NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT   Passenger Reviews and Customer opinions

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  11 January 2010 by F Dellera   (Italy)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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Terminal 7, it's extremely complex getting to the airport using public transportation. Switching 3 subway lines, getting to Jamaica station, then the airtrain station, changing platforms and wait, there's more, getting to the Terminal with dozens of other passengers going the same way, and once you get through security check forget about going back to another terminal in case your lounge is located there, since everything is so crowded. Staff was good, but internal facilities were nowhere close to the ones expected from the cultural and financial capital of the USA.

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  13 December 2009 : by Tom Grant   (USA)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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As the self-proclaimed "Gateway to America" this airport is an embarassment. I can't even begin to imagine what our foreign visitors think when they get off the plane and encounter the filthy restrooms in every terminal save Terminal 7. The Port Authority has still not learned how to operate the Air Train efficiently. The "Taxi" hustlers in Terminals 4 and 8 are also atrocious.

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  30 November 2009 : by Julie White   (UK)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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I have just returned from a short break to New York with my disabled mother, we had extremely bad experiences at Terminal 4, on arrivals and departures, there were four disabled passengers on our flight, and assistance had been arranged by out tour operator, however, the necessary equipment needed to transport wheelchairs from and to the planes were not there, and so were kept on the plane (on arrival) and even asked why my mother couldn't walk up the steps to plane and so was taken back to terminal to wait for equipment to be found and put in place. This took 2 hours+, and so resulted in our flight being delayed by 2.5 hrs. the result of which some very unhappy passengers. The disabled passengers were made to feel humiliated and very third rate. I experienced some very miserable, extremely rude, ignorant, unhelpful officials at this airport. and as others have said the immigration process and the security checks are awful, no thought is given to those who actually find it difficult and painful to remove shoes, coats etc, and especially when being hurried and spoken to rudely. Disabled passengers beware - this airport is not disabled friendly.

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  12 November 2009 : by P Carson   (USA)

Customer Rating :  5/5

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Flew to JFK from DCA for a meeting at Terminal 8 Admirals Club. Good experience all around. Terminal 8 was magnificent in scale and services provided were excellent. Interestingly, even the journey from the remote concourse was not that far and was aided by a moving sidewalk. Good steakhouse in terminal and very nice club. Arrival and departure were efficient.

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  29 October 2009 : by Tim Limbach   (UK)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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My family arrived at JFK 4, having been very comfortable in Business class on KLM, but the immigration experience was a nightmare, certainly not fast-track! We were herded like sheep for about 90 minutes. I had already completed the new ESTA forms online, but still had to complete the green form for each passenger, which I had done on the plane. Only about half the booths were staffed and as we were already exhausted, my back was very painful by the time we reached the baggage hall, where the bags were already waiting! So much for travelling with hand baggage to speed up arrival process. The USA is a lovely place to visit, but surely systems can be improved?

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  24 October 2009 : by J Lockett   (UK)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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I would have preferred to make a complaint directly to the department in JFK that deals with customer service but I see there is no direct email address. I came through Terminal three at midnight on 16th October and I was traumatized by the whole experience . The place being run down, the dirty floor your asked to walk bare feet on I can live with but the staff. Some one in authority needs to go through this as a customer and they would be appalled. You are screamed at, glared at, they make faces at other customers behind their backs. Even the official at the beginning of the queue said nothing other than chew her gum and flick her finger which was no doubt the JFK International symbol for go past ? We were all screamed at to get our shoes off, our belts off etc, none of which anyone have a problem with but we were all made to feel like criminals and the atmosphere was disgusting and a disgrace to the USA . The staff here are aggressive, bullying and intimidating - as I found when I said in a loud voice "a please and thank you would be nice ", all I got was a glare and despite no alarm going of when stepping through the alarm door I was asked to do it again.

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  6 October 2009 : by A Lamont   (UK)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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Arrived T4, connected to T2. Immigration at T4 was okay but officials were rude. Waited for a long, long time at the baggage carousel (I think it may have been randomly searched). Connection to T2 was easy enough but the terminal was ancient and miserable. Was delayed for 2 hours in-terminal and 1 hour on-tarmac. Was exhausted and impatient. I will probably avoid JFK if possible in future.

