What is the worst major airport in the world?

[GURUving]

My choice would be Houston. Confusing.

Bonus question: Worst bus terminal?

Albuquerque.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

1. DFW Sucks

O'Hare is no gem. I don't like Atlanta either.

As far as bus terminals go, Port Authority was no picnic about 10 years ago.

[AlienGirl]

33. Let's talk Midway...

No point in Midway is convenient from any other point.

Tucker

[Bat Boy]

36. Midway is two chickens away from a Guatamalan bus stop.

I swear, why have an international airport if the place is already a third world?

[dolgoruky]

44. Sheremetovo II

Probably the most annoying, yet most fascinating, airport I've experienced. This nightmare was built for the 1980 Moscow Olympics... and it shows.

Loooooooooooooooooong queues to get through passport control.

Queue jumpers abound.

Taxi drivers waiting to rip you off.

Always total confusion checking in.

Yet it does have a certain charm, just because it is so fucked up. Non of this antiseptic, Stockholm Arlanda feel to Sheremetovo. It's gritty, it's grimey, it's Moscow. But it's a great place to reflect on life and death. I've spent many happy hours in this place.

I suddenly feel all sentimental...

[terrya]

53. Worst: DFW. Best: Pearson International, Toronto. eom

[Hand]

57. You've gotta be kidding...

Pearson is a godawful mess--it's like a maze and the passengers are rats (and the people who work there treat them that way--I think Pearson is where they keep all the rude Canadians).

It's actually very easy to travel from Pearson to the US from somewhere else in Canada and walk right past the place (well concealed) where you're supposed to retrieve your baggage. I've nearly done it several times.

Once I misplaced my boarding pass on the way out of Pearson. When I told the lady at the gate, she basically said, "Tough shit. Find it or buy a new ticket."

Screw the place and all who work there.

:grr: :grr:

[moroni]

2. Bagdad International

n/t

[Old and In the Way]

3. Boston's no fun in the middle of the winter.

I really don't like those controlled skids down the runway....

[Kathy in Cambridge]

9. Boston's Logan is no fun period

lots of delays. I've spent more time in the air circling while they cleared a runway than my actual flights took.

Also, the minute there's even the hint of fog (which happens all through spring and fall), they will delay flights.

[alwynsw]

12. It really bites if you're waiting with a gun case

I went through for the first time in the '70's, toting a locked hardshell case with two shotguns that I used for hunting and trap (one for each). You would have thought I was Dillinger! Hey! I was GI going home on leave for the holidays. In uniform to get the discount, even. Don't ask how many times I was frisked and questioned by the cops.

I took the base shuttle from Pease AFB, NH. Because of the schedule I had to wait nearly 5 hours before I could check my bags. It was a verrrry long 5 hours.

I can only imagine it now that Homeland Security is up and running.

Have done Logan many times since for business travel. Ditto on the skids.

on edit: Worst bus terminal? Pick one - any one. I don't do busses.

[HereSince1628]

4. In terms of taxiways St. Petersburg Russia is the worst Ive done

The runways were ok, the international terminal is tiny but ok
but they must do damage millions of dollars a year in damage to wheel struts.

[blondeatlast]

5. Oakland. Pure Hell.

And yep, I've had to transfer in Albuquerque--not for the faint of heart, not at all. I used to be a fairly frequent bus rider, too.

[GOPisEvil]

49. Agreed on Oakland.

Is that place STILL mired in the '70s? All that brown and orange? :puke:

[WilliamPitt]

6. Logan Airport

Surrounded by the Big Dig, launching point for the two planes that took down the Towers...and, oh yeah, the security company that let the terrorists onto the planes two years ago is still in charge of security at Logan. Wotta dump.

[Smashmouth]

10. Yup

Total dump.

[NashVegas]

30. Are the Bathrooms Still Rank?

I flew into Logan only once (circa 1998 or so), and couldn't believe how scummy it was. Haven't they ever heard of toilet fresheners?

[curse10]

47. Agreed

it's an icky airport!

There's one terminal where after you go past security there isn't a bathroom! Not that you want to go into those bathrooms, but still.

It's so small that everything is just crunched up together and crowded. Ick.

[Zero Gravitas]

56. Its a dump

I hate Logan. Worst. Airport. Ever.

