Frowning Budah

HATED Charles De Gaulle in Paris.
I have often flown through Atlanta and the Airport is good, but I hated trying to check in there. To be fair it was Christmas time.
DIA is good, but that is home so I am use to it. I did take a wrong turn once and it took me over 30 minutes to get all the way around again.
Is there a good airport in Texas?
Logan in Boston can be ugly. I don't like the approach, plus getting in and out is a pain.
When I was in Salt Lake they were remodeling or something and we had to cross between concourses outside. That was not pleasant. That was a while ago.
I though Charlotte was nice.
I don't remember much abt Ronald Regan so it couldn't have been too bad.

Grasshopper Green

Gatwick was like that. I stood in the hallway with my bags for what seemed like forever, finally got into the seating area, sat for five minutes, and then boarded.

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tommylee02

London Heathrow. BAD. It took me almost an hour to transfer flights BECAUSE IT IS SO GIGANTIC! I was moving the whole time, including a bus transfer and it was almost an hour from one terminal to the next!!! Nice airport, just so huge! I'de say any tropical airport is the best, because you see the blue when you fly in and it smells like flowers when you land!

guy44

I actually found Heathrow to be more than adequate, if a bit bland.

I seem to be the only person who likes O'hare, but then, I'm from Chicago and flown through there so many times maybe I just know the layout quite well.

Denver has a fantastic airport.

BWI sucks.

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Lyncher

Schpol in Amsterdam or Minni have the best ... and the worst would have to Munich Germany ... so hungover and so many people who didn't speak english = so hard to find ANYTHING

Charlatan

When were you at the Munich airport? I've arrived and departed there and been in transit there and thought it was one of the better airports I've been to. Conveniently organized. Nowhere near as chaotic as Frankfurt.

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snowy

Schipol is a very nice airport, but I think that might be because the Dutch people are sooo nice! And good-looking! Schipol had the hottest passport control/customs agents I'd ever seen in my life. I liked that it was easy to figure out where to go--I was tired and hungry when I arrived after a long flight from the States and it was the first time I'd traveled without my parents--and that everyone seemed so damn helpful. Very nice.

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FloydianOne

Although I dont travel much, Id have to say I dont think Atlanta Intl is quite as bad as you guys have said. Its an incredibly busy airport (i think the busiest in the us) and does a pretty good job at getting people in and out. It has decent wireless coverage, and there are plenty of venues etc. to keep occupied while waiting for your flight. Im sure there are better airports out there, but I doubt they deal with the amount of traffic ATL does.

wrongfullyaccuzd

Schipol in Amsterdam comes to mind as being nice. Dulles is a pretty good airport, especially when compared to National. Charles de Gaulle in Paris is pretty average, from what I remember Logan is terrible. Heathrow in London is average too.

Tampa isn't amazing, it was just kind of fun when I was a kid because they have these metro-tube-type things that shoot you out to the terminals, and you go over roads and cars and stuff. For a kid who was growing up in Africa at the time, that was pretty cool!

Spritebox

Favorites: Charlotte-Douglas, LaGuardia, Narita, Charles De Gualle, Ohare
Hated: Raleigh-Durham, Newark-Liberty, JFK, Dulles

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DJ Happy

Worst:
1: Cairo - No organisation to speak of (other than, walk through the doors and then join the nearest throng while screaming as loud as you can.) A truly gruesome airport guaranteed to bring out the savage in you.
2: Jeddah - It's a cow-shed on an airstrip. The busiest airport in the Middle East with by far the worst "facilities." Don't even think of going to the toilet there unless you're in the mood to lose your lunch.
3: Nairobi - How can an international airport in the middle of Africa not have air-conditioning? Steaming.

I don't really have "favourite" airports. As long as they don't piss me off, they'll do.

aKula

Do you mean the new or the old airport? I found the new one much better though still a little chaotic.

Best ones for me are Hong Kong (new one) and Singapore.
I hate the airport here in Melbourne, Australia. Hate nearly everything about it, the hassle of going through customs etc, one time they had 2-3 planes baggage arriving on the one carousel while the others were not in use, the thing would get clogged up with baggage every couple of minutes and it'd take 2-3mins for someone to fix the problem.
Another airport I hate is the LA one. You have to enter the USA to change terminals, that was a huge hassle for us. Especially my mother who required a visa which meant trips to consulates and a price of around US$100 to change planes on our way to Canada.

