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Where to Sleep in LAX

120 points by surprisetalk 10mo ago

evanjrowley 9mo ago
A guide like this for South Korea's Incheon airport (ICN) be pretty valuable.
- scheme271 9mo ago
  ICN is a breeze. There's actual sleep rooms that are quiet, have dim lights and have full length recliners that you can sleep on (as a bonus there's partitions between the recliners so you get some privacy). If you want something better, Walker Hill has hotels inside terminal 1 and 2 where you can get an interior room (no windows) with a bed, bathroom, etc. It's a little pricey but you can get it in 12hr increments.
- guessmyname 9mo ago
  • https://www.sleepinginairports.net/guides/seoul-incheon-airport-guide.htm https://www.sleepinginairports.net/guides/seoul-incheon-airp... • http://www.anagonzales.com/2020/02/where-to-sleep-in-incheon-airport.html http://www.anagonzales.com/2020/02/where-to-sleep-in-incheon... • https://www.reddit.com/r/koreatravel/comments/1bekvn8/sleeping_at_icn_airport/ https://www.reddit.com/r/koreatravel/comments/1bekvn8/sleepi... • https://www.reddit.com/r/koreatravel/comments/1eq15zq/where_to_sleep_in_incheon_airport_t1/ https://www.reddit.com/r/koreatravel/comments/1eq15zq/where_...
- deleted 9mo ago
  [deleted]
comrade1234 9mo ago
I guess not an international flight? Normally a 24-hour delay gets you a hotel room.
- etothepii 9mo ago
  If first class was full lie down from LAX it must have been transcontinental to JFK or BOS.
  - bombcar 9mo ago
    Flying from Bradley for 11 hours is likely headed East to Asia.
macNchz 9mo ago
Historically I've found sleepinginairports.net useful for this kind of intel—I was pleased to discover just now that it's still around! Nearly 20 years ago now it saved me from a night of awful sleep. My backpacking buddy and I had just arrived in Liverpool with an early Ryanair flight out the following morning, and no hostel reservations. We'd been traveling successfully without reservations for a bit, but it turned out there was some kind of event that weekend in Liverpool and there was absolutely nowhere to stay (or at least, nothing that cost less than, like, the budget for our entire trip). We decided we'd just stay out late, then go to the airport and wait it out for our flight. After some effort trying to sleep on hard plastic benches in the airport Burger King (where Michael Jackson's Thriller was playing loudly on repeat, I do not know why), I pulled out my 12" PowerBook and found out via that site that the airport had a meditation room with dim lighting, soft carpet, and no Michael Jackson. Ahh.
- s0rce 9mo ago
  Random events are the worst. I was driving through Bend, OR and planned to grab a hotel room but everything was completely booked. Ended up just driving up a random forest road (public land, legal to camp) and sleeping in my tent. Was walking around with my headlamp in the night and some cops came by and asked what I was up to since people are often doing drugs there. Great. They came by and woke me up during the night again and I asked them to please keep record that I'm not up to anything so I could sleep.
nephihaha 9mo ago
The reason I don't fly anymore is because I can't stand airports. So called hostile architecture and sometimes hostile staff. This article confirms my bias. Nowhere appropriate to rest without noise, terrible lighting and hard surfaces. My main memory of LAX was being accosted by Hare Krishnas.
- leetrout 9mo ago
  This is why lounges are in such high demand. You get treated normal within their confines.
  - recursive 9mo ago
    I've only been in an airport lounge once. Inside, it was more crowded and stressful than it was outside. Definitely not something I'd pay for.
    - bombcar 9mo ago
      Utilizing lounges well is an art in itself, and some planning is required - depending on the airport and the airline there may be multiple lounges and options. But the cost (unless free) often ends up being somewhat similar to just parking at the bar anyway. I prefer to not arrive THAT early. Maybe if I had more layovers I’d care more about it.
- sedatk 9mo ago
  "It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression 'as pretty as an airport'" --Douglas Adams
  - Imustaskforhelp 9mo ago
    > "It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression 'as pretty as an airport'" I somehow got interested by quote and searched it (as is?) on duckduckgo to find a relevant reddit discussion where people were (are?) discussing trains and many other things. Interesting quote to say the least. Here's the relevant reddit discussion https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/hqtgyg/tuesday_trivia_it_can_hardly_be_a_coincidence/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/hqtgyg/tuesd...
amelius 9mo ago
Freaking airports are not designed for humans.
- doublerabbit 9mo ago
  Glorified shopping malls to maul you in to insanity. Duty-free my arse. My last trip was at xmas and I was waiting for the bus back to home. I decided to stretch my legs and went to the kids arcade. I put a quid in to a mechanical fortune teller machine which freaked on me and refused to tell me my fortune. It ripped me off a quid and I missed the bus back home.
  - deleted 9mo ago
    [deleted]
- seanmcdirmid 9mo ago
  Changji is. And yes, its a nice shopping mall also, but also seats you can sleep on in the movie theater.
