”), but worst of all, has the rudest, nastiest employees you’ve ever met.

I don’t know, I guess I’d go with Newark as being the worst, but it’s a really close call. I’d really have to vote Philadelphia as the worst just because of the attitudes of the airport personnel. Actually Philadelphia in general seems to have a problem with civility.

Travelers rarely mention Portland International Airport in Oregon.  It is one of the cleanest, most comfortable and attractive airports I’ve ever been in and I travel a lot.  A recent trip to Thurgood Marshall Baltimore/D.C. airport provided a stark contrast in terms of cleanliness, friendly and knowledgable staff, decor, comfort and efficiency; likewise Atlanta, and the very poor signage at the Phoenix airport.  I won’t  even start with the many European airports I’ve experienced, most notably the tremendously disappointing (ugly, dirty, chaotic) De Gaulle in Paris.  And surprisingly, even given the volume of traffic there, Chicago’s O’Hare isn’t nearly as bad as Kennedy in NYC.  Likewise, SEA-TAC in Seattle is pretty decent and San Francisco International, although in need of more attention to issues of cleanliness (restrooms, etc) is also pretty decent.  Signage at LAX has improved in recent years.  Airports are places of business, not to be confused with shopping malls, and most of them fall well short of the high standards to be experienced at PDX in Oregon.    

Travelers rarely mention Portland International Airport in Oregon.  It is one of the cleanest, most comfortable and attractive airports I’ve ever been in and I travel a lot.  A recent trip to Thurgood Marshall Baltimore/D.C. airport provided a stark contrast in terms of cleanliness, friendly and knowledgable staff, decor, comfort and efficiency; likewise Atlanta, and the very poor signage at the Phoenix airport.  I won’t  even start with the many European airports I’ve experienced, most notably the tremendously disappointing (ugly, dirty, chaotic) De Gaulle in Paris.  And surprisingly, even given the volume of traffic there, Chicago’s O’Hare isn’t nearly as bad as Kennedy in NYC.  Likewise, SEA-TAC in Seattle is pretty decent and San Francisco International, although in need of more attention to issues of cleanliness (restrooms, etc) is also pretty decent.  Signage at LAX has improved in recent years.  Airports are places of business, not to be confused with shopping malls, and most of them fall well short of the high standards to be experienced at PDX in Oregon.