Best and Worst Airports

[KasperS]

Ive been too
Gardermoen (oslo)
Torp (oslo)
Heathrow terminal 2 and 5
Gatwick
Bangkok
schiphol (amsterdam)
Kastrup
Tenerife
Krabi
one bad in the emirates
Trondheim
Geneve
Kuala lumpur
Chania
some in italy and spain too but cant remember them

I like Gardermoen best, small and fast and not a long security line, and a few shops. Expensive but its in norway so what do you expect.

My only problem with heathrow is all the waiting for luggage.

 

[caffeine_demon]

an honourable mention to Dusseldorf weeze (which I think is about half way between stansted and dusseldorf.... ) for having NO TOILETS before passport control on arrival - was already busting when the plane landed!

New least favourite is Dortmund - price of drinks even before security is E3.50, after security it's just the "duty free" emporium of crap, and the only drinks outlet in a scruffy café - again E3.50 for a 500 ml bottle of water - bordering on scandalous. At least it's not busy!

 

[Smithy]

I was just thinking about this very thing on Friday as I moved (slowly, painfully) through Washington Dulles.... I was trying to work out whether I detested it as much as I detest Paris (CDG).... and I think I did!

They (Dulles) have this absolutely awful people transit system that they call a "mobile lounge" - it was laughable.

That actually looks amazing haha.

Um. Not flown many.

UK;
East Midlands
Luton
Gatwick

Cyprus (Larnaca?)

Spain (Reus)

Ibiza

Palma

Fueteventura

Cyprus

Favourite UK one is Luton, easily. East Midlands is too small and dingy, Gatwick was a **** monstrosity, Luton is easy to get to, easy to park and transfer, and easy to navigate.

Larnaca was dull as ****, didn't help we had a 6 hour delay but there was literally nothing there.

Reus was god-awful but to be expected for an airport that only carried Ryan Air flights.

Ibiza was pretty good. Clean, modern, wouldn't like to be waiting at the gate if it was busy though.

Palma is my favourite though, beautiful airport, huge but not daunting.

Can't even remember fueteventura airport, just remember approaching it and doing a swift 180 before landing and worrying about how close we were to the ocean because I was like 10.

Been a while since this, don't think I've listed any since.

UK
East Midlands
Luton
Gatwick
Stansted

Cyprus
Larnaca

Denmark
Copenhagen

Holland
Amsterdam

Sweden
Gothenberg Landvetter

Spain
Reus
Barcelona
Alicante
Madrid

Palma
Ibiza
Gran Canaria
Tenerife North
Fuerteventura

Loathe Stansted with a **** passion, always pay to bypass security because the queues are **** ridiculous, it's always **** rammed and far too cramped for space, and the car parks and buses are woefully managed.

Copenhagen was quite decent. Gothenberg Landvetter felt absolutely tiny.

Can't even remember anything of Alicante airport other than going to speak to a transfer representative in Spanish and getting "YWOT MATE" in response. Madrid's airport was a **** nightmare just because of how long the walk is from the metro station and how much of it was blocked off for development.

 

[Jake]

Adding Tokyo Narita to my list of ultimate worst. For a major international airport there is absolutely nothing there at all. Felt like flying from Luton.

 

[Tomatron]

Frankfurt was alright up until the terminal I was flying from got evacuated. :lol:

Seattle Airport was unexpectedly fab. It's well laid out, not a dog to look at outside or in, security lines were pretty short and not over zealous, and there's a Sub Pop Records store in the terminal.

 

[Ben]

Agreed, Tokyo Narita was the worst.

Outdated, tired, badly run... Just like the rest of Japan!

 

[Gavin]

^ But Japan is sooooooooo efficient and modern, and everyone is so helpful and polite!

 

[Ben]

The trains run on time so everything must work!

No.

**** forsaken place.

 

[Gavin]

Exactly. I'm convinced that getting the trains right was a fluke. If they'd f**ked it up the first time, it would stay f**ked up. There's no concept of improving on a crap idea or system. People just do as they're told without questioning it, and frustrating as f**k.

 

[caffeine_demon]

Surprised they let you in with your tattoos!