[GCP]

7. London Heathrow

You walk miles and miles and miles from the gates to immigration when you're completely knackered from an overnight trans-Atlantic flight. You land at something like 6 am and it's almost empty and you just have to keep walking and walking and walking, and even with the moving walkways it's a huge pain in the ass.

End of rant.

[adadem]

11. Me, too n/t

[RebelOne]

41. Yes, I've experienced that.

Plus, plane didn't pull up to terminal and had to disimbark using those stairs outside and it was freezing cold.

[rooboy]

8. Bangkok terminal...

(unless it's changed in the last couple of years) was pretty ordinary, especially when compared to Changi Airport in Singapore. That place is slick!

[SmileyBoy]

39. Confucius say:

Man who walk thru airport turnstile sideways goes to Bangkok.

[CaptainClark23]

13. DFW

No matter where you're going, your plane is on the opposite side of that hellhole.

Re: Bus Stations, If you want to get a feel for a place, you should go straight to the Bus Station. That is the best indicator of a City's personality.

I've found that the worse the Bus Station, the better the City. (and by "better" I mean, its a REAL city, not some municipality with a high enough population to dare call itself a city.)

[peekaloo]

27. agree on DFW

I avoid it at all costs, same with that Houston airport north of the city.

[crimson333]

14. Charles de Gaulle airport. ...

.

[HuckleB]

18. Not even close. It's a piece of cake compared to most.

[crimson333]

21. nope

I have to use a wheelchair and of all the airports I have been in it was the most difficult.

[mobuto]

29. Oh of course

But it still has a few elivators here and there.

Try the Paris Metro - where in all but one or two stations, there are absolutely no provisions for the disabled; instead there are long staircases going in all directions, at seemingly random intervals. No elevators and few ramps. That's one of the things we really do a lot better than the Europeans.

[crimson333]

32. I was told to avoid the paris metro

for that reason.

Ireland was great. I had no problem getting around when I had to use the chair.

[HuckleB]

42. OK.

Perhaps it is non-accessible. I wasn't assessing it for that.

[mobuto]

28. Milian Malpensa is worse

but CDG is pretty god-awful. Security is a joke. The last time I was there, Arabs standing in line were being made-fun-of by machine-gun toating guards, while I got my backpack on the plane without even having to stick it through an X-ray.

The system of satelite terminals makes no sense. The whole thing is decrepit, the food in the restaurants is the worst I've had in any airport anywhere, delays are very very long, my luggage gets damaged, the architecture is oppressive, the people are unfriendly by French standards, etc.

The one good thing about CDG is access to the RER. And even then, you have to take a bus to get to it, and the turnstyles for the RER won't accomodate any luggage larger than a fanny-pack.

Of course Milan-Malpensa is worse. I've flown in and out any number of times. Not once has my luggage reached me on time, intact. Twice not one piece of my luggage has gotten through.

[ProfessorGAC]

48. I Think It's A Toss-up

Both are terrible airports. I've been in and out of Malpensa (by the way, means Bad Idea), many times too. It's always a zoo. Very disorganized and a terrible layout. Also, not very good food and LOTS of delays out of that joint.

The Professor

[SiobhanClancy]

15. Miami International is without question the worst..

...Logan is heaven compared to it.

[RebelOne]

40. I can't agree with that.

I've flown out of MIA many, many times and it's a breeze compared to the Atlanta airport.

[SiobhanClancy]

50. I say the exact opposite...

I've flown out of Atlanta many times,and IT is a breeze compared to Miami:)

[The Zanti Regent]

16. Pittsburgh

Absolutely the worst.

US Air has a monopoly to get there, the prices for traveling there are ridiculously high and to top it off, the goofy airport doubles as a shopping mall. The last thing I need is trying to beat back a bunch of Valley Girls getting out of that hell hole!

[IronLionZion]

20. haha, I know what you mean

ticket prices suck and the place is a USAir hub, that's why there are so many stores. Other than that, it is a very nice airport, much better than a lot of them.

[spinbaby]

51. It's getting better

Air Tran is giving USAir a run for the money--decent fares even if you're booking at the last minute. I've flown Air Tran my last few trips and been quite pleased with them. Hopefully they won't go the way of Midway which provided some competition here for a while and then vanished.

[IronLionZion]

17. Cochin and Anna International in Chennai

both are in India and really shitty. The guards all have loaded M-16's all the time and they take your batteries away because they might be bombs. Talk about paranoid. You guys think airport security in America is tough? You ain't seen nuttin hon!

