“Easiest” US or EU airport to fly thourgh

I've transferred through Atlanta 6 times in the past year and found it very easy and user-friendly. The Plane Train is so fast and convenient.

As our RS tour guide Stacey would always say “Dependo!” We’ve had to run in SFO, Atlanta, Seattle, Denver and Frankfurt to catch planes. We’ve also had easy transfers in all including Newark. So “dependo.”

Sometimes it is situational (e.g., weather, strikes). Prior to the pandemic, I would have said that Amsterdam, Zurich, and Munich have all been airports that I have found to be good for transfers. I haven’t taken a connecting flight recently.

UPDATED: Keflavik Airport outside Reykjavik is easy because they are set up and experienced with connections.

I'm not sure that this is really a useful question to ask. When systems fail (bad weather, ATC, airline staffing, whatever) any airport can become a hellish experience. That said, maybe a better question is which airports to try to avoid.

Most of us have our own list (mine is: JFK, BOS, PHL, CLT, and yeah EWR).

Coming from the US west coast, I try hard not to connect through ANY airport in the eastern USA on the outbound flights to Europe. There are just too many things that can and do go wrong on a regular basis, and when they do, it often triggers a cascade of failures. Connecting from the US west coast at an east coast airport usually means a late-in-the-day connection, and the cascading system collapses typically get worse later in the day; if you must connect in the east, maybe consider a redeye departure from the west coast the night before, to get ahead of the spreading problems (something I hate, as it's a miserable way to start a trip, with no sleep in a packed, old, narrow-body jet, even before I cross an ocean). I try hard to get a flight from a west coast hub (or at worst, from a midwest hub), to Europe, and then connect to my final destination there. If you can skip the domestic connection entirely, and connect in Europe, you have many more good options that can still get you to your destination on the same day. If your connection is somewhere in North America, there's a chance you will lose a day if something goes sideways.

Frank--I think you mean Keflavik. The Reykjavik airport is just a domestic one.

I try to avoid CDG at. any cost, unless that is my destination. Going through there last year just reinforced my dislike for it.

Keflavik, as mentioned, is super easy.

Atlanta is easy for connections, so I usually try for that.

Atlanta is a great airport to fly through.

All the terminals are within the security and a fast subway connects each terminal.

JFK is frequently a problem with delays and its terminals while connected to a train, each has it's own security to go through.
Chicago O'Hare was a terrible airport to go through. Like JFK we had to go through security in transferring to another flight and the security wait was very long.

Boston Logan is better than JFK and O'Hare, but a smaller airport with fewer choices.

We have also been through Miami, Charlotte and Newark, but those would be second choices to Atlanta.

In Europe, we usually fly through Amsterdam Schipol or CDG Paris, which are our preferences in Europe. Avoid Madrid and Rome if possible. Frankfurt is not so bad.

I'm with David in that flying from Seattle I try NOT to connect thru an airport on the East Coast. I try to go Seattle to Amsterdam/Paris/London and then go on from there. When I flew to Aberdeen, Scotland in August, I went via Amsterdam with worked out very well.

When I was coming home from Italy last Fall I routed thru Atlanta because at that time there was a direct flight from ATL to Spokane. Of course, 20 seconds after I booked that flight was cancelled so wound up coming ATL/MSP/GEG. It was a pretty long day and I'd not do that again...I'd fly somewhere in Italy to a European hub, possibly the day before and then directly to Seattle from there.

I've only transited thru CDG one time and it worked out fine. I'd allowed myself more than 3 hours for the transit so was not scrambling to get to a gate. I'd do that again if I could allow enough time. When I transited thru Amsterdam in August I was going to the UK so did not have to go thru passport control. That was a piece of cake. Coming back home the gate where the shuttle bus from the KLM Cityhopper plane dropped me was right next to the departure gate for Seattle. I'd go in that way again when going to Scotland rather than going via Heathrow.

I guess it also depends on what your airline of choice is...I choose Delta but I know others have their preferences.

I love ATL and hate JFK. And if you have a long layover, ATL has better food options.

Thank you so much for all the great responses! I, like at least of couple of you, fly out from Seattle. We have always done our connections in Heathrow and CDG and overall they have been mostly good. The first time we had a connection in the US it was on our way home through Newark and it was just one problem after another and probably the most nerve wracking as far as wondering if we would ever make it back home. I am glad to know that Atlanta looks to be a good one if we do need to connect in the US on the way home. We traveled last summer, like I think everyone else did, and it was anything but smooth - but I know so many of the issues were related to staffing after/during covid.

Catherine, The other thing to consider is if you're stuck somewhere for an overnight stay or gasp, longer, would you rather be stuck in Europe or the US? I would always rather be stuck in FRA or AMS or somewhere in Europe! There are also more onward bound flights, you will likely get where you're going sooner, & worst comes to worse you could hop a train. (PS, I traveled last summer, May from ARN to SFO, August from SFO to ARN, both via CPH which is a smaller airport, so perhaps that helped, but no delays & no lost luggage.)

It's all about convenient itineraries, and the weather. And for those of us not on the East coast, what airlines you have to fly. No Chicago in the winter; no Atlanta in the summer. My favorite is Minneapolis (Delta) and Dulles (United) depending on the schedule. But we also like Toronto (Air Canada), because it's closer to Europe, and because you can go through US immigration and customs there on the way back.

You might have missed recent industry polls where Newark was voted worst airport in the US.