TechnoTourist

Pay what is takes, this is what CC insurance is for. I fell asleep in an airport once by mistake but it's not something I would ever choose to do.

boboqui

I remember feeling like a zombie walking and walking all night and not finding anywhere to go and rest, back in the 80’s, the LIM airport was awful.

Super Mario

Depends on the scenario. If it was a flight home and I had to wait 6 hours, I might just nap, stay awake, or just sleep when I get home. Getting to and from the airport may also be in a hassle in itself. If it was on the way to a trip, and a longer delay, I might be more inclined to get a room as to not be tired for once I arrive.

I couldn't see myself paying $500 as some are saying. What, do I need a St Regis just to go to bed?

moondog

$500 *might* be a high enough price point to sway towards sleeping in an airport, but probably not. When (almost) all flights were delayed during the night of my DFW connection last year, hotel prices shot through the roof (e.g. $250 for places like HIX). If the same thing had occurred at SFO, I could easily envision a $500 price floor. Admittedly, that's a handsome sum for 6 hours of sleep and a shower, but when you amortize the expense over a five-year period (i.e. very uncommon occurrence), it's not so hard to swallow.

Kiwi Flyer

In a really bad disrupt situation there might not be any hotel rooms to book.

A few years ago I faced a night in the terminal because every hotel within 2 hours was sold out after multi-day weather delays. I managed to get the last seat on a special flight put on to an airport 2 hours away from my destination. The airline was only allowing its top status tier onto that flight.

Another time several years ago I opted to overnight at a diversion airport instead of continuing on the airline provided bus. This was because it was in the middle of winter with heavy snow and no rooms at the destination. People due to fly out had not been able to depart so overstayed in their rooms, creating a problem for those arriving by bus.

pinniped

I'm not sure what the number is - I've never been a situation where it was actually going to take anything close to $500 to get a random airport hotel. One-night airport hotel stays are often a pretty decent use for points, which is what I've typically done when this has happened to me. A couple other times the hotels have been cheap enough that it wasn't a good use of points - like $100-125 for a Fairfield-quality place.

The only time I've decided to remain in the airport overnight was when I had been rebooked (confirmed) on a 5:15AM flight. I didn't trust the hotel shuttle would run at 4am and this was pre-Uber. It was already midnight so I just chilled in the airport and didn't sleep. Yeah, the next day sucked, but I didn't want to chance no-showing my confirmed seat.

I thankfully have never been caught up in one of the mega-storms that causes a whole city's hotels to be sold out. I guess in that case I'd just find a quiet corner of the airport and chill.

Ber2dca

If it was pushing midnight and I'm on a flight at like 6 am, no way do I book a hotel unless it's in the airport itself. I wouldn't sleep on the floor obviously, I'd find a place where I can charge my device, plug it in and just screw around on the internet all night. I'd probably not be in a mood for sleeping anyway.

But if a hotel is 'worth it' i.e. I could go there, stay 6+ hours and then be back in time, then I'd probably be willing to go up to 500 or so. If I was with my wife ironically she would probably be the one telling me where to stop. I'm kind of a 'cost of doing business' guy whereas she's a penny pincher.

GUWonder

Points are a great use indeed for many such circumstances. And Priceline/Hotwire’s “opaque” bookings can also be good in such circumstances.

What I really like to try to avoid is this: having to figure out what to do with booking accommodations after midnight has struck. If I miss the midnight cut-offs, my costs to book something around the airport or in the city will likely rise but the value I get would drop.

What I would pay to stay off the floor is higher than what I would pay to not stay at the airport.

nk15

These days you also have to consider the risk of Covid in sleeping at a busy airport, so I would probably pay what it takes to avoid that as well.

FliesWay2Much

Mrs Flies and I just spent $227 Monday night at an airport hotel near PWM. That was the cheapest hotel we could find near the airport. I guess that's my limit until we have to do it again somewhere.

CMK10

Any amount. In 2012 when I was 29 years old I slept on the floor of ORD trying to sleep behind a closed Hudson News and later on a bench in the baggage claim of YVR. It was awful and it ruined the next day for me.

I'm older and don't handle being tired as well now. Travel is supposed to be about fun not about martyrdom so I'll pay what I have to do either in points or cash.

Visconti

Ah, personally, about $300 - $500? On the higher end, the hotel has to be something in the airport, e.g., GH SFO, Sheraton CDG, or TWA JFK. If I'm with my family or with anyone else, whatever the cost.

During several occasions, say, at SFO/LAX/JFK when an evening flight cancels until the next morning, I'll refuse the voucher or go through the hassle of filing a claim and just spend the night at the airport. I'll just find a seat, open up my laptop, listen to an audio book and pass the time. I generally don't sleep too much anyway and usually only avg 5 hours or so. So, by myself, no big deal and I kind of enjoy it. Of course, since I've yet to meet anyone else who shares that idiosyncrasy, I'll pay for a hotel if I'm with anyone else, irrespective of the cost. In airports where I'm familiar with their hotels, JFK is a good example, I'd refuse any of their vouchers, unless it's the TWA; or, SFO, I'd only accept GH; DFW, only GH, etc. Otherwise, I'll just pay for it.

Finally, by myself, generally the shuttle bus thing is a deal breaker. In that case, I'd call a cab or uber and stay at hotel in the city.

moondog

I might have mentioned this upthread, but I booked a hotel other than the GH at DFW last summer. My flight was delayed because we diverted to Austin and getting through customs took an hour plus. Suffice it to say, my hotel's free shuttle stopped running at midnight, so I ended up paying $35 for the three-mile taxi ride. AA ended up throwing me $150 in AA money after I told them about this, so all is good with them, but I now pony up extra money in order to stay in walkable hotels, whenever they are options (actually, I wouldn't do this at PVG because the hotels between the terminals suck, but nobody should be laying over at PVG overnight anyway).

Visconti

Yeah, I'm a big fan of airport hotels actually in the airport or very close to it attached with some kind of bridge or walkway. Wow, speaking of PVG, it's been 3+ years for me, and I'd get lost there all over again. To think that I had once thought I knew both PVG and SHA so well. I remember seeing that hotel you're referring to and remember thinking, "ah, this isn't going to work."

By the way, how are things there? Better now?

Super Mario

Here is Cleveland, we just got rid of our only "on-site" airport in favor of more airport parking. I can't imagine the trend will favor these types of hotels in the future as some airports are running out of space.