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  19 September 2009 : by R Lord   (UK)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Terminal 2. Other commentators describe it as a hell-hole, how right they are. There are plenty of third world terminals that are better. The awfulness of the whole place is hard to imagine, luckily I will never have to return.

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  10 August 2009 : by B Rooney   (Australia)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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Used T4 for DL LAX departure with onward int'l flight. I am writing to alert people to a strange, potentially alarming experience at security for the B gates in mid-July. I put my shoes, coat, bag of toiletries, laptop and other items in the trays along with my carry-on bag. In the time it took me to turn around, wait for one person ahead of me to walk through the scanner and reach my trays (20 seconds), my laptop had disappeared. I had read about this sort of thing before, but thought I had taken the right precautions. No amount of asking staff to help got me anywhere, other than a warning to "move away". After 90-120 seconds or rechecking and making a larger and large fuss, some one I assume to be the manager asked me what I was missing and "was it a laptop in a black case". Item rescued and I was relieved - until I thought about this and it seemed more and more of a concern. I am not accusing anyone, but it took an amazingly short period of time for it to disappear and a strangely long period of time to be "found". Just be careful and be warned. Otherwise T4 is among the best at JFK, but shop eat and before security, leave enough time to clear security (40 minute queue) and mind your trays!

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  3 July 2009 : by Dave Stone   (USA)

Customer Rating :  3/5

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Experience at JFK will depend entirely on what terminal(s) you're using. If you're not flying Delta, you can disregard the gripes and complaints of reviewers talking about T3, etc. Terminal 1 international is good and relatively smooth, but almost no food/shopping before security. T2/T3 (Delta) is old and run-down in the extreme. Very sad since it started life as the jetsons-like Pan Am worldport in the 60's. On the other hand, I've always found T3 to be the fastest plane-to-gate trip for international travel - provided you know how to navigate the terminal and are a US citizen. T4 (International) is nice and modern, has a huge shopping area before security - but security and after is miserable and dull. T5 (JetBlue) is a long hike from the AirTrain to the gates, but has the smoothest security, great food options, and is very comfortable post-security. T7 (British Airways, United) is old and poorly maintained. Reasonably quick to get through, but hardly an impressive gateway terminal. T8 (American) is very airy and efficient, and makes one long that the Airline lived up to it! JFK is a huge airport and international gateway, and should be compared alongside Heathrow, DeGaulle, and the like. As such, it doesn't look too bad -- though that's not saying much! Customs and Immigration are definitely a bit closer to being pleasant!

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  27 June 2009 : by Bill Kavanagh   (USA)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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I picked up my wife today from DL97 from Edinburgh at Delta's Terminal 3 International arrivals. The area can only be described as a "hell hole". Dirty, poorly lit, decrepit. Choose your adjective. This terminal would be right at home in some banana republic but what a horrific introduction to the USA.

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  9 June 2009 : by S Ashton  (UK)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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My 19 year daughter who had travelled from the UK alone, arrived at JFK on 7th June 2009 at 2:20pm. As a worried parent I assured her that there would be people employed at the airport who would be happy to help her. How wrong could I have been! She was "greeted" by surly unhelpful staff that seemed to view visitors to your country as an inconvenience at best and a downright nuisance at worst. I assume these people do not have any form of customer service training. I suggest you rectify this and perhaps tell them they are supposed to welcome visitors to your country - and smile now and again, not snarl and growl.

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  6 June 2009 : by L Zijlstra  (UK)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Last week I arrived at JFK T3 and was shocked to see the state it was in. It's disgusting, old and dirty, not what I expected from an airport of New York. I didn't feel safe in the arrival hall. We were approached by dodgy people and it felt like we were in a ghetto. There was also no clear information displayed how to get to the other terminals (we had to pick up my parents) On the way back, the departure lounge was even worse ancient looking, dirty carpets, rude people and security staff and duty free shopping was a joke. I think America should be really ashamed of the state of this airport, it's a disgrace.

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  4 June 2009 : by J Adamowicz  (USA)

Customer Rating :  4/5

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Used T8 for a recent trip to and from FCO on American. Found the terminal to be clean with a fair amount of service choices. The customs process on the way back was fairly smooth. All in all, not a bad experience despite all of the horror stories you hear about JFK.

