I can only comment for North America as that's the only continent I travel to when going on holiday.

Best:
YVR - Decent layout with ease to find your connections. (Been through here half dozen times or so and never had any problems)
EWR - Ok I suppose, had no problems transferring through here so far.

Worst:
IAH - Completely unorganized when it comes to baggage collection then trying to go through customs. Queuing around every single baggage carousel moving at a snails pace. Ended up missing my connection to SAN and only just made the last flight of the day there. The OTT attitude of the CBP officer at immigration was partly to blame for this.

Devilfish wrote:

maortega15 wrote:

Surprised no one has mentioned MNL as worst for transit! You have to take a taxi just to transfer terminals and just the traffic alone is atrocious!

When was the last time you used NAIA? While the transfer shuttle leaves a lot to be desired, it does get you to your intended terminal without leaving the airport premises. The opening of the NAIA Expressway has alleviated much of the traffic headaches. And though I doubt the milestone and the "high-speed" part, there is this to look forward to... ...

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/govt-t ... n-3-years/

Transferred INTL to INTL last year in MNL and it was pretty awful. Poor aircon and lighting, ceilings falling in, almost no signage, just ordered around and told to sit in various places by various uniformed staff members. Philippine Airlines were ok but I would probably avoid MNL in future of possible.

However, CAI for me was even worse. Whilst the terminal was OK, the long lines for the multiple single security checks meant that even a 3 hour connection within the same terminal was tight.

Mark

Best in North America:
DTW The McNamara terminal is a great facility. Have never had a bad experience, connecting between DLC and mainline is easy.
YVR Only connected through it a couple times, but it was smooth and not chaotic
Worst in North America
JFK/LGA/EWR Delays, poor terminal layout, chaotic. Just never a pleasant experience.
Best in South America
SCL Always seemed smooth, really no complaints.

Well, Cairo Airport leaves a lot to be desired, no WIFI, crowded, no decent places to eat, few and slow security checkpoints. At least that was my impression from my last transfer to and from Amman Airport (Which in comparison is a neat and modern airport.)

Also, the local airport of Bahir Dar in Ethiopia is probably the most depressing place I've ever travelling out of.

Singapore was a good one to transit in. You get off the plane, you can ride the train to a connecting terminal. I had to visit a transit desk to do security check and show my itinerary and was given a new boarding pass and security screening was at the gate.

The transit area is buzzing all night. Lots of places to eat, the different gardens and the tv area. If you're lucky, those seats by the tv are fairly comfortable to sit and snooze on. They're usually all taken so if you see a seat take it. There are also free leg massage machines scattered around the transit area and gates.

Worst is MNL and that's only because Philippine Airlines has awful times for flights and connections. 13 and 19 hour connections respectively. One time I arrived at 3am and my connecting flight was 10pm. I had to leave the airport which is a madhouse outside.

Europe
Best : FRA / MUC / ZRH
Worst : LHR / AMS

US
Best : MSP / SLC / SFO
Worst : JFK / MIA

Asia
Best : AUH / HKG
Worst : DXB

Asia- best: DXB worst: KWI
Europe- best: LHR worst: CDG
Africa- Best and worst: CAI
N. America- best: SFO worst:LAX

Best in North America: IAD, DTW and MDW, mostly due to nice facilities and food outlets. Worst: JFK (bus rides just to change gates and clueless staff), MSP (long walks, excessive carpeting), PHL (delays, confusing airport layout).

Europe: Best are AMS, FRA and BCN due to ease of transfer. Worst are LHR, CDG and FCO due to cumbersome layouts.

In my experience - and I have not been to South America or Oceania yet.

Europe: best - CPH, worst - CDG
North America: best - CLT, worst - IAD
Africa: best - JNB, worst - CMN
Asia: best - HKG or SIN, worst - SHA (Hongqiao)

KLDC10 wrote:

And that's before we begin to get into Air France's split hub operation, which involves some passengers transferring not only between terminals, but across the city to Paris Orly. The latter, I have thankfully only had to do once, but I try to avoid Paris where possible to be honest.

