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[artemisia]

http://www.travelsnitch.org/categories/news/airports-to-sleep-in-best-and-worst-2011/

Travelling around the world fairly frequently quite often means delays in airports or just long periods of transit times between flights. I think I�ve spent a reasonable of proportion of my life so far in airports (or planes), though I�m not sure what it would add up to in months/ years. In one �epic� two week period I had to catch seven planes.

I�ve passed through most of these airports and would give a �thumbs up� to Seoul Incheon as a decent place to spend several hours (as much as any airport can be). They have lots of nearby places to sleep, too. I�ve never understood the fuss about Singapore and why it rates so highly. Admittedly I haven�t passed through there for years, but I thought it was a bit of a dump with lots of �greasy spoon� places, and no decent cafes (maybe that�s changed). Frankfurt Main has lots of facilities. Heathrow�s not on the list but was horrible. I once stayed in those of those cabins (Terminal 5, I think). Very claustrophobic, but I should�ve planned my travel better so I didn�t need to spend the night there.

Although 5 hours in Helsinki wasn�t a pleasant experience, the worst for me (to date) was Dubai. I had to spend several hours there and I hated that big long hall with hundreds of people jam packed in, and nowhere to go/sit/rest. The smoking areas sure didn�t contain the smoke either.

Best
1. Singapore Changi
2. Hong Kong
3. Seoul Incheon
4. Kuala Lumpur
5. Amsterdam Schiphol
6. Munich
7. Vancouver
8. Zurich
9. Frankfurt Main
10. Toronto


Worst
1. Manilla
2. Paris Beauvais
3. Reykjavik Keflavik (Iceland)
4. Bergamo Orio al Serio
5. Kiev
6. Frankfurt Hahn
7. London Luton
8. Pisa
9. Paris CDG
10. Los Angeles

More on the worst (why):
http://www.sleepinginairports.net/worst-airports.htm

[spiral78]

Yeah, Frankfurt is good - so is Schipol. Schipol has got big lounge chairs for just this purpose of waiting comfortably....we once started a holiday with a flight at 6 am, by spending the night in two of the loungers overlooking the runways with a couple of bottles of champagne. No hassles at all:-)

At the top of my personal 'worst' list: Cairo, Egypt. In a country where women are discouraged from working in public, and men are therefore in charge of cleaning the public facilities - well, better if you can wait until you're safely emplaned to perform any sort of sanitary function. In spite of the many, many signs in many, many languages warning travellers not to pay for toilet paper, the 'cleaners' with the carts are still haggling over every single sheet. I'm totally sure that the bottles of spray cleaner on their carts are at least a decade old, as well - it's utterly apparent that not a single feature of the public restrooms has actually been cleaned in years and years and years......
Bubonic plague land for sure.

[artemisia]

Thanks for that Spiral78. As they say, forewarned is forearmed.

Should I be alighting at Cairo airport at any time in the near future, I'll make certain in advance that I don't need to use the public "conveniences". Those bottles of spray cleaner must just be on display for decorative purposes! The champagne at Schipol sounds good, even in the event that it was provided by you yourself. Perhaps we are the only "jetsetters" on this forum, though it sounds as though you travel in far greater style than I do!

[sparks]

I'll second (or third) Schipol as a nice airport. I like the big open foodcourt-like area and the easy access to trains to Amsterdam, Paris etc. if you don't want to spend hours sitting around there. Apparently the Warsaw transit system is trying to model their airport-train station transfer system on Schipol's efficient model--good luck!

[spiral78]

Oh, we brown-bagged in our own champagne (and it wasn't the real item, just sparkling wine, but quite good enough!). Sometimes it's nice to make the holiday feeling start as early as possible:-)

Yes, Schipol's access to public transit of all sorts is outstanding, and should be emulated by every airport everywhere!!!

We are waiting for this at Prague's Ruzyne, where the taxi lobby has succeeded for years in preventing an active metro stop at the airport (the infrastructure basically exists today, but is still not functioning). The only real alternatives there are either taxis or public busses (which are not express, are often crowded, get stuck in traffic, and only get you to the nearest metro station). There is also a long-running 'scam' of sorts in that it's not all that obvious that you have to buy a transit ticket for the bus in advance, and to stamp it as soon as you board. The ticket-checkers used to (and I think still sometimes do) collect lots of cash fines from unsuspecting tourists there!!

I have to say that it is worse in Calgary, Canada, where there is exactly ZERO public transit to the airport (no more buses, last time I was there)!! Worse, many of the taxi drivers are muslim, and refuse to allow a weary schnauzer into their cars. Last time I flew in to Calgary, we stood at the taxi stand for a solid half hour waiting for a cab driver who would accept the dog.