  - SV_BubbleTime 9mo ago
    It would be really chill for them to play silent films from midnight on
    - seanmcdirmid 9mo ago
      I don’t think it was actually playing noise, you had to tune into the sound somehow, but this was a decade ago. The seats are more valuable than the movie, and most people can watch those on their phones now anyways.
suriya-ganesh 9mo ago
I ended up at LAX 5 am for an 8 am flight. nobody in the whole airport, no TSA nothing until 6 am. i took a very uncomfortable nap on the floor that day.
- dietr1ch 9mo ago
  I find it ridiculous that airports in the US close. I've landed earlier than expected and you need to stare at the ceiling until 5am while other aeroplanes arrive and prepare for a race through customs.
  - ssttoo 9mo ago
    Not only US. A friend’s flight was late and about to land in Munich after the airport closes. So they had to land at a different airport and then take the train to Munich.
    - lazyasciiart 9mo ago
      Sydney airport also closes overnight because it’s too loud for the surrounding residential areas.
      - bombcar 9mo ago
        Long Beach does something similar; I did a training flight there and we left right as it was closing, when my wheels left the runway all the lights went off.
  - rmunn 9mo ago
    I sometimes fly out of a small, local airport that only has one commercial route, from that airport to Philadelphia. That airport closes down overnight and it's perfectly reasonable. (And they open up at 5 AM to start serving passengers boarding the 7 AM flight; again, perfectly reasonable since there are 50 seats on that plane and you get through security in 5 minutes). But a major international airport that has incoming flights all night long? I agree, they should have at least ONE customs location staffed somewhere in the airport, any time an international flight is scheduled to arrive. P.S. It's not just America. I flew through the Middle East once on my way to eastern Asia. The flight landed at something like 3:30 AM local time, and the security checkpoint didn't open until 4 AM or 5 AM or something like that. There were so many people waiting in line for that checkpoint, it was getting dangerously overcrowded in that hallway, with more and more people arriving down the escalator all the time. Thankfully nobody fainted or fell, but it could have been a bad situation there.
tern 9mo ago
I had a flight delayed (or cancelled, can't remember) once in LAX. They lead us to a lounge area nearby that had cabinets filled with cots. I was given a cot and a blanket and slept OK. Had no idea this was a thing.
trhway 9mo ago
In USSR (and early 90-s Russia) airports, train stations, theaters had that you'd call VIP lounges - those intended VIPs were the high Party and government bureaucrats and the likes. While general population halls were crowded those lounges would usually be empty or almost so and they would have comfortable (soft) furniture, well stocked cafe/bar, much cleaner restrooms, etc. And in many cases nobody would even guard entry and check you for whether you're a such VIP. So, i'd just go in and was never kicked out :) And while Party bozos were of no interest to me, it was interesting to mingle with top Soviet theater/movie actors at one such new theater show opening that bunch of them attended to.
_carbyau_ 9mo ago
Why isn't there "capsule hotel" businesses in airports? Is it security concerns or something about dealing with mostly non-japanese culture people?
- cdrnsf 9mo ago
  Like most infrastructure in LA, it's always under construction and yet never improving. We lived there for about 5 years and it took them as much time to add a mile of carpool lane to the 405.
- jldugger 9mo ago
  There often are hotels, but it gets booked fast when weather causes delays. When I got stranded in Dallas in 2019, the Ramada made it excessively clear they were booked. But there's also tons of hotels around airports, you just have to get through security, and they don't do hourly billing like you might want if you weren't sure your replacement flight is also delayed.
  - Scoundreller 9mo ago
    > But there's also tons of hotels around airports, you just have to get through security That works in USA where every international arrival has to be able to, and does, go landside. In the more advanced world, you may only have authorization to stay in the terminal. Dunno what they do when shtf and people will be stuck for a few days.
    - rafram 9mo ago
      The US system doesn’t seem less "advanced" to me. It cuts down on the number of people that connect through the US on non-US itineraries, but I don’t know that there are many US hubs agitating to become city-sized duty free malls like Dubai, Frankfurt, etc. And it makes our airport layouts much less complex.
      - cyberax 9mo ago
        There are almost no routes that would want to use the US as a midpoint due to geography. It's pretty much only routes to Central America that make any sense, and there's just not a lot of them. So the US never felt the need to build airports with dedicated international zones.
decimalenough 9mo ago
