Yeah right, JFK airport is neat and traveler friendly.

This Airport should be razed and all the employees fired, from the Airlines' to the TSA, to US Customs, to the concessionaires, all of it and all of them. Just start from scratch. I have had the displeasure of going through this airport internationally 3 times. First coming back home to the U.S. is a night mare. You never get an incoming gate on time, so you sit on the runway. Once you get a gate, you have to go to US Customs. That is a test of your physical tolerances and fitness. They put you into this long dark, hot and humid underground hallway, with no A/C or even fresh air ventilation, where you get to wait with 2000 of your closest stinky friends. Did I mention that it is hot and stuffy? The Customs, TSA and Law Enforcement agents in the hallway do a good job (like sheepdogs) keeping you corralled. After getting through the "mile long" underground hallway, you enter into a gigantic room, the size of several Boeing hangars, where the passports are checked. That is another 45-minute wait. Then you have to get your luggage and go through customs. By now you have missed your connection! (Every time I have arrived at JFK and had to go through customs, I have always missed my connection.) To book a new flight, you have to go into this tiny room with the same 2000 of your now even more irate and stinky friends, to get tickets and drop off your luggage. Sometimes, there are no flights 'till the next morning. They will not readily give you a hotel stay. The airlines will blame the airport and the airport will blame the airlines. No one accepts responsibility, and therefore no one wants to comp your hotel; very convenient for this sick airport system – JFK. It is cheaper for them, for you to sleep on the floor in the hallways. If you raise enough hell, you'll get the 2 star hotel stay, which is still well worth it. Flying out from the airport, domestically, or internationally is not as bad, except plagued with the constant delays. If your flight is delayed by even a minute, you can't get a slot for takeoff on the runway and your plane goes to the back of the line. 2-hour delays are par for the course! Stay away from this airport. There is a reason why most flights that connect through this airport are at bargain basement prices. No one who has lived this night mare ever wants to do it again. You pay with your sanity!

Living in Europe, I frequently use the international terminal. When arriving I have to go through immigration's line management which is far worse compared to Disney World (one to two hours going up and down before reaching the immigration desk). When departing I find myself in the central hall where every seat and even more is occupied with people eating and drinking fast food and littering the place with left overs. The good point is that Air Train combined with the subway can bring you rather quickly into town. A single train connection would have my preference of course.

Thing I like about JFK is you can find almost all the airlines in the world here and is not all cramp into 1 big terminal. Instead, it is spread out in different terminals and this way is much easier to find your airline. I wish they have a bullet train or something that connect between the airport and the city. Air Train is great but it can only get you to the subway and the subway in NYC is an embarrassment to this great city.

I have been to JFK several times either to take a flight or to receive or see someone off. Being a big airport with several terminals it gets confusing at times but I would surely say it is one of the best airports worldwide in many ways.