New York JFK Airport

Not Verified | Absolutely appalling! Through no fault of our own, our connecting flight between JFK and Orlando was cancelled, and there ensued the most horrific experience of apathy and downright rudeness from the staff at JFK. We were left wandering up and down this hostile environment with nobody willing to offer us help as we faced a night with nowhere to sleep, due to hotel rooms being completely full. What on earth happened to security? Even on these grounds, nobody stopped us. We have been left with a less than positive impression of JFK, and would strongly suggest that if you’re left in the unfortunate position of needing a connecting flight, avoid JFK! Miami airport are a far more friendly bunch!

✅ Trip Verified | Where do I start? Following an excellent flight with British Airways, my family of 11 and I arrived at JFK airport, in order to get our connecting flights to Orlando. We were looking forward to our 2 week holiday. Unfortunately, our flight was cancelled due to an electrical storm, we believe. We were directed from one end of the airport to the other, trying to find a resolution. We were met with disdain and utter rudeness. We were not even offered a glass of water, never mind a hotel accommodation. My family and I had to go through security on 3 occasions, we had to grab some sleep on the floor. Nobody helped us. We were horrified by the lack of support we received from the great USA. You would think that 11 people wondering up and down the airport would have attracted some attention? We lost a day of our holidays and we would never recommend travelling via JFK to anyone. Our experience was appalling and would never wish that on anybody else!!

✅ Trip Verified | Chaos on entry to border control with airport personel shouting at travellers. 2 counters open for extremely long lines of green card holders (with 2 hour wait times) meanwhile 4 open counters catered to US citizens and there was no queue! Extremely off putting experience, this airport has implemented new technology but it has not successfully reduced wait times or enhanced customer experience. Unfortunately it looks like a commercial decision taken to reduce staff levels and cut jobs. At least the machines aren’t rude though like the few staff available. I recommend management speaks to London Heathrow for tips about how to improve.

Not Verified | I will never fly through JFK again. Had booked a once in a lifetime trip to South Africa. JFK air traffic control had us sitting on tarmac for 5 hours. Sending pilot mixed messages every 15 mins, babies crying, people needing to use the restroom but couldn’t get up because we were techically waiting to depart. Our plane was behind 38 others to depart. The weather was fine when we boarded but turned severe around hour 3. As a result we missed our connection and had to spend 53 hours in air and other airports to get to Africa. None of our seat purchase upgrades were honored and we missed the first day of our tour. Also was sitting on tarmac with earlier flight for an hour. JFK air traffic control manages inbound and outbound flights poorly. If you can avoid this airport please do.

✅ Trip Verified | Where do I start? My flight from SLC landed on time and then we proceeded to wait 40-50 minutes a stones throw from the terminal because no gates were available. I ran like a fool but still missed my next flight. I know that an over crowded airspace and abysmal airport design exacerbate the connection issues but these are problems that should be solved. I will forever do my best to stay as far away from JFK as possible.

Not Verified | This is my last time at JFK. As usual a three+ hour delay. I think the two most galling aspects of TSA generally are a complete lack of urgency, unless they are shouting instructions at visitors and a propensity to have casual conversations amongst themselves. I appreciate that security is important but the collection of taxes on air tickets should mean that all these waiting passengers should be providing sufficient revenue to staff the booths adequately. More generally, I think the term "customer" has lost its meaning in many aspects of air travel. It's now often synonymous with "inconvenience".

Not Verified | Worst airport ever! They canceled our flights yesterday due to bad weather even though skies were clear in both my departure and arrival cities. I believe the airport does this on purpose so that they can price gouge for the surrounding rental cars and hotels. The rental car place expressed to me that it is supply and demand and that when the airport does that they raise their rates accordingly because they know people will still rent I believe that is unacceptable and should be illegal for price gouging. I would rather fly by paper airplane than to fly in or out of JFK!

Not Verified | I don't mind flying into JFK but driving in to pick up my wife and her friend was terrible. The security woman at the arrival area at the terminal walked over to my car and started yelling at me to move. I explained to her that my wife was walking to the car and I could see her and the woman still made me drive around the loop and come back. When I couldn't pull away from the curb because I was blocked in, she asked me if I thought she looked stupid and if I knew how to drive a car. Just a terrible woman with a terrible attitude. There was no reason to start a confrontation when she could have politely asked me to move or let me sit where I was for another 15 seconds after I pointed out my wife.

✅ Trip Verified | By necessity, I must use an American airport as a transit when I go from Dominican Republic to Asia or Australia. I have given up on Miami because the immigration make it so hard for all passengers coming from Latin Countries, although I carry an Australian passport and am 77 years old. LAX is too difficult for elderly passengers with horrific waits at immigration and ditto Atlanta. I decided some years ago to use JFK for arrival normally in Terminals 4 or 5 and then to exit normally with an Asian 5 star airline. Never again! The arrivals by JetBlue are disastrous now with gates not available and immigration waits of more than 2 hours. At Terminal 7 all but American passengers waited for 150 minutes plus to be processed from an ANA flight from Tokyo But now even the departures are disasters with waits of more than 2 hours on the tarmac quite regular and in my case in June more than 5 hours. Why are the USA airports so bad for non Americans and why are the elderly treated so badly? It is quite ridiculous but with all the delays in the USA, I will be flying in the future via Madrid, Paris or London to get to Asia, it will be quicker and have less stress.

✅ Trip Verified | I am writing about a "fun" security check-up I had to agree to at the JFK airport. At the security point, after passing the scanner, I was asked to go on the side where I was asked to empty my pockets. I had an empty plastic SIM card holder and a few paper tissues still in my pockets, as I didn’t know we have to fully empty our pockets. I assumed we just need to get rid of the metal. The officer asked "You didn't know you have to get everything out of your pockets?" to which I replied "No". He then told me I have to be thoroughly checked and explained that meant feeling up my legs thoroughly. After providing a brief explanation, this is what the officer did, in presence of his supervisor. Also, the officer examined my hand palms with what I presume is a drug detector. In that moment I was too intimidated to ask why all this was necessary as the officer was loud and, also, I was afraid of a potential delay with proceeding to my gate. So, I simply agreed and asked nothing. It is not clear to me why such a thorough check-up was necessary. Why I wasn’t simply allowed to go back through the scanner after taking out the SIM card plastic holder and my tissues is beyond me.