Sleeping in Airports blog

Manila airport - photo by Dave

October highlights on The Budget Traveller’s Guide to Sleeping in Airports.

OCTOBER STATS:

New Airport Reviews: 49
New Facebook Fans: 229 [ become a fan ]
Top Contributor: hmasurg [ become a contributor ]
Airport With Most New Reviews: Kuala Lumpur (3)
Most Read Airport Page: Paris Charles de Gaulle

LASTING IMPRESSIONS:

If you’ve visited the site in the past, you’re probably familiar with the “Lasting Impressions” section on each airport’s overview page.  This section includes some memorable quotes and tips I’ve picked out of our contributor’s reviews.  Here are a few quotes that have just been added:

• Manila - “the worst airport on the planet. It has to be experienced to be believed. Think of a bombed out ruin and you’ll get some idea.” (Brenty)
• Bergamo - “The worst thing was the security man shouting ‘Giovani a piedi! Giovani a piedi!’ (’Young people wake up! Young people wake up!’) at about 4:00 AM waking everybody up and not letting anyone sleep more.” (luciss)
• Singapore - “The roving police (Changi Airport) are scary, they don’t let you sleep in peace. They keep on waking me up and asking me for my passport and boarding pass despite the fact that they recognize me (asked me 4 times in total, same people every time).” (toyotaboy95)
• Dallas - “the noisy frequent announcements (after half year, I still remember what he said ‘the security level is orange’). My night at DTW ended up sleepless.” (zackbupt)
• Bangkok - “I was denied boarding and had to wait in transit at BKK for 24 hrs, then was removed by security because after 24 hrs you are breaking some Thai law.” (flleric)
• Kuala Lumpur - “just as we’d set up we were told the whole terminal building would be closed until 4 because they were spraying for bugs!” (Herodotus)
• Chicago Midway - “I was so panicked and desperate that I actually made a shuttle trip out to O’Hare to see if I could get anything there. Of course, there was nothing so I had to come all the way back.” (steverino)
• Frankfurt - “watch out for the moving golf carts whizzing around. They can change your trip to a journey to the doctor!” (hmasurg)

ADVENTURES & MISADVENTURES

While there are always so many good and helpful reviews to choose from, some are a little more entertaining.  Here are my picks for this month:

Milan Milano Centrale Railway Station, Italy
A scary night by Astwerty
This was a few years ago, but I doubt much has changed since then. I arrived at Bergamo airport around midnight. Since I was taking the first train back to Florence, I decided to just wait the five hours or so at the train station instead of spending the money for a hostel. Big mistake.
By the time I got to the train station, the doors were locked. So, I was stuck standing right outside the train station. There were plenty of other people doing this. Most of them were sketchy middle-aged men. I was a lone 20 year-old female, so I felt very uncomfortable. One of them talked to me for awhile and tried to get me to come into his car. I just kept declining. He eventually went away.
Once the train station opened around 5am, it wasn’t much better. Another weird guy came up to me and tried to give me a massage. So gross.
Anyway, if you are a guy or with a guy, you will probably be left alone. Otherwise, I wouldn’t risk it.

Hannover Langenhagen - Terminal C, Germany
Cold, uncomfortable and bored out of my skull by t_maia
This airport sucks for staying overnight, but in many cases you (and others) are forced to do so. Many flights to holiday destinations leave in the dead of the night or very early in the morning. That combined with the fact that public transport to the airport is not running between 11 pm and 5 am causes many people to spend the night there waiting for their flight - especially families with small children about to go on a package holiday. Being tired the brats run amok all over the place, wailing and kicking up a fuss. Plus the lights are glaring, it is cold and there aren’t enough seats for all the people. There is a general noise level that makes even hardened airport sleepers unable to catch a nap. To top it off all the amenities such as fastfood restaurant and shops close at 11 pm at the latest, there aren’t even vending machines for candy and soda. Bring your own food and drink if you fancy a midnight snack. The internet cafe closes even earlier at 7 pm. There is nothing for you to do but sit and wait.

Finally: for an airport this size you expect the layout to be simple - it is not. There was one case with local fame where a passenger got lost and only found the exit after 5 hours of wandering around. Most people won’t have a problem, but there aren’t too many signs indicating where you are so make sure you are in the right terminal. Note that almost all the amenities are in Terminals AB.

Check back next month for more great stories!