Davey sent in a few good reviews. Here’s his Sydney experience.
“I awoke at about 900am in my hotel bed in central Sydney feeling ‘financially embarrassed’ to say the least. With only one more night left in Sydney before making the depressing 23hr flight back to London Heathrow and a little over 100 in my pocket I was faced with a stark choice. Hotel with comfy bed nearby for my last night, or an all day drinking session in the pubs of Sydney and sleep at the airport. It was an obvious choice really.
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(Contributed by Dande) - “Garoua airport has a lot to offer sunseekers during the day because you can sit outside and enjoy the glorious Cameroon sunshine other than that it has only the bare essentials. Being the only airport in North Cameroon and servicing only CAMEROON AIRLINE flights you are not the customer - they are doing you a favour. Should a flight be cancelled the normal procedure is to lock the offices and representatives go home (sometimes they write it on a chalkboard) leaving 100’s to wonder when the next one will be. The advice is, do not leave your luggage unattended (theft), get as close to check-in as possible (there is only the floor to sleep on anyway) because there will be 2 flight loads next day and flight booking does not guarantee a seat and queuing is not normal, make sure you have drinking water and don’t be afraid to argue and shout for your place. If you find yourself on any flight within Cameroon consider going via the larger independent bus companies were you are quaranteed travel and a seat.”
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There are some countries where a few corrupt locals see western tourists as walking cash registers. Here is a great tip that a few people have tried successfully a few times on this site. I’ve listed it on the travel tips page as well.
(Contributed by ?) “True, Kiev is horrible. But at least being able to sleep in the departure lounge means you have made it most of the way through the airport and stand a chance of getting out Ukraine. Simferopol, Ukraine in the Crimea, has it beat as a hell hole. After a week with the Russian girlfriend on the beach in Gurzuf (near Yalta) no fewer than four Customs “officials” tried for bribes while I outprocessed the airport. I feigned ignorance at their requests, smiled and pointed to my visa. That finally was annoying enough for me to get through. The restroom was literally a hole in the ground, similar to what you find in Korea. And it was still filthy. There was a babushka with a cleaning cart outside. I politely explained to her in Russian that there was a problem. She handed me the cleaning brush and soap, then asked for “twenty American dollars”. The Shamu-like greeter from the Hotel Yalta will elbow her way ahead of you with her charges claiming “diplomatic reasons” for getting her beleagered charges through customs ahead of you. Stand your ground. The best thing about Simferopol Airport is walking across the tarmac on the way out. At least in Kiev they play really cool, horrible Russian pop music on the terror trip shuttle bus ride from the plane to the airport. Watch out for the customs declaration. The ads for cell phone companies make you think it’s just an advert. Read the small print, it’s actually an official form.”
READ MORE ABOUT KIEV AIRPORT (WE HAVE LOTS OF INTERESTING TALES COMING FROM THAT AIRPORT)
Sometimes you will find yourself so comfy …or just too tired… that you go into a deep sleep. To avoid sleeping through the last boarding call, remember to set your watch or travel alarm clock or just leave some post-it notes around you asking to be woken up at a specific time.
(Contributed by B. Tetrick) - The Pittsburgh Airport was a tough call. I happened to meet a fellow solo traveler, who was also traveling from Pittsburgh back to DC, so we kept each other company for awhile, napping out by a fountain surrounded by comfy concrete ledges. Once ticket counters opened (they open pretty early in this airport!), we both entered the airport to find flights, but ended up on different airlines, so we parted ways. I checked in and meandered over to my gate, where I promptly fell asleep again. Maybe it was the fact that I was so exhausted, but the barely-cushioned seat with armrests felt like a goose-down pillow throne to me. I only meant to nap for a short while, but I ended up waking up to a completely empty area. I checked my watch (why do airports never have easy-to-spot clocks?) and it was 6:40am. My flight had left almost an hour ago. No gate agent bothered to wake me up, even though my tickets were clearly displayed in my front shirt pocket. I know it’s not their job, but I was a little miffed. I went over to the closest gate with an agent working, to have my flight reassigned. Turned out the next flight wasn’t leaving until noon, and connected through Cincinnati. So instead of getting back into DC at 8am, I got home sometime later that night - leaving me with 10 hours of sleeping time, showering time and repacking time before my next venture out (I do this a lot!). “
Pittsburgh is one of the nominees for the 2008 Best Airport in North America title. Have you voted yet?
