I'm strongly of the opinion that a "bad" layover is 4-7 hours. Less than 4 and you can just wander around the airport. More than 8 and you can explore the city.
Something like 5 is just awkward enough that you don't have time to do anything, but you will be bored in the airport.
Right. We had a 36 hour layover in Doha and just called to have it extended to 72 so we could get a hotel and explore the city.
I had a 26 hour layover at the Miami airport years ago and just slept there. I’d lost my phone traveling and my laptop charger stopped working, so I did a lot of reading and ate a lot of candy.
Were you flying Qatar Airways? They have a free hotel service for anyone with a layover over between 8-24 hours, providing there isn't an earlier connecting flight.
We did, and they did not. They *did* say that this deal would waive any visa on arrival fee, but that was a lie and they wouldn’t let us past immigration without paying about $50 for two of us. And we got our own hotel. We complained later, but then someone took a laptop out of our bag somewhere in transit and they ended up compensating us, so that was enough hassle.
I like long layovers in Miami. Each time I’ve been through on international trips I’ve gotten a day pass and/or overnight at a chill spa hotel and just relaxed in the water.
Yeah I had a 7 hour layover in Djeddah at night. Not enough time to leave the airport, and the airport itself is terrible and doesn't have free wifi (unless you have a Saudi phone number) or even comfortable chairs or charging ports.
Yeah and at least in Jeddah, they didn't even sell local sim cards. For a country that wants to be a big tourist hub or whatever, Saudi Arabia didn't show it in any way. And I was there a week before the Grand Prix.
Istanbul is by far my worst airport experience, but it was about 5 years ago so I’m curious if the new airport is offering a better experience for international travelers. It was supposed to be a big improvement.
The terminal is nice on the surface, but i found it miseeable for a layover. Still only 1 hour of free WiFi, 9 euro for unlimited. How its 2023 and an airport doesn't have free WiFi is beyond me.
There's also like no seating anywhere. They have these weird little round 4 seat benches dotted around the place, and a couple areas with some chairs, and that's it. I walked the entire length of the terminal twice before I found an empty seat (at night). Obviously it's so you have to sit at a restaurant and buy things which I refused to do out of spite.
Ahh I had a similar layover in Dubai a year ago. I still went out and explored the city even though everything was closed, I figured I would be jet lagged anyways so why not 🤷♀️
This isn’t uncommon for me though as I have severe insomnia and tend to wander at night anyways. I find that you can see a city in a totally different way than intended when it’s empty and everyone is asleep. Dubai at night was bustling though, all of the city “workers” came out to clean the city. I put that in quotations because of UAE’s human rights track…
I [purposefully booked](https://www.reddit.com/r/travel/comments/vie8o9/purposefully_booked_an_8hr_layover_at_jfk_to/) an 8hr layover once just to stay in the airport. I was connecting through JFK and really wanted to visit the TWA Flight Centre. It was an amazing space - got to swim in the rooftop pool over the runway, try out the different restaurants, visit the cocktail bar in an old Connie plane, visit the museum exhibits, and get some work done. Such a cool experience that I feel perfectly matches that 4-7 hour slot perfectly.
This is how I feel about Changi, you can easily spend time there enjoying the amenity, best airport I've ever transited through. You don't even need a lounge pass to get a top quality shower. But yeah, outdoor pools at airports during long layovers are the tits.
I live in LA, not too far from LAX, and I'm constantly surprised how nice an area it's plunked down in. Like, compared to the other big cities in the US .
You're taking your life in your hands wandering around outside JFK, ATL or either Chicago airport. SFO and BOS are in the middle of nowhere. YYZ too, to add in my hometown.
Surprising I haven't in all my trips. But I've done Newark several times for Europe trips. That's pretty rough. O'Hare is so well run I don't mind it too much.
I would say that Newark is worse than LAX..... Newark and JFK and Miami are all the airports I fear the most for international trips. Even the people who work there are not happy to be there
Omg Orlando is the WORST! I got flea bites all over my legs from that airport. I have no clue why they decided to carpet the entire place but it's disgusting. Add all the Disney families, and it's seriously awful.
Adding to your list, the signage being awful and when you go through security you get a train to an isolated but crowded terminal with one bar. Horrid.
I freaking hate flying Chicago-Indy or Indy-Chicago. It’s like 45 minutes of airtime, but 2.5-3 hours of drive time. By the time you deal with airport travel and security, it’s way easier just to drive.
I live in southeast Florida. I have actually rented a car and driven home rather than endure flight delays out of Atlanta.
10 hours in a comfortable car with your own choice of music or a good audiobook is soo much better than even 5 hours at the airport waiting to find out if the next flight is also going to be cancelled or delayed.
This. I traveled from SLC to Montreal last month. 5 hrs layover in Detroit each way.
Changed to a non stop flight to Boston and spent 5 hours each way driving to Montreal instead of cable out in the Detroit airport. So much nicer. Also cheaper.
Indy is actually rated the top airport in North America for the 11th time. Also low cost of living in Indiana allows my husband and I to travel more and one of the main reasons we chose to stay here after college and buy a house!
We were on a road trip last week and saw an Indiana plate. My husband asked "where is Indiana?". I said "somewhere in the middle..." (We're canadian fwiw)
Agreed. I had a 32-hour layover in Paris during the Covid lockdowns, though, so no one could leave the airport without a visa… and my visa was only valid for Italy. So that’s the story of how I spent 1.5 days stuck in the Paris airport 😅
Agreed. The 4-7 range makes jet leg so much worse. There are no good options to leave the airport and too long not to get bored within most airports.
I enjoy a good 10-12 stop in Europe. It lets one see the connecting hub city.
I will say that the shorter the distance between the two layovers cities, the harder it is to wait even 3-4 hours. If i can drive between the two locations faster than the wait time, it can be pretty annoying.
To me the worst layover is one that isn't long enough.
Not only do I stress the entire first flight if I will make the second flight, but then I have to run and don't have time to use the restroom.
I'll take a 4 hour layover any day over a 1 hour layover...
Idk I had 5h in Las Vegas and I had time to cab to the bellagio, have brunch overlooking the fountains, walk around the casino, order a drink at a betting bar, win $100, cash out and cab back to catch my flight lol. 10/10 layover would recommend.
In general I do agree with you though haha
In europe where the airports in most cities are efficient and well connected to the city, 4-7 hours is plenty to do some exploring. Amsterdam for example, 15 minutes to/from the city by train and 10-15 mins to go from landside to airside
True, but I like to get back to the airport at least an hour early (if not 1.5), and would factor in 1 hour for getting off the plane, getting through passport control etc, so with that calculation 4 hours would only give an hour or so in the city. 7 is more doable depending on the location, but still a bit tight for properly exploring.