> My 11:30 pm connecting flight out of Los Angeles International Airport was delayed by 24 hours, forcing me to rest in the airport. If you ever find yourself in this position, just leave the airport and get a motel room. The US doesn't even have exit immigration, so it's not like they were stuck on the wrong side with a used visa. The OP's About page notes that they're currently unemployed and living off savings, so I'll cut them some slack, although I'm not entirely sure how that's compatible with international travel from New Zealand to the US. I also find it incredible that the airline can just delay a flight by 24 hours and offer no compensation or accommodation whatsoever, since in most of the world this would absolutely not, ahem, fly.
- shin_lao 9mo ago
  In the US, you can just get a refund if you decide not to fly (by law) or a rebooking. Premium airlines usually offer you compensation: a meal, and a voucher for a hotel stay, depending on the cause of the delay. Very likely miles or voucher for a future flight. If your flight is to or from EU, you are entitled to more compensation by law IIRC.
- HeavenFox 9mo ago
  In the US it basically comes down to, is the delay the airline's fault? If no (eg weather, ATC), then nothing. However, most US travel credit card comes with trip delay insurance which would cover the cost of an overnight stay, regardless of the reason of the delay.
- rafram 9mo ago
  It doesn’t in the US either. There’s technically no law requiring it, but every major airline provides accommodation for delays/cancellations. Unless they were doing some kind of self-transfer shenanigans with separate tickets, they should’ve gotten a hotel.
- thfuran 9mo ago
  As I understand it, they’re only legally required to offer it in the US if the delay is caused by mechanical, staffing, or other issues in their control, but not if e.g. outgoing fights flights are grounded due to weather. They do tend to give lodging at least if you’re stuck at a layover even for weather though. But they also usually try to get out of their obligation to pay for bumping people off over booked flights by reverse auctioning with company credit.
jimbob45 9mo ago
You sort of have to plan ahead for this now. If you’re not careful, your belongings will get pinched. If you wear an inner jacket with pockets, though, you can safely stash your goods and conk out. Even better if it’s just a reversible jacket. Luggage is harder but as long as it’s locked, you can usually just tie it to yourself and be safe enough.
pstuart 9mo ago
It would be cool if they installed sleep pods like they have in Japan -- design it to be low maintenance and require a credit card to book with a refundable hold of a big enough deposit in case you defile it.
hbarka 9mo ago
Your website takes me back to the days of Geocities hosting, Dreamweaver, and FrontPage 98. Nostalgia level went up.
deleted 9mo ago
[deleted]
burner420042 9mo ago
There's a small airbnb outfit near the Houston airport that rents for 12 hours at a time with free ride to and from the airport. They cater to the layover crowd. It's very economical. I've not seen it elsewhere.
zamalek 9mo ago
If you have trip insurance and your sleeping over is "an act of god", you have a high chance of qualifying for one of the in-airport bed businesses. It's been a few years so I forget the name, but an actual bed is really amazing. I can't remember what it would have cost us, but I do recall was on the very edge of what I would have considered paying myself - so worth looking at even if your layover was planned.
etothepii 9mo ago
The sleepwear in First Class is by far the most bizarre thing about the whole experience. I've never understood why First and Business Class that are so clearly mainly used by people travelling for work don't focus more on the business aspect. British Airways call it "Club" which I'm sure can only make it harder to be approved by finance. American call it "First". In the main lounges provided by American Airlines there is often a person whose job it is to provide unlimited champagne but not a comfortable place to respond to emails.
- lysace 9mo ago
  Sleepwear: yes, weird archaic thing. US "First class" is typically a misnomer. I spent so much much time, money and effort abusing mileage programs between like 2009-2016. I think the the whole thing started with the oil glut following the 2008 crisis. E.g. US Airways Dividend Miles (USDM) was a goldmine. They kept having these sales where you could buy "miles" for extremely advantageous rates. You could then redeem those "miles" in their partner airlines' flights. They were buttering themselves up to be bought by AA. This went on for years. End result: You'd pay maybe 1400USD for a return first class ticket on e.g. Qatar Airlines between Copenhagen-Doha-Tokyo, or something similar. If you'd buy a ticket it would be 3-5x more.
- cobolcomesback 9mo ago
  I travel for work often (used to do it every week but now it’s once-ish a month), and fly business every now and then. I don’t think I’ve ever met any fellow work flyers who wanted the flying experience to be more focused on the “business aspect”. The lounge is for relaxing, and the comfortable seat on the plane is so I can sleep and not be a zombie when I land. I’ll work when I get to the destination, not while traveling.
  - bombcar 9mo ago
    Exactly. When I’ve flown first for business it’s because it’s the cheapest way to get the luggage, or they need me to arrive rested and ready to go.
pokstad 9mo ago
Has Steve Wallis stealth camped in LAX yet? Good concept for an episode.
