Sao Paulo Guarulhos Airport

Terminal 3 (new terminal) was quiet clean and comfortable. The ceilings are high compared to the old stuffy terminals and the shops and restaurants were nicely spread from each other. This new terminal could be anywhere in the world and I think the Brazilians architects and interior designers could have added a bit more colours and exotic touches (vegetation murals mini exhibits of the country's diversity etc). This was the only let down especially with the World Cup starting in a few weeks.

GRU doesn't create a great first impression as it's clearly an ageing 1960s/70s building dark and gloomy. Its not the quickest immigration queue I've been in but by no means the worst (Hello Heathrow). Very helpful taxi who helped sort out a large group of us to the correct destination at the right price. There's not a huge range of shops before departures but we had a nice lunch at the buffet restaurant. The prices might be a bit high by Brazilian standards but again compare favourably with Heathrow. The slowest queue I have ever encountered for passport control on departures – most countries seem to be in a hurry to get rid of you but not Brazil. Not much beyond security in terms of eating and shops and the prices in the duty-free all seemed to be in US dollars.

Fly into this airport once or twice a year. It is a disaster. It has facilities which in no way reflect its status as South America's premier air hub. Airside in the terminal we use for London flights there are very few shops or eateries and it is very crowded. There isn't even anywhere we can use the internet. Very poor indeed.

Arrived at GRU December 17 immigration took only 30 minutes. Facilities still very limited - had multiple flights luggage on 1 carousel - 4 other carousels sat idle. Toilets not overly clean. No longer required to fill out customs declaration - was always a waste of time as either no one looked at them or even collected them. Will it cope in June?

I beg to disagree with those who feel Rio's Tom Jobim Airport (GIG) is the worst in Brazil. GRU is the worst IMHO. The baggage claim area has go to be one of the worst-configured I've seen: little space between baggage carousels and that made worse by the fact that baggage carts (at least they're free) are stacked between the carousels. When crowds jam around a carousel after a large plane arrives chaos can ensue. If it's a hot day the lack of effective air conditioning makes things worse (what this will be like during the World Cup I don't know). After Customs we stood in a long line to check our bags for a connecting domestic flight. Then went upstairs through security (that was quick) and downstairs to a crowded departure gate serving two flights. Passengers were told to get on one of two buses depending on their destination. Then we all went to exactly the same remote terminal and waited again for our flights (at least there was air conditioning here). Had to walk up stairs to get to the planes (if you have heavy carry-on bags and aren't in great shape pity you).

Far away from downtown there were a lot of hold-ups on the motorway. So take a lot of time to go there. Our flying crew were late because of congestion. Staff are not very efficient but very nice. It isn't clean at all and for such huge airport there's very few shops. Security check is the longest queue I have experienced.

Worst airport I have been to. Poor signaling - (if you don't ask somebody who speaks English or even Spanish you're lost). Constantly changing gates. No fast way to move people by way of electric walkways. Most announcements are only in Portuguese which I find discourteous. Not enough gates so we have to take a bus to get to a connecting flight. They are not ready for World Cup or the Olympics. I enjoy visiting Brazil but when I think of what I have to endure to get there I prefer to go elsewhere.

I go to Europe or the US regularly from my home in Brasilia and frequently the connection is here (or GIG Galeao Rio only marginally better). The place is being refurbished for the WC in 2014 of course but remains a really depressing and badly run place. If your flight allows you to board on a walkway then you're lucky - if it involves a bus it's cattle class. The TAM / Star Alliance lounges are pitiful the duty free is cramped options for eating are poor before you go through to the gates and worse afterwards everything is ludicrously expensive. Everywhere you go there are people on the floor because they have no option. There's really nothing good to be said about the place - sorry.

GRU is in my opinion a terrible airport. Small by international standards considering it is the main port of entry in Brazil overcrowded check in usually a mess immigration and customs queues ok if you are lucky. If you're arriving at peak time be prepared to wait at least 1 and a half hours to clear immigration and get your luggage and clear customs. Poor signage. Lack of free wifi. You have to be at your boarding gate early otherwise you will be left standing due to lack of enough seats.

Transited through GRU 3 times in 2.5 weeks Dec-Jan with connecting Domestic-International International- Domestic and Domestic-International. It is not clear on the connections process with no dedicated connections channels process. In connecting you need to leave the baggage claim area and if connecting International to Domestic you will need to collect your luggage (even if ticketed through and have boarding pass) and go to Connections Desks on the other side of the lifts as you come out of Domestic Baggage claims. If connecting Domestic to International you shouldn't need to (if you have your boarding pass and luggage through ticketed) so as you come out of Domestic arrivals go straight up to International Departures on 1st Floor. A better choice of eating and shopping landside with a 'pub' style bar that has more comfortable style seating and waiter service. Overall options are not great landside but far better than airside particularly Domestic. International airside more options than Domestic but not sufficient eating facilities for passengers at the times I was flying. Something to note are the potentially long queues you can have when departing Internationally. The security screening overall area isn't big enough for busy periods and you will be faced with a large queue if leaving in the evening but it does seems to move quite quickly and there are plenty of security screening scanners when through the queue. You should also be aware that departing immigration checks can be long depending on whether you are Brazilian or not and when you fly. As non- Brazilian I had experience of both time slots and when transiting the first time and leaving mid-evening for a flight to Buenos Aires I got caught in a queue of fellow Europeans returning home and had to wait nearly an hour to clear departure immigration. On the last transit I left on a late evening TAM flight back to Europe I found the non-Brazilian queue very quick whereas the queue for Brazilians was huge and slow. You need a minimum 2 hour connection time in GRU if connecting Domestic to International or reverse however it did appear there were TAM agents at the Domestic arrivals door to deal with passengers on flights departing imminently.