San Diego Airport

Customer Reviews

No Skytrax Rating
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Queuing Times 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Staff 12345
Customer rating from 73 reviews
3/10
No Skytrax Rating
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1/10

"so small and crowded"

(United States)

Not Verified | Connected thru SAN on my way to HNL. The terminal is so small and crowded that one has to exit to baggage claim and reenter thru TSA check in order to change gates! Once I made it to the gate area, it looked like a refugee crisis. Each gate only had 30 seats and there were 6 gates arrange in a circle around a restaurant. I stood for an hour of my 3 hour layover. I would recommend not reentering thru TSA until the last minute. I thought LGA and PHL were bad, this is worse.
Experience At AirportTransit
Date VisitMarch 2024
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
no
1/10

"Avoid this airport at all costs"

(United States)

Not Verified | Worst terminal (Terminal 1) ever! It’s so tiny. Seems like too many people for one area. No seats and people coughing on each other. We were early thinking I could get a coffee and relax and wait. It’s a small circle. I feel like Thor in Thore Ragnarok, just walking in circles thinking you are going somewhere! This place sucks! Avoid this airport at all costs!
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitFebruary 2024
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
2/10

"avoid this airport at all cost"

(United States)

Trip Verified | Had to make a connection here. Got off the plane. Had wheelchair assist. Went to Einstein Brothers picked up a drink take my meds for the next flight and a bagel. Then find out we are changing terminals and have to go through security again so purchasing an expensive airport drink only to throw it away 10 minutes later. Every major airport I have traveled through has secured connections from one terminal to another. This is totally crazy for an airport that has this mini flights. Had to turn around in the other terminal and buy another expensive airport. Drink not mentioning wasting time going through security for the second time which I had done 7 1/2 hours earlier in Honolulu. Overall, if you're making a connection, avoid this airport at all cost.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitFebruary 2024
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
1/10

"worst I've ever been to"

(United States)

Trip Verified | First of all, this airport was absolutely packed to the gills and filthy, it was holiday travel weekend and expected to be busy. We arrived from a 5 hour flight from Hawaii with TSA precheck, already gone through the checks in Hawaii, so we had snacks and waters, not knowing we would have to exit the terminal and go back through TSA. As we approach, we are told we do have to go back through, so we queue up, and realize these people are literally stopping every single person: families with kids and tubs of vasoline, families with candles and things they purchased, myself with an unopened bottle of water I purchased in the airport after going through TSA. We all just had them throw our stuff out. The hubs are set up so that it's just a big circle with gates and one bathroom for men and one for women, so once again we queue up to go into another filthy area that clearly had not time available to clean because it was so busy. Then we couldn't find seats to wait for our flight out because there was already so little space, until the last flight left. This was the worst airport in our travel, and probably the worst one I've ever been to. La Guardia seemed like a country club in comparison.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitDecember 2023
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
1/10

"Terminal overcrowded"

(United States)

Not Verified | Terminal overcrowded without any major disruptions of flights to cause the overcrowding. No place to sit. Food options for travelers requiring gluten free non-existent. This is the worst airport I have experienced in the United States, Canada and Europe. Would not recommend anyone to route via San Diego unless they had no other option.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitApril 2023
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
3/10

"The worst airport I have ever been to"

(United States)

Not Verified | The worst airport I have ever been to. Flew Southwest to and from New Orleans. Landing in San Diego with no problem but leaving to go back home is a nightmare. The terminal is so small there are no seats much less any place to sit and eat. Only 1 shop and 1 bar/restaurant which is very very small. They really need to do something about this. Also if you have pre TSA forget it. The line was longer that regular TSA and you still have to take your shoes and off, belts, computer out of the bag and jackets. So it basically the same process and regular TSA!
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitFebruary 2023
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
1/10

"Worst bathrooms ever"

(United States)

Not Verified | Worst bathrooms ever. Urine on the floor from the time you walk in till the time you leave. Your feet stick to the floor. I watched the janitor park his cart in the bathroom then walk out. He then sat in a chair at the gate for over one hour. He then went and got his car from the restroom and left again. Never cleaning anything in the bathroom. Totally disgusting. You don't want me to post a picture of this.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitDecember 2022
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
1/10

"One of the worst airport experiences"

(United States)

Not Verified | San Diego is the second largest city in California and has a very undersized Southwest terminals. Once through security, the gate areas are so full of waiting passengers you can barely navigate through the crowds. If you want to sit down and order food - forget it. Interested in a drink at the bar - good luck finding a wedge in the crowd to order something. And then enjoy your beverage leaned up against a wall since there is significant lack of seating. If you are Southwest passenger making a connection, be prepared to enjoy TSA security twice. The airport does not have a way for passengers who have already passed through security to get to another terminal. Passengers making a connecting flight in another terminal are forced to exit the secure area, requiring them to go back through security. This is frustrating and a waste of time. Several other passengers and I were forced to throw things away that could not go through security that we had purchased at our previous airport, on the secure side. And, as a frequent traveler, with TSA pre-check, I have never been asked to take my laptop out of my bag when going through security. There is no separate security line for TSA pre-check, and it buys you nothing in SAN. One of the worst airport experiences ever. Avoid if you can.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitDecember 2022
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
3/10

"I had no choice so I had to pay, but this is a new low"

(United States)

Not Verified | First off the TSA personnel need to be on the same page. The belongings staff said cell phones did not need to be in the scanner bin. Then I got in line for the body scan and the man said I could not have my phone in the body scan. So I had to get out of body scan line and put my phone in a bin to be scanned. Dumb! The airplane was air conditioned to frigid. Why? Also, I paid $35 for a bloody mary and mimosa, which was bad enough, but included in the cost was recruitment and retention of future employees. I had no choice so I had to pay, but this is a new low. Shame on you.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitOctober 2022
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
no
1/10

"Unhygienic and disgusting"

(United States)

Not Verified | Arrived from San Jose at Gate 12 on the afternoon of Oct 2, 2022 and had to catch the connecting flight at Gate 10, which means exiting and reentering security. There were only two lines open, priority and the rest of us. The line was moving extremely slow and then to top that off a leak of sewer water from the ladies restroom to the right started moving toward the line. There were a couple of contract employees just standing there for about 20 minutes as the sewer water moving into the non-moving line. Finally some TSA guy comes out and moves some of barriers around to avoid having people stand and lug their bags through the sewer water. He calls on the radio on how many lanes are open (one) and asks to open another one. I suggest to him that someone shut the WATER off in the bathroom. He says that's maintenance's responsibility. 25 minutes later we get to the lane and there is another barking TSA employee (only thing they do) who yells at me for putting my glasses back in my pocket after the X-ray before he tells me to. He also barks at people for not taking their shoes off, and I mention that we've been standing in sewer water for the last 45 minutes, so maybe that's why people are hesitant to take their shoes off when now the floor leading up to the X-ray has water tracked from people standing in that water. The TSA employee is taken aback that I criticized him and I notice a sign saying you can get fined for hurting their feelings. Unhygienic and disgusting.
Experience At AirportTransit
Date VisitOctober 2022
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages N/A
Airport Staff 12345
no
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