Best and Worst Airports

I'm surprised Newark was deemed worthy of 20th out of 20. I'd rank it lower. But to be fair, I've only been there once, but it was as that first link described.

THIS article has already passed through the Forum's wringer -

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/transportation/best-worst-us-airports

Thanks for the link, Mike. I hate Newart airport and wholeheartedly concur with this assessment.

My hometown airport, Sacramento International, has bragging rights as the best medium sized airport in the country.

Maybe this is why I don't find Parisians all that rude. I am just used to it since Newark is my home airport!!!

Worst airports in the USA

1. JFK
2. Chicago O'Hare
3. Newark

Best in USA
1. Atlanta is great for transferring to another flight, but some of the people that work in the restaurants, etc. could do better.
2. JAX is great, but it is a medium sized airport.

Overseas,
Frankfurt and Zurich are good.
Also, many don't like CDG, but we have never had a bad experience there.

Amsterdam Schiphol is OK, but hasn't been kind to us in the last year.

I live closer to Philadelphia International Airport than Newark Liberty International Airport, but I prefer Newark. Philly is a confusing disaster. I've found Newark much easier to navigate.

Pre-pandemic, we flew LHR into Stewart Airport--an hour north of NYC. Took a rental car into LaGuardia. The most embarrassing excuse of an airport I've ever seen was LaGuardia, and that part of NYC is downright nasty.

My wife has had terrible luck connecting through JFK.

Coming out of the South, before we can go to Heaven we've got to transfer through Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta. We've had good luck transferring there over the years. And we're familiar with the airport since we lived in Atlanta 10 years.

We've recently been going through Boston making connections however the return flights have required staying in a local hotel overnight. Boston's okay.

On the other end, we try to avoid Paris DeGaulle Airport. It brings back memories of long lines and hot concourses on warm days. And my wife still is uneasy with CDG as she one time unknowingly broke security, and they cleared out the entire wing of the airport, two loaded airliners and everyone's luggage. Took 3 hours to get the airport back up and running.

I'm still reading that Heathrow is asking some airlines to cancel some flights as they just cannot handle the current levels of airline traffic. That doesn't sound too good.

David, you may wish to drive to Nashville and fly directly to London Heathrow on British Airways. You could continue on to many destinations in Europe from Heathrow of course. I prefer that to having to change planes at one of the New York airports. I used to live in NYC and dreaded using the airports there.

In Europe I like Gatwick the best since it is a direct connection to my B&B in Kings Cross, taking the Thames Link, good facilities too.

Next I would say Heathrow as to service, facilities, organisation, etc., etc. FRA is all right. I have absolutely no problems with CDG, getting around, etc. If I'm flying to France from SFO, better non-stop to CDG than connecting from somewhere else in the US or Europe.

Best domestic airport I find are OAK and SeaTac. LAX is all right, just put up with any unpleasantness. I don't care for SFO either, likewise just put up rudeness, greater chance encountering that than in OAK , or any other sort of unpleasantness.

Never was at Newark, best to avoid such places.

I appreciate reading your responses. My apologies for a similar thread already existing.

Agree that SEATAC is a good airport for efficiency and service. Washington-Dulles is the airport we most frequently visit, and it's efficient, imo. The one thing about CDG Paris is, from my experiences, a rather uncomfortably hot place in the summer.

As for Newark, I realize New Jersey has a reputation for rudeness that may or may not be deserved. I've never lived there but have a neighbor who did, and he is now happy in his retirement in rural western Virginia. Perhaps the area is so congested that people are grumpy? The weather is lousy for much of the year? I don't know.

For me there is a question of the human condition as it relates to courtesy, manners, and service, which imo has been declining for years. That's a bigger question.

Not sure when you last flew out of SEA, but it has not been efficient for quite some time. I fly weekly out of there and have come to pretty much hate it. The security lines are such hit or miss, and I have Global. Even the checkpoint 1 with is TSA pre only, can be a mess. It took us 40 minutes just to get through that a couple weeks ago. The Uber area is a huge mess here as well, so much so that I won't even think about doing that again.

I very much appreciate PDX and OAK. They are both so easy. OAK is the other airport I have been flying home from every week for the last 3+ months and it has been easy every time. The Uber situation there is fantastic too.

mikliz, only twice at SEA. I guess I was lucky.

BigMike--SEA used to be much better, but the last couple of years it has not been all that pleasant. I used to enjoy it;)

Worst of our last trip, hands down Philadelphia, the mean spirited TSA people were not pleasant.

Salt Lake City is great for going south to Burbank or to Amsterdam

Have always liked Amsterdam but these last few years it sounds like changes are needed.

Pre-pandemic, we flew LHR into Stewart Airport--an hour north of NYC. Took a rental car into LaGuardia. The most embarrassing excuse of an airport I've ever seen was LaGuardia,

LaGuardia was demolished and rebuilt from scratch. It’s quite a gem now.