In the US, Dulles for sure. What a damn dump and a half. The last time we came through there international, all I could think of was “Welcome to the US!” Gross.
Atlanta was a dream coming in last year, which leads me to…
Charles de Gaulle.
What a catastrophe.
I know it’s not on topic, but love:
San Jose
Atlanta
San Diego
Schiphol
Honolulu
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Charles de Gaulle was terrible. It took me an hour to navigate myself out with my limited French.
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Any airport in the US. Seriously, its nerve-racking by design.
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Newark really is abusive. Last time I arrived I came across an actual roving con artist, which I find just amazing.
That said, it really is an accurate introduction to NJ. “Here you are, now go fuck yourself.”
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Yeah I’m surprised Newark ranked worst out of NY area airports. Most people I know in the tri-state area will opt for Newark over Leguardia, assuming JFK is out.
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I’ve had the worst airport experiences at Dulles, personally. Just a horribly designed airport, badly maintained, and really unpleasant to travel through. DFW is nearly as bad.
O’Hare isn’t bad at all if you’re traveling domestically. It has the pretty light show and it’s a pretty friendly place. Entering the country thru customs is a nightmare, though. I vividly remember walking into a big open room with a bunch of queues and a big sign that said VISITORS BLUE LINE on it, with blue lines on the floor, and several TSA folks walking back and forth yelling “VISITORS BLUE LINE!!” at international travelers, as if that was supposed to mean something to anyone.
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Kafka International Airport in Prague surely still deserves a mention…
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That had me in stitches 
LAX for sure. Always flew out of Burbank if at all possible.
I like SeaTac, but they invariably seem to close the security station that would be most convenient for me. And then tell me to go to a line that’s equally as far away as the one I try to get into, so there’s a lot of walking back and forth.
I once got to Logan so early in the morning that security wasn’t even open, though, so there’s that. Why does an international airport with flights round the clock close its security?
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JFK is my absolute most hated. Never had a good experience there–feels dirty, always under construction. Surly people. And once, without checking, at one of the gates I bought a beer. $16.00 for a Budweiser.
My favorite is Tampa’s relatively small airport.
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This needs to be viewed from a couple of different ways as an airport’s strength and weakness vary highly depending on the travelers perspective:
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Origination & destination airports - includes aspects of getting to/from the airport and any off-airport experience with rental cars, lack of public transportation, parking, traffic in the area, confusing road signs, maze of approach roads, etc. This includes every NY-area airport, LAX, MIA, DFW, LHR and on and on…
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Transfer airports - this is a very limited view of an airport as you basically are only experiencing terminal facilities in between flights. Many airports make the list because of their extremely poor transfer-ability that make you re-clear security when changing terminals (LGA, LAX, LHR).
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International vs. Domestic operations - international terminals are usually a much better experience than the typical dungeons of US domestic terminals. NRT & SFO are great examples where the international terminals are much nicer than the domestic side.
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Outside security vs. Inside security - Many travelers only see the secure-side facilities and judge an airport on food options. DFW, SFO, IAD, LAX - they all suck so bad outside of security.
My top worst is tied between LGA and LAX with Rome’s FCO up there as well. NRT, SIN, and HKG are my top 3 best experiences.
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Good one.
The actual airport there is named after some playwright known for his absurd drama plays. It’s quite fitting.
I don’t mind flying but I dislike airports.
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Will not do LGA. The cost of parking is astronomical.
The confusing factor here is that many of the large ones have separate terminals. For example, Newark has 3 terminals, which are all difference. C is all United Airlines, and is pretty great for security, services, and cleanliness (although doesn’t have enough seats). Terminal A and B, though, are both terrible with almost no food options past security and bad seating options.
The negative elements themselves are really brought to light if there are bad travel experiences, which the airports themselves have almost no control over. When major storms shut down flights in the NYC area, all 3 airports are affected, but those travelers stuck in a crappy terminal with no seats and no power outlets are most impacted.
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Which airport do you hate the most?
Whatever one I’m in at the time. Flying in the USA is a special sort of hell.
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I consider the worst ones to be the ones where they have lots of eating options when you get there pre-security, but when you actually go through security there is either nothing beyond or just something super expensive.
I’m noticing a disturbing trend in the US toward upscaling the food options at airports. Local favorites and more restaurant-y and less fast foody and all that. Which is nice and all but most of the time I just want something quick and cheap. I don’t go to the airport for the food- Gimme McDonalds.
Beijing was nice, but the ratio of mall shops to actual things that travelers need and use was way off.
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Hell-A-X is my vote. No access to mass transit.
Also, I once had my flight cancelled from Alaska Air when it was in T3. They put me on a UA flight (in T7), but it was standby on an overbooked flight and they neglected to let me in on the standby or the overbooked part. Then UA sent me to Air Canada in T2, for another over-booked flight. Finally, my husband and I marched back to T3 (with all my ski gear) and Alaska put me on first class direct flight to SeaTac, which actually delayed me by only an hour since the first flight was not non-stop.
And the effing horseshoe configuration wouldn’t be a problem except for the massive parking structures in the middle with a lack of sidewalks. Yes, you can take shuttles, but they’re not as regular as one would expect.
I think LAX is actually in Dante’s Inferno.
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On a flight from Toronto to Charlottetown, I had a connecting flight in Montreal.
The signage is horrible there; it directed me down a stairwell and out of the secure area, so I had to go back through security again.
I made my flight, but yeah. A pain in the butt.
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CDG is the bane of my existence – just once, I would like it make it through there without a major delay (oh yes, I love being bussed to some dingy hotel at EuroDisney).
I’m stuck with LAX which is balkanized and usually embarrassingly out of date.
Love Burbank and the other regional ones like Long Beach.
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The new Newark terminal is pricing out at something like $20k/sqft, and Newark is getting half the expenditure LaGuardia’s getting so I think the overrruns have already been budgeted in.
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