READ MORE ABOUT SLEEPING IN THE PITTSBURGH AIRPORT OR CHECK OUT MORE AIRPORT TIPS
As I finish up some changes on the site that I hope to have online tonight, it’s probably time for another one of these. This is one of my faves from the airport archives. Just goes to show that sleeping in airports is something we can all experience whether we want to or not. If you fly commercial, get ready for it….
(Contributed by ?) Two Indian Airlines jets had collided in Madras, and the whole Indian air system was in a panic. I spent 12 hours in the cafeteria, which I could still draw in my mind (potted plants on the right), but the interesting point is this: also stranded, as the Air India people were frantically working through the night to reassign everyone on other airlines, was Mother Theresa and her suite of about 75 nuns. Everywhere you looked, there were nuns sprawled on the seats, or trying to kill time by re-reading the good book. Poor nuns. One positive in the story: no crying kids.”
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Sometimes good times are had in not-so-good airports. You’ll enjoy this review if you have ever considered sleeping in an airport with your kid.
(Contributed by C. Buchanan) “I hate to disagree with the majority of the comments, but I have to rank Logan Airport high on my list of places to sleep for free (aside from my mom’s). About a year ago my 10 year old son and I decided that paying 200 for a hotel that we would only need for about 11 hours was simply not worth it. I decided it was time to introduce my son to the art of sleeping in an airport; he was thrilled with the idea!
My thought was to make it past the security check in and crash at the gate. No go, you can’t get through after-hours. There was a very nice woman at the ticket counter who came right out and asked, “Oh, were you planning on sleeping here tonight?”. Struck by the sheer simplicity of the question I answered, “Yes, I think it’s time he learned how.” If I didn’t already have a full quota of grandmothers I would have added her immediately. She came out from around the corner, took my sons hand and said “come with me”. After showing us the best spot to sleep (including the nearest men’s room that would remain open all night and the 24 hour coffee kiosk) she showed my son a good way to kill time. Taking one of the U-Push luggage carts, she showed him how to return it to the rack and get the 25 cent refund!! That was it; he was off and running getting every cart he could lay his hands on….(of course I never let him out of my sight) Around 8.00 later he finally fell asleep. I guess like so many cases, we can gladly accept an inferior product if it comes with superior service. Two thumbs up for Logan and the nice lady from American.”
Do you have any tips for sleeping in an airport overnight with kids?
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(Contributed by R. Corven) I found that while there are better places to sleep (and I don’t just mean a bed), there are far worse places than the aiport in New Orleans (like the lobby at the Ramada Inn & Suites!), as long as you aren’t too bothered about looking somewhat foolish.
After spending the night on a couch at the aforementioned lobby, hassled by the Mardi Gras revellers, I made my way back to the airport at around 7am to await the arrival of a friend’s flight, which arrived at around 1:30pm. Given the minimal sleep of the previous two nights (I don’t sleep at all well on flights either) I was dog-tired and needed to catch some ZZZs.
After scouring the area for somewhere half-comfortable to crash, I gave up and tried to make the best of a bad situation. As per usual, the airport benches all had arm-rests on them, making laying down impossible. It was possible to lay down in the phone booths opposite the seating area, but the fact that they were in use made that fact irrelevant.
That left the floor - not a particularly attractive thought, but I found hankering down underneath the benches to be the best of the distrinctly lacklustre options. I could stretch out, and nobody was in danger of tripping over me. Of course, there were a few odd looks from people and security, but nobody objected (indeed, a couple of people actually sat on the bench while I was underneath), and I managed to get enough rest to make it through the day and party down on Bourbon Street in the evening.
So the advice is: avoid the elevated sleeping places, and just hit the floor.
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