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Best + Worst Airports

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  • Hong Kong airport is pretty exceptional and ‘in-town check-in’ is genius.

    JFK is getting some stick and whilst some terminals are diabolical, T4 and T5 are actually very good.  
    How does in-town check in work? 
  • Hong Kong airport is pretty exceptional and ‘in-town check-in’ is genius.

    JFK is getting some stick and whilst some terminals are diabolical, T4 and T5 are actually very good.  
    Never heard of this but what a brilliant idea... Surprised other Cities dont do similar
  • se9addick said:
    Hong Kong airport is pretty exceptional and ‘in-town check-in’ is genius.

    JFK is getting some stick and whilst some terminals are diabolical, T4 and T5 are actually very good.  
    How does in-town check in work? 
    If you get the airport train you can check in several hours before your flight at the station in the city so you don’t have to lug your bags around.  Literally used it 10 mins ago.
  • Jet2 do in hotel check in on a lot of their holidays in Spain, Balearics etc.

    Check in at your hotel foyer,and dont see your bags again until land back in England.
  • se9addick said:
    Hong Kong airport is pretty exceptional and ‘in-town check-in’ is genius.

    JFK is getting some stick and whilst some terminals are diabolical, T4 and T5 are actually very good.  
    How does in-town check in work? 
    If you get the airport train you can check in several hours before your flight at the station in the city so you don’t have to lug your bags around.  Literally used it 10 mins ago.
    That’s awesome!
  • edited November 2019
    MrOneLung said:
    British Airways do in hotel check in on a lot of their holidays in Spain, Balearics etc.

    Check in at your hotel foyer,and dont see your bags again
  • wmcf123 said:
    Singapore is superb .

    Luton horrific for many reasons.  A huge disappointment was Berlin - absolutely bugger all there 
    Berlin Tegel or Schönefeld? Either way there's a reason for it. They built a huge new airport next to Schönefeld. It's pretty much all built but for 4 years it's been sitting there with "teething problems" such as the fire sprinkler systems. There is still no opening date and is a national scandal. Very Un-German.

    I am writing this from Berlin, but we can get here by train in 4 hours, way to go:-)
    I go to Berlin alot. Both airports are terrible. It's good fun to take the mickey out of Germans about the late delivery of their new airport (reported to be 7 years behind schedule). They blame the lazy foreign workforce.
  • kafka said:
    wmcf123 said:
    Singapore is superb .

    Luton horrific for many reasons.  A huge disappointment was Berlin - absolutely bugger all there 
    Berlin Tegel or Schönefeld? Either way there's a reason for it. They built a huge new airport next to Schönefeld. It's pretty much all built but for 4 years it's been sitting there with "teething problems" such as the fire sprinkler systems. There is still no opening date and is a national scandal. Very Un-German.

    I am writing this from Berlin, but we can get here by train in 4 hours, way to go:-)
    I go to Berlin alot. Both airports are terrible. It's good fun to take the mickey out of Germans about the late delivery of their new airport (reported to be 7 years behind schedule). They blame the lazy foreign workforce.

    Racists
  • Worst - I've spent large chunks of my life in terrible airports. Lagos or Islamabad probably top the list 

    Best - Samui is a great shout. Singapore Changi definitely the best major airport. 
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  • People saying Heathrow, you know it's pretty much 4 different airports?

    Bridgetown is tiny, long queues and a joke of a lounge.
  • edited November 2019
    Hong Kong airport is pretty exceptional and ‘in-town check-in’ is genius.

    JFK is getting some stick and whilst some terminals are diabolical, T4 and T5 are actually very good.  
    In town check in is good. They have the same thing at Kuala Lumpur, which is a decent airport.
  • edited November 2019
    LAX is a bit of a ball ache with the massive queues but as an alternative - I can suggest breaking the journey up and getting an internal connection into John Wayne Airport Orange County. 

    So easy to get in and out of.
  • Either that or fly into a Canadian City first

    Did a holiday to Las Vegas and San Francisco which saw me connect via. Vancouver (on the way) and Montreal on the way home

    You end up doing your immigration checks in Canada (nice way to waste time if you've a few hours between connections)
  • If you fly to the US more than a couple of times pa, it’s well worth applying for Global Entry - breeze through immigration/customs and get ‘TSA Pre’ security check privileges on flights.
  • It was certainly our experience with JFK and the outrageously OTT immigration staff that made my son and I decide never to go to NY again - as other people have said...'Welcome to America'
  • I went to one in Madagascar which was essentially a she'd next to a strip of flattened grass. We had to weigh ourselves with our bags on some giant mechanical scales. It was in many respects better than Luton.
  • edited November 2019
    Not read the full thread......but the worst airport I've ben through must be The Bahamas. Nothing there. Once through check in there is just one small shop & a few seats. Also you are sitting there staring at the tarmac (all on one level) with just the odd plane arriving or taking off to relieve the boredom.
  • LAX is a bit of a ball ache with the massive queues but as an alternative - I can suggest breaking the journey up and getting an internal connection into John Wayne Airport Orange County. 

    So easy to get in and out of.
    LAX was heaving when i went(2003) and the queues to staff ratio seemed like it was always just on the edge of getting out of hand. Luckily the heavy cop presence kept it borderline civil. Not sure if this was due to the events of 9/11 or a regular thing but for a US airport it seemed chaotic
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  • Hong Kong airport is pretty exceptional and ‘in-town check-in’ is genius.

