Dallas Fort-Worth Airport

On arrival the airport seemed unlike many other American airports - clean and tidy and judging by other reviews we seem to have done well and got through immigration in an hour plus customs was fairly quick as well. On the way home being British it always amuses us that unlike European airports where the terminal is a really shopping mall with an airport attached American airports are really a food court with an airport attached! To sum up there plenty of places to eat.

I changed planes here yesterday after a holiday in Costa Rica. It was a complete nightmare. We had a 3 hour layover period and only just made the flight back to Heathrow. The queues for Customs and immigration were ridiculous. Surely they could provide a fast track for people with connecting flights! I will never change planes in the US ever again and would probably not consider visiting the USA due to the airports. We changed in Miami on the way out and passports took longer although Customs was quicker.

Landed from Brisbane on Qantas with an overnight stay in the airport Hyatt en route to Montego Bay Jamaica. Immigration queues were poorly managed and very understaffed. It took two hours to clear immigration and another hour to exit the baggage and customs hall. Checking in the next morning (business class) took 90minutes. I changed my flights on the way back through Dallas because I realized my original connection time of just over two hours was impossible. There is no international sterile zone. So arriving from Jamaica required clearing immigration customs collecting bags re-checking and re-entering security. Allow 4 hours. LAX for all its flaws is better.

Frequently travel to DFW from the UK nearly always arrive after a 10 hour flight having already been up for at least 5 hours prior to the flight. Very tired and then met by long immigration queues. They have lots of booths but usually only around 6-8 staff covering them surely they know the periods when lots of flights are arriving at once and can have staff to cover. My daughter at this present moment is stuck in such a queue not even into the immigration hall having already been up for 17 hours will not be through immigrations for another 2/3 hours and then has a 2 hour drive on her own with a very cranky 2 year old. Not good enough DFW - used to be a pleasant experience - not any more!

2 hours to get through customs after a 10 hour flight and that was just normal procedure without getting searched etc. Many people in the queue distraught about missing their connecting flights but all were told not to worry they could rebook so obviously this type of delay is unexceptional/routine.

3 hour stop over and not a hope of catching the one flight to Fort Myers. Totally unresponsive staff resulted in a 20 hour wait for the next flight. We have 7 of us doing the same in August and we are dreading it.

If you are making a connection from an international flight allow at least 3 hrs to catch your next flight. It takes around 60-90 min for immigration alone. They have 8 or 10 booths but I have never seen more than 4 open. Then another 30-60 min to get your luggage back through to your connection. My last lay over there was 3.5 hrs and I almost missed my flight and my luggage did not make the connection. Huge airport that is very very understaffed all of the time. The staff they do have is mostly clueless so if you need advice I recommend asking one of the Airline Representatives who are much more friendly and helpful. If you need a rest break catch one before the departure gates the ones there are usually completely trashed and disgusting. One positive is the Tram is nice but they need it as it is a very long way between gates.

2 hrs to go through immigration and I was in transit. There were 60 booths and only 9 had agents. Had to go through customs and security check only to get back into the terminal. I thought LAX was bad but this is ridiculous.

Stayed at the Hyatt in Terminal D specifically to make our 5.15 am flight only problem is they offer no terminal OR SKYLINK until 4.30am even though a kind service personnel called for a bus we missed our flight. No sense staying at the Hyatt in terminal D if you've got an early flight out of any terminal except D.

Flew into DFW from Sydney last month on a Qantas 747 with the intentions of comparing it to the other common gateway for similar travels Los Angeles International which I had used on the previous 4 trips across the Pacific. The perceived advantage that Dallas has over LAX is that it places travellers like me geographically closer to my final destination of New York City. After weighing all of the positives and negatives this is the only real edge that I experienced. Immigration took longer at Dallas than any of my prior trips through LAX. DFW had plenty of immigration lanes but unfortunately a very large percentage were closed. My craft certainly was not the only international jumbo on the ground at the time either. People sometimes complain about the supposed hassles of connecting at LAX but again the process took longer at DFW than it ever had at LAX for me. Yes you have to exit and then re-enter the terminal after the international flight here just as you do in Los Angeles. Maybe Dallas' airport light rail is more comfortable and easier with luggage than the internal bus system that Los Angeles has but not really enough to sway me. The real disadvantage for now is the fact that DFW does not have the physical infrastructure to handle the large A380 Airbus which is a leap above the Boeing 747 in many aspects. Until that changes it is really back to LAX for my travels.