Oh and forget about gates, you take stairs down from your plane and walk to the airport. The porters are known to steal your baggage and will be complete assholes unless you pay them. The immigration people give you hell for being a US citizen.

[HuckleB]

19. Detroit.

[5thGenDemocrat]

35. Don't know when you last flew from Detroit Metro, HuckleB

But the new McNamara Terminal is very very nice. Metro also added another main runway, so it's a lot better there now.
John
Always trying to boost Detroit.

[hatrack]

55. Yup, Detroit

You walk, and walk and then you walk some more when changing planes - at least, that's how it's always been for me.

[yankeedem]

22. Hartsfield Intl

Atlanta. Southern Hospitality my ass.

[maxanne]

23. Logan

sucks the big wangola.

[nn2004]

24. Saddam International?

Greyhound.

[jburton]

25. Denver "International" Airport

LONG drive from Denver.

And when you get there, no matter what terminal you are going to you are funneled into the same quasi-subway system to get there. In other words, it's like having a single entry line for the entire airport.

The only good thing about DIA is cheap flights on Frontier.

[lazarus]

37. Not only that

You have to walk for freaking ever. It's all straight, at least when we flew last month.

Pissed me off, having to go from one end of that concourse to the other, and passing all the empty gates (at least 1/2 to 2/3 of the gates are never used, that economic recover is amazing, isn't it?).

New Orleans sucks, too. Three wings, you have to go through security for each one, and the only flight schedules are actually in the wings, so you have to go to each one to figure out where your flight is. Horrible.

Oh, San Diego is no dream either. Too much walking, not enough terminals. And last year, they were so busy and confused at security my daughter wasn't stopped after setting off the metal detectors!

[peacebuzzard]

26. LGA- nyc

Very depressing and hard to get to on mass transit. The airport is old, outdated and rude. Welcome to New York--plenty to do once you get past the airport commute.
Worst bus terminal? all US bus terminals. No money has been invested there in awhile...:*

[jburton]

31. LGA was creepy

When I was there. Walking to my car in long term parking at night was not very fun. Didn't see a soul from the building to the car (about a 20 min walk). It's like the place shuts down after dark.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

34. Whichever one I have to go to next.

I fucking hate them all.
Plastic world with plastic people.

[Vernunft]

38. My worst experience was definetly Paris CDG

I shudder to remember. Ever since I have been taking other routs on my way from Munich to Boston which are both HEAVEN compared to Paris. It´s too bad there are no direct flights from Munich to Boston...

[HuckleB]

43. Boston is heaven compared to CDG?

Not in my experience.

[DoNotRefill]

45. Atlanta....

I HATE Atlanta....

[trigz]

46. World's worst airport is Landevetter out of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Can't do much worse than that one. Oh, and the airport in Corfu, Greece is pretty awful!

[trof]

52. From a pilot's standpoint - Kai Tek

The old Hong Kong airport.
THE worst approach in thr world.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

54. San Jose, California

is the worst of the ones I've flown into recently.

It looked more like a rural airport than any international airport I've seen.

I actually like Narita outside of Tokyo. There are plenty of shops for last-minute gift shopping (with quite decent stuff) in the departure area, as well as reasonably good restaurants and snack bars. Unless I see something special on a trip into the boonies, I do my gift shopping in the airport and buy a bag at the last minute so that I can carry the presents onto the airplane.

[Gringo]

58. Don't know about the world, but..

In the US, Miami has to be in the top ten. It's often characterized as having a "Last helicopter out of Saigon" atmosphere. It really is a mess. The new airport director has made some progress in the last 2 years, though. It may be a bearable place yet.

O'Hare in Chicago is a joy considering its size.

[SmileyBoy]

59. The old Istanbul airport.

I took flights to both the old one and the new one. The new airport there is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. The old one was like landing at a bus station.

[SmileyBoy]

60. I don't know if it's the worst, but San Francisco's sucked.

When I went there, at least.

[Padraig18]

61. Hartsfield in Atlanta!

Talk about a clusterf***! :wtf: were they smoking when they designed that place?

[leftofthedial]

62. Brussels Belgium

some terrific food doesn't make up for the inconvenient design, nor the fact that they've lost my luggage all but two times I connected through there.