Such problems are inconceivable in Amsterdam or Frankfurt, where even though many of the drivers may be muslim as well, there is an entirely dog-friendly culture and canines are essentially welcome everywhere anyway.

[Captain_Fil]

I would put Taiwan's Taoyuan airport as one of the best.

Last year, my wife and I stayed there for 9 hours (before flying back to the US from our Philippine vacation).

The airport is like a huge mall. So many shops and cafes. We spent our time just shopping, dining, resting and picture-taking.

And I got a nice foot massage from a blind man!

If you need to sleep, I believe there are rooms available.

[Qaaolchoura]

I can't speak directly to sleeping, but I can definitely imagine it. As an adult, I've only tried to sleep in domestic US airports, and only two US airports stand out in my mind--neither for the sleeping conditions--Boston Logan for being excellent, and LAX for being so awful I've resolved never to fly through it again.

When I was little, I tried to sleep in Seoul and Dublin, when in both cases our connecting flights (to Beijing and London) were canceled or delayed. Seoul I did get to sleep, Dublin I hated, but that may have been because of the whole little-kid-on-a-seriously-delayed-flight-after-a-transoceanic-voyage thing. Flying out of Seoul as an adult was pretty nice, and the seats definitely looked sleepable, though I didn't try. But after emptying your bottles for security, you can't get cold water (or I couldn't), though they have machines with hot water.

I will second Hong Kong being excellent. Though the money exchange closes at 8:00 PM, which isn't great if you have a flight leaving after 10. The airport was beautiful, and there were a wide variety of seating options, restaurants, and stores and the WiFi was excellent.

Moscow and Shanghai Pu Dong are also very nice, both have excellent WiFi and comfortable seating. Shanghai even had outlets set up to accommodate all plugs, though though the lights were overwhelming. Moscow's hard to find outlets at. Both Moscow and Shanghai though force you to go through security again, for connecting to other international flights, which is baffling and absurd, but I'd much rather spend time there than at most American airports.

~Q

[scot47]

My policy was always ANYWHERE BUT HEATHROW.

[gaijinalways]

I must wonder, why someone would sleep at the airport (or go there to drink sparkling wine). I suppose if you have a red-eye connection it might be necessary (6 am is pretty early as check in and what not needs to be done earlier, and clearing security.. )

Seoul is very good, the shopping areas are duplicated, so you never have to wander too far. Paris I found not to be that great, but any airport in general is pretty bad as usually nothing is open (and I do mean nothing, except the toilets) in the early morning.

[spiral78]

[gaijinalways]

That is a problem sometimes when you can't get a direct flight (or don't wish to pay for one). I've pulled part of my hair out a few times trying to work out schedules on Easy Jet and Ryan Air to some of the smaller towns/cities, where sometimes planes only go 2-3 days a week. Of course, you can mix in trains also, which can make planning multi-destination schedules daunting.

MOD EDIT as to going to Schipol, you didn't consider taking a taxi? We've flown from Japan twice in the very early morning, and a taxi was fine both times to Haneda (very little traffic early in the morning). Also took a taxi to CDG the last time we were in Paris as my wife preferred to stay downtown rather than near the airport.

Not that I am against overnighters per se, but somehow it reminds me of uni student life. That and personally, my own bed beats an airport bench/couch every time hands down.

[basiltherat]

Has anyone else spent the best part of a night in the departure/transit lounge of Istanbul's airport ?

Comfort and ease of kipping might not be as highly ranked as the likes of KL and Changi but there was acres of space to find 3 seats to lie down on, tucked away down a rarely used concourse. No-one bothers you and the temperature wasn't particularly cold; which sometimes airports can be. Some reasonably-priced eating places were open throughout the night and it was one of the few airports where you could smoke (designated areas within the departure gates which you can smuggle yourself into easily). They also provide free wi-fi.

Overall, I'd call it pretty customer-friendly for snatching a few hours of sleep.

Veering off topic slightly, I must say that Turkish Airlines have really improved. At one time, several years ago, you would have been advised to avoid them; now, I would personally even recommend them; excellent service, loads of leg space and dependable departures/arrivals. No issues with safety either. All seems to be pretty top-notch.

Best,
Basil

[spiral78]

[Sashadroogie]

Ah Spiral, you clearly aren't making the kind of money some of us are...

I am often so incapacitated I need to get a taxi all the way out of Russia : )

[johnslat]

Dear Sasha,

Heck, you probably need a taxi to get from the living room (and the vodka bottle) to the bedroom.

Regards,
John