- hoistbypetard 9mo ago
  I think I've seen all of his stealth camp episodes, and they've only been outside airports. (Once outdoors, once in a parking lot.) I think a lot of the humor would be lost because he couldn't get his camp stove in to cook. Or maybe he could, but would risk arrest if caught with it...
  - yello_downunder 9mo ago
    I didn't think I'd see Steve mentioned on this site! The camp stove would probably be fine, but the fuel would be an issue. I wonder if axes are allowed in carry on?
  - AdamJacobMuller 9mo ago
    electric hot plate?
    - hoistbypetard 9mo ago
      Yeah, that's what it'd probably take.
__mharrison__ 9mo ago
We recently flew overseas and a "klymit"-style sleeping pad came in very handy. Very small and lightweight. Takes the edge off of a hard floor.
samrus 9mo ago
Man i love the idea of this sort of thing. Surviving in civilization but in a more natural/primal manner. Ive heard it be called urban camping or stealth camping. A youtuber i watch who also scratches that itch is steve wallis, who recently made a little fort under an overpass, compelte with little tv and stove and stuff I think its a deep disillusionment with society that makes this attractive. Same reason i fantasize about having an isolated homestead, or being stranded on an island and thriving, or why i like being up at night when everyone else is asleep. A simple escape from society and its slings and arrows
seemaze 9mo ago
After traveling the globe for money and pleasure, I’ve reluctantly come to the realization that paying real money for real convenience when it comes to airfare is the best strategy. Suffering and inconvenience will come for you regardless of status or itinerary. Don’t make suffering a part of the plan unless you don’t have a choice.
- PaulDavisThe1st 9mo ago
  How would you have paid more to avoid the situation the author of TFA found themselves in?
  - SV_BubbleTime 9mo ago
    If the airline has a lounge, you may be able to sign up for their credit card and get access.
grogenaut 9mo ago
I always bring a hoodie or jacket on the plane with me and wear pants when flying even when it's warm (it's air-conditioned in airports and planes) so I have pads and warmth when needed. It's often looped through my backpack arm strap. Also earplugs and noise canceling headphones/earbuds. My backpack has a nice pad in the back. He'd have been infinitely more comfortable if he had any of these things. And hell a book or something. With the armrests you can kinda double wedge yourself on them. I got 2 decent hours in the lima airport doing this. They had the similar double seat with no armrest setup. I got to ORD at 4am for a 7am flight and purposfully fell asleep on the ground in front of the check in desk figuring they'd wake me up. Eventually they did. The attendant woke me up and said "do you happen to be on this flight". I pointed at the first class ticket hanging out of my shirt pocket. "Good thing I checked we're closing the door now". I was like "I figured you'd maybe wake up the person in front of the desk I've been up for 38 hours." "oh you were sleeping I didn't want to bother you". The entire flight had boarded and just walked around me. I was OUT. Le Sigh.
- PaulDavisThe1st 9mo ago
  I slept "overnight" (02:00 - 04:30) in the new Berlin (BER) airport a couple of years ago. Not only are the concourses completely closed to passengers overnight, but the floor in the check-in area (the only area that is open) is made of terrazzo. Your hoodie and pants would make essentially no difference on this surface. Certainly not if you were 60 years old :)
  - grogenaut 9mo ago
    I'd get a hotel if that was the case. I've only slept on terrazo when I was a frat pledge and 18. The hoodie / jacket is a pillow and for warmth not a bed. I agree with you.
PaulDavisThe1st 9mo ago
Denver! The relaxation lounges 1 floor above the actual concourses! Actual fully length loungers, pod chairs and more. Signs calling for silence or at least deep quiet. The biggest problem? You might fall so deeply asleep you miss your actual flight, no matter how much it is delayed by. Every airport should have these.
tombert 9mo ago
Many years ago, I had to fly from Atlanta back home, with a red-eye flight at midnight. I normally can’t sleep on planes, but I did have lounge access and the lounge offered unlimited whiskey shots, and it’s not like I had to work the next day, so my brilliant idea was that I would get drunk enough so that I could sleep on the plane. By 11:45pm I am pretty toasted, so I make my way to the gate. About a minute after I arrive, they make an announcement that my flight has been delayed nine hours, so not until 9am the next morning. So here I am, with a backpack, getting progressively drunker as more alcohol is being digested in my gut, and having no idea what to do for the next nine hours. All the lounges were closed, and I was uncomfortable sleeping in public because I was afraid someone would steal my laptop out of my bag, so for the next nine hours, I drunkenly cabotaged the entire Atlanta airport I don’t know how many times. I would walk around one terminal, then get on the little underground train and do it again, repeated for the next nine hours, with a 45 minute break to puke. I don’t drink at all anymore and that event is a not-insignificant reason as to why.

