Favorite and least favorite airports to connect in

Least favorite is JFK because of poor directional signs, inefficient shuttles for changing terminals, and surly attitude of many of the airport personnel. AMS is favorite because it is a fairly easy straight forward airport to navigate. Only problem (and it may have changed) is security is done at the gate and once at the gate one cannot go to the ladies' /men's room. Somebody please let me know if this has changed. Although ATL is our home airport, it is also very easy to navigate despite being spread out.

Amsterdam is good. And you are correct CDG is a nightmare.

As a new traveler, I connected several times in AMS and found it pretty easy altho I've not been thru there in 2 years. Coming from N. Idaho I have to fly to SLC or SEA to begin with. SLC now has non-stop service to LHR, CDG and AMS so those are my favored routes.

Least favorite:
In Europe - LHR, CDG, and to a lesser extent FRA - because they are all huge and often crowded.
In USA - LAX, EWR, ATL, JFK, LGA - actually, pretty much almost any US airport, other than SFO (I'm in SEA so I do NOT want to connect in any US airport to the east)

Most favorite:
In USA - SFO is pretty good
In Asia - too many to choose from. Tokyo (both HND and NRT), Hong Kong, Singapore - all very good (SIN is perhaps the best)
Avoid Jakarta if you can (alas, hard to avoid to most destinations in Indonesia other than Bali).

I've had no issues connecting through either AMS or CDG. I try to avoid JFK.

I like Dublin, and as a bonus you go through US customs there. I avoid LHR. Can't avoid JFK but will not go out of LaGuardia.

Chucky D of course

I too would love to say my favorite is AMS if not for the gate security. Just when you buy a bottle of water for the next plane ride, you have to trash it because you can't take it through gate security. Grr! I haven't flown through there since 2009...please someone tell me that all has changed. Perhaps I should ask this very question on the Holland board.

Austrian is starting direct service from VIE to LAX in April 2017. There are also direct flight to Miami, Chicago, JFK, Dulles and Newark. VIE is a new, compact airport where lines are short and transfers are easy.

I like AMS, will pay extra to avoid JFK. CDG has a caviar bar, which helps.

My "home" airport, DTW, is pretty straightforward.

Leat favorite in US

Chicago O'hare
JFK

Favorite US

Atlanta
Charlotte

Europe least favorite

Our last connect at Amsterdam was not good, but I expect the construction there won't last forever.

Charles De Gaule has never been a problem for us, but if you have to change terminals, it can be difficult.

Favorite
Frankfurt

US favorite DTW..easy to navigate
US least favorite PHL...the bus transfer is horrific.
Europe: AMS and BCN my favorites, again easy to navigate, good facilities. I didn't have any problems with CDG but I researched it beforehand. I was RE-routed unexpectedly through LHR this past summer on my way to Spain but I didn't find it a bad experience.

I fly out of SFO and try to avoid connecting in the US.

Favorite European connection is Frankfurt, have yet to encounter delays or long lines and feel it's an efficient, well-run airport. Bonus is the Pocket Shop bookstore where I can get Europeans editions of books in paperback long before they're out in the US.

Least favorite is CDG--my first trip out of the US had me connecting there and it was a nightmare of epic proportions: flight arrived late so less time to connect, entered the hall and it was teeming with people all just as confused and stressed as I and the cacophony of foreign languages just about sent me over the edge. No discernable lines, wall-to-wall people, no idea where to go or what to do and the clock was ticking. I somehow managed to grab an employee and they magically whisked me into the line for security and I was told to hurry as my plane was waiting so I took off running in my socks to catch the plane. I've flown in and out of CDG and those experiences were fine, just not an airport I will connect through willingly without a 4 hour window.

Going to Europe from SFO I fly direct with three main destinations unless some real deal shows up. So, I fly direct to London LHR or Frankfurt, or Paris CDG. I connected once in LHR to CDG, it was close, never in FRA or Paris. The return flight isn't as important on whether it's direct or not. A woman I know flies SFO to Paris, has had to connect at CDG to her destination in France. She has done this a few times, and when I tell her the problems/stress involved connecting at CDG, she totally disagrees and thinks it is easy. Maybe being totally fluent in French helps. I like CDG, am used to it but still find Heathrow easier.

In the USA connecting in LAX or Houston, Las Vagas, etc is rather easy, no real problems. Seattle is one of my favourite domestic airports, next to LAX.

I have connected in Heathrow once, and whilst I did not love the experience, I have to admit that the process which included changing terminals all went smoothly.

I have connected in Hong Kong more than once, and I do remember one occasion when I was waiting there because my flight back to Australia was delayed for 2 hours. They gave all the passengers free bottles of water. Only a small thing but it was good. Because of the late hour, there were plenty of seats. Plus they have free internet PCs. So the 2 hours passed reasonably pleasantly.

Least favorite - Reykjavik - horrid lines, nowhere to sit, one shop for a whole terminal in which to get water/food/anything.

Favorite - Copenhagen by a mile, Dublin for Guinness/tea/US customs

JFK -Least favorite (per a few years ago and I have avoided since). I felt like it was a very third world airport in terms of maintenance/repairs. Tourists "treated" to surly staff wishing they were elsewhere and outrageous prices for drinks.
Schiphol - Most favorite. While large, it always seems manageable, full services, staff seem to enjoy their work and being amongst tourists.

My favorite is Reykjavik, connecting on Icelandair is pleasant, so easy and less stressful than any US airport.

MY FAVORITES:

My favorite is MUC (Munich). It's the most efficient in Europe in my experience and the experience of others, since it tops all European airport ratings.
I have used MUC only with Lufthansa and its partners (United, etc.) and it that case everything happens in the same terminal, so changing gates is easy.

