2002 Survey Results
Earlier this year, we asked and 233 of you answered our survey regarding present airport conditions. We thought that by getting several people to review their recent airport experiences we would find out exactly what one would expect to encounter in the airport. We were hoping to get a clearer image of an airport with a consensus on the type of seating, what amenities could be found, state of bathrooms, air conditioning, etc. and we believe we have achieved our goal. Poopy Bathroom AwardsAs the reviews rolled in, the one thing that did become clear was that the bathroom is the most remembered place in the airport and the only area that travellers agreed on with consistent ratings. Surprisingly, only 14 of the 233 entries failed to rate the bathroom. And more impressive is that 185 of the 219 bathrooms ranked are actually considered clean and suitable for use. However, we do recommend that you bring your own toilet paper, hand-wipes and disinfectant to the following airports. First Place: Cairo with two reports of filthy bathroom facilities. Second Place: Paris (Charles de Gaulle). Two bad reviews. We are disappointed to see a first class city with third world bathroom facilities, so we list you, CDG, to put you to shame. Clean up your act and your bathrooms!!! Third Place: Catania, Coutonou, Dallas-Fort Worth, Dominica, Indira Ghandi, Janakpur, Malta, Moscow, Perpignan, Philadelphia, Quito, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Seoul, Simferopol, Trinidad, Valencia, Veradero. Honourable Mentions to: Frankfurt, London Heathrow, London Stansted. Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Orlando. These airports were saved by other reports of cleanliness, but be forewarned, we're watching you. |
Creepy Crawler Awards:
If it had more than two legs and moved, our correspondents took note. Unfortunately, we didn't get specific in this portion of the survey. So we don't know if you need to bring insect repellent or large animal traps. Use your own discretion.
First Place: Cairo leads the pack again with two reports.
Second Place: Paris (Charles de Gaulle). I kid you not, we actually got reports of creepy crawlers here. I've never been to Paris, but I would have never thought we would receive so many disturbing reviews of this hellport. This is one of the most poorly rated airports on our list below. CDG, what is going on over there? Look at these other insect infested airports and see that there is something very wrong that you are on these lists. It's downright embarrassing.
Third Place: Caracas, El Salvador, Janakpur, Kiev, Simferopol, Trinidad
The Have-A-Back-Up-Plan Awards
For the most part travellers have commented on friendly or non-existent airport security. However, there are a few special airports where travellers have been known to be:
KICKED OUT - El Salvador, Salt Lake City
NOT PERMITTED TO SLEEP - London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St.Paul, New York JFK, Paris (what is a list without Paris?), and Sydney
BRIBED - Kiev
The Friendliest Security Guards Awards
Kudos and shouts outs to the security guards at these airports. You obviously do a good job at balancing airport policy with sympathy for the stranded or financially challenged traveller.
| Airport | Score (out of 100) |
| Melbourne | 100.00 |
| San Francisco | 100.00 |
| Amsterdam Schipol | 85.71 |
| Singapore Changi | 85.71 |
| Vancouver | 75.00 |
| Brisbane | 66.66 |
| Denver | 66.66 |
| Manchester | 66.66 |
| Auckland | 60.00 |
| London Stansted | 42.85 |
Airports for the Religious
No matter what your religious associations are, some sensitive airports have Prayer Rooms. Although the idea is to pray, you don't need to show a membership for the religion of your choice at the door. So if you pray to your higher power with your head down on a pew, a pillow under your head and sleeping some sweet dream, pray on in the Prayer Rooms of these airports:
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Airports for Gambling Enthusiasts
If saving money on a hotel room and blowing it all in the airport casino is what you prefer to do, these airports will be pleased to help you achieve your goal:
- Amsterdam
- Belize City
- Cologne
- Copenhagen
Ironically, we received a review for the Las Vegas airport, but the reviewer didn't happen to notice any casino or gambling facility. That's funny, since we've read about all the noise coming from the slot machines throughout the Las Vegas airport. Was the reviewer a deep sleeper?
Kid-friendly Airports
If you've ever been stranded in an airport or camped out voluntarily with children, it would have been nice to have a kids area, wouldn't it? Well, the next time you travel with your kids, you may want to route through the following:
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Airports for Fitness Enthusiasts
You've just got off a long flight. You can feel the fat cells forming on your legs. What better way to get some exercise between flights than to go to the airport gym facilities. There are not many airports with this luxury, but I applaud every one of them that do.