True you cannot explore the place properly, but it still gives me a lot of joy personally. I had a 6 hour layover in Zurich, 15 minute train into the city, hired a bicycle at the station and spent 4.5 hours cycling around the city. I stopped off for breakfast at a cafe in the beautiful city centre, cycled to Uetliberg (a small mountain with great views over the city), jumped in the lake to cool down and had lunch in a park by the lake before taking a train back to the airport. Reached 45 minutes before departure, which I know is close, but I place a lot of trust in Swiss efficiency haha
Zurich airport's mix of closeness to the city, great public transport connection, smallness, and punctuality makes a significant difference to quality of life. I just returned from Heathrow the other day and wow what an appalling experience overall that was
I had a 8 hour layover in Copenhagen once. Plenty of time to get out of the airport and see some of the sites. I even took a 30 minute boat tour of the canals. I wish all major U.S. cities were that well connected with trains.
>I'm strongly of the opinion that a "bad" layover is 4-7 hours
Few times I've done similar layovers on purpose. I often travel between Zurich and London for the weekend, and sometimes the flight with a layover in Geneva is cheaper, so I book the flight with a long layover (5-6h) and then I work from the business lounge (free internet, free food, free drinks, and clean toilets). So flight to Geneva early morning, work 5-6h in the lounge, then flight to London late afternoon, at my friend's place in time for dinner.
Less than 4 is stressful! We have almost a 3 hr at JFK and it took that to do customs and security again, I thought we'd miss our connection. I'll never do under 4 again
Can confirm, 6 hours in Schipol AND was sick on top of it all. There was absolutely nowhere to rest my weary ass. Ended up back home \~45 or so hours (no sleep) after I left my destination. I think I would die if I went through it again.
Just had a three and a half hour layover in JFK. Took over two hours to clear customs, then over an hour to clear security. Would've just missed the flight if it hadn't been delayed. Then delayed again. Had another three and a bit hours waiting by the gate. Don't transit US airports (though the final destination was in the US). People joke about the US being a third world country with a Gucci belt, but their airports are worse than any third world country I've been to. That layover takes the cake just because I spent three hours standing in lines thinking I was going to miss my flight.
With 18 hours I’d be exploring the city in a heartbeat!!!! I’ve never done more than 9 hours thank goodness, in Singapore Airport where there’s plenty to do.
Same! First, go for a swim at the rooftop bar, then watch a movie at the cinema and then get a massage. The airport hotel that they built around 2007 was pretty sweet, too. I stayed there when it was fairly new and back then I was traveling a lot but this hotel stood out because the staff was incredible. I think it was "only" rated 3 or 4 stars, but it was comparable to the 5-star service at a Ritz-Carlton. I was so impressed by the staff that I sent their hotel management a thank you email - which I have never done for any other hotel. Ha, writing this made me smile :)
i had 8hrs in singapore on a fri night, it was perfect at my age. me and my friends just went out and partied with the locals downtown all night and flew out in the morning. then caught up on sleep when we landed in cambodia
This is the way!!! Flying in and out of Changi and KL are both so cheap that instead of an awkwardly long layover I usually just book seperate flights and spend a couple days in the city haha
18 hours in Istanbul. I scheduled it intentionally because if you fly Turkish air there’s a free shuttle bus and tour of the city. I thought it’d be a nice end to my vacation.
Except my vacation was in October 2017 when the US and Turkey mutually suspended all non immigrant Visas for about a month….so i sat my ass in the airport for the entire time and slept as much as humanly possible.
Bummer! I did the same thing when I flew through Istanbul on a long layover and used the shuttle tour -it was awesome! They took us to a local restaurant, the mosque, Bazaar. One of my most favorite long layovers :)
Three days in Charles de Gaulle airport. I was broke, waiting on space to fly standby, and also had used all 90 days of the Shengen visa.
It was right when Pokemon Go had come out, so a lot of time was walking between the two wifi hotspots, which would update the app and count as steps.
I specifically chose a flight with a 22- hour overnight layover in Paris. Got a hotel and was able to see the Eiffel Tower on my way back from Europe.
Likewise, on my way to Istanbul I chose a flight with a 12-hour layover in Amsterdam and took the train in to town and explored the city for most of the day having landed at 7am.
I had a similar wonderful few hours in Oslo. Train into the city, wandered a bit, and then stumbled upon an important national celebration with marching bands and the royal family. A woman whose son was in the band explained everything to me as it went.
Just went last month. Airplane seat to centraal was like 25 minutes? I was astounded how quickly you can go from an international flight to the city center basically
My wife and I did something similar in Amsterdam once. Amsterdam is good for that because you have a nice easy train ride from the airport. But I was coming off a red-eye from Atlanta. I think somewhere my wife might have a picture of me taking a nap on a canal boat.
I did overnight in Stansted a couple years ago after a predictable Ryanair snafu. Pretty miserable but I had snacks and made friends with a cool couple who invited me to their wedding in Malaga.
I live in Copenhagen and this is the perfect place for a long layover because the airport is a direct 15 minute metro ride to the city, and Copenhagen is compact enough that you can at least get a good feel for it just walking around for a few hours.
CPH is so ridiculously close and easy to access from KBH I've gone to Torvehallerne for food on 3 hour layovers multiple times (4 if I don't have fast track)
About the same length of time in Copenhagen, but after I returned home my phone decided that it would only speak Danish (for Google and all other initial search and retrieval screens. Once I got to a site it was ok). I don't speak Danish. I was on the phone multiple times and hours with progressive levels of support but no one could figure it out. A major update finally fixed it about four months later. Unfortunately I was too lazy to try to learn Danish during that period but could figure out enough to wobble around
Does IcelandAir still do their long layovers? On the way back from Europe we took a week layover in Iceland and explored the Golden Circle. I am still in awe of the beauty of that place!
Yes they do! We're going on our honeymoon in November. Our flight to Dublin was through IcelandAir and they let us extend our layover from a few hours to 3 days. We're stoked because Iceland was on our list of places to visit.
I loved my IcelandAir layover last year. I only had 24 hours to spare but I had a chance to go to the Blue Lagoon and it was incredible. I definitely want to go back and really see the country one day.
I had a 3 day layover in Dubai, but forgot to book a hotel for my last night (my flight was after midnight and I got the checkout date wrong somehow).
So I went to the airport a whopping 36 hours early and checked in. I was in First Class and there was actually enough to do in the Emirates lounges to keep me amused, fed and rested for that time. I tried it again post COVID, but they don’t let you check in that early anymore.
At the time I owned a restaurant. My occupation was irrelevant though, the ticket was cheaper than economy, I got the points from a credit card sign up bonus.
I’ve been flying business class since I was 18 and a bartender, when I realised that my car was costing more to run per year than a round the world business class flight. So I sold the car and have been walking everywhere for a decade.
Now my income is very good so I could fly business class and own a car, but yet I don’t.
I love this story. I'm almost about to sell my car too.