I found the munich airport less hectic than the Frankfurt one but I speak German so I didn't experience the language diffuculties you speak of.

irateplatypus

good:

cancun- open and airy. small distance between arrival gate and customs. lightning quick passport lines.
narita- easily navigable for international travelers. could work on improving access to tokyo.
phoenix- efficiently laid out. stable weather makes for fewer delays.
salt lake- clean and functional.
john wayne- THE way to access l.a. and its orange county environs. small and clean. uncrowded, punctual.

bad:

lax- worst airport in the world
o'hare- too prone to weather delays, though that might not be their fault.
lax- have i mentioned this is the worst airport in the world?
dallas- haven't really enjoyed the airport-as-a-campus design much.
lax- i really dislike lax
mexico city- poor signage, unhelpful staff.

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goddfather40

Ontario is my preferred airport. It is clean, efficient, and stress-free. Traffic is not usually a problem and it is un-crowded. I suggest anyone flying into the LA area domestically not to fly into LAX. If you are smart, you could pick a time when traffic is not too bad (midday) and you wouldn't have to deal with much traffic getting into LA (about 40 miles to the west of Ontario).

By the way, Ontario is in San Bernardino County, not Orange County. Orange County has John Wayne Airport, which is not bad either.

Also, if you are coming from Boston or NYC, I highly suggest the Jet Blue service into Long Beach airport. Long Beach is the smallest LA area airport, but it is by far the least crowded. It is also only a little farther from downtown LA than LAX.

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StephenSa

Gatwick I liked, customs was a breeze and I was on my train and headed to London with no problems.
London Luton I hated. Of course our flight was late and that didn't help but the waiting area near our gate was uncomfortable and dirty.
I was in Edinburgh Airport for all of twenty minutes after my flight but it seemed servicable enough. I flew in on EasyJet which was no picnic but the airport gave me no problems.
Charles DeGaulle had all those guys with machine guns walking around and we had to take a bus to our train to get to Paris and then a bus to our plane on the tarmac on the return flight. There was a lot of waiting. It was a bit off-putting.
I've only flown out of Dallas DFW a couple of times but got turned around and confused both of those times.
O'Hare has never given me any problems other than late flights.
The Birmingham AL airport reminded me of a bus station.
Phoenix Skyharbor seemed alright.
Overall I'm not crazy about any airport, just trying to reach my destination.

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StanT

Christchurch, NZ was amazing, 5 min from car to gate.

I'm a native Chicagoan, so I figured out O'Hare long ago.

LAX gets my vote as worst. A 5 hour layover may or may not be long enough to clear customs.

joemc91

I've got a new one to add under the worst airports (from a pilot's perspective):
Nassau, Bahamas. The place was totally messed up with one runway being torn up and only one left for the planes. The ground controllers are cool though and really good about getting you out of there fast, once you get started after your 40 minute wait to taxi. The approach controllers on the other hand were totally incompetent. All the sequencing done to our little planes was horrible. We were either given 10 miles spacing between us and the jet before (10 miles = 7 minutes) or they put planes way too close, such as 1 mile between us and a 767 behind us or 1/4 mile for the 737 departing in front of us. Can't beat the view though.

Edit: Toronto City Centre now makes my best airport list. Everybody is so friendly and customs is awesome. The downtown area is less than a stone's throw away from the airport and the only problem is fuel is so expensive!

Rodney

My favorite airport is Monterey County Airport in Monterey, CA. The area isn't large, but the population is filthy rich and flies a lot, so several lines fly out of the local airport. The airport looks like a metro area airport and has all the same services -- except that it's tiny. Long-term parking is 20 yards from the front door. Baggage claim consists of a couple of guys putting all the luggage on a counter and asking you to choose yours, and the luggage always turns up within 10 minutes of debarkation. There's a little concourse where you can get a good meal at a reasonable price, no waiting. Everything's clean; the toilets automatically put a new sanitary wrap on the toilet seat after each use! I live halfway between San Jose International and Monterey; and when I can get the flight I want there, I fly Monterey, even if it costs a few bucks more.

As for worst -- most airports don't make me smile, but I'll agree Hartfield is on the ridiculous side.

Sage

I love airports! Have since I was a little girl- granted, I've not been to that many of them, but I still like 'em!

Didn't like the Atlanta airport at all- way way way too big, I'm glad my brother was with me when I had to do a layover there.

I have flown out of Charlotte-Douglas the most, and have found it to be pretty and well organized. You come in, go down the hall, then you go left or right. Pretty simple.