- Daytona
- Singapore
- Vancouver
Airports with Sleep Rooms
If catching a few zzzzzz's between flights is what you're looking for and camping out at the gate is not your idea of fun, check for sleep rooms. They rent by the hour and you won't get strange looks when you and your wife/husband say you want to rent a room for an hour.
- Amsterdam
- Honolulu
- Singapore
Airports with Showers
You've just got off a long flight. You smell like a barnyard on a hot summer day and you have one more flight to go. If you're flying through one of these airports, you can freshen up with a shower. Now, we can't guarantee the water temperature, but a cold shower is worth getting rid of that special airplane smell:
Free Showers
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Pay Showers
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Bring your own music
These airports will be blasting a medley of standard warnings (ie. don't smoke, don't leave your bags unattended, etc) and flight announcements throughout the day and night. You are best to bring a walkman, big-assed headphones to block out all external noise, good music and lots of batteries to help you through your stay in these airports:
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Rankings of airports (with more than one survey response):
| Airport | # of surveys | Score (out of 10) |
| Brisbane | 3 | 9.667 |
| Melbourne | 5 | 9.250 |
| Madrid | 2 | 9.000 |
| Singapore Changi | 7 | 9.000 |
| Amsterdam Schipol | 7 | 8.857 |
| Birmingham | 3 | 8.667 |
| Calgary | 2 | 8.500 |
| Gardermoen | 2 | 8.500 |
| Kuala Lumpur | 2 | 8.500 |
| Munich | 2 | 8.500 |
| San Francisco | 2 | 8.500 |
| Vancouver | 4 | 8.500 |
| London Heathrow | 7 | 8.000 |
| Malaga | 4 | 8.000 |
| Orlando | 2 | 8.000 |
| Athens | 7 | 7.857 |
| Auckland | 5 | 7.800 |
| Edinburgh | 2 | 7.500 |
| Montreal Dorval | 2 | 7.500 |
| Manchester | 3 | 7.333 |
| London Gatwick | 5 | 7.200 |
| Copenhagen | 2 | 7.000 |
| Sydney Kingford Smith | 2 | 7.000 |
| Zurich | 4 | 7.000 |
| Glasgow | 2 | 6.500 |
| Charleroi | 3 | 6.333 |
| Bangkok | 2 | 6.000 |
| Catania | 2 | 6.000 |
| Minneapolis - St. Paul | 3 | 6.000 |
| London Stansted | 7 | 5.857 |
| London Luton | 2 | 5.500 |
| New York - JFK | 2 | 5.500 |
| Quito | 2 | 5.500 |
| Denver | 3 | 5.333 |
| Frankfurt | 3 | 5.333 |
| Los Angeles | 8 | 5.125 |
| Chicago | 4 | 5.000 |
| Caracas | 2 | 4.500 |
| Frankfurt Hahn | 2 | 4.500 |
| Newark | 2 | 4.500 |
| Paris CDG | 5 | 3.800 |
| Cairo | 2 | 2.000 |
Rankings of airports (with only one survey response):
| Airport Name | Score |
| Alexandria | 10 |
| Bremen | 10 |
| Charlotte-Douglas | 10 |
| Daytona | 10 |
| Helsinki | 10 |
| Kiruna | 10 |
| Portland | 10 |
| Valencia | 10 |
| Cologne | 9 |
| Dallas Fort Worth | 9 |
| Koh Samui | 9 |
| Lahore Allama Iqbal International | 9 |
| Prague | 9 |
| Rio de Janeiro (Galeao) | 9 |
| Stockholm Arlanda | 9 |
| Val-de-Cans | 9 |
| Rome di Vinci | 9 |