Fraport (FRA), as the Frankfurt airport is known, used to require a long walk from the US flights to the EU flights. But now it is very easy, since they devised the clever concept of having gate boarding on separate floors for EU or Intercontinental flights. The intercontinental flights (at least with Lufthansa) are at the Z gates on the 2nd Floor, while the other gates for Europe are at the same place but on the 1st floor. Therefore to change gates from a US flight from/to a EU flight all you have to do is take the escalator up (to go to the US) or down (to go from the US to EU flight). No long walks anymore since the terminal gates are the same (but the gate boarding to the jet bridge is upstairs or downstairs depending on where you are going). The passport control is upstairs as you transfer from downstairs to upstairs (or vice versa).

Have flown through AMS for many years, but it was easy.

ZRH (Zurich) and Copenhagen (CPH) are very easy also.

MY LEAST FAVORITES:

CDG, LHR, FCO.

@Roberto da Firenze... Thanks for your take on Munich...I typically shy away from Lufthansa as they have a very low carry-on weight restriction, but as I am now traveling with a small child we may not carry-on all of our luggage anymore, so this might be an option to try. Coming from our home airport of FAT or even SFO we get a lot of United/Lufthansa options. Thanks!

We haven't been to that many (Heathrow, CDG, Rome & Venice) through Detroit, Windsor & Toronto. My favorite was Venice because it was so small & easy, plus the cappucino was to die for. Windsor was super easy too because its tiny. Least favorite, even though its in my favorite city, CDG. That place is HUGE and its usually a bit crazy! One plus is they have a Lauderee so you can get your macaron fix.

Hi Jessica, I don't really have any suggestions that you haven't already received, (I like AMS and also don't mind LHR, even though I know I'm probably in the minority on that one) but I wanted to commiserate because I also have to connect from Central California to somewhere (LAX, SFO, DFW, etc.) in order to get anywhere overseas. It always takes me at least one and many times 2 connections to even get to Europe, which is frustrating because the more connections the more chances that something will go wrong and you'll miss a flight. Last spring it took me 4 flights to get home from Europe, which made for a very long travel day. My favorite airport for connections in the US is DFW though. I used to live near there so it's familiar to me and therefore easy to navigate with jetlag.

Good luck with your trip planning. I hope you are able to find some connections that are convenient. I understand the struggle. It's always worth it in the end though when you're off exploring someplace new.

From the west coast, I generally decide based on time of the year. I'll go north in the summer and south in the winter to give me the least chance of weather interuptions (snowstorms up north and heavy thunderstorms south). I always avoid JFK and O'Hare, so maybe Dallas in the winter and Minneapolis in the summer. Denver isn't my favorite but I'd go there before JFK or O'Hare.

AMS is fairly easy to navigate and there are lots of signs in English and most folks are English speakers.
I recently changed planes at Gatwick and would happily do so again. While informational signs were cleverly hidden behind groups of equally confused passengers, I had 2+ hours between flights to figure things out. I even had time for tea and a scone at one of the cafes.
I actually arranged this last trip to avoid CDG entirely by starting in Amsterdam!
But for you fellow West Coast travelers -- Norwegian Air uses Orly, which has to be better ...

Domestically, Newark is my least favorite and do everything to avoid it.

Europe: My favorite airport is LHR, mainly because I fly on BA international and European flights. I never have to leave Terminal 5. Unless I stay overnight at Sofitel-Heathrow between connections...and that is barely leaving the terminal.

I usually fly to Europe from Seattle. There are 4 cities in Europe (not counting Reykjavik) which have direct flights from Seattle:
Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Paris. Schiphol is the best for connection, Frankfurt fair and Heathrow and CDG (CDG being the worst)
suck.
Jessica, Amsterdam is now much better. No more security at the gates. I just flew back from Prague and went through security only in Prague. No more security check again in Amsterdam. I wish I knew it. I wanted to buy Becher liquor (Becherovka) in duty free in Prague but thought they would confiscate it at the security screening in Amsterdam.

Ilja--Thank you for confirming no more gate security at AMS, woohoo!!! We just booked one of those killer deals that came up last week. I did what I said I would never do...booked a connection through CDG for our outgoing flight. But the fare was too good to pass up, so we are just going to take it all with a grain of salt. I already have a travel insurance policy started haha. The return flight is through AMS and I am thrilled to hear no more gate security check, happy dance!!!

--Jessica

Jessica,

If the discussion is limited to Europe......

Airports I try to avoid for connecting flights if possible....

• CDG - If a change of terminals is necessary, it can be a nuisance. If Paris is my end destination, I don't have any problem arriving there.

Airports I prefer for connecting flights.....

• FRA - while it's a very large airport, everything seems to be well organized and quite logical. I've made connections there with as little as one hour between arrival of one flight and departure of the next. This is the airport I tend to use most frequently for connections.
• AMS - I've found it generally easy but it's a large single terminal airport so lots of walking may be necessary. As I recall, they used to have security right at the departure gates which was a bit different.
• LHR - I used to try and avoid it, but the last few times I've been through there it seems to be working much better. I'll connect elsewhere if possible, but will use LHR if necessary.

I love Paris but I hate CDG. I swear, next trip I'm going to see if I can go through Orly

I'll do just about anything to avoid LHR. Gatwick is so much easier to navigate if going to or connecting through London.

My home airport is Seattle and I have never had any difficulties there, so I am grateful for that.

I try not to connect thru LAX, JFK, LGA or whatever they are calling Newark these days.