Hotel Crew Conveniences That Make a Layover “Home”

About a year ago, I was scheduled for a segment on CNN International’s show Quest Means Business hosted by Richard Quest. We were supposed to film around London Heathrow and the neighborhood where most airline crews layover in order to show and discuss the ways crew members manage to feel at home on layovers. The show didn’t pan out, which is a shame because it could have been an informative behind-the-scenes look for the traveling public. I’ve used Crewed Talk to point out many improvements that need to be made in the airline industry and work environment, but today’s focus is different. I’m pleased to report we get a few tools to help smooth the hassles of constant travel: Sometimes hotels hide little crew conveniences.

I should clarify, however, the hotel perks for crew members aren’t universal. They tend to be limited to long-haul international layovers (remember when we talked about some of the advantages of domestic versus international flying?). For this and other reasons (i.e. super-short layovers, frequent hotel changes), finding a consistent routine is a different challenge when working domestic trips. As for the relatively lucky dogs flying international, they get a little help.

The most common amenity we have tucked away in a foreign hotel is a “crew room.” They’re not fancy, just a space on the business floors set aside for us, usually featuring a couple of computers and free Internet access, some tables/chairs/sofas and a TV to relax and socialize around. Better ones have vending machines and a coffee and hot chocolate machine. Sometimes we are able to help ourselves to the supply cabinet. Such casual access is a welcoming touch.

I’m pretty sure these lounges aren’t in the spirit of largesse but to encourage crews not to clog up the lobby, especially during the long hours when we have to wait for room assignments after flying all night. Because of our unusual schedules, hotels usually rotate the same block of rooms for flight crews. We only get our keys after another crew vacates “our” rooms, which doesn’t always sync. Meanwhile, hotels really don’t like groups of people falling asleep on the lobby sofas! Whatever the reason, it’s nice to have a place we can relax together.

Access to some sort of “kitchen” – a microwave, real dishes, condiments – is also common. Bringing food from home or buying it at the local supermarket is standard for crew life on the road. Local time zones, restaurant hours, cuisines or prices can be a challenge on our schedules. Sometimes you’re starving for dinner at 5 p.m. in Buenos Aires or feel like having string cheese at midnight. Maybe we arrived at 1 a.m. and everything is closed, or there are no walking-distance food options. Crews do their best to be prepared. Of course, this is also a money-saving measure since U.S. airlines do not alter per diem amounts per destination. We receive the same amount for a layover in Mumbai as we do for Zurich, the same for Duluth as we do for New York.

In our rooms, we can expect coffee makers as well as refrigerators. While the former is not unusual for anyone in a hotel today, I might actually panic if one’s not provided. Crews feel the same way about fridges. As I mentioned above, hotels often use the same block of rooms for us, and those minibars will have been cleared out. This saves everyone the hassle of crews constantly having to deny automatic charges often triggered when products are moved – because we will move them. No matter how drool-worthy the local cuisine, bringing our own food is a popular way of retaining some control of our surroundings and keeping some things familiar.

Last year, one airline cut refrigerators from their London hotel contract. On my friend’s layover, the hotel cheerfully said not to worry — they’d bring as many buckets of ice as needed to preserve her food throughout her stay. It required about 10 deliveries to her room. Next time I visited her on layover, the refrigerators had – poof! – magically appeared again. (Meanwhile, on a domestic layover, I once resorted to a trashcan lined with spare plastics bags overflowing with ice in the bathtub.)

Some destinations have unique niceties that make all the difference. In Rio, it’s the crew room coffee – fresh with hot milk, not from a machine. The Zurich hotel actually shares its employee cafeteria with us. In London, it’s the space they provide for “regulars” to store personal items so they don’t have to lug them across the ocean and through security multiple times per month. You see – it doesn’t take much! Give us one little comfort we can grab onto, and we’ll manage to make that place a “home.”

[Photo: Getty]