Oh god that sounds horrible. Did you know beforehand that you needed to do an airport transfer? Did they put you on a bus or did they just tell you "Your flight is in Orly and you have 2 hours to get there. Good luck!"

gtargui wrote:

KLDC10 wrote:

And that's before we begin to get into Air France's split hub operation, which involves some passengers transferring not only between terminals, but across the city to Paris Orly. The latter, I have thankfully only had to do once, but I try to avoid Paris where possible to be honest.

Oh god that sounds horrible. Did you know beforehand that you needed to do an airport transfer? Did they put you on a bus or did they just tell you "Your flight is in Orly and you have 2 hours to get there. Good luck!"

Thankfully I was aware that that would be the case, and planned accordingly. However I do wonder whether some people are caught out by that.
The bus will, however, set you back 36 Euros and it takes about 1hr15. If you're interested in how it works, here's the website: http://www.lebusdirect.com/en/lines-and ... -line.html

That does depend where you go to and come from. Even more, the personal experiences depend on the particular time, whether the rebuild is in progress, done or waiting to be done.

In any case, the very worst transfer airport of all that I have been is JFK. I have seen worse international airports only in Russia but did not transfer so I do not know.
The best in North America may be LAX, but I have learned to avoid transfer in USA if possible. (In good old times STL was convenient, but those days are gone)

In Europe LHR was the most terrible experience in this century for transfer (last century Athens and Rome were also so and so, but have not used them recently for transfer). Unlike others opinate, for me CDG is OK for transfers. (and LHR is OK as O&D, unlike CDG)
The best transfer airport in Europe is MUC, and the runner-up is HEL, unless you end in the middle of reconstruction. AMS and CPH used to be my favourites, but last time there was some reconstruction that made confusion. Maybe they are better now. FRA, DUS, ZRH and even BRU are also convenient and MAD is not as terrible as people say. The most boring is ARN.

I thought my home airport GRU was the worst in the world by far... then last year I ended up in MEX. Now GRU has the 2nd place prize, despite both are quite similar horrible but MEX is in stone age yet while GRU is only in Ancient Rome...

So:

SAmerica: MAO better, GRU worst
Europe: Nothing wrong connecting at OPO, plenty of problems connecting in FRA
Africa: Just used JNB and it was a 50/50 experience
Asia: HKG terrible, KUL excellent
USA: JFK terrible and many will want to kill me but I never had any problems connecting at LGA.
Oceania: Pretty disappointed with SYD however very happy with AKL.

KLDC10 wrote:

gtargui wrote:

KLDC10 wrote:

And that's before we begin to get into Air France's split hub operation, which involves some passengers transferring not only between terminals, but across the city to Paris Orly. The latter, I have thankfully only had to do once, but I try to avoid Paris where possible to be honest.

Oh god that sounds horrible. Did you know beforehand that you needed to do an airport transfer? Did they put you on a bus or did they just tell you "Your flight is in Orly and you have 2 hours to get there. Good luck!"

Thankfully I was aware that that would be the case, and planned accordingly. However I do wonder whether some people are caught out by that.
The bus will, however, set you back 36 Euros and it takes about 1hr15. If you're interested in how it works, here's the website: http://www.lebusdirect.com/en/lines-and ... -line.html

Well, no matter the reason but if your flight departs from ORY and you show up in CDG you're wrong and obviously have to pay to get to the right airport. I'm confident AF don't change the departing airport without letting the pax know. Don't see any reason for the airline pay for it. Of course I'm talking about a previously planned change, not a diversion.

Correction. ....I said FRA was one of the best previously based on experience. ....oh boy went through FRA last week....the transfer and queues took longer than the flight to Vienna I see what everyone means now!

ORD is absurd if you are connecting from domestic to international and your outbound airline leaves from Terminal 5. An example would be coming in on UA and heading out on SAS. There is no airside connection so you have to go through security again, which is absurd.

Of course you have to do it in the other direction as well, but that's true of all international arrivals without preclearance, so it doesn't matter as much in that case.

