New York JFK Airport

✅ Trip Verified | This airport goes from disgraceful to utterly disgusting. Not only is the staffing for immigration clearance so poor - this is the second time in 2 months I’ve waited over 2 hours but the staff did not stop the cheats from going round via US Citizen queue then walking across and cutting the line. Complaints fell on uninterested staff who shrugged their shoulders. I will try avoid this airport as much as possible. What a horrible advert for a country when’s its main airport is such a shambles.

Not Verified | I never have much of an issue departing from this airport, but the line attendants for passport control on arrival are always rude. It really leaves a sour taste in your mouth. The passenger in front of me was an older Hispanic woman - she was walking a little slowly, getting her papers and passport together, but there was nobody behind us and I could tell she was older, so I didn’t mind. The line attendant rudely said “let’s go!” To her and then immediately asked her if she was a green card or visa holder - I’m assuming because of her race? It turned out she was an American citizen (duh - we were in the US Citizen line). The attendant just kept barking commands at her and giving her no time to answer any questions. Then she starts barking at me and just being really patronizing. I’ve seen similar behavior multiple times from passport control line attendants when arriving from an international flight.

Not Verified | Absolutely awful experience at this airport! After an amazing 5 night stay in NYC with my family, our holiday quickly turned sour when going through security here. If the 1 hour queue wasn't bad enough, being greeting by shouting security officers made it the worst experience we've ever had in an international airport. I can't single just the one security official out, they were all aggressive, abrupt, and completely unprofessional. This must be in the training, as it was quite consistent throughout. I could add a little assistance if anyone from JFK is reading this. Instead of saying "if I see those phones in your hands I'm pulling you to one side" perhaps say "could everyone please place their phones in the trays provided". Its just a little common courtesy, and plain good manners, and you'd be surprised how far it gets you in life. The whole experience has actually put us off coming back to New York again. Which is a shame, as we really enjoyed it. I was emptying my bag of my laptop and tablet at which time the lady took it from me and put it in a tray, and told me to take my shoes off. I said my laptop is in there and she looked at me with a steely gaze and said "I know.....take your shoes off". Honestly it was just horrendous. Herded through like cattle and shouted at. The whole airport needs massive improvement, and lessons in basic decorum.

Not Verified | Simply awful and frustrating. We were almost missing our connecting Flight despite around 5 hours of transit time. Running and sweating because of unbelievable queing at passport control first and then unbelievable hundred and hundred meters of queue. Laziest staff ever experienced, they don t care nothing about pax, repeating same controls several times, only very few security staff for thousands of passengers, quite rude and totally against passengers. No transit area, no connection line, no way to send bags to final destination. I will never never fly to or via JFK in the future. Shame on Airport authority and tsa and staff working there.

Not Verified | This is by far the worst airport I have ever had the misfortune to travel through. The security staff are the laziest, most rude individuals imaginable and the security system is like something out of the dark ages. How this airport has the cheek to carry the name of such a great man is beyond me - shameful. Would put me off ever coming back to New York!

Not Verified | Despicable experience. People pushed around in a very long line as though they are animals. Women standing with little babies in their hands for hours and no one giving them priority! The whole security experience is the worst I have seen in any airport in the world. What is the JFK management doing? They should be fired for humiliating JFK passengers, who are their clients. Stop following modern standards of service, this airport has a really unpleasant, almost fascist feeling. This is serious. I was in terminal 4.

✅ Trip Verified | TSA staff are so abrupt and rude. The gentleman at the scanner told me me to pull up my pants...My pants were just fine (Im a 36 man, not a teenager) I asked him "should I pull up my pants". Then proceeds to say "yeah you heard that correctly, pull up your pants bro, pull up your pants bro", when I walked I said "no need to be rude" to which he said, "step out, bye". Not sure in what world is it acceptable to talk to people like that

Not Verified | Miserable experience. Security personnel were mouthy and rude and pushed people through security so quickly that it caused a large group of people trying to get themselves and their belongings back together while security personnel kept screeching, “move down, this is a working area.” There was only one bench and one small table and no room for people to put their shoes on, belts on, re-pack electronics etc. and there were only TWO agents screening hundreds of people. The process was so slow that we missed our connecting flight and had to spend the night in the airport which was freezing cold even in July. It also irks me that people cannot speak English clearly which causes more confusion and frustration. I loathe this airport and will avoid it at all costs in the future.

✅ Trip Verified | The TSA staff at JFK and the gate staff need a huge amount of training in customer service and process. Going through T7, a whole load of us experienced one particular TSA officer shouting instructions about what goes where in the trays and rather than do their job, which is to repeat the information, they decided to go up to people and shout at them in a tone as if the person is an idiot and then turn to the queue and say “see, they just don’t listen”, so everyone can look at you like you’re a criminal. Airports all over the world have different rules for security screening. Frequent flyers will often automatically go to the majority format, it’s not malicious and it definitely doesn’t deserve being made to be the focus of derision. The gate staff called people holding a mobile boarding pass to have their ID verified AGAIN at the gate, before the boarding process started. When asked why, rather than tell the truth, they said that’s the rules. It wasn’t the rule when flying out of JFK literally a couple of weeks ago and it still is not the rule. Mobile boarding pass holders do not require additional ID screening at the gate and this member of staff was not accurate. The process for ID verification is stated as follows: “The officer will insert each photo ID into the CAT unit where the ID is scanned and analyzed. CAT is linked electronically to the Secure Flight database, which confirms travelers' flight details, ensuring they are ticketed for travel that day.” Really poor travelling experience.

Not Verified | Don't ever fly through JFK if you have to go to New York city! Standing in queue for 4 hours along with 500 other passengers at JFK Airport customs was a harrowing experience. Can you imagine just 3 immigration inspectors for 500 passengers? The last thing I wanted after a long flight and fatigued legs was to be held up at immigration for an inordinate amount of time. All I wanted to do was rest, refresh and resume. Here I was waiting in JFK security lines.