    JFK is getting some stick and whilst some terminals are diabolical, T4 and T5 are actually very good.  
    Never heard of this but what a brilliant idea... Surprised other Cities dont do similar
    We used to have it at Paddington. Check in where the food court is, stop your bags off and jump on the Express. I think 9/11 put an end to that. 

    Best/worst - the best is any airport close to to your destination. Boston is largely crap, but it’s downtown. Just like the little gem in Toronto. When I go to an airport I don’t give a crap about the bars, restaurants, shops. I want to get on  a plane and leave.  
  • Worst: Tegel Airport, Berlin.  Spent 4 hrs there last year as flight delayed. Foolishly imagined would be cafes, shops etc  after security.  Reality - absolutely nothing apart from one closed 'coffee station' and inadequate scruffy seating. Had to stand for hours.

    Best: Belfast City - off the plane and out of the airport in minutes.

    Having to use Belfast International soon for first time.  Will see if it lives up to poor reviews.
  • Heathrow is an absolute tit of an airport
  • Fumbluff said:
    Heathrow is an absolute tit of an airport
    When were you last there? And what Terminal? 
  • Best international airport Singapore, worst (for me) Las Vegas where someone stole my watch off the security belt. Best Uk airport London City and worst over all the decades of travelling is Luton. Only a month or so ago their official meet and greet “partners” managed to crash my car on its return to the collection point in the cold windy 3rd floor of the new multi storey. It was 1.30am and we were abandoned until 5am when a mini cab was eventually provided to take us home. Never ever again will I fly from Luton.
  • LAX is a bit of a ball ache with the massive queues but as an alternative - I can suggest breaking the journey up and getting an internal connection into John Wayne Airport Orange County. 

    So easy to get in and out of.
    LAX was heaving when i went(2003) and the queues to staff ratio seemed like it was always just on the edge of getting out of hand. Luckily the heavy cop presence kept it borderline civil. Not sure if this was due to the events of 9/11 or a regular thing but for a US airport it seemed chaotic
    Flown to LAX twice this year and took two and a half hours to get out of the place first time and two hours the second time. And that was before they did the ridiculous park and ride thing for uber and lyft. As someone said flying into Orange County is an alternative but only if you’re going to socal and I don’t like connecting if possible. Best US airport for me is Newark and would recommend it if going to NYC over JFK all day long. 
    Best airport I’ve flown out of/to is terminal 5. I know it’s an English thing to kick everything we do but they got it 100% bang on when they built it. 
  • Best global airport has to be Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont - efficient and small like London City but you get amazing scenery of Rio as you land / take off.

    Big fan of Heathrow T5 as others have said. I’ve never even had a big security queue there which says something given passenger numbers.

    Had to laugh at whoever said Madrid and that everytime something doesn’t work. I’ve missed connections on two occasions there because the monorail has broken down between gates. Looks beautiful (cheers Foster and partners) but never works well.
  • Best: Munich. Free tea and coffee and good staff. Schiphol also attractive, and they let you take water through security.  Gatwick is always effcient with good staff. Barcelona is well organised but needs a couple of pubs. I'd stick Dubai here but on arrival their customs people are the wrong side of unpleasant.

    Worst: Charles De Gaulle, and Eay Jet terminal in particular. Unbelievably bad and limited. Miami, with fifteen customs officials to welcome the American passport holders, and two for the much longer European arrivals queue.
  • LAX is a bit of a ball ache with the massive queues but as an alternative - I can suggest breaking the journey up and getting an internal connection into John Wayne Airport Orange County. 

    So easy to get in and out of.
    LAX was heaving when i went(2003) and the queues to staff ratio seemed like it was always just on the edge of getting out of hand. Luckily the heavy cop presence kept it borderline civil. Not sure if this was due to the events of 9/11 or a regular thing but for a US airport it seemed chaotic
    Flown to LAX twice this year and took two and a half hours to get out of the place first time and two hours the second time. And that was before they did the ridiculous park and ride thing for uber and lyft. As someone said flying into Orange County is an alternative but only if you’re going to socal and I don’t like connecting if possible. Best US airport for me is Newark and would recommend it if going to NYC over JFK all day long. 
    Best airport I’ve flown out of/to is terminal 5. I know it’s an English thing to kick everything we do but they got it 100% bang on when they built it. 
    Yeah, so I'll kick Terminal 5. They didn't get it bang on at all. It is supposed to be the BA terminal, right? So when it first opened I came through it a few times, to/from PRG. Then, lo, behold, they found it wasn't big enough for all BA's flights. So they moved some to Terminal 3. Which ones? Alll the ones to/from the eastern side of Europe. And what was worse, for the first year or so we were even having to get on buses to the planes.. Everyone kicked shit out of BA for the buses, so eventually they got that fixed, but we are still stuck in T3, and it's shit. 

    On top of that, unless they have improved since the first year, I didn't find many places in T5 where you could just, you know, sit down, as opposed to going shopping for not very cheap "tax free" stuff. 

    You're welcome.:-)
  • edited November 2019
    Another vote for Singapor as one of the best airports........only problem is that all the books in the bookshop are not in English. Thought I was going to spend a leisurely 30 mins browsing........
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