New York JFK Airport

I arrived at Terminal 7 from Iceland on October 20. The queue for visitors was almost to the plane door itself. I queued for 2 hours and didn't get anywhere. The woman and older man guiding people to booths were out of control with no clue as to what they were doing. Guess how many TSA staff on the visitor line for about 1500 people waiting? 1 then none. There was a bit of confusion when the GC line seemed to have been opened up to visitors (it hadn't been) and I managed to queue jump. In the end I made it through in another hour. Everytime I go through JFK it gets worse and worse. Inhumane treatment and no excuse for it. There is no reason whatsoever to have fully manned booths on a non-existent American line and let others pass out from waiting.

Arrived from AMS Terminal 4. The queue was reasonable vs. AMS or CDG. It took 30 mins from the plane to the luggage. No question asked by immigration. In AMS one asks where you are going when one queues up in the Paris line with a French Passport and a CDG boarding pass. All in all 1hr tops between leaving the plane and the rented car. Nothing to complain about.

It took 3.5 hours standing in the immigration queue between getting off the plane and finally going to pick up our bags. No water no seats very little ventilation no explanations no apology. Staggering. JFK is full of posters saying how they pledge to treat everyone with dignity. Horrible experience.

Exiting the USA was no problem. Arriving from Orlando to depart for Venice we walked from one gate to the next neighbouring gate in the same terminal. Returning from Rome and transferring to flight to Orlando was another story. The only thing that saved us was prior experience with the airport and the fact that we had only carry-on luggage so no wait for baggage at customs or we would not have made our connection in the hour and a half we had. We are US citizens (a good thing that day) and carried Delta's Quick Connect pass like a battle flag to get through the crowds walking as quickly as we could and asking questions of everyone who looked like an employee when we weren't sure where to go next. The customs lines for travelers who did not qualify for Quick Connect were very long. We made it. It's too bad that these days travelers are thrilled simply to make their connection.

Arrived by Delta KL6071 at terminal 4 from Amsterdam at October 15 13.00 HR. Leaving me as planned two hours to catch my connecting flight from terminal 6. It took immigration more than 1 hour and 10 minutes to check my passport. It was not busy it was just around lunchtime and perhaps this was the reason most booths were empty. There was no consideration with the (un)welcome visitors at all no one cared. This is a shameful experience. Security at terminal 6 took another 30 minutes and I missed my connection. Second (return) ticket down the drain. The worse airport experience in years.

Flying in on a Delta international flight queuing at passport control is very slow and takes forever as not enough officers on duty and this is every time I use this airline. Flying in using Air France you have your passport checked in a much more modern and clean part of the airport. Flying out of JFK airport is the same experience with obvious differences between two terminals. Security checks can be invasive and long but it was done in a professional way. Duty free is small and not interesting airport is not clean lounges once again depending on the airline can be nice or just boring where even a glass of decent wine is not complimentary.

After arriving on time on a flight from Europe October 19 spent 2.5 hours waiting in a hall with 2000 people simply to get into the passport control room lines. By the time we got our bags abandoned in a pile by the carousel three hours had gone by. If you think you are saving time by flying direct via JFK think again - you are better off getting a connection and flying into Newark which is bad but does not reach the lows of Terminal 3. Airport personnel are beyond caring.

Arrived from Frankfurt on Lufthansa at T1 at same time as several international flights. Took 1 hour 30 mins from leaving aircraft to collecting baggage. All staff were polite and most of the TSA desks open. Left next morning from T7 on US Air. Check in and security only took about 20 minutes again no problems.

Arrived at Terminal 3 yesterday after a long flight from Rome Italy on Delta #245. It was a total nightmare. Can't believe how disorganized inept and frustrating the whole experience was from the time of arrival getting through passport control security check and on to our final connection. I have read prior reviews on this terminal and could not believe that it could be so bad. This terminal is dirty outdated and seemingly unchanged since its inception in the 1950's when probably 4-5 European flights were scheduled daily. I felt sorry for the elderly people who looked so worn out from the whole process. What a sorry welcome back to the USA. I will avoid this airport like the plague in the future despite plans for a brand new Terminal 4 to open in 2013.

We flew from London to JFK. After reading all previous reviews we now realise it was our lucky day. We only waited 2 hours in a narrow corridor with no air-conditioning a single toilet for 600 people waiting in line no water no medical attendants and no where to sit. Nursing mothers and elderly people in their eighties were treated without respect or dignity. Our uniformed guard made it very clear we were aliens and not Americans. There were only 5 out of 27 entry booths open. Just as we were within a few minutes of moving forward to passport control a plane of American passport holders arrived and we were very firmly told to "get back and stand aside." When we arrived at the passport guard he did not utter a single word. First his hand beckoned for our passport then he nodded for our fingers to be put on the machine then he stared at his computer screen then stamped passports and nodded over his shoulder for us to move on. After passport control we arrived at the officers collecting the Customs Declaration form. Four officers laughing and joking and by the looks of it having a good time - collecting a form? This is a disgrace and nothing to be proud of. It is something all Americans should experience and be concerned about. It is the first impressions of America which is quite frightening. Regional airports in less developed countries put it to shame. We will never use JFK again and British Airways need to reconsider their use of JFK.