I have to travel for my job a lot more than I'd care to and have for years.  It's been a while since I've flown through Miami, but I'm stuck here at the moment.  I'd forgotten how terrible this place is - definitely my pick for America's worst.  Dirty, crowded, old, smelly, hot and sticky, slow, rude employees, no good food, and I don't speak the language.  Other than that's it's great.  Any other crowd favorites for poor saps like me who spend their lives waiting to get home?

Well at least it sounds like you're having fun.

I do a TON of traveling for work but in my humble opinion, for luggage problems and issues, Denver International is the ABSOLUTE worst. So may people warned me to only take carry on luggage. They were right. My luggage went to Key West and I went to a hotel downtown Denver and they delivered my luggage to my hotel 6 hours after my check in.

When and if it comes to connecting flights ... IE from one gate to another, there are two airports that are in a tie. Dallas and Atlanta.

So that's my humble opinion.

~ Lorrie

.^-^.
> '.'<
( v v ) /
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it"
~ Albert Einstein

I never cared much for the 8th Aerial Port in DaNang.

Hot, sticky, smelly, no good food, don't speak the language, incoming mortar rounds....

Oh that's right.....you said American airports. Well, it was sort of American.

Boy, you hit a nerve on this one with me. Frankly, I have to say ALL of em. Air travel today is the equivalent of riding a Trailways bus. Rude people, rude employees, delays, lost luggage; it goes on and on. My rule is that I will NEVER fly when my drive time is less than 15 hours. It's no wonder airlines are losing money. Their service sucks.

Amen to that dougger. Any flight that has a connection or lreaves a city fairly late in the day is at risk, although I've been stranded in a few cities lately in mid-day as well.

I would say Denver is the hardest to get around for connecting flights, although it really depends on the airline. If its local stops, Southwest cant be beat. But for everything else (unless you're flying to Sacramento to Dallas then you've got to fly American) Frontier or Continental cant be beat. I have yet to fly on United and think it was a good idea.

Joe

My vote is Chicago O'Hare.

After 76K miles last year with United, Chicago seems to always be the place I will encounter trouble.

Since Wichita is a United Express destination, you always land out at the E concourse and since regional jets are always second priority to large aircraft, they are never on time. Then you have the 15 mile sprint to the farthest gate in the C concourse and only 30 minutes to make the connection.

Last trip through in December, we were 30 minutes late, raced to the gate in C concourse only to find no airplane. Gate agent told us we missed by 10 minutes. Caught next flight to Seattle which departed at 10 PM and arrived in Seattle just before 1 AM. Walked into baggage claim to find all of our luggage sitting on the belt. Somehow the bags made the connecting flight.

I just want to stay home this year! You know its bad when the Embassy Suites courtesy drivers at LAX know you by name. Bad news is that I am heading for Korea in April.

JO

Denver can be brutal, but at least it's nice inside if you get stuck there (which you will, eventually).  I was there a couple of years ago for 6 hours because, I kid you not, the nozzles on the jet fuel dispensers had frozen shut!  Guess you can't really solve that one with a torch, but you'd think that would have been part of planned scenarios, wouldn't you?

Cincy is another weird one - beautiful airport, unless you have to take that bus right across the tarmac over to the smaller terminal (C?) stuffed full of people watching their flights delay again, and again, and again. Every time I walk into that back terminal and see all those people sitting in front of those gates all lined up I just flatline.

At this point, though,  you know it's going to be a long day and things just might get sideways, so I kind of gear up for it before I get there.  All I ask is that there's somewhere nice to sit and pass the time while I wait. 

I hear you about driving whenever you can, Doug.  I can't even count the number of times I had flights from Newark to Boston and back and realized when all was said and done it would have been faster to just drive!

So, what's your all time worst flying experience?  I once spent something like 15 hours getting from Houston to Newark and never left the plane!

Greg, the 8th Aerial just must have it on Miami, but it's close . . . sounds like a tie right down the line for comfort and customer service, but then you have to weigh "mortar fire" against "$8 beer and no where to sit and drink it."    Just kidding, of course - I can't even imagine, but it definitely puts domestic travel grief into perspective!

I am also one of those poor slobs who flies 75K miles per year. Put yourself in the lion's den on a weekly basis and you will be disappointed just about everywhere you turn. All of the airlines if given enough opportunity will overpromise and underdeliver. Continental is slightly beeter than the rest, but that's like commending your kid for getting a D- instead of an F on his report card.

I live in New Jersey but am in Rochester, NY on business. It's 310 miles away and I drove. Come snow, sleet, driving rain or locusts, at least I can predict what time I will get there if I drive.

And I'm IN the aviation business!!!!!!!!!