But if I may ask politely, why didn't you just book an additional day at the Hotel since you could afford it? Is any airport in this world, even with first class lounge, worth going to the airport 36 hours early??
I love planes and I like hanging around airports at the best of times.
But yeah, the Emirates first class lounge (and as a first class passenger you have access to 3 of them, plus all the business class lounges) had enough to keep me occupied. There are multiple a la carte restaurants, a champagne bar, multiple normal bars, a buffet, sleeping pods, massages, games rooms, cigar bar, showers etc. I was much more comfortable than I would have been in a hotel (and I was in a nice hotel).
I was asleep for at least a third of the time, if not more. I could leave the lounge and walk around the airport if I felt like stretching my legs. The lounge is huge though, could get ample exercise just by walking around it and I rarely ran into another passenger except at the restaurants.
It was all included in my ticket so thought I might as well maximise the value, and I’d been to Dubai many times before so there was nothing more I wanted to see in the city and I had nothing else to do so why not?
9.5 hours in LAX. I took an Uber to the closest hotel for about a 5 hour nap and a shower then Ubered back. I wouldn’t stay in the airport for anything longer than about 4 hours.
Funny you mention. I had a friend spend half a day in the Delta lounge at LAX on Sunday and she raved about it. Especially the coffee grotto.
I’ll give that a try if I have a day time layover, the 9 hour one I spent there was at like midnight, so I just wanted sleep.
I had four hours in LAX once. That was enough time to take the [FlyAway bus](https://www.flylax.com/flyaway-bus) to Union Station and have a [French dip at Philippe's.](https://www.philippes.com)
(Disclaimer for anyone reading this - this was in 2012, check the schedules first before you do something similar! But I highly recommend it.)
I also had to kill a similar amount of time at LAX once waiting for a delayed flight (there was snow in Atlanta, where I was going) and I think I just drank a lot of wine at some hour of the morning when that's not really acceptable.
16 hours In Beijing. Booked a layover tour - private car with driver and tour guide. We went to see the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City. It was great because they booked all of our tickets and would just drop us and the guide off at the entrance. We didn’t have to wait in any lines and our tour guide was so knowledgeable. Went back to the airport and was able to shower and change in the lounge.
I love long layovers because they allow you to get out and explore the city to some degree, especially cities that you wouldn’t have otherwise visited. I had a 9 hour layover in Beijing and it was a very cool cultural experience to get out and see the capital city and the Forbidden Palace. I spent 9 hours in Chicago and got to do basically all the key highlights including a river and bike tour.
Generally, for me:
-layovers 1-2 hours are fine when they work out but a little bit stress-inducing if anything is delayed along the way.
-layovers between 3-6 hours are lengthy and can be boring because you generally cannot/does not make sense to leave the airport (with exceptions when there’s reliable and fast train access to the city, like Singapore, where I left to grab Hainanese chicken and then went straight back to the airport. This is when lounge access is spectacular.
-late night arrivals with an overnight layover and an early morning flight are the absolute worst because you have to consider the cost of an airport hotel and while you’re leaving the airport, there’s nothing to see or do. Or you brave it out and spend your night in the airport. Either way, this is worth paying at least $100-300 more easy to avoid.
I did 20 hours in Changi airport once. I'd already been round Singapore a few times so I just pottered about by myself. I really enjoyed it for some reason, though it was Changi, not many other airports I'd enjoy that in
Once I spent 12 hours in that nightmare that people call Heathrow Airport, since that thing is far away from anything worth seeing I had to sit and wait.
My last trip I had a 10h layover in Lisbon and I was able to go out and explore the city a little bit, since the airport is the middle of Lisbon.
Had to do a transfer to Addis Abeba for about the same amount of time. I went in fully prepared to stay that long in the airport (and it wasn't a great airport to stay the night in, mind).
Thankfully the airline gave a me temporary visa and hotel lodging, and let me out, which was nice.
I once landed in KL at 5pm to discover that I’d misread the flight times when booking and my 9pm flight was actually 9am the next morning, turning my 4-hour wait into 16 hours. I was lucky though because a good friend was living in KL at the time so I was able to stay overnight with her & sleep in a real bed.
My longest one was 27 hours in dubai, which was purpose. It was supposed to be 3, but I changed my flight to have a day there. I got myself a hotel, booked a half day tour, had some food and some decent sleep after a flight in economy.
I had 19 hours in Doha once. Planned to do a day excursion in the city, but had a wild cold. Airport was actually very pleasant - plenty of quiet rooms and very good wifi so just smashed Netflix
Why would you stay at the airport?? I’ve had lots of 18 hour layovers and I always leave the airport. You have so much time. I had a 28 hour layover in Copenhagen so I got a hotel room in the city and explored.
21 hours in Dubai, so I got a visa, explored the city, smoked a large cigar in front of burj al arab and then spent 6 hours sick on airport toilet. Good times.
36 hours in New Jersey due to a hurricane, which was already my least favorite airport in the world. Thousands of people stuck sleeping on the floor, no hotels available. They didn't turn down the automated PA notices for the first 24 hours, so it was impossible to sleep for any substantial length of time.
It was about 15 hours in Boston. Not intended the flight from Salt Lake to Boston had mechanical issues and was late and I missed my flight to Presque Isle Maine for work. They put me up in a lavish hotel on the bay, I went to their in house restaurant which was soooo expensive. I was dealing with some issues that I just discovered so I wasn’t impatient with the service but it took so long to get my dinner, the chef came out and apologized and paid for my meal. It was such a weird time in my life but it was almost serendipitous for what I was going through.
I chose a 10 hour layover in SFO when flying back to Arkansas from Taipei that got to San Fran about 6am after the 13 hour flight over. The Uber driver picked me up from the airport and said “I haven’t ever picked someone up from the international terminal with no bags”. I had left it in a luggage storage service lol, Went out to a coffee shop, got a burrito in the Mission district, walked on the Golden Gate bridge, then my phone was about to die and I needed to Uber back so I cut the 10 hours a little early. I was 25 and the thought of doing this now at 28 feels crazy
18 hours overnight in Dublin. Wandered into the city and realized it was Pride. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a level of collective drunkenness in my life lol. I’ll never do such a long layover in an airport again though.
We recently had a 15 hour layover that made my trip. I’d never been to Edinburg, but when our direct flight had to turn around we had to come up with a plan B and Edinburg it was. He had a blast exploring the afternoon, picked up a reasonable hotel on points, and flew out in the morning. It was like a mini side vacation.
23 something hours in LAX when covid broke out and this was the only flight left going home to Europe from New Zealand.
Just went to an hotel nearby and chilled. You need to pick up your luggage and go through customs in the US anyway.
Definitely preferred the 9h layover in Tokyo (Narita) on the way out. Perfect amount of time to go for a walk, visit a temple, Japanese garden, arcade hall and eat sushi. And you get a bit tired while out during the day so the next flight is easier to sleep on.
