How to Sleep in an Airport (2025): Gear and Expert Advice

2 days ago 5

So you’ve got a agelong layover. Or you tried Airport Theory and missed your flight. Or your level was delayed. Or you spent each nighttime packing due to the fact that you procrastinated until the past infinitesimal and present you tin hardly support your eyes open. For immoderate reason, you’ve recovered yourself needing to slumber successful an airport. You’ve travel to the close place! I’ve consulted experts, colleagues, family, friends, and the internet, arsenic good arsenic my ain experience, to assistance stitchery the champion practices for sleeping successful an airport. With the assistance of this usher and a small cautious planning, you’ll beryllium dormant successful nary time—even successful arguably 1 of the slightest sleep-conducive environments.

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Pick a Spot

Photograph: Getty Images

First off, you’ll request to fig retired wherever you’re going to sleep. There are websites and resources each implicit the place—you tin cheque retired the website Sleeping successful Airports, which Sarah Mattina, a erstwhile firm worker for Southwest and JetBlue, said is the “holy grail” for uncovering the darkest, quietest spot to slumber successful the airport. (Other experts besides recommended this site.) It has dedicated guides for “pretty overmuch each large airdrome successful the world.” (I checked retired the usher for O’Hare successful Chicago and tin corroborate that the champion sleeping spots it lists are so the existent champion sleeping spots from my acquisition spending galore hours passed retired waiting for a delayed formation to arrive.)

You could besides effort the subreddit for the metropolis oregon airdrome you’re going to beryllium in. If your gross is busy, you tin scope retired different gates successful the aforesaid terminal. Find a chill spot successful the corner—you mightiness adjacent beryllium capable to find a seat oregon seat without armrests. Psychologist Leah Kaylor recommends choosing a secure, low-traffic country and says corners adjacent airdrome chapels oregon household lounges whitethorn beryllium a quieter spots than others. Ideally, you privation to prime a spot that has immoderate unit around, specified arsenic information patrols oregon kiosks, but not a spot truthful engaged with radical that you can’t autumn asleep.

Many of the experts I consulted recommended checking retired airdrome lounges if you’re capable to, since the seating is comfier and the country is mostly quieter. They pointed retired that immoderate recognition cards springiness you entree to assorted airdrome lounges, oregon see purchasing a time walk for longer layovers. You mightiness adjacent beryllium capable to snag a ablution successful an airdrome lounge (or a portion to assistance you get sleepy, though Andrew E. Colsky, laminitis of the National Sleep Center, recommends avoiding intoxicant since it suppresses REM slumber and acts arsenic a diuretic). Some airports person dedicated nap pods oregon nap rooms, for a fee, but they connection you a spot to slumber with your bags corralled and nary fearfulness of strangers staring you down from the different extremity of the terminal.