John Glenn Columbus International Airport — Attraction in Columbus

Had a lovely time in Columbus until I got to the airport. TSA was challenging and rude. Signage leading up to the airport makes no sense. Call it arrivals and departures like every other airport. Flight was delayed.

I accidentally went through terminal B security instead of A at first because I accidentally looked at my boarding group vs gate. I went through security at B before I realized. I have TSA pre check and went through security at terminal B without any issue or holdup didn’t have to take anything out of my bag & nothing went off. Then apparently no way to get to the other terminal (also ridiculously inconvenient) so they told me I had to exit and go through security again at terminal A…. Terminal A is Southwest’s terminal, I’d avoid it if you can.

So I go expecting it to be a similar, pleasant, seamless experience. I was wrong. Terminal A security checkpoint is so much worse. Not clear navigation to TSA pre check line. Then I’m asked before I put my bad through the machine if I have more than 1 large electric. I had 2 laptops. I was not asked this & nothing went off in Terminal B security. But at A security I had to take a laptop out? With TSA pre check you shouldn’t have up take electronics out and put them in bins people buy their shoes in. It’s not cleanly. Then it got worse - my bag goes through and they demand to take out my other laptop and run it through again. Again, shouldn’t have to take out any laptops but now both? I tried reasoning with them and one of them said “Enough, this is happening” in an extremely rude & demeaning tone, treating me as if I had contraband or something. It’s was a perfectly normal LAPTOP. Then put my whole bag through again and then have to take someone check it still even with the laptops out. An agent them manually searches my bad to find a portable charger and my phone (another 2 normal electronics to travel with) with a special detector. Both were fine. Everything in my bag was fine and safe to travel with. Having TSA pre check should mean you shouldn’t have to take electronics out of your bag let alone all of them. Are people not allowed to travels with multiple electronic devices?! It’s 2024. TSA security is stuck in the early 2000s. The rude and unreasonable responses & actions from your staff members were not ok. Nothing was wrong with what I was carrying and I should not have had to had my time wasted and my privacy violated like that for nothing. Especially after I went through clearly at the 1st security checkpoint with no issue and nothing needing to be removed. No apology for the inconvenience just aggressive remarks, mean glares, and when I told them thanks for wasting my time the agent replied “anytime” in a sarcastic tone and the other one standing next to her doing absolutely nothing but glaring laughed. Absolutely unacceptable behavior and shows they just like to mess with people.

Also had a TSA pre check card at Terminal A security (2nd one) and I go through the metal detector and accidentally forget I’m holding it. The lady rudely told me to put it in the pile as if I’m doing it intentional, I forgot…not used to holding a card. There should be a separate TSA pre check area anyway versus cards. It was the middle of the day.

Stop wasting people’s time, not upholding TSA pre check perks, and having major inconsistencies between your security gates at different terminals in the same airport. I love how my tax dollars and tax I pay on tickets is used not for actual security but for inconvenience. Focus on ACTUAL security risks or lessen your staff because looked like they’re just doing this stuff to have something to do and to seem necessary. Hope you take this feedback seriously to improve your operations and staffing and improve the satisfaction of your patrons. Put a bad taste in my mouth after a good trip...

(For some reason, my review keeps getting removed from the CMH United Airlines page, so I’m posting here to make sure no one else has to go through what we did.)

In the early hours of 01/07/2025, my mother and I (both American citizens following U.S. travel guidelines) arrived at the Port Columbus International airport (CMH) around 04:00 AM for our 06:00 AM, United 3430 flight, giving ourselves ample time to check in. CMH was only our connecting point to IAD, where we were scheduled to board our actual international flight.

Despite this, United’s check-in staff insisted my mother and I present our tourist visas. This demand made no sense, CMH was just a connection to IAD, where we would board our actual international flight. Their request was completely absurd because, per IATA’s official guidelines for our destination, a tourist visa was not required in advance, as we were eligible to obtain one upon arrival. This highlighted an alarming lack of knowledge for airline employees responsible for passenger check-in.

Yet, instead of verifying the information, they denied us boarding entirely. This wasn't a misunderstanding. It was pure incompetence and a blatant refusal to verify U.S. travel regulations and IATA policies. Even when we had a United customer service representative on the phone ready to clarify, the check-in staff outright refused to listen. Instead of handling the matter professionally, we were met with hostility and condescending behavior from multiple check-in employees.

One staff member even went as far as to question the validity of the U.S. government's own website, scoffing at the guidelines and responding with, "Well, honey, this is 2025..." as if government travel policies somehow expired at the start of the new year.

After over five hours of trying to clarify the situation, their dismissive and condescending attitudes persisted. With no other option, we rebooked our travel through Cathay Pacific for 01/09/2025, entirely at our own expense. Our new itinerary had us flying American Airlines from CMH to ORD, connecting to Cathay Pacific. Because of this, we missed the funeral, adding to an already difficult time and preventing us from grieving properly.

We had no such issue flying with American Airlines on a nearly identical itinerary with an international connection on 01/09/2025. Yet, United's check-in staff insisted their rules were different, something I've never encountered before. They claimed we needed to present tourist visas, which was completely false. Airlines don't set their own visa requirements; they follow government regulations and IATA guidelines. Somehow, with this crew, that was up for debate (lol). Their refusal to verify the correct information before denying us boarding was completely unacceptable. That failure to follow proper procedures caused us unnecessary stress, financial loss, and, most importantly, made us miss a loved one’s funeral.

To make matters worse, United has refused to refund the flights they wrongfully denied us boarding on, despite the fact that their staff's failure to follow basic procedures caused this situation. Instead of taking accountability, they've forced us to bear the financial burden of their mistake. Not only did we lose money, but we had to spend time and energy finding another way to reach our destination. Instead of grieving our loss, we were left scrambling to fix a situation United never should have caused in the...

I don’t fly super often but when I do it’s typically an emergency or I’m in a time-crunch. This morning my husband and I and our dog(Australian Shepherd-Corgi 45lbs - ESA) were getting ready to check in with American Airlines our flight was supposed to be at 7:00am EST. I want to state that I am not aware of the rules and regulations associated with pets on airplanes/in airports. Before we started moving in the line the associate that was that the end of the check-in line looked at my dog said “oh how cute” and then asked if he was a service dog. I answered no and said that he’s an ESA. This employee didn’t hesitate to say that ESA’s don’t exist and that they went out four years ago and that unless my dog is a service dog, he cannot go on the plane! He went and got his supervisor to “help” us sort everything out. The supervisor told us that ESA are not allowed on the plane, my dog is considered as being too big to be a carry-on pet, and he had to be sent in cargo and if it wasn’t for my husband being active duty military my dog could not have been in cargo. The supervisor continued and stated that the Cargo facility opened at 8:00, that we needed to provide a crate, food and water set up, and we needed to fill out a live pet cargo form. After we went to Walmart to pick up the supplies that were needed for our dog, we went to the Cargo facility (which had opened at 6:30am). The Cargo facility was disgusted that American didn’t give us ALL of the information that we needed to know. The employees at the Cargo facility were extremely helpful and explained exactly what needed in order for our dog (which did not consist of the live pet cargo form).

There were other complications that resulted in my staying in Columbus with my dog.

However, I should not have been told FALSE information from American Airlines and my husband and I should not have had to run all over the city because of THEIR lack of knowledge AND information!

Because of this incident, I will NOT be using American Airlines any time soon, and if I fly I will NOT be flying into or out of this airport ever again! American Airline needs to retrain and school their employees on customer service AND the rules and regulations on their “live pet cargo”!

Absolutely unimpressed and...