N America: Best DFW Worst JFK with LAX a close second.
Asia: Best BOM T2 (never been to SIN) Worst: Old BOM
Europe: Best ZRH Worst LHR
Oceania: Best AKL, Worst: SYD

BTW, This is my first post, so hello to everyone.

Worst: CDG, LHR, IST
Best: AMS, FRA

Best: PHL, ATL, IAH
Worst: ORD, MIA, PTY

Only ever connected twice. On United from LHR to Denver through IAD and ORD. IAD was horrible, such long queues for immigration, we had a 2:15 long layover and still had to run for the flight. ORD was a breeze as the two flights were on the same concourse.

Native New Yorker so never had to transfer through JFK but can understand the pain. It was never set up as a hub to transfer. The separate terminals worked in the 60s but now is a major hindrance to making the airport great even if some individual terminals are nice. Also the need to clear customs at first point of entry in the US means that *no* US airport is really optimal for transferring internationally. That said the worst North American Airport I've had to transfer through is Atlanta. The trains between terminals are worse than the NY subway - I always walk, esp. since I usually need to stretch my legs. The nastiest, surliest airport and TSA employees hands down - and I am from New York, no den of politeness. No Southern hospitality in ATL, that's for sure - although the *airline* staff are fine it must be said.

Best in NA - for the US, probably FLL and DFW, at least they try to make a bad situation in transferring Int'l to domestic easy. Really good staff. Best in NA in general is PTY

Best in Europe is AMS, worst is CDG - no argument there.

Best in Africa is JNB or ACC, worst is Lome Togo (Hub for ET and Asky) a miserable dump even by developing world standards, and compare it to wonderful Kotoka Int'l in Accra. I am not just a first worlder whining about lack of amenities. ACC could be the best airport in a poor country in the world.

Europe Best: AMS worst: LHR
Asia: Best: SIN worst: ISB
North America: Best: YVR Worst: MIA

Europe:
Used CDG a few times (int'l to int'l) on AF and always found it okay. I like T2.
Used AMS and MUC in the past as well.
Just used VIE yesterday-as was arriving from the US literally deplaned and straight up into departures. Found it an okay place, with enough amenities for a 5 hour stopover. I don't feel like its set up for large numbers of pax, nor do they cater to people on long journeys like at DXB. Mainly VIE functions as a Central/East and Southern Europe gateway (EU and non EU) as well as a few common travel flows (North America to ME and Iran/India) on a limited scale.

Middle East:
BAH-A nice compact airport. Only downside the small transit security check at peak times.
AMM-Great terminal. Polite and curteous staff and efficient terminal and layout. They really do put their best foot forward.

Just need to throw PHX in for worst in the USA. No transport between terminals and no real way to walk. No signage about this. Trying to connect from Terminal 2 to 3 or 4 takes a cab ride. Also with Terminal 3 being under construction, pickup and drop off from there is a nightmare ti put it nicely.

reynan wrote:

N America: Best DFW Worst JFK with LAX a close second.
Asia: Best BOM T2 (never been to SIN) Worst: Old BOM
Europe: Best ZRH Worst LHR
Oceania: Best AKL, Worst: SYD

BTW, This is my first post, so hello to everyone.

Terminal48 wrote:

Asia- best: DXB worst: KWI
Europe- best: LHR worst: CDG
Africa- Best and worst: CAI
N. America- best: SFO worst:LAX

Tabito wrote:

Asia

Best: SIN, NGO
Worst: CGK, CAN, PEK

Europe

Best: AMS, ZRH, CPH
Worst: CDG, LHR, FRA

America

Best: YVR, DFW
Worst: JFK, ORD, LAX

afterburner33 wrote:

I'm just going to say best and worst overall as my experience is limited (almost all of my flights are point to point).

Best - HKG
Worst - LAX.

usflyer123 wrote:

OK first I will begin with North America- Best: SLC, Worst: LAX.
Europe- Best:ZRH, Worst: FRA.
Asia- Best: DOH/SIN, Worst: BOM.
Africa- Best: both ADD and GRU were good.
South America- Best: BOG, Worst: GRU.
Oceania: Best: AKL, Worst: PER.