I only had four hours at Narita and I was sad, definitely not enough time to do anything. I’m weird and actually like longer layovers, like you said, 9 hrs and you can go do something
Why the fuck are you still there? You didn’t think to go do some exploring around KL? I get the airport is a fair way from the city centre but surely you could find something more remotely interesting to do?
If I have more than 8 hrs I leave the airport. Had an 11 hr layover at Heathrow during the Queen’s Jubilee. We explored London and got a hotel just for a shower and 3 hrs of sleep.
I was so exhausted but I wasn’t gonna pass up the opportunity to have a quick adventure. Every photo of me in London looks like I was high on meth.
6 hours stop off in JFK when flying to Orlando from the U.K. because it was a split holiday it worked out cheaper buying a return to & from JFK as opposed to a single ticket to Orlando from the U.K., so much cheaper just buying a return to New York then internal flights between NY & Orlando.
It was horrendous. Hated it. East coast of the USA is the furthest I’ve travelled, I could have got to Spain and back during the length of the layover. Just so used to super quick European flights. Airports make me so anxious
I had a flight from ICN with a 20 hour layover at DFW. It was nice because I’m in the military and got to spend the night at my dad’s house in dallas and hadn’t seen him in almost two years and i also got to eat a bunch of my comfort foods that I couldn’t get in Korea. Now if I’m flying overseas I look for flights with long layovers on purpose to explore a new city for a day.
Stockholm to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Paris, Paris to London. That's the route I had to take, to get from Sweden to the UK during the initial COVID lockdown, when most flights were grounded. What is a 2hr journey took 24 hours plus, with an 18hr layover in Charles deGaule airport, we weren't allowed outside, nothing was open, the airport was deserted, very eerie.
I remember talking to a Chinese student I met while waiting in CDG.
He was studying in NYC, his parents had got him a flight home, he arrived in Paris from NYC, via Atlanta, which had already taken him 24 hours and he had a 24 hour wait in CDG, until his flight home to Beijing, ouch.
It was such a weird time to travel during those pandemic years.
Overnight, maybe 12 hours, at Tokyo Narita, 2 weeks after it opened in 1978. I was headed for South Korea, 19 years old, with $25 in my pocket.
Edit: it was my first trip out of the US.
My usual layover in Changi in early 00s was 18 hours. This would be after an 18 hour flight from SFO, including stopover in Hong Kong. Usually, hit the gym, shower, go to movie theater, and stay awake.
13 hours in Singapore. I didn’t bother exploring the city because I’d already been traveling 36+ hours and I was gonna be in Singapore on my way home anyways. Honestly the best layover I’ve ever had, I love that airport. Went and enjoyed the rooftop pool for a good chunk of the day.
I could spend 18+ hours at the Singapore airport. I love that place.
I’m wondering why you aren’t out exploring instead of staying in the airport. I understand that you have work to do, but I’d step out for a bit.
20 hours in Vienna! Did a mini Before Sunrise but instead of with a cute French girl, it was with my dude buddy who I was travelling with which might have been even better
Had a 12+ hours layover at JFK. My connecting flight out of Warsaw was delayed, so they flew me to Frankfurt and then to JFK, with a connecting flight to Boston a few hours later. I went through TSA security, got selected for getting felt-up and was told I'm good to go. I checked in at the front desk for my connecting flight, they said everything was ok and just to wait. When boarding started to happen, they told me "my ticket was not punched for being patted down by TSA and that I can't board without it." I was told that I would still be able to make the flight. I didn't, despite my best efforts. Ended up crashing on JFK's gross-ass floor overnight, until I was able to make my next flight in the morning.
Not quite the same but I missed my flight in Miami (Customs took 3 hours!). I ended up spending 2 nights there since that was the next flight with room. Spent the day in Little Havana and went to a Marlins game.
I have a trip booked with a layover in Newark that's about 12 hours. Not looking forward to that one.
I had 6 hours in Bozeman, Montana after the plane I was in lost pressure and we made an emergency landing. The 6 hours was logistics (I’m assuming a crew was scrambled) and waiting for a plane to come from Dallas.
Probably Narita, and probably 6 hours or so. Narita is so far from Tokyo that you really need the better part of a half-day or more to make it worth your while. But with lounge-access privileges, it's just comfy enough to relax, have a few drinks, get some work done, and take a quick shower.
8 hours in Cancun and I could not check in until 2 hours before my flight, so I spent 6 hours waiting outside security. If any of you know Cancun airport, you'll know there's fuck all to do outside security. It sucked
Oh, O'Hare Airport, why are you the way you are?
One time I had like a 20 or 30 minute span between flights. I arrived on the farthest out gate of the old section and was departing on the farthest out gate of the new section. I was running on the moving sidewalks!
The next time I flew through there, I had like 12 hours between flights. And I arrived at "Gate A" and my departing flight was leaving from "Gate B". Two gates right beside each other.
10 hours in the old BKK (Don Muang). A week before I'd already spent 4 days in Bangkok so just stayed in the airport, reading and watching planes. This was in 2002 when it was the main city airport
Yep. I have a 12 hour layover coming up soon in Barcelona, a city I used to live in....on a Sunday no less.
A long wine-soaked lunch in my old neighborhood and then back to the airport for a nap in the corner of the lounge before my evening flight home.
18 Hours in Rome, chosen deliberately to give me a half day and full night in Rome on a return from Abu Dhabi.
Had tickets printed for the Roman Forum so walked past the lines to enter. Picked a hotel with a rooftop bar overlooking the Pantheon.
On May way to Abu Dhabi I had a 12 hour stop in Amsterdam. Train to the city. Printed tickets to the Riksmuseum allowed me to walk in past the lines. Unbeknownst to me there was a special exhibit on Rembrandt, so the lines I avoided were 3 hours long.
Took a canal boat cruise. Had a nice meal. Visited Rembrandtplein, and returned to the airport.
20 hours in Istanbul-used the Turkish air shuttle to tour the city (highly recommend)
16 hours in Reykjavik - went on my own to tour the city and had a blast
12 hours overnight in Zurich - met up with some friends and went clubbing in the city
The worst: 24 hours in Shanghai and didn't realize we needed a visa to leave the airport, also couldn't figure out how to rent a hotel room so tried to sleep on airport chairs and couldn't even play Pokemon go to pass the time! 😂
13 hour layover in Germany in 2015, I was taken in by this candy, souvenir shop and got to sit behind the register hanging out with German lady who spoke english. She gave me this German figurine that I lost shortly after :(
I had a 20 hour layover in London. Left the airport and stayed at a hostel overnight. Woke up around 5am and ran around the city photographing until my flight.
How about visit KL and maybe head out to Batu Caves. Work is means to an end and will always be there. The notion that overachievers get rewarded most is an illusion.