120 points by surprisetalk 10mo ago

evanjrowley 9mo ago

A guide like this for South Korea's Incheon airport (ICN) be pretty valuable.

scheme271 9mo ago
ICN is a breeze. There's actual sleep rooms that are quiet, have dim lights and have full length recliners that you can sleep on (as a bonus there's partitions between the recliners so you get some privacy). If you want something better, Walker Hill has hotels inside terminal 1 and 2 where you can get an interior room (no windows) with a bed, bathroom, etc. It's a little pricey but you can get it in 12hr increments.
guessmyname 9mo ago
• https://www.sleepinginairports.net/guides/seoul-incheon-airport-guide.htm https://www.sleepinginairports.net/guides/seoul-incheon-airp... • http://www.anagonzales.com/2020/02/where-to-sleep-in-incheon-airport.html http://www.anagonzales.com/2020/02/where-to-sleep-in-incheon... • https://www.reddit.com/r/koreatravel/comments/1bekvn8/sleeping_at_icn_airport/ https://www.reddit.com/r/koreatravel/comments/1bekvn8/sleepi... • https://www.reddit.com/r/koreatravel/comments/1eq15zq/where_to_sleep_in_incheon_airport_t1/ https://www.reddit.com/r/koreatravel/comments/1eq15zq/where_...
deleted 9mo ago
[deleted]

comrade1234 9mo ago

I guess not an international flight? Normally a 24-hour delay gets you a hotel room.

etothepii 9mo ago
If first class was full lie down from LAX it must have been transcontinental to JFK or BOS.
- bombcar 9mo ago
  Flying from Bradley for 11 hours is likely headed East to Asia.

macNchz 9mo ago

Historically I've found sleepinginairports.net useful for this kind of intel—I was pleased to discover just now that it's still around! Nearly 20 years ago now it saved me from a night of awful sleep. My backpacking buddy and I had just arrived in Liverpool with an early Ryanair flight out the following morning, and no hostel reservations. We'd been traveling successfully without reservations for a bit, but it turned out there was some kind of event that weekend in Liverpool and there was absolutely nowhere to stay (or at least, nothing that cost less than, like, the budget for our entire trip). We decided we'd just stay out late, then go to the airport and wait it out for our flight. After some effort trying to sleep on hard plastic benches in the airport Burger King (where Michael Jackson's Thriller was playing loudly on repeat, I do not know why), I pulled out my 12" PowerBook and found out via that site that the airport had a meditation room with dim lighting, soft carpet, and no Michael Jackson. Ahh.

s0rce 9mo ago
Random events are the worst. I was driving through Bend, OR and planned to grab a hotel room but everything was completely booked. Ended up just driving up a random forest road (public land, legal to camp) and sleeping in my tent. Was walking around with my headlamp in the night and some cops came by and asked what I was up to since people are often doing drugs there. Great. They came by and woke me up during the night again and I asked them to please keep record that I'm not up to anything so I could sleep.

nephihaha 9mo ago

The reason I don't fly anymore is because I can't stand airports. So called hostile architecture and sometimes hostile staff. This article confirms my bias. Nowhere appropriate to rest without noise, terrible lighting and hard surfaces. My main memory of LAX was being accosted by Hare Krishnas.

leetrout 9mo ago
This is why lounges are in such high demand. You get treated normal within their confines.
- recursive 9mo ago
  I've only been in an airport lounge once. Inside, it was more crowded and stressful than it was outside. Definitely not something I'd pay for.
  - bombcar 9mo ago
    Utilizing lounges well is an art in itself, and some planning is required - depending on the airport and the airline there may be multiple lounges and options. But the cost (unless free) often ends up being somewhat similar to just parking at the bar anyway. I prefer to not arrive THAT early. Maybe if I had more layovers I’d care more about it.
sedatk 9mo ago
"It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression 'as pretty as an airport'" --Douglas Adams
- Imustaskforhelp 9mo ago
  > "It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression 'as pretty as an airport'" I somehow got interested by quote and searched it (as is?) on duckduckgo to find a relevant reddit discussion where people were (are?) discussing trains and many other things. Interesting quote to say the least. Here's the relevant reddit discussion https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/hqtgyg/tuesday_trivia_it_can_hardly_be_a_coincidence/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/hqtgyg/tuesd...

amelius 9mo ago

Freaking airports are not designed for humans.