Liked the design of the Denver airport- don't know that much about it as I was in a group that had someone else leading the way through it.

Was in a section of the Philidelphia airport for about four hours on a layover to London, it seemed nice enough but some other people in my group said it was hell if you had to start from the other side of the airport. I also hated the approach- whose grand idea was it to have the runway start 10 feet from the river?

Gatwick was really really big, but again I was in a group with a leader who had navigated it a bajillion times before- came in at like, 5 am to so didn't have to deal with a lot of people. Going out I was sitting in the airport for like, 6 hours (long story, nother thread) and I was trying to find a travel charity that no one knew about (least the police types) so that was definitely stressful. I found the decor to be a bit early 60's and the old style flipping flight thingee to be quaint as hell. Course, this was back in 99 so they could have changed it since then.

Raleigh airport is pretty messed up, but I think they're trying to fix that. When I was a kid my aunt would always take me to the plane observatory thingee, which was fun.

I liked the West Palm Beach airport- seemed to be clean and pretty, but they lost my luggage. Plus I got to see Donald Trump's jet, which was neat!

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gremlinx8

I wouldn't say I have a favorite airport-- the worst was definitely St. Louis though. Our family actually never made it into the airport, we sat in the plane for three and half hours waiting for it to be deiced. We missed half of our cruise because of it. It sucked a lot-- when we got to Miami, we spent three days hanging out in that airport, so I'm not terribly fond of Miami, either.

diddagirl

Damn, I hated both London Stanstead and Heathrow.

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Charlatan

I used the St. Louis airport last year... I did't find it all that bad. I'd say it is about average in every way.

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Eight

Amsterdam Airport is quite good (cant remember its name) but the worst one I've been to is Zantee in Greece. That was a complete hell hole. Hours queing up outside, the inside stank, JCB's and cranes parked on the side of the runway. Scarey stuff.

msf518

I'll have to second the praise for Pittsburgh's airport. Best one I've ever been in, and I've been in at least 15 in my various traveling.

LaGuardia was pretty bad the one time I used it.

Newark was always a crazy place, no matter when I was there.

The lines I had to deal with at Reagan were way too long, hard to recommend the place after that.

Dublin's airport was quite the interesting place, I must say. Almost like a shopping mall.

Atlanta's seemed pretty solid, but I was only there on a stopover. Same with Minneapolis and Omaha.

LuciferJones

I've been through a ton of airports in my time, and unfortunately I hardly remember any of them.

The ones I hate is Atlanta, mostly because 1) I hate the state (even though I lived there for 12 years and 2) it was in a horrible disrepair when last I went through it, as well as unclean, the bathrooms were the opposite though, it was clean and very well maintained but the rest of the airport seemed to be in shambles

I don't like the Alaska airport only because its too damn small, but they got some great cheesy fries at one of the restaurants

I liked the Denver Airport quite a bit; clean, friendly and a vibrant atmosphere
not to mention those long escalator walking things are fun to play on :P

Rippley

Martinguerre: Newark is a pit of despair <- what he said.

Also, I'm fairly certain i left part of my soul in Dulles after a 10 hour layover, in the dead of night, with no smoking anywhere but out the main door(and subzero temps/snow). But, even if I weren't a smoker, that airport just blows...

Nairobi Airport, now there is a pit of doom, right there. Little or no AirCon, reallllllllly dirty, slightly funky smell, incredibly slow service/personel.... All around I was really happy to get the hell out of there. Also, you have to show up 3 hours before check in, and queue at a checkpoint to get in the damn door. Then comes the bag-ransacking, then the really slow check-in behind the lady who relly doesn't understand the term minimum weight...then, the passport check-point...then the security checkpoint at the gate - then the waiting as the personel stands around, apparently not doing anything. Then, finally you get the hell out.

Harare: See Nairobi airport and add a missing bag on arrival...

Heathrow: So God damn huge it makes me almost give up every time I go through. That, and my luggage never makes it out on the same flight as me...Not once!

Good Airports:
CPH - the New Terminal is super nice. Very big, very Airy, Wifi(at a price, but still). Only complaint is very long concourses with no moving sidewalks. But hey, a little pre-boarding exercise never killed anyone.

Amsterdam Schiphol: I really like the recently renovated areas( I was there just a month ago, but don't recall whether it was terminal B, C or D.) Good shops, nice staff, plenty of furniture that does not require physical therapy.