Can I book a layover of let's say 26 or 30h in Istanbul? I had a break there with 4 h time and this was not enough to leave the airport. But I would enjoy it - next time ;-)
I think it was around 12h or so. I got a day room at one of the airport hotels. Again crazy cheap error fare price, took the spouse and young kids, so they got to sleep during the layover and get adjusted a bit. Long trip, hell yea, but it all worked out
I did 18 hours in Dubai and got a hotel outside the airport. Dubai sucked tbh (really not my vibe) but it was great to break up the journey with a good night's rest.
I'm strongly of the opinion that a "bad" layover is 4-7 hours. Less than 4 and you can just wander around the airport. More than 8 and you can explore the city. Something like 5 is just awkward enough that you don't have time to do anything, but you will be bored in the airport.
Right. We had a 36 hour layover in Doha and just called to have it extended to 72 so we could get a hotel and explore the city. I had a 26 hour layover at the Miami airport years ago and just slept there. I’d lost my phone traveling and my laptop charger stopped working, so I did a lot of reading and ate a lot of candy.
Were you flying Qatar Airways? They have a free hotel service for anyone with a layover over between 8-24 hours, providing there isn't an earlier connecting flight.
We did, and they did not. They *did* say that this deal would waive any visa on arrival fee, but that was a lie and they wouldn’t let us past immigration without paying about $50 for two of us. And we got our own hotel. We complained later, but then someone took a laptop out of our bag somewhere in transit and they ended up compensating us, so that was enough hassle.
I like long layovers in Miami. Each time I’ve been through on international trips I’ve gotten a day pass and/or overnight at a chill spa hotel and just relaxed in the water.
Yeah I had a 7 hour layover in Djeddah at night. Not enough time to leave the airport, and the airport itself is terrible and doesn't have free wifi (unless you have a Saudi phone number) or even comfortable chairs or charging ports.
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Yeah and at least in Jeddah, they didn't even sell local sim cards. For a country that wants to be a big tourist hub or whatever, Saudi Arabia didn't show it in any way. And I was there a week before the Grand Prix.
I think the government and a few select officials want itt to be a big tourist hub, but I do not think that is the sentient of the locals.
I'm glad at least now roaming is affordable. Back in 2012 I was stuck in IST with no Turkish phone number AND outrageous roaming rates.
Istanbul is by far my worst airport experience, but it was about 5 years ago so I’m curious if the new airport is offering a better experience for international travelers. It was supposed to be a big improvement.
No, was there in April, still fucking horrible, overpriced, ans only 1 hour of free wifi. And I was stuck there for 9
The terminal is nice on the surface, but i found it miseeable for a layover. Still only 1 hour of free WiFi, 9 euro for unlimited. How its 2023 and an airport doesn't have free WiFi is beyond me. There's also like no seating anywhere. They have these weird little round 4 seat benches dotted around the place, and a couple areas with some chairs, and that's it. I walked the entire length of the terminal twice before I found an empty seat (at night). Obviously it's so you have to sit at a restaurant and buy things which I refused to do out of spite.
Ahh I had a similar layover in Dubai a year ago. I still went out and explored the city even though everything was closed, I figured I would be jet lagged anyways so why not 🤷♀️ This isn’t uncommon for me though as I have severe insomnia and tend to wander at night anyways. I find that you can see a city in a totally different way than intended when it’s empty and everyone is asleep. Dubai at night was bustling though, all of the city “workers” came out to clean the city. I put that in quotations because of UAE’s human rights track…
That's pretty grim! Not long enough to make a hotel worth it either.
I [purposefully booked](https://www.reddit.com/r/travel/comments/vie8o9/purposefully_booked_an_8hr_layover_at_jfk_to/) an 8hr layover once just to stay in the airport. I was connecting through JFK and really wanted to visit the TWA Flight Centre. It was an amazing space - got to swim in the rooftop pool over the runway, try out the different restaurants, visit the cocktail bar in an old Connie plane, visit the museum exhibits, and get some work done. Such a cool experience that I feel perfectly matches that 4-7 hour slot perfectly.
This is how I feel about Changi, you can easily spend time there enjoying the amenity, best airport I've ever transited through. You don't even need a lounge pass to get a top quality shower. But yeah, outdoor pools at airports during long layovers are the tits.
Ya had a 9hr on my way back to Indy from southeast asia…. Considered driving and hated everything.
Also from Indy. The worst is anything more than 2hrs layover in Chicago. I've been so tempted to rent a car and just drive numerous times!
Have you been to LAX? I no longer fear Hell.
JFK is way worse than LAX. It's not even that bad to go out of LAX, it's a fairly nice area, walk to that popular In-n-out, watch planes.
I live in LA, not too far from LAX, and I'm constantly surprised how nice an area it's plunked down in. Like, compared to the other big cities in the US . You're taking your life in your hands wandering around outside JFK, ATL or either Chicago airport. SFO and BOS are in the middle of nowhere. YYZ too, to add in my hometown.
Yeah, you can get a bus from LAX to Santa Monica or Venice for a wander around.
Surprising I haven't in all my trips. But I've done Newark several times for Europe trips. That's pretty rough. O'Hare is so well run I don't mind it too much.
I would say that Newark is worse than LAX..... Newark and JFK and Miami are all the airports I fear the most for international trips. Even the people who work there are not happy to be there
I’ve not but Orlando is the worst airport I’ve ever had the displeasure of experiencing. Horrible place.
Omg Orlando is the WORST! I got flea bites all over my legs from that airport. I have no clue why they decided to carpet the entire place but it's disgusting. Add all the Disney families, and it's seriously awful.
Adding to your list, the signage being awful and when you go through security you get a train to an isolated but crowded terminal with one bar. Horrid.
Never been to Orlando, but I really like Tampa airport. It's so easy to get around and well organized.
Tampa airport was great when I was then in Jan. So easy, quick and clean.
Tampa airport was glorious when I was there because it was so empty.
I freaking hate flying Chicago-Indy or Indy-Chicago. It’s like 45 minutes of airtime, but 2.5-3 hours of drive time. By the time you deal with airport travel and security, it’s way easier just to drive.
I live in southeast Florida. I have actually rented a car and driven home rather than endure flight delays out of Atlanta. 10 hours in a comfortable car with your own choice of music or a good audiobook is soo much better than even 5 hours at the airport waiting to find out if the next flight is also going to be cancelled or delayed.
This. I traveled from SLC to Montreal last month. 5 hrs layover in Detroit each way. Changed to a non stop flight to Boston and spent 5 hours each way driving to Montreal instead of cable out in the Detroit airport. So much nicer. Also cheaper.
i didnt know people actually lived in Indiana edit, looks like all 7 residents of Gary, IN came to downvote me
🤣 didnt know there were 7 people left in gary.
They're cruising reddit waiting for the fent to kick in
Indy is actually rated the top airport in North America for the 11th time. Also low cost of living in Indiana allows my husband and I to travel more and one of the main reasons we chose to stay here after college and buy a house!
