Newark Airport

Had not flown into this airport in years. It is shameful that an airport that is connected to New York is such a mess. After dropping the rental car I waited for tram to get to the airport. You have to guess on your own whether the one to the left or one to the right will depart. And on top of that for no apparent reason you had to change the tram at terminal A to go to terminal B. Nothing tell you do so. You just have to guess seeing most of the people getting off the train. It was very confusing. The gate number for my flight was not listed even though flight was about to depart in less than an hour. Security had to be the slowest of any airport I have seen. Its not that there were lot people ahead of me - the TSA folks just looked lazy and clumsy thats all. They didn't have any incentive to expedite people faster. There was this one TSA staff that gives you this brochure which says if you pay $200 annual fee you dont have to wait in line as long. What a way to squeeze every penny out of travellers. The rest rooms were filthy - there should be no excuse for that.

As a New Yorker flying out of EWR frequently due to the convenient schedule of Continental Airlines I find this airport a total embarassment. I flew to Puerto Vallarta business class on Saturday January 17 in the morning. The airport officials and Continental reps were barking orders at us. Elite access for business class was totally obliterated due to many flights leaving at the same time. Passengers were pulled out of line ahead of the rest of us to barely check in the required hour before flight time. Those of us leaving later had to wait until WE were checked in by the skin of our teeth. Fortunately I had Elite Access through security. Otherwise I would have missed my flight due to a congested security area. This was Terminal C. I do not know who was responsible for this mayhem Continental Airlines airport personnel or both. I complained through channels to Continental about this. A week has passed and I have not had the courtesy of a reply of any kind even an electronic acknowledgement of my e-mailed complaint. Avoid this airport at all costs. However I live here and do not have that luxury without cutting off my nose to spite my face.

I have been there a few times to pick up passengers and found it utterly confusing. Even the highway signs once you get off the NJ Turnpike don't make it clear where the main terminal is located. Once you are inside the airport there are no signs indicating which airlines are at each terminal. I know there are only three terminals but this is a major problem if you don't know which one to go to. I ended up in Terminal C and found no signs indicating where to meet passengers and had to ask an employee. Also in the pre-security area there is absolutely no retail not even a place to get coffee or water.

Big and confusing at check in. Security- they need to get a grip. Why is this always an issue in the US. I totally favour good security done efficiently. These guys like so many others across the States just think that this hyper aggressive abrupt manner is acceptable. I am sorry for generalising but it is such a feature of US travel that they need to be aware that I now know many people that simply will not go there or even route through there. The airport apart from this is quite acceptable and pretty well connected and laid out. So good marks for the airport bad marks for their security.

This was by far the worst airport I have used for connecting in the US. Arriving from SLC and connecting into LHR was a nightmare. After we got out of the plane we looked around and were trying to find a transfer desk or at least some information screens which would tell us which is our gate but had no luck. There was also no single employee around which could assist us. After leaving the security area (which i deem completely unnecessary) we had finally found some screens. To our surprise the time on the screen was showing a departure time 1hr 20mins earlier than what we had on our itinerary. After 10 minutes we finally managed to find the BA check in which was basically in a basement and very difficult to find. We rushed to the gate and only realized there that the times which were displayed on the information screens are not departure times but boarding times. We were however stuck in the gate area with a very limited selection of food and shop options. Generally the airport is very poorly organized with no information screens almost no signs and rude staff. For me the first and last time I was flying through Newark

Arrived in terminal B at EWR at about 2PM. Three international flights landed almost simultaneously. There were about 120 people in front of me in the passport control line. However there were easily 30 counters open in the non-US-citizen section. So the wait time for me was about 20 minutes. The agents at passport control were all very friendly and welcoming. This gave the airport a 5-star welcoming experience. However I am rating at 4-stars because the Air-Train stopped working for a while and I got shoved into the train going the opposite side of where I wanted to go. As a result missed Amtrak connection. With a bunch of luggage in hand this is unpleasant but not that much to complain about.

Flew into Newark on Continental - arrived 1315. We had been concerned by the somewhat negative reviews here but were very impressed. Customs were very quick (queued for 5-10 mins compared to 2 hours at Miami in 2006) and pleasant. As transit passengers (going to Fort Myers) we had to pick up the bags then walk them literally round the corner to transit handling then got the monorail to Terminal C (arrived in B). Restaurants limited but had a good meal. Very impressed.

Flying out of Newark: Generally good modern facilities presidents club (Terminal C) is OK and a nice area to sit in if a little overcrowded at times. Not much to keep you occupied though shops/food outlets are uninspiring and scattered throughout the terminal meaning a bit of walking is required between each. Flying in to Newark: Flown into Newark twice in the last few weeks. It's Jekyll and Hyde stuff with immigration though for non-US citizens. First flight wasn't too bad 30 mins wait tv screens to keep the boredom at bay showing Larry King. Bags ready once past the boarder and very efficient customs operation. Second time was dreadful with immigration the culprits. 2 hour wait the staff attending to the lines (not the border control officers) were nothing short of rude to almost everyone. They did not communicate with the border control people causing more confusion arguments and delays. In fact it took so long that our flight was removed from the baggage board 1 hour before we cleared immigration making it problematic finding our luggage.