V-Flyer

Has anybody got any bad experiences travelling through any "dodgy" airports worldwide?

My vote goes for moscow : filthy and nothing in it.




{edited - preiffer : corrected spelling, paragraphing and added puctuation other than "-"'s}

OK, I can see the value in this thread. However I can also see loads of potential for it to turn into a slagging match. So can we keep to opinions based on reasonably factual evidence, preferably that can be referenced by other posters. And be careful of anything that may offend a particular race.

I agree - just honest answers with real experiences that let travelers know what to expect

Can I offer up LHR as a contender? Once you've been through HKG, SIN or KUL you will see what a dump the place is and how badly we can't arrange things in the UK. Next time you pull up outside T3, remember the 25m+ people that go through that place every year and count the sheer lack of bays for dropping people off and the absolute anarchy there regardless of the time of day.

Thanks,
Richard

To be fair though, Richard - The internals of T3 are now really starting to come together. A lot of progress has been made.

Montreal Dorval was extremely poor up until they started finishing construction phases last year. Terminal E at Logan (Boston) is particularly bad in my view (although, again, construction has helped - the new Immigration area is a lot nicer).


In terms of airports to get THROUGH, reliably - try IAD connecting from Int'l to Domestic. Can be an absolute joke sometimes (and those damn high-rise-buses... [n])

Ricard
I agree but once you eget through all the mess its not the worst for shopping /eating and the lounges are a good standard. But I do agree the check in area is awful compared with Singapore / KL. Have never been to HK so I cannot comment - Bangkok is not much better to be honest

Well I'll vote Salvador Brazil - the lounge is landside, which I never like. But the crowning glory is that they don't let *A gold card holders into the lounge until an hour before the flight, which doesn't really give you long to chill!

I would also throw in CPT as the airport ran out of fuel on my last departure from there. However, for the moment I am prepared to accept that this was a once off!

Bangkok will be compariable with KUL/SIN/HKG once the new site is open...... On the whole, S.E Asia is giving the world a good spanking bar a few exceptions dotted around.

I buy into both views on T3, thankfully the CH takes away most of the pain!!!

LAX must come somewhere in this name and shame poll........????

Oh Lax is a great place for testing mans capability for standing in line . Its takes s shorter time to get on the latest ride in Disney than it does to get through LAX. America never really had great airports ( anybody remember the old JFK but they seem to improving overall. When is the new Bkk airport opening anyway as it has a lot to compEte with with the likes of Singapore / HK and KL

Oh we want overall worst airport? Mmm, will have to put thinking hat on. GIB is very spartan but efficient, LTN has the smallest Exec Lounge I have ever stepped foot in. Domestic terminal at DEL (a bare 5 miles from the Int terminal via a shonky old bus) is not exactly fantastic.

Sailor, glad to see you're letting CPT off - I thoguht that was alright and I flew in on Christmas Day when you expect the place to be useless in terms of efficiency.

Obviously everyone has their different needs - I like big airports with lots of shopping - so AMS, MAD, BCN do well for me in Europe. Others liek smaller affairs that are easy to navigate.

Paul - I am so with you on IAD, talk about red tape and long waits. Transferring is indeed a nightmare. And MCO, what is that collecting your luggage and and then dropping it straight back off nonsense about.

Thanks,
Richard

Man, how could I forget T2 at LAX. In the last year IMO, that place has gone through the floor, my absolute pet hate - waiting ages for your luggage when it should be first off, compounded by outsourced staff that couldn't care less and know diddly squat about VS policies and service.

Thanks,
Richard

Hmmm, what about the LCC airports? Coventry International is shocking! Never again.

Mat xxx

Fozzyo, good point. BRS, its anywhere but Bristol - talk about Trade Descriptions....

Thanks,
Richard

Bournemouth - BOH. Difference between "gate 2" and "gate 3" is the left door or the right door of a small shed...

I firstly would like to agree with Fozzyo about Coventry. It is my local airport which I can be to within minutes. I would rather travel 2.5 hours to Gatwick than use Cov!

Secondly, my honest contender for this has to be Miami. I had an AA flight from Miami a few years back. It was a flight from MIA to LHR via JFK and was ticketing right through. I stood in the Internetation departures section for AA for 45 minutes to check-in to be sent away to the back of the internal departure line which was twice as long. I stood there for a further 50 minutes and fearful of missing my plane I asked to be jumped to the front of the queue, which the did (although not happily). I was then told I was in the wrong place and that I had to go back to International departures. Nearly 2 hrs after arrival I was finally checked in.

This is probably more to do with AA than MIA, and again probably more to do with the attitudes of local MIA staff, but still in my books puts down MIA as a place to be avoided if possible.

Paul

Hey we are getting all worked up and letting loads of steam off. Larnica in Cyprus is also a complete dump. Dublin is not much better to be honest with all the "improvements" being made. You also need to be a mountain goat when you arrive in Dublin before getting to the Luggage area

Delhi (all terminals) and Bangalore are my current worst airports worldwide (and I've seen a few). Both are grotty, minimal shopping, awful waiting areas, terribly overcrowded.

Shanghai Pudong is surprisingly bad considering how new it is. The business lounges are very dowdy.

It annoys me when people knock Heathrow. Considering the traffic it takes, Heathrow is one of the most successful airports I use. It's really not all that bad.

Most other large and established airports aren't all that bad. I use EWR, JFK and IAD a fair bit. IAD is by far the worst but is still ahead of many other places. SFO, I like. LAX, I can leave and will avoid whenever possible.

As for best airports, Hong Kong and Singapore are way, way ahead of the crowd, especially Changi. Both are wonderfully wasy to navigate, never seem crowded and have great shopping and nice lounges.
Incheon is nice and not far behind.

Chris

vegas is not too bad though

Shanghai Pudong in on this converstation??? .

Thought it would pass with flying colours given the standards being set across the rest of Asia currently??? [y]

Anyone else visited recently???

Chris
I am glad somebody agrees with me regarding Shanghai.I also agree with you regarding Heathrow and I feel its improving all the time considering the number of peolple that travel through it.

I heard Karachi is not the best

Originally posted by tallprawn
Bangkok will be compariable with KUL/SIN/HKG once the new site is open...... On the whole, S.E Asia is giving the world a good spanking bar a few exceptions dotted around.

Think Saigon must be one of the exceptions - there are not many airports where non-passengers are excluded from the terminal.

Airside you have a choice of one place to eat and a long line of government operated tourist booths.

Has improved in recent years - at least they have air-bridge gates now (well 4 of them).
Having said that even SGN has ambitious plans for a new airport... eventually.

Phil

Originally posted by tallprawn
Shanghai Pudong in on this converstaion??? .

Thought it would pass with flying colours given the standards being set across the rest of Asia currently??? [y]

Anyone else visited recently???

Well the building itself is great IMHO. It is also pretty sensibly laid out so that you tend to walk in a straight line from arriving at the airport to when you get into the aircraft/taxi (depending on if you are arriving and leaving). And it is good and clean. SARs checking made the departures hall a bit of a mess, but that has all gone now. It also used to be the case that you had to go to a silly little window and fight your way through a massed scrum to pay 90RMB for departure tax. But that has also gone now.

Where it lets itself down is in the same areas as almost any other thing in mainland China: There are no organised queuing systems, the lounges are not exactly endearing, and the shops and restaurants leave a lot to be desired. Like many things in communist China , it is functional and the building is aimed to impress, but the detail is lacking.

Sailor, as ever Thanks for your insight......[y]

Rob
I was in Shanghai 12 months ago and its a huge airport but miles from Shanghai and itsz only average- basic if anything - to be honest I would hate to get delayed there