E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSFrommer's travel highlights the best and worst airport terminals in the world. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
Many airports are awful. Some are lovely, like the 10 prettiest airport terminals we profiled last week. But most are at best joyless econoboxes, at worst purgatorial warehouses of stalled lives.
Some airports deserve special condemnation, though. In some cases, they deserve to be literally condemned. Assembling this top 10 list of misfits, I scanned professional surveys and delay statistics and asked my frequent-traveler friends to come up with the 10 airports where you'd least like to spend an extra hour.
I'm sticking to major airports here. There are small airports around the world that consist of a shanty that swelters in the summer and freezes in the winter, with a hole in the wall for baggage claim and a single sad concession stand. (I'm actually describing my experience at Udaipur Airport in India in 1999.) But that's not fair. These 10 airports should deliver better service, and they don't.
Frommers.com slideshow: More tragic terminals
Chicago Midway Airport
Chicago's Midway airport ranked as the nation's worst for on-time departures in the most recent federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics data, earning it a spot on this list. It isn't a bad place to hang out, with a new food court and a frequent subway connection to downtown Chicago, but any airport is the worst airport if you're stuck there and you aren't getting on a plane.
Consider this the least-worst of our set of bad airports. Midway's curse may come more from Chicago's notoriously difficult weather than from any problem the airport itself can fix.
"Paris" Beauvais Airport, France
A solid fifty miles north of Paris, this depressing low-cost box of an airport in Picardy got saddled with a bait-and-switch name by Ryanair, the ultimate bait-and-switch airline. It rated as one of the world's worst airports by Frommers.com friends SleepingInAirports.net because of its lack of seating, lack of services, and general half-tent, half-warehouse atmosphere.
It lacks a rail link to Paris and closes overnight, so hope that your flight doesn't get too delayed, or you may be camping out on the lawn.
LaGuardia Airport US Airways Terminal, New York City
I don't hate LaGuardia, but it was recently rated the worst major airport in America by both JD Power and Associates and Zagat Survey, so who am I to argue?
LaGuardia has no rail link to anywhere -- even between its own terminals -- and regularly suffers from congestion, overcrowding, and delays. While its terminals are shaping up, they're still each smaller and with fewer services than you'd expect from an airport at one of the top tourist destinations in the world.
I'm giving the US Airways Terminal the worst-terminal award here because at least the central terminal has an atrium and the Delta terminal just got some new food options. The US Airways terminal is dull and sad.
Moscow Sheremtyevo Airport Terminal B/C, Russia
One of the two airports rated "two stars" by global consulting firm Skytrax (nobody got one star), SVO B/C got particularly bad marks for anything where you have to interact with airport staff: their attitude, their language skills, and the speed with which they process passengers.
Reviewers suggest that you brush up on your Russian if you intend to transfer flights, because signboards and staff tend not to work in English. Apparently, you can fix up a Russian airport, but it's harder to fix up Russian customer service. (In capitalist Russia, customer services you!)
Depressingly, SVO Terminal B/C is partially a new terminal, but it still got one or two-star rankings from Skytrax on "leisure facilities," "baggage hall," and "meet and greet." It's also several miles away from the rest of the airport and from its rail station, making inter-terminal connections difficult. Air France cautions "Take official claims of short transfer times with a pinch of salt: delays of up to two hours have been reported."
Manila Airport Terminal 1, Philippines
Last May, the ceiling at Manila airport's Terminal 1 caved in, injuring two people. That's part of why Sleeping in Airports rated it the world's worst terminal last year.
"The terminal has been a frequent target of criticism with travellers and the business community complaining it is congested, run-down and filthy, with toilets that do not work," Agence France Presse commented. According to SleepingInAirports.net, bribery and theft are also rampant in the terminal.
The negative press attention seems to have had some effect; this November the Philippine government said it would renovate the terminal starting in January. It looks like changes can't come too soon.