So, what about you guys?

Does anyone want to say WHY they dislike LAX so much? I don't really understand the hatred, beyond falling into false stereotypes.

I know it's not the best in the US, but it's certainly not the worst on the continent.

masgniw wrote:

I don't really understand the hatred, beyond falling into false stereotypes.

I know it's not the best in the US, but it's certainly not the worst on the continent.

I have not transferred at LAX, but I can imagine it's the same reason as with JFK. The layout not allowing airside transit between terminals together with the requirement to undergo the immigration ordeal even when transiting.

L410Turbolet wrote:

masgniw wrote:

I don't really understand the hatred, beyond falling into false stereotypes.

I know it's not the best in the US, but it's certainly not the worst on the continent.

The layout not allowing airside transit between terminals

But, you can, for the most part. T8-T7-T6-T5-T4-TBIT are all linked via bridge or tunnel. TBIT-T3-T2 are all linked by bus. Basically, only SW fliers are shut out of airside connections to other airlines.

I’m a bit surprised to see AKL listed as “best” by so many people. I just transferred through AKL a couple days ago, and I was not impressed. Having to grab my bag, catch a bus to the domestic terminal, then drop my bag off sucked.

Let’s see, I think I can actually somewhat answer this. My main flight patterns are usually Australia to Europe/Africa via Asia.

Oceania: BNE or AKL. For domestic connections, BNE is a great airport. Never connected internationally, but have connected international to domestic and the process is pretty good. Worst: SYD

Asia: ICN hands down. Never been on the SIN bandwagon so much - I do like SIN as O&D airport though. My preference for KE or Asiana over SIA or Qantas probably influences that a bit, but I genuinely enjoy being in ICN. Worst: spoilt for choice, but going to with KWI. BWN is a top contender too.

Europe: Amsterdam. Also have a soft spot for LIS. Worst: FRA. Most inefficient security, biased a bit here since I transferred here just the other day. 1 hour connection and I had to walk for miles, hop on a train, clear immigration and go through security twice because of their lack of clarity about electronics. Every time I transit in FRA they tell me something different about what’s alright to leave in my bag. This time I got pulled up for having a laptop charger in my bag, as the cable is considered “an electronic device”.

North America: I like Charlotte. Worst: JFK

South America: No experience with connections here really. I’m currently in transit at BEL for 6 hours, but have a hotel room in the city to relax. Favourite airport is MVD.

Africa: ADD. Not a lot of competition. Windhoek and Kigali are alright for small African airports. Casablanca is pretty decent too. Worst: LAD (never actually transited here because I’ve heard so many horror stories, so I always made sure to spend a couple of days in Angola if I have to go). Worst I’ve actually transited in: LOS and the old NKC (the new one is pretty good)

Ok my experiences:

Best
North America - Best - DTW, just really simple and nice place Runnerup SFO - Terminal enhancements stand out
Europe - Best CPH, small simple, AMS, one terminal Worst -
Asia - Best - ICN - Amazing place and everything works perfectly, Runnerup TPE - Simple and efficient
South America - Best - SCL
Africa - only connected once and that falls on the Worst side

Worst
North America - LAX - every time I go through here I scream. For example this week United international to United Domestic, arrive at Terminal 7, bused to Tom Bradley international then had to walk back to 7.
Europe -IST crowded and confusing, CDG, doable but bizarre
Asia - MNL- Terminal 3 to Terminal 1 had to take a shuttle bus that took an hour on city streets
South America - GRU - crowded, bad ambience
Africa - JNB - nightmare of a place

I'm a fan of DTW for transferring. You can get just about anywhere in the airport in 10 minutes. SFO is OK as long as you are not switching terminals. DEN is pretty good, too. In Europe, I thought BCN and MAD were both excellent. CDG was a nightmare.