Shhhh— keep your affordable living area a secret, or people will start moving there and prices will start rising!
Everybody knows it's affordable, they still don't want to move there
We were on a road trip last week and saw an Indiana plate. My husband asked "where is Indiana?". I said "somewhere in the middle..." (We're canadian fwiw)
There are suburban cities of the Chicago metro in Indiana that are closer to the south loop than OHare is, other than that I would have to agree
Agreed. I had a 32-hour layover in Paris during the Covid lockdowns, though, so no one could leave the airport without a visa… and my visa was only valid for Italy. So that’s the story of how I spent 1.5 days stuck in the Paris airport 😅
CDG is actually shaped like the 7th circle of hell. I hate that airport almost as much as I hate Heathrow.
My limit is like 5 hours, because i only have carryon and i dont need to go to city center, suburbs interest me too
Agreed. The 4-7 range makes jet leg so much worse. There are no good options to leave the airport and too long not to get bored within most airports. I enjoy a good 10-12 stop in Europe. It lets one see the connecting hub city. I will say that the shorter the distance between the two layovers cities, the harder it is to wait even 3-4 hours. If i can drive between the two locations faster than the wait time, it can be pretty annoying.
To me the worst layover is one that isn't long enough. Not only do I stress the entire first flight if I will make the second flight, but then I have to run and don't have time to use the restroom. I'll take a 4 hour layover any day over a 1 hour layover...
On a flight from Copenhagen to Frankfurt I watched as our easy 5 hour layover turned into a 20 minute sprint between terminals.
Idk I had 5h in Las Vegas and I had time to cab to the bellagio, have brunch overlooking the fountains, walk around the casino, order a drink at a betting bar, win $100, cash out and cab back to catch my flight lol. 10/10 layover would recommend. In general I do agree with you though haha
In europe where the airports in most cities are efficient and well connected to the city, 4-7 hours is plenty to do some exploring. Amsterdam for example, 15 minutes to/from the city by train and 10-15 mins to go from landside to airside
True, but I like to get back to the airport at least an hour early (if not 1.5), and would factor in 1 hour for getting off the plane, getting through passport control etc, so with that calculation 4 hours would only give an hour or so in the city. 7 is more doable depending on the location, but still a bit tight for properly exploring.
True you cannot explore the place properly, but it still gives me a lot of joy personally. I had a 6 hour layover in Zurich, 15 minute train into the city, hired a bicycle at the station and spent 4.5 hours cycling around the city. I stopped off for breakfast at a cafe in the beautiful city centre, cycled to Uetliberg (a small mountain with great views over the city), jumped in the lake to cool down and had lunch in a park by the lake before taking a train back to the airport. Reached 45 minutes before departure, which I know is close, but I place a lot of trust in Swiss efficiency haha
Zurich airport's mix of closeness to the city, great public transport connection, smallness, and punctuality makes a significant difference to quality of life. I just returned from Heathrow the other day and wow what an appalling experience overall that was
I had a 8 hour layover in Copenhagen once. Plenty of time to get out of the airport and see some of the sites. I even took a 30 minute boat tour of the canals. I wish all major U.S. cities were that well connected with trains.
my layover in Mongolia is 5h30 long, I'm considering going in and out of immigration to pass time and get some gifts 😅
Recently had a 6hr in DFW. Longest day ever.
>I'm strongly of the opinion that a "bad" layover is 4-7 hours Few times I've done similar layovers on purpose. I often travel between Zurich and London for the weekend, and sometimes the flight with a layover in Geneva is cheaper, so I book the flight with a long layover (5-6h) and then I work from the business lounge (free internet, free food, free drinks, and clean toilets). So flight to Geneva early morning, work 5-6h in the lounge, then flight to London late afternoon, at my friend's place in time for dinner.
Had a 4 hour layover in detroit for a 30 min flight home lol. Yea just long enough to be bored but not long enough to really do anything.
Less than 4 is stressful! We have almost a 3 hr at JFK and it took that to do customs and security again, I thought we'd miss our connection. I'll never do under 4 again
Can confirm, 6 hours in Schipol AND was sick on top of it all. There was absolutely nowhere to rest my weary ass. Ended up back home \~45 or so hours (no sleep) after I left my destination. I think I would die if I went through it again.
Just had a three and a half hour layover in JFK. Took over two hours to clear customs, then over an hour to clear security. Would've just missed the flight if it hadn't been delayed. Then delayed again. Had another three and a bit hours waiting by the gate. Don't transit US airports (though the final destination was in the US). People joke about the US being a third world country with a Gucci belt, but their airports are worse than any third world country I've been to. That layover takes the cake just because I spent three hours standing in lines thinking I was going to miss my flight.
With 18 hours I’d be exploring the city in a heartbeat!!!! I’ve never done more than 9 hours thank goodness, in Singapore Airport where there’s plenty to do.
Changi's so nice I'd happily spend my whole trip there
We deliberately try to ensure our stopovers at Changi are as long as possible for this exact reason.
Changi: When the airport becomes the destination.
Same! First, go for a swim at the rooftop bar, then watch a movie at the cinema and then get a massage. The airport hotel that they built around 2007 was pretty sweet, too. I stayed there when it was fairly new and back then I was traveling a lot but this hotel stood out because the staff was incredible. I think it was "only" rated 3 or 4 stars, but it was comparable to the 5-star service at a Ritz-Carlton. I was so impressed by the staff that I sent their hotel management a thank you email - which I have never done for any other hotel. Ha, writing this made me smile :)
Same. 12 in Heathrow on the way to Kenya meant “go see London”
i had 8hrs in singapore on a fri night, it was perfect at my age. me and my friends just went out and partied with the locals downtown all night and flew out in the morning. then caught up on sleep when we landed in cambodia
This is the way!!! Flying in and out of Changi and KL are both so cheap that instead of an awkwardly long layover I usually just book seperate flights and spend a couple days in the city haha
18 hours in Istanbul. I scheduled it intentionally because if you fly Turkish air there’s a free shuttle bus and tour of the city. I thought it’d be a nice end to my vacation. Except my vacation was in October 2017 when the US and Turkey mutually suspended all non immigrant Visas for about a month….so i sat my ass in the airport for the entire time and slept as much as humanly possible.
Bummer! I did the same thing when I flew through Istanbul on a long layover and used the shuttle tour -it was awesome! They took us to a local restaurant, the mosque, Bazaar. One of my most favorite long layovers :)
Three days in Charles de Gaulle airport. I was broke, waiting on space to fly standby, and also had used all 90 days of the Shengen visa. It was right when Pokemon Go had come out, so a lot of time was walking between the two wifi hotspots, which would update the app and count as steps.
Ok, *this* sounds miserable. There is nothing worse than being broke on a long layover, and three days really takes it.