JFK Airport Terminal 3, New York City
In 1960, Pan American Airlines built the Worldport: a grand, flying-saucer-shaped gateway to the Jet Age.
Fifty one years later, this decrepit, crumbling chunk of concrete is still used by Delta as an international hub. Terminal 3 is the worst single airport terminal in America, and probably in the Western world. Even Delta acknowledges this: they're tearing it down and replacing it with a giant glass structure connected to the nearby Terminal 4. It's unsalvageable.
Terminal 3 is known for endless immigration lines in a dank basement, for an utter lack of food and shopping options, three crowded and confusing entry points, hallways that could have been designed by M.C Escher and for vomiting international travelers out onto an underground sidewalk with no cabs available. There's also a sense that the cleaning crew gave up in despair a while ago.
JFK's terminals range from the awful to the mediocre, but Delta's hubs take the rotten, worm-infested cake. Right next to T3 there's Terminal 2, an ugly box with an undermanned security line where I really hope you're never caught hungry.
More from Frommers.com
- The 10 Best U.S. Day Trips By Train
- Packing Tips for Beach Vacations
- The Highs and Lows of 2011 Travel
Leave a Comment:
I will say we got stranded in Chicago and O'hara, and it was horrible night of sleep. In the end, we all hunkered down on the floors and used our shoes as pillows. The international trip the next day didn't help, and I can only imagine how I smelled after 14hrs in the air and a night sleeping on the floor in Chicago.
Been there, done that in O'Hare. Not nice!
I have flown in and out of Midway many times and I guess I'm lucky because it's always been fairly easy. I make three day trips east so I park in an easy to find space. Expensive but standard airport rate. Security is no worse than O'hare, nice gates, fair to good amenities. Having been to LaGuardia, ORD, DCA and BWI, I'm surprised to find Midway "the worst".
I don't want to get stuck in any airport!!!
Shocked to not see O Hare on the list. Midway is a dream compared to O Hare
Best airport to get stuck in, NONE!!!!!!
Tough to criticize an airport in Moscow for not accommodating English-speaking passengers. Good luck arriving at JFK speaking only Russian, and expecting to get help with rebooking or with ground transportation (hell, that part can be tough enough even if you're a native English-speaker!).
That is hardly the problem at Sheremtyevo. The cops there will force you into bribing them to get out of the airport and catch a cab. The taxi's there are controlled by a combination of the cops and the mafia there, so if you arrive there during a slow time...good luck.
There IS a difference. Unlike Russian, English is an international language, spoken by many as a second or third language. It is the unofficial language of commerce. If you wanted to accommodate as many foreign visitors as possible, and only had room for one language, it would be English.
What does it mean that 1/3 of the worst airports in the world are in NYC or that 2/3 of the NYC airports are the world's worst? What percent of our international visitors enter the USA at one of these airports? Alot I would guess. Add Dulles to the mix (how did Dulles not make the worst-6 list?) and most of our guests probably get their first glimpse of the USA at one of the world's worst airports.
We made getting stuck at Newark kindof fun but still .... it was Newark :(
It means this author needs to get out of the country a bit more.
Try getting stuck in Cairo, Egypt or Arusha, Tanzania. I'd rather spend 3 days in any airport on this list than just 24 hours in either of those places.
Narita, Japan, is another story. I could stay there for a week. Quite, clean, and very, very comfortable.
If you get stuck at Narita due to missing a connection, the airline will put you up for the night at a local hotel. They have to because the airport closes around 11:00PM. That's happened to me about six times.
I've never been stuck at Newark, but the place is laid out poorly. The train connecting to Amtrak and New Jersey Transit is an extension of the inter-terminal train line, so it's between the gates and the ticket counter, and they're all too far apart.
When you fly in, you have to hike past the train station to baggage claim, then hike half the way back to the gate to take the train. I wonder how many tired arriving passengers get on that train and forget they had checked bags to pick up.