doublerabbit 9mo ago
Glorified shopping malls to maul you in to insanity. Duty-free my arse. My last trip was at xmas and I was waiting for the bus back to home. I decided to stretch my legs and went to the kids arcade. I put a quid in to a mechanical fortune teller machine which freaked on me and refused to tell me my fortune. It ripped me off a quid and I missed the bus back home.
- deleted 9mo ago
  [deleted]
seanmcdirmid 9mo ago
Changji is. And yes, its a nice shopping mall also, but also seats you can sleep on in the movie theater.
- SV_BubbleTime 9mo ago
  It would be really chill for them to play silent films from midnight on
  - seanmcdirmid 9mo ago
    I don’t think it was actually playing noise, you had to tune into the sound somehow, but this was a decade ago. The seats are more valuable than the movie, and most people can watch those on their phones now anyways.

suriya-ganesh 9mo ago

I ended up at LAX 5 am for an 8 am flight. nobody in the whole airport, no TSA nothing until 6 am. i took a very uncomfortable nap on the floor that day.

dietr1ch 9mo ago
I find it ridiculous that airports in the US close. I've landed earlier than expected and you need to stare at the ceiling until 5am while other aeroplanes arrive and prepare for a race through customs.
- ssttoo 9mo ago
  Not only US. A friend’s flight was late and about to land in Munich after the airport closes. So they had to land at a different airport and then take the train to Munich.
  - lazyasciiart 9mo ago
    Sydney airport also closes overnight because it’s too loud for the surrounding residential areas.
    - bombcar 9mo ago
      Long Beach does something similar; I did a training flight there and we left right as it was closing, when my wheels left the runway all the lights went off.
- rmunn 9mo ago
  I sometimes fly out of a small, local airport that only has one commercial route, from that airport to Philadelphia. That airport closes down overnight and it's perfectly reasonable. (And they open up at 5 AM to start serving passengers boarding the 7 AM flight; again, perfectly reasonable since there are 50 seats on that plane and you get through security in 5 minutes). But a major international airport that has incoming flights all night long? I agree, they should have at least ONE customs location staffed somewhere in the airport, any time an international flight is scheduled to arrive. P.S. It's not just America. I flew through the Middle East once on my way to eastern Asia. The flight landed at something like 3:30 AM local time, and the security checkpoint didn't open until 4 AM or 5 AM or something like that. There were so many people waiting in line for that checkpoint, it was getting dangerously overcrowded in that hallway, with more and more people arriving down the escalator all the time. Thankfully nobody fainted or fell, but it could have been a bad situation there.

tern 9mo ago

I had a flight delayed (or cancelled, can't remember) once in LAX. They lead us to a lounge area nearby that had cabinets filled with cots. I was given a cot and a blanket and slept OK. Had no idea this was a thing.

trhway 9mo ago

In USSR (and early 90-s Russia) airports, train stations, theaters had that you'd call VIP lounges - those intended VIPs were the high Party and government bureaucrats and the likes. While general population halls were crowded those lounges would usually be empty or almost so and they would have comfortable (soft) furniture, well stocked cafe/bar, much cleaner restrooms, etc. And in many cases nobody would even guard entry and check you for whether you're a such VIP. So, i'd just go in and was never kicked out :) And while Party bozos were of no interest to me, it was interesting to mingle with top Soviet theater/movie actors at one such new theater show opening that bunch of them attended to.

_carbyau_ 9mo ago

Why isn't there "capsule hotel" businesses in airports? Is it security concerns or something about dealing with mostly non-japanese culture people?

cdrnsf 9mo ago
Like most infrastructure in LA, it's always under construction and yet never improving. We lived there for about 5 years and it took them as much time to add a mile of carpool lane to the 405.
jldugger 9mo ago
There often are hotels, but it gets booked fast when weather causes delays. When I got stranded in Dallas in 2019, the Ramada made it excessively clear they were booked. But there's also tons of hotels around airports, you just have to get through security, and they don't do hourly billing like you might want if you weren't sure your replacement flight is also delayed.
- Scoundreller 9mo ago
  > But there's also tons of hotels around airports, you just have to get through security That works in USA where every international arrival has to be able to, and does, go landside. In the more advanced world, you may only have authorization to stay in the terminal. Dunno what they do when shtf and people will be stuck for a few days.
  - rafram 9mo ago
    The US system doesn’t seem less "advanced" to me. It cuts down on the number of people that connect through the US on non-US itineraries, but I don’t know that there are many US hubs agitating to become city-sized duty free malls like Dubai, Frankfurt, etc. And it makes our airport layouts much less complex.
    - cyberax 9mo ago
      There are almost no routes that would want to use the US as a midpoint due to geography. It's pretty much only routes to Central America that make any sense, and there's just not a lot of them. So the US never felt the need to build airports with dedicated international zones.

