New York JFK Airport Passenger Reviews and Airport Customer opinions

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Arrived via AMS 11/07/12, in short what a dump. You have to feel sorry for the poor souls who work their as most of the locals are just about the rudest people ever. If they stopped charging bag fees and enforced the size policy for carry on bags the security queues would disappear but then its comical to watch them trying to get an extra large carry on into a small overhead bin.

When my husband and I arrived at JFK we were amazed at the short immigration queues (managed by a rude woman who had power issues) and we exited the airport in 30 minutes. On our return however the security queues were extremely long and the staff surly at best. My gripe was they expect you to take off your shoes and do not provide anything for you to wear. When I questioned this I was told why should we provide shoes? You know you are coming to the airport you should wear socks! It was 96 degrees outside, socks were the last thought and normally airports in Europe supply them. Once again airport staff seem to be untouchable in attitude and service, and we are at their mercy in order to be processed to travel. It seems to be that rudeness is a qualification for the job.

Arriving from AMS in T4 with KLM. I had to wait for an hour for the immigration. Friendly immigration officers compared to other US airports but you have to wait! I rented a car! CDG looks like a breeze compared to JFK. With JFK in a sweltering 100F heat one has to take the sky train to go the main rental station - yes, there is no rental station at each terminal. It took me 2hrs to process all that. I thought that CDG was the at the bottom, JFK apparently is giving the Paris a close contest!

JFK, New York City - Charles de Gaulle, Paris, France w/ Layover in Geneva. JFK still has the problem of not having enough food choices and Wi-Fi access beyond the security checkpoint. It makes it really hard to get anything done in the airport while you are waiting for your boarding time. The food still is very limited and much more expensive by comparison to other airports I have been to recently. The good qualities are comfortable seats with plugs nearby to keep your computer charged and much better restrooms since the last time I was there. Getting through security was much easier this time with much quicker progress from having more security lines.

I can only comment on Terminal 4. I arrived for my flight to Brazil on a weekday morning thinking I'd be queuing for hours. It turns out the line was not very long for check-in and it was made even quicker with courteous staff members directing everyone where to go. There is a fair amount of shopping before security, which is nice. Security checkpoint lines were not very long and the TSA officers were actually friendly and helpful! Once past security, Terminal 4 in the gate area is very nice, clean, and well-kept. Coming back on my return flight from Brazil was an entirely different story. After a 10 hour flight, we arrived in the customs hall, only to be greeted by screaming and unhelpful customs personnel who didn't seem to care how they treated people. They screamed angry directions, in English, to mostly Portuguese speaking Brazilians, expecting them to understand. Well, most of them didn't and the customs officials thought that if they screamed louder, they would somehow understand. I was embarrassed that this was the first experience foreigners got when entering the USA.

We arrived at JFK after our transatlantic flight and were ushered into a narrow, hot hallway where we waited for a long time before being told to wait to go through passport control. What a terrible introduction to the USA for foreign visitors! Then, we picked up our luggage and waited in a mob of people pushing to get through the customs check. Then, the real trial began! We waited in an interminably long line to go through the TSA check to re-board our flight to ATL. The line hardly moved because there were hundreds of people and just one line! Finally, when several people started expressing fear that we would miss our connecting flight, someone called the tower and another line was opened. The location was insufficiently staffed for the number of people trying to go through. Our treatment due to the crowding was unconscionable. As we stood in line, we were able to see several TSA agents chatting while we waited to go through the one line. This seems like a very inefficient use of personnel. I feel that such conditions decrease the effectiveness of the TSA workers. Thus, it was a very uncomfortable, anxiety producing, and unsafe situation. I was told that this is common at JFK in the summer. Please correct this.

After arriving at JFK airport on a flight from Rome, my wife and I - along with every person arriving at the terminal - were greeted by screaming CBP representatives herding U.S. passport holders to one side and legions of international passport holders to another side. As we passed by hundreds of the latter being shoved to one side in a barely air-conditioned terminal, we winced upon finding an equally mammoth group of international travelers waiting for customs clearance around the corner. No more than 50% of the agent stalls were active, as if the influx of travelers into the JFK facility was somehow unexpected! The outright rudeness combined with an obviously flawed system made us embarrassed to be Americans. Several other people in our U.S. line expressed the same sad sentiment. At the very least, one would think that CBP could muster some employees with a sliver of civility who might greet arriving passengers in a friendly and apologetic manner especially considering the wait ahead. This situation was so utterly and completely inexcusable that even now I regret not saying something to the agents themselves at the time.

Arrived on Aeroflot from Moscow to JFK Terminal 1, and the immigration lines for US Citizens, and Non US Citizens was mind blowing. It took 1.5 hrs as a US Citizen to clear customs as Terminal 1 is not equipped to handle immigration. JFK airport officials should require most international carriers on arrival to JFK to use Terminal 4 for clearing customs or expand terminal 1 to handle immigration.

