What is your least favorite airport?I'm not a fan of Atlantas Hartfield airport. Every time we've ever gone the flights are always late and you have to run from one side of the airport to the other if you have to catch a connecting flight.

Los Angles International (LAX) last time we went through there. When checking in you need to go to multiple stations for functions that are done in two in our local airport. It created huge lines of people who tried to cut in ahead of you constantly.

Also the people who work there are very rude and abrupt.

Least favorite is a dead heat between Los Angeles Int'l (LAX) and Manila - Ninoy Aquino Int'l (MNL). I have been through Manila 31 times since 2005, LAX 4 times, and I will happily elaborate:

LAX is a horrible, confusing labyrinth of terminals; construction zones that make changing terminals frustrating and like trying to find your way out of a maze; the slowest immigration and customs agents in the USA; and a lot of airport workers that, because they can't speak English (many are from South of the border), cannot help you find your way from one terminal to the next. I tried to make it last year from T8 to T7. First I had to go through immigration. The lines for the foreigners and US citizens were about equal in length, but sadly, the US citizens were afforded only three immigration agents, whereas the foreigners were provided with six. And, of course, their line was really moving. I waited an HOUR in immigration while I watched foreigner after foreigner breeze quickly through immigration. It was pathetic, and the TSA is to blame. Once I got through customs and immigration, I followed the signs that said "Terminal 7". Well, that wasn't easy because there were construction zones (but no work going on) and doors, hallways, and routes were blocked. Eventually I got so lost I asked an airport worker, but she spoke no English. There wasn't another around until 20 minutes later with me standing outside Terminal 8 with 4 bags trying to figure out the signage (didn't know where to go and the signs were of no help) and a Black guy who worked pushing those SmarteCarts around came by and gave me some directions (thanks, if you ever read this!).

MNL - Terminal 1. This is the terminal ALL airlines with the exception of Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific use. Ok, that's a nightmare of an airport. Easy to navigate because it's 45 years old or so. But it handles 10x (see Wikipedia) the amount of pax traffic it was designed to handle, and it hasn't had any major upgrades--ever (just some minor interior refurbs). So when you check in, there is one ticketing lobby that is half-circle shaped. Now, because there are a limited number of gates/slots/flights-allowable due to no new ones being built since it opened, almost every airline that flies in there flies in their biggest planes so that they can take fullest advantage of the gate time they have and move the largest number of pax as possible. So, you have 747's, 777's, 767's, A330's, A340's, etc, all jammed in to Manila at once, the whole day through. So that ticketing lobby (there are no e-ticketing machines there) that was designed for 4 million pax is now shuffling 40+ million pax, and lines for every flight are 270-400+ people (oh, every airline flies their planes in that have interior configs for the most pax).

You have to arrive at MNL a minimum of 3 hours early, but that's pushing it. Four hours is much safer, since you will spend a very long time in your airline's ticketing lines because 1) there are many airlines fighting for just 70 counters; 2) every airline still stupidly insists on special lines for their elite members (which at MNL is really stupid), cutting down on lines and agents to help the 300+ people in each line; 3) flights are stacked so close together to get the maximum utility from gates and gate-time, so there are usually two big flights of pax in one line (600 or so pax); 4) the gate agents are more interested in talking to one another than helping you, and their computers are antiquated (slow) anyhow.

Once you do get your bags checked in, you have to clear immigration, but not before paying $15.00 (750Php) to leave the country. Immigration is only 8 desks, and they are never fully staffed even at peak hours (which is most of the time at MNL). The agents are excruciatingly slow at their jobs (worse than TSA agents at LAX, if you can believe it), and all those people from the ticketing lobby are using those immigration booths. To make matters worse, 3 of the lanes are for Filipinos and OFW's only, so the rest of the world is funnelled into 5 lines. Needless to say, immigration takes a while.

Once you are through immigration and go through a second security checkpoint, you find a dirth of places to eat and kill time (if you're fortunate enough to get through with time to spare). Like most int'l pax, you probably cashed in your pesos for your native currency before you went through. This proves to be your biggest mistake, since only 1 coffee shop accepts credit cards (well, Duty Free shops do too, but I've never met anyone who smokes a carton of cigs or drinks a 5th of liquour while waiting for a flight), so you need pesos. Prices are marked up, of course, and even the souvenir shops take only cash. So if you're waiting or your flight is delayed, and you get thirsty, you're screwed. 1) No water fountains, and you wouldn't want to drink the water anyway. 2) Cash only, and there is no Travelex kiosk at which you can exchange money. You had to have done it prior to clearing immigration, or just kept your pesos.

Finally, at the gates that are so crowded you have a hard time finding a seat, every airline has set up either another security checkpoint so that you have to go through security every time you need to use the restroom or get something to drink/eat while waiting for your flight (if you don't go through the 3rd security checkpoint, you have no where to sit down); or at the very least you have to show ID and boarding pass to a couple of agents who mark you on a list who are at the entrance to the roped-off area for your gate.

MNL - Terminal 1 is a nightmare. Frustratingly, Terminal 2 is for Philippine Airlines only, but they have many of the same problems, plus an antiquated airport business plan and old technology. And no credit cards there, either. Terminal 3 is new and would easily double the capacity of Terminal 1, but the discount air carrier Cebu Pacific is the only airline allowed to use it due to political-corporate infighting in the Philippines that will not allow it to be used for int'l airlines.

If you have to go to the Philippines, fly into CRK (Clark Int'l) if you can, which is 2 hours north of Manila at Angeles City, and save yourself headaches.

The old Detroit Airport.