Frommer’s recently published a list of the world’s worst airport terminals, likening them to “joyless econoboxes” and “purgatorial warehouses of stalled lives”.
Frequent fliers have spent endless hours stuck in these terminals due to flight delays, especially if they travel the busy domestic routes popular with business travelers - all of U.S. airport terminals on the list are in Chicago or the New York City area.
Listed in order from least worst to most worst, see if you agree with Frommer’s ratings and add the terminals you love to hate in the comments section.
Given the worst on-time departure rating from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), this airport’s inevitable delays are offset by a new food court and convenient subway access to downtown.
2. Newark Terminal B
Also on the BTS’s list - this time for worst on-time arrivals - Frommer’s dings this terminal for putting security before the individual piers of Terminals A & B, giving you little access to food or entertainment during your wait in no man’s land.
3. LaGuardia US Airways Terminal
Calling this terminal “dull and sad”, Frommer’s expects more from a NYC-caliber airport than overcrowding, dismal dining and shopping and no rail service, even between its own terminals.
4. JFK Terminal 3
Another hit for NYC-area travelers, Frommer’s calls Delta’s international terminal “the worst single airport terminal in America, and probably in the Western world”. Dank, outdated, dirty, overcrowded, and confusing with an “utter lack of food and shopping options” are a few choice words to describe terminal 3. The good news? Delta’s scrapping the whole mess and replacing it with a modern glass structure.
New York City fliers take heart - JFK Terminal 5 made Frommer’s top-ten list of the world’s most beautiful airports by combining Eero Saarinen’s iconic TWA terminal with JetBlue’s state-of-the-art new one. The food court isn’t half bad either.
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