Just come back from New York, JFK. As all reviews say, I've never ever dealt with such rude staff, we queued for nearly 3 hrs to get to passport control, 2 flights arrived and 2 desks were open. They shout at people like we are a bunch of naughty school kids, these people need to be taught manners.

Arrived at Terminal 7 left the jetway and joined immigration queue straight away. Took 3 hours to clear immigration, along with some very confusing announcements made over the tannoy, little done by airport staff or border staff to expedite queuing time. Terminal was overly hot. Not a great welcome! The only great thing about this was that we didn't have to wait for our baggage to arrive - staff were removing it from the carousel to make way for the next flight. On departure the terminal was more presentable however, security closed a security lane despite a queue out of the queuing area, arrived at desk to be told that the scanner wasn't working and that I'd have to get a new boarding pass, although I skipped the 45min queue when I re- entered security. Terminal/airport nothing to write home about.

Arrival at JFK from YVR - very confusing! Terminal facilities: dirty and smelly toilets, inadequate seating areas and chairs, no free WIFI, very limited food options. Terminal decor was very run down and deteriorated. Rude and unfriendly staff. Only 1 or 2 US Customs agents to clear 200+ arriving international passengers. Departing JFK Airport - due to a litany of errors by our tour company, we were dropped off 7 hours before our flight departure time. Again, the terminals have very limited eating options and shopping prior to security check. The exception to this is Terminal 4, which had some shopping, but it was also undergoing construction and was a complete eyesore. Food/drink prices were exorbitantly expensive. Queues at Terminal 7, to go through the TSA security screening, were the longest I've ever seen-they span the entire length of the terminal! If/when you come to JFK, prepare to have your trip ruined, by this miserable excuse of an airport, courtesy of the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey.

I flew into terminal 4 from Amsterdam. Normally I fly into Newark. I didn't expect to get into such a disorganised mess. The queues to get through customs are awfully long and attendants behave rudely. They have a system where you queue up into 3 areas, they start with filling up one queue and when this one is full they fill up the other two. You have to wait in the queue for an attendant to direct you to one of the 30 some desks where you have to queue up again for the customs officer to see you. This process is so disorganized that you see people in one of the other queues that arrived over an hour later getting served before you. What a poor display of American hospitality.

I fly frequently to the USA and on each and every occasion I have found the "greeting" rude, arrogant, ignorant and surly. In all the years I have been travelling to the US, I have only encountered 1 civil immigration officer. Queues are awful, the staff and officials awful, what more is there to say? The signs say "welcome to America". The powers that be should be ashamed of the first impression given to visitors to a great country.

JFK can be a breeze at off peak hours. We arrived 2.5 hours early for DL 1 to LHR because of the horror stories here, however, there was no queue at security at 8.30 pm (Delta terminal 3). On the return at 4 pm, no line at immigration or customs, and, even though only one flight arrived in the hour, they had a reasonable 10-12 desks open for 200 people, which probably was a max wait of 15 minutes for people at the very back of the plane. Luggage took less than 5 minutes, the only problem was a 20 minute wait in the cab line with only 1 cab showing up during that time. Overall, a fine experience, and, would use JFK again for off peak flights. Probably is a nightmare during peak times though.

A pretty miserable experience once through security. Do any shopping you might want in NYC or before security when the choice is much greater. We didn't know this and JFK staff didn't not tell us when we asked so we spent a very boring couple of hours outside gate 5.

JFK on the evening of 26 March at security on my way home to the UK. I was quietly packing my stuff into the plastic boxes to put on the security roller when one charming security gal yanked my holdall from the plastic box, threw it down on the roller then yelled loudly and aggressively at me 'Take it out, it don't fit'. Pure uneducated ignorance. What an impression to have tourists leave USA with.

Arrived at JFK to take a Delta flight to Seattle and discovered that we had to take a shuttle bus from one terminal to another. Delta required that our ID be checked before riding the bus, a bus that runs only every 15 minutes with one person checking ID's. The ride was stop and start, bumpy and unpleasant. The entire experience starting with the one TSA line took over an hour to get from the terminal we were told to be at to the terminal that the plane actually flew from.

A disgusting experience from check-in to boarding, queued for 2 hours to check-in, 1 hour to get through security which was absolute chaos, people were missing flights through no fault of their own! Never have I seen such behaviour by airport staff, they are aggressive and extremely rude - this needs to be addressed or you will have no one wanting to visit NYC.

I've flown into and out of JFK a number of times and it has always been, with one exception, an entirely unpleasant experience. I generally fly Delta and terminal 3 is a joke. I've seen TSA agents literally screaming at elderly passengers to hurry up through the screening process. The horrible narrow corridors and long lines as you transit from an arriving international flight to a domestic flight definitely make you feel like cattle. This week I queued for nearly an hour to get through security. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth every single time. In contrast to my experiences in T3 I flew out of the JetBlue terminal for the first time recently and it was a night and day difference.

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