 

[CanobieFan]

BUMP!
Was using 'search' on here to find info/TR's for an upcoming trip of mine and came across this, ha.
I've actually made myself a GoogleMap of all the airports I've visited and years flown in and out of them (because I love lists <3 )
Hopefully this link works - https://www.google.com/maps/@39.141...m1!4b1!4m2!6m1!1s1_SuB4qOUjGYfFWhOwtb8s6Kr-Is
If not.. here's a C/P of it

Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport

Boston Logan International Airport

Bradley International Airport

Buffalo Niagara International Airport

Charlotte/Douglas International Airport

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

Denver International Airport

Des Moines International Airport

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport

Flughafen Düsseldorf International

Flughafen München Franz Josef Strauß

Flughafen Wien-Schwechat

Gatwick Airport

General Mitchell International Airport

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

John F. Kennedy International Airport

Keflavík International Airport

Kloten Airport

Københavns Lufthavn, Kastrup

LaGuardia Airport

Lambert–St. Louis International Airport

London Heathrow Airport

London Stansted Airport

Los Angeles International Airport

Madrid Barajas International Airport

Manchester-Boston Regional Airport

McCarran International Airport

McGhee Tyson Airport

Memphis International Airport

Miami International Airport

Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport

Myrtle Beach International Airport

O'Hare International Airport

Orlando International Airport

Orlando Sanford International Airport

Port Columbus International Airport

Pittsburgh International Airport

Portsmouth International Airport at Pease

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

Salt Lake City International Airport

San Antonio International Airport

Säve Flygplats

Washington Dulles International Airport

Will Rogers World Airport

 

[TLARides]

I've only been to five airports in my lifetime.

Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) - I'm going to support it since I live in Cincinnati. The layout is nice, love the train that moves you from concourse to concourse... it's good.
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) - I only saw a little bit of it. I was running late for the plane I was connecting to when I landed. But it was so overly crowded. I almost missed my flight because I was pushing past so many people standing in line to get their CNN crap and everything else non-plane related.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) - In need of renovation. I'd like to see it look better and maybe not have a large CNN store in the middle of it all. Getting through the security check took ages. I thought I was going to miss my flight back home. When I finally got out and grabbed a quick box of candy, everyone was lining up to get on the plane. And the night before wasn't any better. Only Delta had a flight to get me back to Cincinnati, and that involved a connecting flight to LaGuardia. Which I have no problem with. But some of the airline people were rude and turned me away when I asked if they had any flight to get me home that night.
Orlando International Airport (MCO) - It's been so long since I went. I don't even remember half of my previous visit. I remember that it was nice and that there were people there to greet me and drive me to my hotel near Disney.
LaGuardia Airport (LGA) - I can't really say much about this. The food was good but really expensive. Then again, it's New York. So it's going to be expensive.

 

[MagnesiumPC]

Gonna be biased here, but the Indianapolis Airport Authority has done an absolutely fantastic job Indianapolis International.
My worst is either O'Hare, Atlanta, or Houston. All of them are giagantic and hard to navigate, and well dingy.

 

[Smithy]

Been a while since this, don't think I've listed any since.

UK
East Midlands
Luton
Gatwick
Stansted

Cyprus
Larnaca

Denmark
Copenhagen

Holland
Amsterdam

Sweden
Gothenberg Landvetter

Spain
Reus
Barcelona
Alicante
Madrid

Palma
Ibiza
Gran Canaria
Tenerife North
Fuerteventura

Loathe Stansted with a :emoji_zipper_mouth: passion, always pay to bypass security because the queues are :emoji_zipper_mouth: ridiculous, it's always :emoji_zipper_mouth: rammed and far too cramped for space, and the car parks and buses are woefully managed.

Copenhagen was quite decent. Gothenberg Landvetter felt absolutely tiny.

Can't even remember anything of Alicante airport other than going to speak to a transfer representative in Spanish and getting "YWOT MATE" in response. Madrid's airport was a :emoji_zipper_mouth: nightmare just because of how long the walk is from the metro station and how much of it was blocked off for development.

Rome airport was alright, but the train station connection was ghetto as ****.

Luxembourg airport was ****ing horrible. Like, I get that it's tiny and aimed at business travellers but at the very least have some variety in the food options.

 

[zazobo]

I have spent far too much time in and out of Gatwick, ****ing dump of a place. Although it's still better than Stanstead. Hurghhhhhhhhhh. Heathrow is delicious (comparatively).

 

[Hyde]

Adding to my experiences, I really enjoyed Amsterdam Schiphol, especially not having to work our way through customs. Coming and going were a breeze, and easy enough to connect with the train.

