Here is a ranking of the best and worst of major airports I have traveled through. I would include all the airports I have been to, but there are so many average airports (example Denver vs. Houston or Milan vs. Athens) that are too indistinguishable to grade. As a result, I just listed the top and bottom five. It’s more of a structured rant than a review, but I hope these insights entertain fellow travelers.
Five Best:
1. Singapore- Changi Airport and Hong Kong blow away all other airports for the top spot. They have five star restaurants, a swimming pool, and a built in hotel. Tourists often find the Singapore airport a unique experience in itself. Transportation to the airport is easy as well with a direct train into downtown. The destination selection is also strong with cheap direct flights all across Asia ranging from Dubai to Tokyo and everywhere in between. Reasonable direct flights to London, Paris, and Australia are also available. Direct flights to the US (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and Houston), but they are often in business class only planes.
2. Hong Kong- Other than Singapore, Hong Kong is the most modern and offers the most amenities of any airport. It has full size sit down restaurants of all cuisines along with the typical food court fare. Hong Kong Airport also has a full size mall and is the only one I know of to have a full size arcade. The arcade has bowling, virtual golf, the newest Time Crisis, and much more. Getting there is also easy as downtown of Hong Kong island is a quick 20 minute direct train from the airport. Hong Kong’s flight range is better than Singapore’s for US travel with cheap direct flights to LA, New York, and Chicago.
3. Orange County- I may be biased because its my hometown airport, but John Wayne is America’s best domestic airport. The road design makes it easy to drop people and a get picked up, and the gates are lined up in straight forward way that does not require a series of trams or mazy hallways. The security line is quick, short, and for US standards not intrusive (no full body scan or pat downs). They recently opened Javi’s which is a mini airport version of Javier’s (one of the best Mexican places in California). The only problems I have had is delayed luggage about 5% of the time I come home. It also less than ten minutes from anywhere in Newport Beach or Irvine which makes it extremely convenient for visitors or residents who need to go anywhere in North America.
4. Marseilles- Marseilles tops Europe’s airport. It is modern, laid-back, and lacks traffic hassles for dropping off and picking up passengers. The check in process is the quickest and the most efficient of any airport I have visited and it has direct flights to anywhere in Western Europe.
5. San Francisco- San Francisco’s food court is better than the vast majority of US airports. It has direct train access to anywhere in the SF Bay Area and is also convenient by car (especially compared to LAX and PHL). San Francisco provides great flight options to anywhere in North America and Asia.
Five Worst:
1. Frankfurt- Anti-smoking laws may have improved the experience (being in a airport surrounded by smokers was unbearable), but Frankfort still holds its spot as the world’s worst airport. Oftentimes two gates have the same name and color code at two different parts of the airport, the food is bland and expensive, and although the modern, the design of the airport is drab. Due to the confusing labeling, it easy to get lost in Frankfurt.
2. Phuket- Phuket provided the worst airport experience I have had in Asia and any developing country. When leaving the airport, there is no instruction leading to where to find legally sanction cabs, and the staff does nothing to keep away or warn tourists about taxi touts. As a result, I ended up getting hustled by a fake cab upon my arrival. Departing is not much better. Check in lines (whether you print your boarding pass online or not) are some of the longest in the world and last about an average of 45 minutes. The airport is also run down and has suspect air conditioning.
3. Denpasar- DPS provides one of the biggest pre-boarding hassles of any airport. There are two sets of customs lines and three security checks (one when depositing baggage, one before entering gates, and one at gates). You also have to pay a $15 tax just to get into the gates. As late as 9:00 AM none of the restaurants or shops (which looked like they came out of a cheap third world bazaar) were not even open. The Bali Airport is going through intense remodeling so the new updates may kick this place off the worst list in the future.
4. Atlanta- According to airport experts, Altanta is surprisingly rated among the best airports in America. Based on my spot for Hartfield Jackson these rankings, I disagree on this assertion. Atlanta has great options for direct flights, but their connection placement is poor. It is quite often when I have landed in Atlanta for a layover (5+ times now), my layover time is less than twenty minutes and the placement of the connecting flight is on the opposite side of the airport. This has led to a lot of near missed connections. Long tunnels and an outstreched layout makes walking access across the airport burdensome The food selection is not that great either (the best thing I ate there was Pizza Hut).
5. Omaha- The airport’s best restaurant Godfather’s pizza; enough said. The architecture was poor, the scope of direct flights is limited for a city of its size (restricted to Midwest), and the gates were rather cramped.