| Belize | 8 |
| Canberra | 8 |
| Cleveland | 8 |
| El Dorado | 8 |
| Fort Lauderdale | 8 |
| Halifax | 8 |
| Hong Kong | 8 |
| Honolulu | 8 |
| Krakow | 8 |
| Las Vegas McCarran | 8 |
| Memphis | 8 |
| Osaka | 8 |
| Ottawa | 8 |
| Penang | 8 |
| Philadelphia | 8 |
| Tel Aviv Ben Gurion | 8 |
| Thunder Bay | 8 |
| Rome Fiumicino | 7 |
| Charleston | 7 |
| Dubai | 7 |
| Entebbe | 7 |
| Fairbanks | 7 |
| Galeao | 7 |
| Geneva Cointrin | 7 |
| Mallorca | 7 |
| MCI | 7 |
| Monterrey | 7 |
| Norfolk | 7 |
| Shanghai Pudong | 7 |
| Washington DC | 7 |
| Winnipeg | 7 |
| Baltimore | 6 |
| Coutonou | 6 |
| Dublin | 6 |
| Janakpur | 6 |
| Lagos | 6 |
| Lima | 6 |
| Moscow Sheremetyevo 2 | 6 |
| Pointe a Pitre | 6 |
| Qingdao | 6 |
| Salt Lake City | 6 |
| Seattle (Sea Tac) | 6 |
| Acapulco | 5 |
| Boston Logan | 5 |
| Colombo | 5 |
| Delhi | 5 |
| Indira Gandhi | 5 |
| Lagos Murtala Mohammed | 5 |
| Malta | 5 |
| Cincinnati | 4 |
| Denpasar | 4 |
| Dominica (Melville Hall) | 4 |
| New Orleans | 4 |
| Palma | 4 |
| Trinidad | 4 |
| Sydney | 4 |
| Windhoek | 4 |
| El Salvador | 3 |
| Perpingan | 3 |
| Seoul Kimpo | 3 |
| Fiji | 2 |
| Kiev | 2 |
| Papeete | 2 |
| Simferopol | 2 |
| Hartford Bradley | 1 |
| Veradero | 1 |
How does the Pre-check-in seating rank?
| Airport | Score (out of 10) |
| Calgary | 8 |
| Gardermoen | 8 |
| Vancouver | 8 |
| Melbourne | 7.8 |
| Birmingham | 7.67 |
| Madrid Barajas | 7.5 |
| Toronto | 7.5 |
| Brisbane | 7.33 |
| Singapore Changi | 7.14 |
| Athens Eleftherios Venizelos | 7 |
| Copenhagen | 7 |
| Edinburgh | 7 |
| Frankfurt Hahn | 7 |
| Manchester | 6.67 |
| London Heathrow | 6.57 |
| Bangkok | 6.5 |
| Montreal Dorval | 6.5 |
| London Gatwick | 6.25 |
| Auckland | 6.2 |
| Glasgow | 6 |
| Athens | 5.75 |
| Amsterdam | 5.57 |
| Malaga | 5.5 |
| Zurich | 5.5 |
| London Stansted | 5.43 |
| Minneapolis | 5.33 |
| Catania | 5 |
| Caracas | 4.5 |
| New York JFK | 4.5 |
| Denver | 4.33 |
| Charleroi | 4 |
| London Luton | 4 |
| Sydney | 4 |
| Frankfurt | 3.33 |
| Lagos | 3 |
| Quito | 3 |
| Los Angeles | 2.75 |
| Chicago O'Hare | 2.33 |
| Paris CDG | 2.2 |
| Cairo | 1.5 |
How does the Gate Seating rank?
| Airport | Score (out of 10) |
| Singapore Changi | 9.43 |
| Brisbane | 9.33 |
| Amsterdam | 9 |
| Athens Eleftherios Venizelos | 9 |
| Kuala Lumpur | 9 |
| Vancouver | 9 |
| Birmingham | 8.5 |
| Gardermoen | 8.5 |
| Montreal Dorval | 8.5 |
| Edinburgh | 8 |
| Manchester | 8 |
| Toronto | 8 |
| London Heathrow | 7.67 |
| Zurich | 7.25 |
| Auckland | 7 |
| Copenhagen | 7 |
| Frankfurt Hahn | 7 |
| London Luton | 7 |
| Melbourne | 6.5 |
| Denver | 6.33 |
| Athens | 6 |
| Sydney | 6 |
| London Stansted | 5.86 |
| Bangkok | 5.5 |
| New York JFK | 5.5 |
| Quito | 5.5 |
| Chicago O'Hare | 5.33 |
| Charleroi | 5 |
| Los Angeles | 4.57 |
| Caracas | 4.5 |
| Lagos | 4.5 |
| Frankfurt | 4.33 |
| London Gatwick | 4.33 |
| Malaga | 4 |
| Minneapolis | 4 |
| Paris CDG | 4 |
| Cairo | 2 |