Hamburg: I was just there this past xmas, and was really impressed. Frankfurt had scarred me at a young age with regard to German Airports, but this really gave me hope. Nice, well lit, easy to move around(well, there was some confusion at one point, but that was due to unnecessary exploration), decent restaurants and shops.

Gatwick: Is a little cramped, but for some reason it appeals to me. Maybe to do with the luxury cars they have parked all around. A Bentley Conti is good for 15 minutes of drooling....

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MikeyChalupa

Another vote for Amersterdam Schipol. I had a 3 hour layover there on the way to Dubai and it's a great setup. Some awesome art all over the terminals to look at. I actually got the heads up on the place from the in-flight magazine on the way over, so I made sure to check the place out when I got there.

-Mikey

Cartuni

About ten years ago I attended a conference in South Padre Island, Texas, and flew to the tiny new Harlingen airport. We actually departed the plane right onto the runway and had to walk to the terminal. At that time they had one gate, and they were very proud of it. My co-worker and I cracked up when we heard the announcement…”Flight 272 arriving at Gate One”. I mean, come on – just say “The flight’s here”. Funniest experience I’ve ever had at an airport. :-D

jorgelito

I live in LA.

Therefore, I hate LAX. I mean really dislike it. It's so bad that it's horrible enough to make a Platypus Irate.

Also, I think Boston Logan International is not so great. It's been over 5 years but it's a poor design and just kind of old and run-down.

I do like:

HKG - Chek Lap Kok - In addition to the funny sounding name, it's a really nice airport. Beautiful, clean, good shopping, good food, good facilities.

Changi - Singapore - I think they have a putting course there - enough said. Oh, and the food is good, it's clean etc.

CKS - Taipei International - Man, this airport used to suck Chinese sausage but after the renovation: Really nice. Big, big improvement.

Denver - I really like this one for some reason. First, it is beautiful with breathtaking views of the Rockies. And it has all the modern amenities and facilities.

Overrated:

Tokyo-Narita
The 13 times I have been through this airport I have been sorely disappointed. Bad shopping, terrible food facilities, borrrrrrri-iiiiiiing. Not as clean as people say Japanese are.

Honorable mentions:

Alaska - quaint little aiport.

Orlando - (at least 15 years ago) I like all the neon and the PeopleMover.

Macao Intl. - Clean, neat and modern. Cool views.

Charlatan

I knew they were renovating but I haven't been through there in a while. Your right though... it used to suck big.

I've had a few layovers here and have to say I agree. Just plain awful.


I hit the Sault Ste. Marie airport a few weeks ago. My God! I didn't think they made airports that small. It's been a while since I've been to a regional airport so it was novel to be able to walk off the plane, across the tarmac, into the Terminal and then, not 20 feet and I was out the front door. The parking lot was close and tiny.

Novel indeed.

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Salomon

And another.

What I particularly enjoyed about this airport is the second level. Its like entering a different building. On the lower Main level, its hustle & bustle, typical airport overcrowding mayhem.

Walk up the stairs to the second level, and it seems like the noise level drops 50 decibels, the traffic clears, there are clean, quiet places to sit, read, eat or generally just get away from the crowds. Video screen flight schedules allow you to remain in touch, as well. I didn't leave the upper level until I was boarding.

The Best!

Oh, and my vote for worst airport is Tampa, FL hands down. What a hellish experience. Wide open spaces, cathedral ceilings, huge gathering places (crying babies, sneezing, coughing, hollering anyone?). Plus it takes a week to get to your gate, as you have to take a freaking monorail to the gate terminal.

Cancun, Mexico is another torture chamber. Ungodly amounts of people, bright garish distractions everywhere, waiting forever in 90 degree heat with 500 other angry, sweaty people to have your passport checked by a half asleep attendant in a room the size of a small convention center.

spindles

Auckland NZ is good - I particularly like that the baggage carousel is before customs and immigration - so you are not lining up for immigration, then getting bags, then getting bags searched. I reckon it makes the whole thing shorter as the bag waiting strings people out...

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Catdaddy33

I've only traveled in North America, and don't have a favorite per se, as long as its clean and has open areas I'm fine. The worst airport I've been in has to be Memphis, its to small of an airport to be a Northwest hub, that's the only airport that gave me claustrophobia.

sailor

The top of my hatred list is Philadelphia. I have never come through that airport on time, and add to that the sheer nastiness of the place... It feels like it hasn't been cleaned since the 80s.