decimalenough 9mo ago

> My 11:30 pm connecting flight out of Los Angeles International Airport was delayed by 24 hours, forcing me to rest in the airport. If you ever find yourself in this position, just leave the airport and get a motel room. The US doesn't even have exit immigration, so it's not like they were stuck on the wrong side with a used visa. The OP's About page notes that they're currently unemployed and living off savings, so I'll cut them some slack, although I'm not entirely sure how that's compatible with international travel from New Zealand to the US. I also find it incredible that the airline can just delay a flight by 24 hours and offer no compensation or accommodation whatsoever, since in most of the world this would absolutely not, ahem, fly.

shin_lao 9mo ago
In the US, you can just get a refund if you decide not to fly (by law) or a rebooking. Premium airlines usually offer you compensation: a meal, and a voucher for a hotel stay, depending on the cause of the delay. Very likely miles or voucher for a future flight. If your flight is to or from EU, you are entitled to more compensation by law IIRC.
HeavenFox 9mo ago
In the US it basically comes down to, is the delay the airline's fault? If no (eg weather, ATC), then nothing. However, most US travel credit card comes with trip delay insurance which would cover the cost of an overnight stay, regardless of the reason of the delay.
rafram 9mo ago
It doesn’t in the US either. There’s technically no law requiring it, but every major airline provides accommodation for delays/cancellations. Unless they were doing some kind of self-transfer shenanigans with separate tickets, they should’ve gotten a hotel.
thfuran 9mo ago
As I understand it, they’re only legally required to offer it in the US if the delay is caused by mechanical, staffing, or other issues in their control, but not if e.g. outgoing fights flights are grounded due to weather. They do tend to give lodging at least if you’re stuck at a layover even for weather though. But they also usually try to get out of their obligation to pay for bumping people off over booked flights by reverse auctioning with company credit.

jimbob45 9mo ago

You sort of have to plan ahead for this now. If you’re not careful, your belongings will get pinched. If you wear an inner jacket with pockets, though, you can safely stash your goods and conk out. Even better if it’s just a reversible jacket. Luggage is harder but as long as it’s locked, you can usually just tie it to yourself and be safe enough.

pstuart 9mo ago

It would be cool if they installed sleep pods like they have in Japan -- design it to be low maintenance and require a credit card to book with a refundable hold of a big enough deposit in case you defile it.

hbarka 9mo ago

Your website takes me back to the days of Geocities hosting, Dreamweaver, and FrontPage 98. Nostalgia level went up.

deleted 9mo ago

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burner420042 9mo ago

There's a small airbnb outfit near the Houston airport that rents for 12 hours at a time with free ride to and from the airport. They cater to the layover crowd. It's very economical. I've not seen it elsewhere.

zamalek 9mo ago

If you have trip insurance and your sleeping over is "an act of god", you have a high chance of qualifying for one of the in-airport bed businesses. It's been a few years so I forget the name, but an actual bed is really amazing. I can't remember what it would have cost us, but I do recall was on the very edge of what I would have considered paying myself - so worth looking at even if your layover was planned.

etothepii 9mo ago

The sleepwear in First Class is by far the most bizarre thing about the whole experience. I've never understood why First and Business Class that are so clearly mainly used by people travelling for work don't focus more on the business aspect. British Airways call it "Club" which I'm sure can only make it harder to be approved by finance. American call it "First". In the main lounges provided by American Airlines there is often a person whose job it is to provide unlimited champagne but not a comfortable place to respond to emails.

lysace 9mo ago
Sleepwear: yes, weird archaic thing. US "First class" is typically a misnomer. I spent so much much time, money and effort abusing mileage programs between like 2009-2016. I think the the whole thing started with the oil glut following the 2008 crisis. E.g. US Airways Dividend Miles (USDM) was a goldmine. They kept having these sales where you could buy "miles" for extremely advantageous rates. You could then redeem those "miles" in their partner airlines' flights. They were buttering themselves up to be bought by AA. This went on for years. End result: You'd pay maybe 1400USD for a return first class ticket on e.g. Qatar Airlines between Copenhagen-Doha-Tokyo, or something similar. If you'd buy a ticket it would be 3-5x more.
cobolcomesback 9mo ago
I travel for work often (used to do it every week but now it’s once-ish a month), and fly business every now and then. I don’t think I’ve ever met any fellow work flyers who wanted the flying experience to be more focused on the “business aspect”. The lounge is for relaxing, and the comfortable seat on the plane is so I can sleep and not be a zombie when I land. I’ll work when I get to the destination, not while traveling.
- bombcar 9mo ago
  Exactly. When I’ve flown first for business it’s because it’s the cheapest way to get the luggage, or they need me to arrive rested and ready to go.

pokstad 9mo ago

Has Steve Wallis stealth camped in LAX yet? Good concept for an episode.

hoistbypetard 9mo ago
I think I've seen all of his stealth camp episodes, and they've only been outside airports. (Once outdoors, once in a parking lot.) I think a lot of the humor would be lost because he couldn't get his camp stove in to cook. Or maybe he could, but would risk arrest if caught with it...
- yello_downunder 9mo ago
  I didn't think I'd see Steve mentioned on this site! The camp stove would probably be fine, but the fuel would be an issue. I wonder if axes are allowed in carry on?
- AdamJacobMuller 9mo ago
  electric hot plate?
  - hoistbypetard 9mo ago
    Yeah, that's what it'd probably take.