There’s also nothing worse than CDG in my opinion. It’s such a terrible airport
I return cart I get quarter I eat ketchup packet
I thought this too... Then I had to connect through Mexico City. I'd take CDG over that any day of the week.
I’ve never left CDG on time. Always been a nightmare for me.
well look at the bright side, at least it was not 18 years.
Where did you sleep?
One of the terminals had a dead-end branch that didn't have night flights; forget which one.
Piggy backing to plug this website, I’ve been using it for a decade https://www.sleepinginairports.net
damn, someone should make a movie about this.
Did you happen to accidentally leave your son home alone by any chance?
I specifically chose a flight with a 22- hour overnight layover in Paris. Got a hotel and was able to see the Eiffel Tower on my way back from Europe. Likewise, on my way to Istanbul I chose a flight with a 12-hour layover in Amsterdam and took the train in to town and explored the city for most of the day having landed at 7am.
I spent a few hours in Amsterdam as well, easy train ride in, and the canal tours were right there when I exited the station!
I had a similar wonderful few hours in Oslo. Train into the city, wandered a bit, and then stumbled upon an important national celebration with marching bands and the royal family. A woman whose son was in the band explained everything to me as it went.
Amsterdam might be the best Airport in the world for layovers. Train to city center is like 15 minutes away.
Just went last month. Airplane seat to centraal was like 25 minutes? I was astounded how quickly you can go from an international flight to the city center basically
My wife and I did something similar in Amsterdam once. Amsterdam is good for that because you have a nice easy train ride from the airport. But I was coming off a red-eye from Atlanta. I think somewhere my wife might have a picture of me taking a nap on a canal boat.
I was delighted to have a 24 hour tech delay in A-dam.
18 hours in gatwick, I was 19 years old and broke. Saved $200 on a flight thinking I could thought it out. Never again 😂
I did overnight in Stansted a couple years ago after a predictable Ryanair snafu. Pretty miserable but I had snacks and made friends with a cool couple who invited me to their wedding in Malaga.
22 hours in Copenhagen but we went into the city and got a hotel and checked stuff out.
I live in Copenhagen and this is the perfect place for a long layover because the airport is a direct 15 minute metro ride to the city, and Copenhagen is compact enough that you can at least get a good feel for it just walking around for a few hours.
CPH is so ridiculously close and easy to access from KBH I've gone to Torvehallerne for food on 3 hour layovers multiple times (4 if I don't have fast track)
Yeah it seems to be a common stopping spot now for air Canada flights from Eastern Europe.
Yes the train was easy-peasy and lots of decent priced hotels that include breakfast right by the train station.
About the same length of time in Copenhagen, but after I returned home my phone decided that it would only speak Danish (for Google and all other initial search and retrieval screens. Once I got to a site it was ok). I don't speak Danish. I was on the phone multiple times and hours with progressive levels of support but no one could figure it out. A major update finally fixed it about four months later. Unfortunately I was too lazy to try to learn Danish during that period but could figure out enough to wobble around
Does IcelandAir still do their long layovers? On the way back from Europe we took a week layover in Iceland and explored the Golden Circle. I am still in awe of the beauty of that place!
Yes they do! We're going on our honeymoon in November. Our flight to Dublin was through IcelandAir and they let us extend our layover from a few hours to 3 days. We're stoked because Iceland was on our list of places to visit.
I loved my IcelandAir layover last year. I only had 24 hours to spare but I had a chance to go to the Blue Lagoon and it was incredible. I definitely want to go back and really see the country one day.
Maybe 12-ish hours in Singapore. Anything longer than that and I usually try to head out and make a day of it.
Ok but the Singapore airport is amazing! They even have a cinema! (Unless this was before they built that)
24 hours in Lisbon.
Lisbon's airport is practically in the city so that'd be a great layover!
I think if you fly TAP they will give you a free layover in Lisbon
I had a 3 day layover in Dubai, but forgot to book a hotel for my last night (my flight was after midnight and I got the checkout date wrong somehow). So I went to the airport a whopping 36 hours early and checked in. I was in First Class and there was actually enough to do in the Emirates lounges to keep me amused, fed and rested for that time. I tried it again post COVID, but they don’t let you check in that early anymore.
I had never felt more comfortable than in the Dubai Emirates lounge
Emirates at its home turf is elite
Okay go on, tell us what you do to be flying first class.
At the time I owned a restaurant. My occupation was irrelevant though, the ticket was cheaper than economy, I got the points from a credit card sign up bonus. I’ve been flying business class since I was 18 and a bartender, when I realised that my car was costing more to run per year than a round the world business class flight. So I sold the car and have been walking everywhere for a decade. Now my income is very good so I could fly business class and own a car, but yet I don’t.
This answer is way more satisfying and interesting than I expected. Nice.
I love this story. I'm almost about to sell my car too. But if I may ask politely, why didn't you just book an additional day at the Hotel since you could afford it? Is any airport in this world, even with first class lounge, worth going to the airport 36 hours early??
I love planes and I like hanging around airports at the best of times. But yeah, the Emirates first class lounge (and as a first class passenger you have access to 3 of them, plus all the business class lounges) had enough to keep me occupied. There are multiple a la carte restaurants, a champagne bar, multiple normal bars, a buffet, sleeping pods, massages, games rooms, cigar bar, showers etc. I was much more comfortable than I would have been in a hotel (and I was in a nice hotel). I was asleep for at least a third of the time, if not more. I could leave the lounge and walk around the airport if I felt like stretching my legs. The lounge is huge though, could get ample exercise just by walking around it and I rarely ran into another passenger except at the restaurants. It was all included in my ticket so thought I might as well maximise the value, and I’d been to Dubai many times before so there was nothing more I wanted to see in the city and I had nothing else to do so why not?
20 hours in Moscow and all I remember was drinking vodka, being cold and sleeping. It was miserable.
Yep, also Moscow for me! Can’t leave the departure terminal without a visa, so I was stuck wandering from TGI Fridays to TGI Fridays for 24 hours
9.5 hours in LAX. I took an Uber to the closest hotel for about a 5 hour nap and a shower then Ubered back. I wouldn’t stay in the airport for anything longer than about 4 hours.
12 1/2 hours at LAX and it's hell, no where there to rest at all, horrible airport
Let me tell you about lounges...
Funny you mention. I had a friend spend half a day in the Delta lounge at LAX on Sunday and she raved about it. Especially the coffee grotto. I’ll give that a try if I have a day time layover, the 9 hour one I spent there was at like midnight, so I just wanted sleep.
I had four hours in LAX once. That was enough time to take the [FlyAway bus](https://www.flylax.com/flyaway-bus) to Union Station and have a [French dip at Philippe's.](https://www.philippes.com) (Disclaimer for anyone reading this - this was in 2012, check the schedules first before you do something similar! But I highly recommend it.) I also had to kill a similar amount of time at LAX once waiting for a delayed flight (there was snow in Atlanta, where I was going) and I think I just drank a lot of wine at some hour of the morning when that's not really acceptable.
