Worst airport to have a layover in?
 

I haven't traveled to many places but it seems that ADD in Ethiopia is pretty bad. I was travelling with family in 2016 because of the cheap tickets and new flight path from LAX-DUB-ADD but honestly I think it was a mistake. Don't get me wrong, the new Boeing 787's were amazing but I can say that despite me not particularly enjoying connecting flights, I would take a 18 hour layover in Amsterdam without leaving the airport than a 5 hour layover there.

Aside from the infrastructure, the treatment by immigration and customs officers can also make the experience hell, particularly if someone is from different religion or ethnicity in some regions (Middle Eastern countries, Most of Asia, South America).

What would you have to say was your worst layover experience?

LAX is pretty high on my list for places I will actively avoid connecting in! Just chaos, lack of facilities (may be the terminal I have flown through rather than the whole airport mind you), and a bunch of attitude from staff.

Without even reading your post, my mind went straight to ADD.

Hmm.might consider removing it as a destination for connecting when travelling from the Europe to Australia.

I've heard that CBP can be a**holes and rightly so according to some American and non-American friends who've visited the US; my question is what makes them so despised? Is it the rigorous interrogation techniques, invasion of privacy, lack of courtesy?

JED. No tourist visas per se, so the likelihood of you be able to leave the airport is small. Also, Saudia's terminal is a mess, but the food at the SV lounge is not bad (for lounge eats).

People who are complaining about LAX have not tried to get from one terminal to another in Manilla...

CDG (Paris). Hot and stinky. Bunch of rude people. Hassle to get around and then the bus to the plane. Total Fail.

LAX Terminal 3. The dining offerings are really bad. Only option is to pay up for the VA lounge.

Before the current terminal, an international layover in Santiago, Chile was no fun. It was just a room with seating but no shops. I suppose one could have exited with the other passengers and not go through the transit lounge but then you would have to pay an exit tax.

At least LAX has a/c. Manila (MNL) doesn't even the a/c working! Try being in a cramped, stuffy building in 90 F/32 C temperatures and no a/c running. I'll add, you have to go through security just to get inside the terminal, having to go through another layer of security having to show your itinerary prior to check-in.

I like LAX. I didn't enjoy SLC.

RUH springs to mind - a long wait in a hot & crowded immigration hall (unable to clear immigration) while waiting for someone to open a door to permit passage to airside.

free airconditioned bus
 

there now is a free air conditioned shuttle bus which also allows passengers to see the gen av area.

just ask the people at the transfer desks, it is kind of hard to find and its walkway is behind some large unmarked doors that look like emergency exits.

MNL!!!! Don't get there early......

Dreadful conditions waiting for check in not just to open.... but to have signs changed to show which desks were going from X airline to Y....... (at least when I used to pass through there...)

LAX is fine...especially now TBIT has been improved so much....And as I have commented before in relation to my dealings with TSA... I have never had the sort of experience with CBP so many talk about..... they aren't friendly...but that doesn't equal "rude".....not in my book. Perhaps being an Aussie makes a difference...I have no way of knowing.... but in 47 trips... never a "bad" experience.... YMMV of course.....

PEK T3 - Beijing (Int'l to Int'l)

Hundreds of people waiting to have their BPs stamped for transfer (a completely unnecessary step not seen at any other airport), with only 1 bored official doing this immensely demanding job at a leisurely pace. Over an hour waiting in line, looking at a poster the border guard is displaying nearby to congratulate themselves on the quality of their work.

Once your BP is stamped, walk downstairs (escalator broken) and join the line to immigration as if you were not transferring at all but rather just walked into the airport from the street.

Unbelievable pollution both outside and inside the airport (and AQI was only ~400 at the time, while it can easily reach twice that number). Feels and smells like a fire inside the terminal building.

Lights switched off in large sections of the airport, the only illumination provided by things like a backlit advertisement of the Emirates airline.

Extremely dirty lounge with all food stock depleted, loud noise and vibration from some drilling nearby that made all the furniture shake violently (on a late Sunday evening).

30 min+ bus ride to remote stand, looking as if the bus had left the airport premises and diverted for an excursion of the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

1h+ sitting on the plane with everyone boarded before it starts moving for take-off, no announcements or explanations given at any point.