Sleeping in Airports blog

Since Wednesday thousands of people have been stranded at airports in Europe and abroad.  With no place to go until flights resume and no word on when that will be, passengers face a lengthy wait.

Unfortunately, the airlines are not required to do much, if anything, for stranded passengers during an “Act of God” such as this.  The United States Department of Transportation does not require airlines to provide any compensation, food or lodging.

In Europe, the rules are a little more civilized.  The airlines are not required to provide financial compensation, but they are required to provide such things as food and lodging “as appropriate”.

The definition of “as appropriate” has been interpreted differently by different airlines.  American Airlines in European airports has been providing stranded passengers snacks (because we all know the nutritional value a handful of pretzels).  Meanwhile, British Airlines has been handing out meal vouchers to stranded passengers in U.S. and European airports.

Cots have been brought in to Amsterdam Schiphol, Frankfurt, Brussels Zaventem, and New York JFK making the terminals look like refugee camps.

Understandably, spirits are lows and people are anxious to get home.  With no official news about when the flights will resume, here are a few tips to help stranded travellers wait out the delay:

• If you are travelling in a group, send one person out to buy air mattresses.  You can find these at camping, hardware or pool supply stores.
• If food options at the airport are non-existent, just order in!  Do you feel like having some pizza or Chinese food?  Call a nearby restaurant with “home delivery” and have them deliver your current home….at the airport.  Coordinate a drop off zone as they may have difficulty finding your set-up without a Door/Concourse/Level/Check-in counter reference.
• After a day or two, you might smell a bit rank.  If your airport does not have shower facilities, find the nearest handicapped washroom, fill the sink and wash away.  Alternatively, ask the airport’s fire department to give you the Mark on Air Tran style shower (see video below).

If you are stuck in Orlando, Sea World and Busch Gardens is offering free admission.  Stranded travellers must present a valid return airline ticket from April 14 through April 21, or until normal flight schedules resume, at the parks’ front gate Guest Services window.  Assuming you have no luggage to take care of, this can keep you entertained for a few hours.

Finally, if you are not flying, you can still help by driving a stranded traveller to the local mall to pick up supplies such as mattresses, food, clothes, and toiletries.  Please help put a smile on some poor air traveller’s face during their time of need.

Has the volcanic ash affected your travel plans?  Are you stuck in the airport?  How are you coping?

An Arizona couple has been caught with over a thousand pieces of luggage stolen from the carousels of the Phoenix airport.  Kevin King and Stacy Legg-King are accused of walking into the baggage claim area and brazenly taking a random bag before walking straight out to their parked car.  As there are no claim check security measures at the airport, they were able to get away with this over a thousand times.  Some of the stolen items include: cameras, laptops, video equipment, clothing, medical devices, video games, baseball card and stamp collections and passports.  Passports???  The people who packed their passports in their checked luggage deserved to have it stolen.

Apparently, the couple often held yard sales and their neighbours scored some great deals.

Inspired by people who are forced to wait at airports and train stations during their trip, this clever 4-piece suitcase set can be pieced together to build a two-seater couch.

Twenty-two year old Dutch designer Erik de Nijs (the guy who brought us the keyboard pants), revealed his “Suited Case” project at Dutch Design Week 09 last month.  He says “this concept came from a research on nostalgia during travelling. When a familiar object from home is taken with you on a trip you feel much more at ease. And which object is more familiar then your own comfortable couch.”  Brilliant idea with a few practical looking pieces for a nice airport nap.  Shame about the fabrics!

A few months back I posted a poll that asked the question “What is the worst thing that happened to you at the airport?” With over 5600 people participating, we had an amazing response!

Surprisingly, 1350 travellers live a “privileged life” in which nothing bad has ever happened to them at the airport.  Must be nice (and kind of boring)!  According to 950 respondents, the top complaint on the poll was lost luggage.  With increased security procedures and a shortage of baggage handlers, its not surprising that millions of bags are delayed each year.  I know my own suitcase has been to more airports than I have.

In other results, I was one of the 371 travellers who reported that being “touched inappropriately by security” was the worst thing to happen to them at the airport. As the full body xray scanner begins more trials in world airports, I don’t think I’ll be feeling any less violated going through the hassles of airport security in the future.

34 parents responded that they had lost or misplaced their children somewhere in the airport.  An interesting follow-up question might have been, “did you do lose them intentionally?”.

On the lighter side of the poll, 143 travellers claim to have been tasered at the airport and another 257 people claim to have discovered they were on a terrorist watch list whilst travelling via the US.  Oh, you jokers!  :-)  The poll was obviously just for fun, but here are the full results:

RESULTS: “What is the worst thing that happened to you at the airport?”

24% -I live a privileged life and nothing bad ever happens to me (1,350)
17% -The airline lost my luggage (950)
15% -I had to stay overnight in an airport (867)
10% -I missed my flight connection (586)
7% -I was touched inappropriately by security (371)
5% -I arrived more than 6 hours EARLY or LATE by accident (281)
5% -I travelled via the US and discovered that I am apparently on a terrorist watch list (257)
4% -I was asked for a bribe by local airport employees (211)
3% -I was not allowed to board a flight because of airline hassles (192)
3% -I was strip searched (168)
3% -I ate something bad at the airport and became sick/needed to use the washroom a lot (161)
3% -I was tasered (143)
1% -I was not allowed to board a flight because of local government hassles (71)
1% -I lost or “misplaced” my kids (34)

Last week we launched our first Budget Travel Survey. In this survey, we asked questions like where do you find the best airfare and accommodation deals, what is the best travel site and guide book and what are the best and worst airlines.  I’ll be running this survey until December and I’ll post the results in mid-December.  Please take a few minutes to send us your feedback.  Click Here to Begin

If I’m missing something that you think should be added to the list or if you would like to share one of your experiences, share it comments.

If you like this poll, share it with your friends.

Last week we asked, what job would you be most suited for if you had to work in an airport or the airline industry.

We ran the poll a little longer this week, but the results are in and here are your picks:

# 1 PILOT
Those who voted, apparently kick ass in flight simulator video games or were inspired by this video that made flying a plane sooooooo much fun.  Check it out below.

# 2 CUSTOMS / IMMIGRATION OFFICER
If you picked this as your dream airport job, then you are probably rude and suspicious of everyone, including members of your own family.

# 3 TARMAC GUY
You know ….. the guy on the tarmac wearing the big headphones that waves the planes into and away from the gate.  It sure looks like a fun job.  This is the one I picked…hahaha.  :-))

Runners Up:
Flight attendant, Check-in/Gate Agent, Air Marshall and Air Traffic Control

Thanks for participating.  If you have a poll idea that you would like to share, leave it in comments or email editor@sleepinginairports.com.  If we run it you’ll receive credit and a link back to your site if we run it.