In Asia
Best: HKG

Worst: Incheon International Airport (ICN) Many of the signs in the airport have no English. To buy a Dunkin Donut, I have to know Korean? WOW!!!

In Asia
Best: HKG and SIN
Getting to be okay: TPE

Worst: Incheon International Airport (ICN) Many of the signs in the airport have no English. Just to buy a Dunkin Donut at ICN, one needs to be able to read Korean?
WOW!!!

Interesting : RMQ, CNX, CMI

bfitzflyer wrote:

Ok my experiences:
...

Worst
...
Africa - JNB - nightmare of a place

Care to tell us why you find JNB a nightmare of a place? I have been there it it was always a pleasure.

Thanks!

Europe:
Best - LHR
Worst - BOJ. 3.5 hour wait at Immigration and an overall backwards attitude to international travelling.

Caribbean:
Best - PUJ
Worst - MBJ

Asia:
Best - SIN, KUL, DOH
Worst a BKI

Only experience of America is Chicago, which was one of the worst I’ve arrived/departed in.

DocLightning wrote:

I'm a fan of DTW for transferring. You can get just about anywhere in the airport in 10 minutes. SFO is OK as long as you are not switching terminals. DEN is pretty good, too. In Europe, I thought BCN and MAD were both excellent. CDG was a nightmare.

CDG is vastly improved over what it once was, but it's still a bit of a crapshoot. Some transfers, notably 2E-2F, are remarkably simple compared to the bad old days. 2ABCD to other 2's is unpleasant but at least the signage was improved a couple years back. If terminal 1 is involved forget it. I think I'd pick LHR as worst European

I like DTW as well. PHL gets my vote for worst in North America by a good margin, JFK is probably second.

PITingres wrote:

CDG is vastly improved over what it once was, but it's still a bit of a crapshoot

Improved in the last two years? It's pretty, especially with those glass bubble terminals, but it's utterly impractical. Too crowded, the gates all blend together, switching terminals requires a bus, a train, a boat, a horse-drawn carriage, and 40 years wandering in the desert. I'll transfer at Schipol next time.

Europe:
Best - FRA
Worst - LHR

US:
Best - SFO
Worst - ORD (I try to avoid ORD like the plague)

I also do my best to book non-stop flights...I hate making connections

Europe:
Worst: LHR, CDG
Best: AMS, CPH

America:
Worst: JFK, ORD
Best: YYZ

Asia:
Worst: CGK
Best: KUL

Worst connection is JED in Asia. Best is SIN. Europe ZRH or AMS worst was CDG or LHR. North America best is IAH or ATL worst is MIA or JFK. Oceania AKL is best worst was SYD.

I haven't connected too much around yet, but in Europe I found BRU and MAD quite enjoyable, albeit with the caveat (in the case of MAD) that one needs to plan with a LOT of time if the transfer occurs from a Schengen- to an intercontinental flight.

MAN on the other hand was painful, I haven't seen that airport listed so I'm not sure if my experience was just anecdotal or if connecting there is just unusual but both times I flew through there I had to leave the terminal, run to a different one along the access road and reclear security in the last minute...

ASQ400 wrote:

Worst: JFK. No airside connections, and all around a garbage bag.

JFK has airside connections between T2 and T4, at least.

spacecadet wrote:

JFK has airside connections between T2 and T4, at least.

That ain't much considering how many terminals they got. At lots of other airports all terminals got airside connections to each other. The only thing that would fix that at JFK is tear down everything and start all over from scratch. Can't see that happening, it's not the way New Yorkers think. They only look at what is, not at what can be.

I'll add in mine. Mainly travel in the U.S., so I'll stick to that.

Best: CVG. DL should have closed DTW and kept their operation here. It's big enough to be a hub (more like a mini-hub, considering DL officially de-hubbed it, but you can still get connections on certain pairs), but small enough not to be a giant pain to transfer.

Worst: PHL. Even a cloudy day seems to cause delays here. Plus, the terminals have all of the ambience and charm of the Newark Greyhound station. Any of the NYC or CHI airports are close behind.