Charlotte is a pretty nice airport. As far as airports go, you can't complain. Clean and easily navigable.

I don't think Frankfurt is as bad as some of yall do. Definitely not great, but not crappy either. Also, they have a train station in the bottom where I can catch fast ICE trains all over Germany. Makes it very easy to get to/from the place, seeing as I live 2 hours away, and the Stuttgart airport, my only other option, doesn't have any of the flights I need.

Atlanta was OK. Just OK.

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Charlatan

Just came through the Madrid airport... can't say much that is nice about it... will report more on the way out.

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Sultana

Airports I dislike:
Cairo - yup, just like DJ Happy said. We had to stand in line for 4 hours for the ONE SINGLE piece of paper we needed to make our claim official. Not a fun way to conclude 16+ hours of flying and the start of our vacation.
Of course our luggage was lost because we had flown Air France through the next on the list:

Charles de Gaule in Paris - I was flabbergasted when I saw the 15' x 20' waiting room with about 35 chairs that was intended to host my entire flight. Lucky thing most of us didn't get to sit down, as we had no seat assignment!!! When we inquired about getting help at the "Help" desk, we were told that since our flight didn't leave for an hour, it was too early for them to assign help for the 200+ people waiting in line....

Madrid - like the food, completely bland. More than a little dirty. Fortunately I was catching a connecting flight to the charming town (and airport) of Granada.

Frankfurt - I have a hard time differentiating the airport from the horrible night I had to spend there. And of course it's no one's fault that I'm not a smoker and can't take ciggie smoke, but I think when they say "Limited Smoking Area", they mean, "Limited to One Cigarette at a Time".

I don't mind LAX, I prefer Burbank (Bob Hope Airport, heh). I once had a layover in a beautiful airport whose name/location I can't remember!! It had some cute stores, art and sculpture, airy, bright, and clean. Maybe it was just a dream....

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noodle

How did Miami International not get on the Notoriously Annoying and Horribly Thought Out Airport list? I hate that place. Not only do you look like you're going to crash into the Everglades and be eaten by an alligator (or alligator-eating python), but why, oh why, would I want to get on an unairconditioned bus as I disembark from my flight into the heat, humidity, mosquitos and melting tar? I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemies. Or maybe I would. Hmmm....

Detroit: Horrid. I ran from my arrival gate to the international departures and made it with 3 minutes to spare... only to wait 75 minutes in the check in line.

Logan: My cab forgot me. Under horrible construction. Nearly suffocated on plastic that fell off a scaffolding on me. Enough said.

Tampa: hell. And who thought up the enclosed, indoor smoking area? San Francisco: not too bad. Cincinnati: eh. Columbus: eh.

Love, love, LOVE Swedish airports. I was in the ones in Stockholm, Malmo, and Lulea. Not only could I pick up a free paper while waiting in clean, sunlit chairs, but if I was hungry, I could always grab a piece of fruit from the bins. Malmo was my favorite, I think.

Fun times in the Orlando airport. Just don't forget which side you parked on. Jacksonville is fun, too. Little green and red lights show you which space is empty, too, so you don't have to pull down the already full rows. Nice. Sarasota is too swanky.

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snowy

Sounds like PDX...Portland's airport sounds remarkably like what you described. Sometimes the security lines get a little long in the mornings, but it's nothing unbearable. I love my home airport.

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feelgood

Here's some Canadian airports:

Good:
1. Calgary International - The airport has gone under major major upgrade and is still continuing to do so. I can remember that before the whole construction begun, the airport was rather shitty compared to Toronto and now, it's very modern and its alot easier to find your way around now.
2. Hamilton Regional - Small and simple, ain't that hard to find your way around.

Bad
1. Pearson International - The airport is frickin huge! It's been awhile since I've been there and I'm sure it's been upgraded
2. Comox Regional - It's suppose to be a small airport but when I had to leave from my BC vacation earlier and head back to Calgary via Comox, jeez the whole place was confusing.

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maleficent

Uptil last month, Newark used to be my home airport... and as much as I despise Continenthell, Terminal C is awesome.. it's well lit, it's clean, there's an abundance of foodstuffs (in each wing of the terminal there's different stuff) there's shopping, there are kiosks for internet access at reasonable rates, comfy chairs, and 2 presidents clubs.. plus the observation deck is still kinda neat.

Terminal A and B however.. are in need of a facelift.

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