I've got a MR coming up in early Nov. that will leave me in TPA overnight and put me on a 6:40 AM return. I looked into hotels and car rentals and have decided against both. I'd be willing to book a cheap shuttle or use public transit. I'm kind of leaning toward catching a HART bus to Ybor City and hanging out until things close up then using a shuttle to go back to TPA. But I'm not 100% sure I want to do that.

So here are my questions:
1. Will I freeze to death when outside in the wee hours?
2. Is there anything to keep me occupied w/o a car into those wee hours?
3. Is it a bad idea to hang out in downtown Tampa/Ybor City until that late? I've heard there's a bit of crime in that area.
4. Any alternate suggestions?
5. When does security open up for me to go airside?
6. Anything open landside for me to watch tv/have a snack/get a paper during obnoxious hours?
6. Anyone caught a nap there during the night?

1. Freeze? No, we don't spend much time under 60, though we all think that's freezing. I usually wear shorts and t-shirt on thanksgiving.

2. TPA is large enough to wander around if you stay there, has an art gallery and such. Ride the monorails around in the parking garage for fun if you get really bored. What time are you getting in?

3. Yes, Ybor is far away and not the safest part of town if you don't know it like a local would. If you get in early enough, do something closer like Bay Street at International Plaza. Have a martini, gelatto, or visit the Grape for wine, and you're only a few mins from the airport.

4. See #3

5. 5 or 6am, depending on when flights are heading out. The landside terminal in multi-leveled and fairly large with tons of "stuff" in it for shops and dining. Airsides flank the main building like spokes of a wheel. You get past a basic ID/BP check and hop on a monorail tram that goes down the spoke to the airside. Airsides, being so disconnected from the main building, have lots of offerings too.

6. Not everythign stays open, and i do think there are a few hours when next to nothing is open landside, but it's got lots of stuff. If anything the building is a square, the airside trams at the perimeter, and the center is a series of boxes that make shops and such. the dead center is a newstand. That likely is always open.

7. Spent lots of time there as my home airport, flow in and out at crazy hours, rather be there then other airports (had like 5-6 hour delays before).

Doing some research for ya..

Bay Street's offerings (short ride from the airport): http://www.shopinternationalplaza.com/scc/10154.html

And the TPA landside offerings: http://www.tampaairport.com/shops/index.asp

Looks like Starbucks and News central is open 24 hours and offerings will be slim midnight to 5am.

Edit: Free wireless internet everywhere in the airport. Always a perk.

This site might have some useful info.

KNRG, thanks for answering some of my questions and doing a little research for me. I had visited TPA's website, but hadn't found the relevant pages. At least Starbucks and News central will be open all night. So that will help.

I'm getting in a shade late to go to Bay Street. I'll have to do some homework on that aspect, but I've got time.

djk7, I had visited Sleeping in Airports. It's a great site, but it was a little skimpy on details for TPA. Maybe I'll have to report what I found?

To the best of my knowledge, HART line buses usually stop running around midnight. At least I've never seen one on the road past that time.

Q1) Temperature should be fine unless there's a huge cold snap coming through. TPA itself can be cold in the early hours, at least to this Floridian. Bring a jacket (or pack a blanket you swiped from a plane.)

Q2) You didn't say how much time you needed to kill. I'm assuming about 5 hours. It wouldn't be the most exciting time of your life and the land-side terminal isn't all that large, but it's not bad.

Something I do if I've got the time and am in the area (even if not traveling) is head over to TPA and go on the top level of the garages. Taking the landside elevators to the top floor will put you on the tallest garage (best vantage point of the terminals/runways), while taking the landside elevators to Level 5 will take you to the automated tram that runs to long-term parking which has great views of Tampa Bay. It's rather peaceful up there. It's also not a bad place to take a few pictures either.

3) I'd avoid Ybor... Unless you want to get drunk off your arse and mugged, it's not quite the "entertainment district" the city tries to pass it off as. Downtown's definitely a no-go after dark. You won't get mugged in the southern portion of downtown, but you'll be harassed to death by the homeless and everything closes at 5pm.

4) Eh.. not a whole heck of a lot is accessible without a car in Tampa.

5) As the others have said, it's usually 5/6am for the TSAholes to start manning their barking posts. The concessions in the airsides tend to open later & close earlier than the main landside terminal (beware!).

6) The Starbucks and Newsstand are open 24/7. The Mariott hotel (directly attached to the main terminal, level 3) has a nice bar in it that might still be open if you get there in time. They have monitors in the bar w/departures, quite handy. Every airport bar needs this! Also the bar's right next to the pool so you might be able to go out there and just unwind by the pool for a little bit.

7) I've caught a few Zzzs there before. The spots mentioned in Sleeping in Airports are quite good, the chapel in particular. It's very hidden away and always quiet and deserted. It's also a bit warmer than the rest of the building. Another good area is on the exit side of the trams for Terminal E. They built an extension onto the building and there's a ton of seating there that no one uses. Unfortunately, almost all seating in TPA has armrests. Depending on the weather, the smoking patio (between airsides A & C) might be a good place to be. It does have flat benches and is usually dimly lit.

If you can manage to stay out on the airsides, Airsides A, C, F had smoking lounges in them that they've tried to convert into laptop areas that no one uses. Throw a blanket on the floor and you can probably sleep there all night long without anyone even knowing you're in there. Granted, there's nothing to do out on the airsides at night, but it will be quiet.