New York JFK Airport

JFK in New York is more like many airports built in one area rather than one airport, for each major airline has its own terminal. The standard of terminals varies, but none up to the high standard of an important airport you expect. Shopping is virtually not available. The last Terminal I used was the AA terminal, where they charge money for some food items against the norm of a normal lounge. Transportation is varied but you almost need to be an expert to know what to use. The fact that there are too many terminals make each terminal minimalist.

Very good. I was traveling from Rome and transiting to go to Montreal. The transit time was 8 hrs, but due to the fact I was traveling in business on the first leg I was able to go through customs checks faster and so I had plenty of time to spend and shop.

Arrival at JFK from Frankfurt around 21:30 on Friday evening; we had a powerful and immediate sense of hostility from airport staff who barked orders at us; there is no smooth system of filtering passengers; many passengers feel, like us, confused and dazed - what's going on? why is this line not moving? Even some US citizens were caught up in the immigration lines because they were not shown through; there were frequently discourteous shouts for us to get in a single file, keep to the right, keep up, stay back, don't move yet, have this ready - when we eventually (after 3/4 hour) emerged into the main 'queuing pen' we could see roughly half of all the security checking positions were closed at a time when three large planes had just arrived! In this snaking queue we took a further 1.5 hours to reach the immigration officer. As we presented our UK / European Union passports the officer snapped questions at us: where are you from? Where are you staying? Why are you going there? Only when we said we would be at Notre Dame University did we get a flicker of human warmth! There were more US Homeland Security officers 30 metres further on who were even more intimidating and unfriendly: sarcastic, arrogant, rude; we came off relatively well - a small group of Chinese visitors got very rough treatment. Anyway, they were ordered to get into two groups and marched off somewhere - and New York aspires to be the most visited city in the world!! That was arrival at JFK - our departure from the USA, 3 weeks later was worse! On our journey home from the Midwest, JFK was our transit airport; we'd had a very easy, trouble-free short early morning flight from South Bend (IN) to Newark, took the frequent (and reasonably-priced) NYC Airporter bus service to JFK, and settled down to a patient wait till around 4 to check-in; no problem, plenty of time, no need to rush. We took turns to check the monitors for boarding information. Appreciating that it's a busy time of day to travel, we tried to queue over an hour before necessary - just to be sure of being in good time - Gate 9, the overhead display showed. Gates 1 to 8 are marked, in order - no Gate 9. Altogether we asked 5 different airport staff about this; replies ranged from 'I don't know' to 'it's all the same' to nothing because they had insufficient English! So, we dutifully waited in an undifferentiated snaking queue. This was so densely packed that it was very hot (outside air temp only 8 degrees C) - small children got very fractious; some elderly people looked distressed; a fight nearly broke out when one passenger (accidentally) barged another. The numerous airport staff just looked on, or looked away! None of them seemed to realise that passengers needed to be sorted according to their flight's departure time! It was only pure luck that we got through security checking exactly at the moment that the last call for boarding our flight went out! The airport's damned chaotic, inefficient systems had almost made us miss a flight which we'd arrived for 6 hours ahead! I don't actually blame the 'foot soldiers' - the lowly airport staff are hopeless but they're probably on minimum wage and get zero training! Surely one of the main functions of any airport, of any size, is to enable passengers to arrive and depart safely, comfortably, and punctually!!

Terminal 7 was a nightmare. On arrival the immigration process was over 1 hour 30 mins. Not all desks were in use. Apparently three large planes arrive about the same time. A large number of passengers in the queue did not speak English so gave the officers printed pieces of paper to read when initially given instructions by the officers. This slowed the process considerably. The aircon did not cope with the heat. At other airports in the US they have APC machines to process visitors which really cuts down the time taken to clear immigration and do the job efficiently. They are needed at JFK. On departure the Fast Track security check did not live up to it`s name. Only one machine is available in what looks like a corridor. Most planes leave in the evening so a large number of passengers are checking in. Once more the aircon did not cope efficiently. JFK is to be avoided if there is an alternative.

We had one aborted landing after the New York air traffic controllers got their timings wrong. Once we finally did arrive, we had to queue for over an hour to get through customs. However it was our departure that was really shocking. The staff at the airport were so rude and aggressive to everyone. They shouted at the elderly who couldn't walk fast enough and made sarcastic remarks if anyone didn't understand what they were supposed to do. The whole system was a shambles, completely disorganised with no clear instructions and certainly no assistance. We were shocked by the staff, who seemed intent on upsetting anyone and everyone. Even simple things like having a table to put your tray on once through security was missed - you had to put your shoes back on, belt, jumper, coat, watch, put your computer back in it's bag and collect your bags at the bottom of a staircase with the tray on the floor, as they shouted at you to remove it from the conveyor belt as soon as it was through the scanner. I would avoid this airport in the future.

Arrived at Terminal 7 at 3pm. It was like an easyJet queue at Gatwick. The queue was massive and moved exceedingly slowly. It took over an hour to check in and then there was the queue for security. There is nothing like New York for rudeness so this was not unexpected. We were impressed at the drinks prices, $20 for a beer and a cider. Altogether it aws not a good experience at all.

The AA terminal at JFK has had some useful renovations and is now good. There is a special area for Elite members, with good service. The lounge is decent and immigration and security efficient. I hated JFK before but now it is not bad. The arrival was good too, they have a semi-automated system for a passenger like me, with a visa-waver passport. It is not a fancy airport like in Asia or the Middle East but it is good.

I cannot say enough bad things about JFK airport. The staff in Terminal 4 were rude and treated all incoming passengers poorly. The airport itself is outdated and an embarrassment to the great state of New York. I felt disgraced for even asking the attendant at the luggage pick up where my suitcase might be, he grumbled at me, stating "you don't even know your own flight". Terrible service, especially after coming back home from Taiwan where everyone was respectful and courteous, even if they didn't speak your language.

Worst arrival experience in any country I have visited due to the hostile and aggressive manner of the immigration officer. I witnessed this employee shouting and being sarcastic to other travellers and unfortunately experienced the same from him myself. He was openly intimidating towards me. Had he been civil towards passengers I am sure that people would have been processed in a quicker timescale. Instead his attitude caused confusion in taking the digital finger prints. It was a horrible first impression of New York, such a shame as everyone else I met in the city was really pleasant. The US need to consider some customer care training of its officers.

At New York JFK as I was going through security, there were many passengers there who clearly did not understand English or the confusing security procedures we were required to go through and the staff had absolutely no patience for them. Confused looks were met with insulting and sarcastic remarks from staff. It was a very unpleasant and threatening environment and an extremely negative experience. It felt more like a prison than an airport due to the openly hostile attitudes and inappropriate behaviour of the staff.