__mharrison__ 9mo ago

We recently flew overseas and a "klymit"-style sleeping pad came in very handy. Very small and lightweight. Takes the edge off of a hard floor.

samrus 9mo ago

Man i love the idea of this sort of thing. Surviving in civilization but in a more natural/primal manner. Ive heard it be called urban camping or stealth camping. A youtuber i watch who also scratches that itch is steve wallis, who recently made a little fort under an overpass, compelte with little tv and stove and stuff I think its a deep disillusionment with society that makes this attractive. Same reason i fantasize about having an isolated homestead, or being stranded on an island and thriving, or why i like being up at night when everyone else is asleep. A simple escape from society and its slings and arrows

seemaze 9mo ago

After traveling the globe for money and pleasure, I’ve reluctantly come to the realization that paying real money for real convenience when it comes to airfare is the best strategy. Suffering and inconvenience will come for you regardless of status or itinerary. Don’t make suffering a part of the plan unless you don’t have a choice.

PaulDavisThe1st 9mo ago
How would you have paid more to avoid the situation the author of TFA found themselves in?
- SV_BubbleTime 9mo ago
  If the airline has a lounge, you may be able to sign up for their credit card and get access.

grogenaut 9mo ago

I always bring a hoodie or jacket on the plane with me and wear pants when flying even when it's warm (it's air-conditioned in airports and planes) so I have pads and warmth when needed. It's often looped through my backpack arm strap. Also earplugs and noise canceling headphones/earbuds. My backpack has a nice pad in the back. He'd have been infinitely more comfortable if he had any of these things. And hell a book or something. With the armrests you can kinda double wedge yourself on them. I got 2 decent hours in the lima airport doing this. They had the similar double seat with no armrest setup. I got to ORD at 4am for a 7am flight and purposfully fell asleep on the ground in front of the check in desk figuring they'd wake me up. Eventually they did. The attendant woke me up and said "do you happen to be on this flight". I pointed at the first class ticket hanging out of my shirt pocket. "Good thing I checked we're closing the door now". I was like "I figured you'd maybe wake up the person in front of the desk I've been up for 38 hours." "oh you were sleeping I didn't want to bother you". The entire flight had boarded and just walked around me. I was OUT. Le Sigh.

PaulDavisThe1st 9mo ago
I slept "overnight" (02:00 - 04:30) in the new Berlin (BER) airport a couple of years ago. Not only are the concourses completely closed to passengers overnight, but the floor in the check-in area (the only area that is open) is made of terrazzo. Your hoodie and pants would make essentially no difference on this surface. Certainly not if you were 60 years old :)
- grogenaut 9mo ago
  I'd get a hotel if that was the case. I've only slept on terrazo when I was a frat pledge and 18. The hoodie / jacket is a pillow and for warmth not a bed. I agree with you.

PaulDavisThe1st 9mo ago

Denver! The relaxation lounges 1 floor above the actual concourses! Actual fully length loungers, pod chairs and more. Signs calling for silence or at least deep quiet. The biggest problem? You might fall so deeply asleep you miss your actual flight, no matter how much it is delayed by. Every airport should have these.

tombert 9mo ago

Many years ago, I had to fly from Atlanta back home, with a red-eye flight at midnight. I normally can’t sleep on planes, but I did have lounge access and the lounge offered unlimited whiskey shots, and it’s not like I had to work the next day, so my brilliant idea was that I would get drunk enough so that I could sleep on the plane. By 11:45pm I am pretty toasted, so I make my way to the gate. About a minute after I arrive, they make an announcement that my flight has been delayed nine hours, so not until 9am the next morning. So here I am, with a backpack, getting progressively drunker as more alcohol is being digested in my gut, and having no idea what to do for the next nine hours. All the lounges were closed, and I was uncomfortable sleeping in public because I was afraid someone would steal my laptop out of my bag, so for the next nine hours, I drunkenly cabotaged the entire Atlanta airport I don’t know how many times. I would walk around one terminal, then get on the little underground train and do it again, repeated for the next nine hours, with a 45 minute break to puke. I don’t drink at all anymore and that event is a not-insignificant reason as to why.