"Security is the absolute worst"
S Jaye (Canada)
✅ Trip Verified | Security is the absolute worst we have experienced. Flew all the way from Armenia and had a delay necessitating an unscheduled overnight in Calgary. Stopped the next day at security “b” and scanned our bags. Security checked manually and questioned a liquid - they claimed that honey sugar (solid mass) was a liquid. We insisted it was not, they asked us to open the sealed container and put it upside down to see if it was liquid and we complied and sure enough it was solid. Then told us “ oh well, it’s a liquid”. Manager insisted it was a liquid even though it’s a solid. They took it saying it was a liquid. No problems at Yerevan, Tbilisi, Frankfurt or Charles de Gaulle. But Calgary has an issue! Staff not reasonable at all and terrible attitudes. All other staff /volunteers and airline staff we encountered were fantastic!
Experience At Airport | Arrival and Departure |
Date Visit | October 2024 |
Type Of Traveller | Couple 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 |
Recommended | no |
"deeply disappointed"
J Hayes (United States)
✅ Trip Verified | I am deeply disappointed by the treatment I received while going through security at Calgary International Airport on September 21st. The security staff were unprofessional and seemed to be on a power trip, showing no respect or courtesy to passengers. I was subjected to an invasive pat-down despite wearing skin-tight clothing, which felt entirely unnecessary and violating. One agent threatened to confiscate my iPad simply because it was dead and I didn’t have a charger, which is absurd. Many passengers, myself included, were left concerned about missing connections due to the slow, inefficient process. Furthermore, a female agent exhibited clear discrimination, showing leniency to some passengers while treating others, like myself, with harshness. Additionally, I witnessed an agent in customs speaking to another traveler in an extremely unprofessional manner, once again displaying behavior that felt more like a power trip than proper procedure. This was the worst airport experience I’ve had in all my travels...and I’ve been all over the world. I strongly advise others to avoid Calgary Airport, and I will be doing the same in the future.
Experience At Airport | Transit |
Date Visit | September 2024 |
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"overcrowded waiting areas"
Sandra Bender (Canada)
✅ Trip Verified | What a terrible airport! The worst part of my experience was with the incredibly rude staff member working the oversized baggage for WestJet. She had the entire conveyor belt stanchioned off and wanted me to just haul my enormous bag (hockey bag filled with camping & hiking gear for multiple people) onto the surface directly. She refused to explain where a foot pedal required to operate the ramp to load my bag into the security screening device was even located. She said things like "why can't you just look with your eyes?!" and refused to come and actually show me where this pedal was. When she finally did come, berating me verbally the entire time, it turned out that this foot pedal was just one of many cables under the conveyor and so far back that she had to crawl underneath to pull it out. She asked if I was deaf at one point (she was seated 12m away and was mumbling in the airport noise). There was no one else waiting and no evident reason for her not to just help. This attitude was generally typical of every other airport staff member I encountered, too. Dirty bathrooms, overcrowded waiting areas at the gates, and not nearly enough charging ports for a building in the 21st century to have. I would actively avoid ever travelling through this airport again.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | July 2023 |
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | N/A |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"No place to charge anything"
M Kathy (Canada)
Not Verified | Seating is awful. No place to charge anything, so bring your own power backup. Businesses close ridiculously early. Domestic flights are scheduled willy Milly all across the vast terminal with no rhyme or reason.
Experience At Airport | Arrival and Departure |
Date Visit | July 2023 |
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"one of the better airports"
M Barry (Canada)
✅ Trip Verified | I have mixed feelings about this airport. Upon arrival, the check-in process took almost no time at all, and I was on my way in a matter of minutes. Terminal signs pre-security were limited, but easy enough that I was able to find the C security checkpoint quick enough. Security was a different story. The wait was brutal, taking over an hour to clear. On top of this, the staff were not very fast, chatting to everyone about travel plans, flying, etc. Terminal signage post-security was much clearer, and my gate was found quite fast. Departure was also very efficient, and boarding went by fast, and I was departing on time. Overall, this airport has good and bad, but it's one of the better airports that I've been to.
Experience At Airport | Arrival and Departure |
Date Visit | May 2023 |
Type Of Traveller | Solo 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 |
Recommended | yes |
"Brutal security lines"
Sally Wright (Canada)
Not Verified | Brutal security lines - super long and not moving. Projected time half hour but already been waiting that long! What is the issue? It was never this bad before! Do better!
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | June 2023 |
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | N/A |
Recommended | no |
"So so slow"
G Allan (Canada)
Not Verified | The security experience in the Calgary airport was by far the worst. In fact, it was ridiculous. So so slow. Maybe 20 people in front of me and it took 30 minutes to get through. Refusal to open other lines. 3 or 4 security staff just standing around talking. What an embarrassment.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | May 2023 |
Type Of Traveller | Family 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 |
Recommended | no |
"security screening is terribly managed"
Cody Burdick (United States)
✅ Trip Verified | Worst airport I've ever been to. The security screening is terribly managed, long lines, rude staff, no direction. Be prepared to stand in line for hours, and they won't open up any additional Security lines. They are all on a power trip.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | May 2023 |
Type Of Traveller | Business |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"true embarrassment to our city"
D Bolton (Canada)
✅ Trip Verified | Calgary airport is a true embarrassment to our city. The domestic travel experience is horrible if, with perpetual renovations (that never seem to be worked on), stark institutional decor, and reliably long lines at security. The layout of our new international terminal does not deliver much of a better experience. Enough of blaming Covid. Get it together and manage this facility in a world class manner.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | January 2023 |
Type Of Traveller | Business |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"unprofessional, unpleasant and overall uncaring"
T Broderick (Canada)
Not Verified | Worst experience at an airport I have ever had. I am a casual travel writer and photographer and tend to carry sensitive equipment depending on the project. In this case I was to be shooting a film project and had a few rolls of 35mm film. The day before I arrived to the airport I called both the airport and the company handling security and was assured that my equipment would be hand checked at my request and that they deal with film often enough that they don’t run it through the scanners. Upon my arrival at the security check I was told that they didn’t care what I was told and I was to do it their way or be removed from the airport. The individual behind the scanner proceeded to not only unroll fresh undeveloped film making it useless, but proceeded to treat my gear as unprofessionally as I have ever seen. My cameras were thrown down on the belts and tossed into bins. My canon AE1 now requires fairly large repairs to the shutter and the lens mount. This is a vintage camera so repairs are costly. I have flown through 3rd world countries with better airport staff then what is seen in Calgary. Absolutely unprofessional, unpleasant and overall uncaring. Very pathetic.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | December 2022 |
Type Of Traveller | Business |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | N/A |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |