Fort Lauderdale Airport

Disorganized mess. Security area is a free for all. Customs area if better organized and properly manned may one day reach the status of disorganized mess. No help from airline staff (Spirit) regarding luggage and connections. The US custom service was too busy helping foreign nationals make their connections which left them unable to help people with US passports. Yelling screaming and lines that not even Disneyworld has seen. Brush up on your Spanish (its the language spoken). Asked a custom worker if this situation was unusual. "It's an everyday thing here".

Arrived and departed through Terminal 2 earlier this month. Terminal 2 is small but it has a nice compact design so you don't have to walk miles to get to anything. Food options are limited but we were satisfied with what we had. Check in and security were both efficient polite and professional. It could use more seating but what Terminal couldn't? We were fortunate to be there during non-peak times so there was no problem finding seating in the food area and again near our gate.

Fly out of somewhere else if possible. I live in Jacksonville FL and took a recent trip to Costa Rica. It was much cheaper to fly out of this airport and did not have to switch planes. So I drove 5 hours. On departure the airport is old and overcrowded not enough seats in the terminal. The airline was late arriving which made things worse. However this was nothing. Upon arrival on a Saturday at 12.30 pm from Costa Rica the real fun starts. After debarkation we waited about 20 minutes to go through a self serve customs kiosk which scans your passport and takes your photo then another 20 min having a live custom agent do the same thing ok so still not too bad then down to baggage bags arrived quick then after getting your bag you have to again go through customs and have your passport checked even though you have done this twice already. This line of several hundred people was wrapped all around baggage claim. They do not look through your bags just checking your passport for the third time it makes no sense oh and there is an airport employee running around telling you not to use your cell phones in baggage claim or 500$ fine.

Worst airport experience in my 20 years of flying. Spirit Airlines particularly did a terrible job. The security line was out the door and wrapped around down the sidewalk. The employee's were rude and unhelpful. Sprit Airlines did not announce the boarding process it was a free for all and I paid extra to be boarded first in zone 1. I will never fly Spirit airlines to Ft. Lauderdale again.

This is probably not the worst airport in North America but I haven't visited them all so the jury is out. Terminal 2 is a disorganized mess for passengers. Check-in can't be accomplished more than a couple of hours before flight time and you sit with your baggage in the few seats available in the vicinity of a donut shop. After finally checking in along with huge crowds you shuffle through a convoluted security system and finally reach a cramped waiting room that's about one-third of the size it needs to be populated by a bar/restaurant and another eatery neither of which is in any danger of approaching culinary adequacy. Through it all the people on staff are very friendly though how they can maintain that attitude working in such a dump is beyond me. However they really should be commended.

Security was a nightmare. Queue went outdoors. No electrical for charging electronics. February 21 2014.

I had a bad experience at the Fort Lauderdale airport (in the US Air terminal E) this morning. It would be nice to be treated nicely at their shops. At one shop I purchased something and because there was no register display and because the shop employee mumbled I asked her to repeat the price. She did but in a very rude tone of voice. Similarly I went to "Key West Coffee" to get a cup of coffee and the employee did not say a word to me. When I told her the coffee run was empty she also didn't utter a word. It would be nice to be treated with a slight bit of respect. Just leaves a bad taste in my mouth about the Lauderdale airport and in particular the US Airways wing.

It was cheaper to fly here than Miami so I chose it. Leaving after arriving was easy. The "in terminal" car rentals are all actually a bus ride away. I should have chosen the off site cheaper rental which would have been the same hassle to get to. The return was when I noticed how much I don't like the airport. There is the car rental return and then bus ride to the terminals. They are not interconnected. This was a problem for the club. I arrived far too early (to account for the car return) and expected to spend my time in the UA club however my flight was out of a terminal with no clubs and it is not possible to go to another terminal since you're only allowed in with a flight coupon for that terminal. I ended up waiting 3+ hours in a crowded loud old airport with minimal to no amenities. The bathrooms are tiny with lines there is one small bar/restaurant with only self service and mostly stand up tables. There are some snack vendors. There are not enough outlets for all that need to plug in. I would go to Miami next time even if my destination was closer to FLL. I am glad to see they are renovating and remodelling the airport. Perhaps that will help.

This airport is dirty over crowded. The biggest problem to me was the total absence of family bathrooms after we went through security. We had a long wait as we had left a cruise ship. I travel in a wheelchair and sometimes need help in the restroom if the floor is wet or it is poorly arranged. Luckily a nice traveler overheard my husband ask for a female staff to help me and she offered to go with me with the staff person never showed up. Many people were in this airport in wheelchairs or with small children. There is remodelling in process so hopefully this problem is being addressed.

This airport needs a lot of upgrades. I flew here from Houston in the summer of 2012 on United and was disappointed. We came 2 hours before our flight and ended up sitting for 1.5 hours in the dull cramped up concourse with absolutely nothing to do. There is about 4 food options in the concourse in terminal 1. I would not recommend this airport for many reasons. It is very dull and crowded with nothing to do.