Worst in my experience has been Montreal. The personnel, both airline and airport, seem to actively hate you. The only friendly person in the place on my last trip was an Air France dude who just got transferred from Vancouver. He hated the place too. And yes, I do speak French. What a pit!
I was through the Baghdad airport more times than I care to remember from 2006 to 2011, it has to be the worst! People with guns all over, one sandwich shop and kids selling single sheets of toilet paper in the restrooms, bullet holes all over and blast damage.
Book your next trip by sea, just like your ancestors came here and forgot to leave. Your Original Countries miss ya!
Ever try San Salvador? I'd take any U.S. terminal over that garbage.
You spelled Sheremetyevo (Шереметьево) wrong by spelling it "Sheremtyevo".
Cpaceba. I needed my cyrillic fix. Maladyetz.
Worst Airport in America LAX,Tear it down,what a disgraceful welcome to foreigners,and Americans,I've had to wait 2 hours to get through Customs and Immigration.Houston is Terrible at Immigration,but whoever runs Immigration at Dallas is to be applauded
Dallas (DFW) has good customs and immigration? Maybe it's improved but the last time I came back from europe, there was only 2 agents working. It took so long to get through customs, recheck our baggage and get through security again that we almost missed our connecting flight and we had a little over a 2 hour layover in DFW. Our baggage didn't make our flight and was put on the next flight and delivered the next day.
really, whats th epoint of haing immigration at LAX anyway?
Don't like flying. It is not the flying that I really, really hate, it are the airports.
Nothing more than meat griders. Some are tolerable most of them meat grinders.
The only saving grace you have is when you are a frequent flyer and have access to the airline lounges.
Even there it can be a mess when there is only standing room in the lounge
New York City doesn't have a clue. Until we moved, JFK was our "home" airport. It's a confusing and decrepit mess who's only hope is a total tear down making way for a fresh start. Trouble is, it's going to cost tons of dough. This used to be the showcase airport back in the '60s. It's fascinating to see how the TV show, "PanAm" recreates those heady days of classy air travel from NY. I was shocked after traveling to places like Orlando, Phoenix and DFW. I found out what "real" airports could be like. JFK's only redeeming feature is the airtrain that takes travelers between terminals for free. NYC is so far behind it will never catch up.
JFK Airport Terminal 3, New York City is a shameful testament to America's crumbling infrastructure.
It is an international embarrassment. Demo it ASAP
Charles de Gaulle is the worst airport I have ever had the misfortune to pass through.
It's been 20 years so maybe it's become more hospitable, but The Beijing airport was an eye opener for sure. Almost as many military with automatic guns at the ready as there were passengers on our jet, the only jet landing at the time. The frigid temperature in the terminal was equaled only be the look in the guards eyes. Everything was painted a drab green, no place to sit, to say it was utilitarian would be an understatement. Welcome to communist China!
If you are talking about getting stuck in an airport, I nominate Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson.
I have spent more than one miserable night in that airport.
I worked for the company that did the interior design for the atrium. They deliberately chose seating that was difficult and uncomfortable to sleep in.
Before the Olympics, deterring the homeless from camping in the airport was a bigger problem than lengthy delays.
Honorable mentions should have been Washington Dulles and Heathrow Airport. My GOD HEATHROW!!!
Yes, JFK terminal 3 is horrible (it's almost laughable how you have to walk up a narrow sidewallk to reach transportation,) but the new Jet Blue Terminal 5 is new and nice.
Amazed that Salt Lake City's airport didn't make the list. In the middle of a 72-hour nightmare of standby flights and misdirected connections I wound up in this Utah armpit. As I sat there, staring at the bright orange and blue artistic travesty that passed in some madman's imagination for "decor", to say nothing of the images of nude men and women attempting to fly without wings, I was pretty sure that if I got stuck there for the night, I'd have to kill myself. Fortunately I got the second-to-last seat on the last flight out to Las Vegas, and from there I finally got a flight home. Ugh. Horrible place. Dishonorable mention to Vegas, too; even at 3 a.m., the fall of coins from the slot machines never stops.