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  3 June 2009 : by Peggy Marshall  (USA)

Customer Rating :  1/5

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Connected through JFK from Frankfurt (Delta). Customs was crowded, poorly staffed, and confusing - multiple international flights arriving, of course. After numerous announcements and signage about which carrel to wait by, our flight was sent to another carrel - by that time I was just thankful to see my luggage again. After finally passing through the zigzag line at Customs, those of us who were connecting through Delta were sent to a small elevator to ascend to the Delta counter (does this place not have escalators? A second elevator was apparently inoperable.) It probably held 5 people, with luggage, at one time. Of course, staff could bump ahead of you in line and take a spot in the elevator. Good luck if you are disabled. We met with some of the most rude and unprofessional staff that I've ever seen, in any airport - it was telling that they were even rude to fellow employees. Start to finish: two hours. Then another horrible stretch of hours until our flight finally took off (from a gate that apparently boards like 5 flights at once and makes you walk up the steps outside.) Did I mention that the bathroom made truck stop restrooms look like the Ritz? Can't imagine that travelers from other countries find it a positive experience! I will never again accept a flight that routes through JFK!

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  1 June 2009 : by Sandro Dessi

Customer Rating : 2/5

I flew to JFK with BAWand so arrived at T7 and departed from the same terminal on my way home. After getting out of the plane I noticed the dirt on the walls and around the air outlets on the ceiling of the corridors, not a nice way to great passengers at the "gate to the US". I had to wait for an hour and a half in that musty air to pass through passport control, not even half of the desks were occupied. The televisions right next to you don't make the situation more comfortable as they are set to high volume. The officer was unfriendly, never and recalled a trip I had made to Havana/Cuba.. On the day of departure I was surprised to stand in front of the gate within 15 minutes after arriving at the airport. BA staff was very friendly and helpful, security checks were very lax compared to LHR for example, which is kind of worrying. The departure level left a much better impression compared to the arrival level. It was clean, bright and the air was better, but why on earth do they set the ac to blizzard temperature at max flow? After getting on the plane I had headaches. The choice of food was bad. Fast food, fast food, fast food, and one restaurant with exaggerated prices. Staff at Balducci's where I finaly bought a tasteless sandwich for $9 was unfriendly and annoying as they were complaining to customers about their working conditions. Overall I was very disappointed and happy to get in the plane. That terminal can not be compared with standards I'm used to at European airports, even Havana was better!

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  28 April 2009 : by Dave Darcy

Customer Rating : 1/5

Possibly the worst airport in the world. Terminal 7 is dirty, staff are rude, there is nowhere to sit. Then when you fancy a beer or a glass of wine, the tariff isn't on display the staff encourage you to leave a tab open and when you have had two beers and your wife has had two glasses of wine, they hit you with a bill of almost 50 dollars. Gate way to the US, country of customer service excellence - rubbish, dreadful never again!

NEW YORK JFK AIRPORT customer review :  23 April 2009 : by Richard Vrolijk

Customer Rating : 4/5

JFK Airport T4. For departing flights it's really a nice terminal with quite a bit of choice on stores and 2 or 3 places to eat. Getting through check-in isn't a big problem and rarely takes long. On the times I've had to go through, it took about 15 min on average. Arriving at T4 is a different story though. I forgot the exact number customs counters they have, think it's about 22, they rarely are all open. Most times there were only 4 or 5 open at a time. Bare in mind that it takes roughly between 5 and 10 minutes at the counter itself to go through and that there's usually 3 or 4 flights coming in at the sametime, it builds up a line of roughly 600 to 800 passenger. sometimes more, sometimes a bit less. So you do the math of how long you'll have to wait in line. For me it was an avarage of 2 hour waiting whereas 30 minutes of them there was no movement at all. My advice to everyone traveling to JFK and arriving at Terminal 4, get a front row seat in the plane or as closest to the front as possible and when you're allowed to get off the plane, hurry to the line as the difference between a front row seat and a rear row seat can easily add a few hours to your waiting time. Other than that, JFK is a nice airport and the clerks are usually friendly at T4. Even though a lot of them seem to be really bored at doing their jobs.