In an effort to pull together a semi-coherent list:

America
Arizona - Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Arizona - Tucson International Airport
California - LA International Airport
California - Palm Springs International Airport
California - San Diego International Airport (Lindbergh Field)
California - San Francisco International Airport
Colorado - Denver International Airport
Florida - Tampa International Airport
Georgia - Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Illinois - Chicago Midway International Airport
Illinois - Chicago O'Hare International Airport
Kentucky - Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (yes, Cincinnati, Ohio's airport is in Kentucky)
Maryland - Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
Massachusetts - Gen. Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport
Michigan - Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport
Minnesota - Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport (Wold–Chamberlain Field)
Missouri - St. Louis Lambert International Airport
Missouri - Columbia Regional Airport
Montana - Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport (was Gallatin Field Airport)
Montana - Great Falls International Airport
Nevada - McCarran International Airport
New Hampshire - Manchester–Boston Regional Airport
New Jersey - Newark Liberty International Airport
New York - John F. Kennedy International Airport (was New York International Airport)
New York - LaGuardia Airport (and Marine Air Terminal)
Ohio - Akron-Canton Regional Airport
Ohio - Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport
Ohio - John Glenn International Airport
Ohio - Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport / Youngstown ARS
South Carolina - Myrtle Beach International Airport
Texas - Dallas Love Field
Texas - George Bush Intercontinental Airport
Great Britain
London - Heathrow Airport
Iceland
Reyjkjavik - Keflavik International Airport
Italy
Rome - Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport
Montserrat
Plymouth - W. H. Bramble Airport (Blackburne Airport)
Netherlands
Amsterdam - Schiphol International Airport
Puerto Rico
Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport

 

[Will]

I've been to quite a lot, but a few stick in my mind.

Dusseldorf, aside from the slightly confusing arrivals layout, I can't praise highly enough. Went from plane seat to exit in about 10 minutes, and the departures was pleasant as well.
I actually really like Manchester as well - the shopping's pleasant and so's the food, it tends to be well organised and they have a smoking area.

Bad airports include Venice Treviso (budget airline cattle market), Stockholm Vasteras (next to no food in departure area), London Stansted (depressing as hell to land at or leave from), Luton (the arrivals is hell on Earth) and Oslo (caught a connecting flight from their once, and it was too hot. This was in January)

 

[Zek_Teh_Kek]

Toledo Airport is the Absolute worst.
You can go..
wait for it,
almost NOWHERE!

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

I've added some to my list now <3

Detroit Metropolitan Airport
Toronto Pearson Airport
Philadelphia International Airport
Hartsfield-Jackson (Atlanta) International Airport
Orlando International Airport
Vegas McCarran International Airport
Newark International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport
Fort Lauderdale International Airport
Holguin Frank Pais International Airport
Punta Cana International Airport
London Heathrow International Airport
London Gatwick International Airport
London Stanstead International Airport
Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport
Berlin Schoenefeld International Airport
Rome Ciampino International Airport
Barcelona El Prat International Airport
Stockholm Arlanda International Airport
Dusseldorf International Airport
Hong Kong International Airport
Tokyo Narita International Airport

And, airports I have flown to as the pilot...

Windsor International Airport
Chatham-Kent Municipal Airport
London International Airport
Sarnia Chris Hadfield Airport
St. Catharines Niagara District Airport
Leamington Airport
Pelee Island Airport
Oshawa Executive Airport
Kingston Norman Rogers Airport

So 22 as a passenger and 31 total.

I still think the best is Detroit Metro. There's loads of food and drink choices, staff is always super friendly, there's a lot of shops, and the monorail is fab. It's my home base airport really so, I might be biased, but I've never had a bad experience. The Delta terminal is amazing <3

Toronto is pretty fab but their staff and check-ins can be garbage and very inefficient. They do have IPad ordering which is great for antisocial people who don't want to talk to bartenders and servers, and it's also good for perusing good ol' Facebook if you don't want to pull out your own electronics.

Dusseldorf sucks because my luggage was damaged and lost by ground handlers. Plus I had to run through the airport to catch a flight with a ten minute connection, so that sucked.

LAX has to be the ultimate worst still though. One store and two restaurants in a terminal of about a zillion people.

 

[Pokemaniac]

Bergen Flesland is pretty bad. It was built before the idea of a security control was created, so when that became mandatory they put a scanner with a cattlepen queue in the middle of a corridor and patted themselves on the shoulder for a job well done. After the security control, you enter right into a kiosk, which is also situated in a corridor for inexplicable reasons - you have to walk around the ice cream display to get to half of the domestic flight gates, and the signage is seriously lacking. Looking at it from afar, you'd suspect the corridor leads to a staff room or something like that, but nope, that's gates 18-24. The rest of the departures area is a bit of a mess too, but worst of all: All arriving passengers go through there as well. Convenient for transfer flights, I suppose, but when you go off the plane and suddenly find yourself among the flight gates. And again, no signage. If you don't know where to go, good luck finding the exit (it's behind the book shop). To make matters worse, the domestic and international flight gates have the same numbers, but the international ones have a letter in addition. And they're on opposite ends of the terminal. I had to catch a flight there from gate 22, and followed the signs for "18B - 24B", and ended up at the passport control. Yup, turns out I had to find the little corridor behind the ice cream display in the kiosk near the security corridor.

Good thing they're building a new terminal due to open this year, because the old one is a great, confusing mess.