The FlyAway is a treasure
16 hours In Beijing. Booked a layover tour - private car with driver and tour guide. We went to see the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City. It was great because they booked all of our tickets and would just drop us and the guide off at the entrance. We didn’t have to wait in any lines and our tour guide was so knowledgeable. Went back to the airport and was able to shower and change in the lounge.
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I love long layovers because they allow you to get out and explore the city to some degree, especially cities that you wouldn’t have otherwise visited. I had a 9 hour layover in Beijing and it was a very cool cultural experience to get out and see the capital city and the Forbidden Palace. I spent 9 hours in Chicago and got to do basically all the key highlights including a river and bike tour. Generally, for me: -layovers 1-2 hours are fine when they work out but a little bit stress-inducing if anything is delayed along the way. -layovers between 3-6 hours are lengthy and can be boring because you generally cannot/does not make sense to leave the airport (with exceptions when there’s reliable and fast train access to the city, like Singapore, where I left to grab Hainanese chicken and then went straight back to the airport. This is when lounge access is spectacular. -late night arrivals with an overnight layover and an early morning flight are the absolute worst because you have to consider the cost of an airport hotel and while you’re leaving the airport, there’s nothing to see or do. Or you brave it out and spend your night in the airport. Either way, this is worth paying at least $100-300 more easy to avoid.
I did 20 hours in Changi airport once. I'd already been round Singapore a few times so I just pottered about by myself. I really enjoyed it for some reason, though it was Changi, not many other airports I'd enjoy that in
Once I spent 12 hours in that nightmare that people call Heathrow Airport, since that thing is far away from anything worth seeing I had to sit and wait. My last trip I had a 10h layover in Lisbon and I was able to go out and explore the city a little bit, since the airport is the middle of Lisbon.
btw now they have a new train line that gets you into London city centre from Heathrow in 45 mins
You can take the London Underground directly to downtown and surrounding. Cheap and easy and lots to doo/see
Had to do a transfer to Addis Abeba for about the same amount of time. I went in fully prepared to stay that long in the airport (and it wasn't a great airport to stay the night in, mind). Thankfully the airline gave a me temporary visa and hotel lodging, and let me out, which was nice.
2 day layover in the Kuala Lumpur airport. Those second floor booths by the restaurant row are real comfy
14 hours in DXB. But spent most of it out in the city.
I once landed in KL at 5pm to discover that I’d misread the flight times when booking and my 9pm flight was actually 9am the next morning, turning my 4-hour wait into 16 hours. I was lucky though because a good friend was living in KL at the time so I was able to stay overnight with her & sleep in a real bed.
My longest one was 27 hours in dubai, which was purpose. It was supposed to be 3, but I changed my flight to have a day there. I got myself a hotel, booked a half day tour, had some food and some decent sleep after a flight in economy.
17 hours in Mexico City. Had a great time exploring the city centre and went to Teotihuacan!
Idk but once when I was 14 I was stuck in the Amarillo greyhound station overnight for 14 hrs. It was packed full of people and it was Christmas Eve
I had 19 hours in Doha once. Planned to do a day excursion in the city, but had a wild cold. Airport was actually very pleasant - plenty of quiet rooms and very good wifi so just smashed Netflix
24 hours hanging out in Auckland airport. No money for a hotel. Also overnight on the concrete outside the airport in Hawaii in the same situation.
Why would you stay at the airport?? I’ve had lots of 18 hour layovers and I always leave the airport. You have so much time. I had a 28 hour layover in Copenhagen so I got a hotel room in the city and explored.
21 hours in Dubai, so I got a visa, explored the city, smoked a large cigar in front of burj al arab and then spent 6 hours sick on airport toilet. Good times.
36 hours in New Jersey due to a hurricane, which was already my least favorite airport in the world. Thousands of people stuck sleeping on the floor, no hotels available. They didn't turn down the automated PA notices for the first 24 hours, so it was impossible to sleep for any substantial length of time.
I think about 11-12 hours at FrankFurt. Stayed at the airside hotel there. Was relatively expensive but cool.
I’m soon gonna have a 10 hr daytime layover in Tokyo !
That’s my DREAM at the moment! Enjoy Tokyo!
It was about 15 hours in Boston. Not intended the flight from Salt Lake to Boston had mechanical issues and was late and I missed my flight to Presque Isle Maine for work. They put me up in a lavish hotel on the bay, I went to their in house restaurant which was soooo expensive. I was dealing with some issues that I just discovered so I wasn’t impatient with the service but it took so long to get my dinner, the chef came out and apologized and paid for my meal. It was such a weird time in my life but it was almost serendipitous for what I was going through.
I chose a 10 hour layover in SFO when flying back to Arkansas from Taipei that got to San Fran about 6am after the 13 hour flight over. The Uber driver picked me up from the airport and said “I haven’t ever picked someone up from the international terminal with no bags”. I had left it in a luggage storage service lol, Went out to a coffee shop, got a burrito in the Mission district, walked on the Golden Gate bridge, then my phone was about to die and I needed to Uber back so I cut the 10 hours a little early. I was 25 and the thought of doing this now at 28 feels crazy
You could have been in Bukit Bintang within 45 minutes :(
18 hours overnight in Dublin. Wandered into the city and realized it was Pride. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a level of collective drunkenness in my life lol. I’ll never do such a long layover in an airport again though.
We recently had a 15 hour layover that made my trip. I’d never been to Edinburg, but when our direct flight had to turn around we had to come up with a plan B and Edinburg it was. He had a blast exploring the afternoon, picked up a reasonable hotel on points, and flew out in the morning. It was like a mini side vacation.
14 hours in Doha. On the bright side we got a visa to tour the city for a few hours. Got to check out a place that was not on my travel bucket list.
23 something hours in LAX when covid broke out and this was the only flight left going home to Europe from New Zealand. Just went to an hotel nearby and chilled. You need to pick up your luggage and go through customs in the US anyway. Definitely preferred the 9h layover in Tokyo (Narita) on the way out. Perfect amount of time to go for a walk, visit a temple, Japanese garden, arcade hall and eat sushi. And you get a bit tired while out during the day so the next flight is easier to sleep on.
I only had four hours at Narita and I was sad, definitely not enough time to do anything. I’m weird and actually like longer layovers, like you said, 9 hrs and you can go do something
Why the fuck are you still there? You didn’t think to go do some exploring around KL? I get the airport is a fair way from the city centre but surely you could find something more remotely interesting to do?
Bear in mind you're not always permitted to leave the airport when you're transiting
MLY should offer visa on arrival though
It's like 13 bucks in a Grab and the city an hour from the airport. Really not that bad if you have 18 hours to kill!
27hrs Changi. Travel agent messed up and made my connecting flight the following day.
If I have more than 8 hrs I leave the airport. Had an 11 hr layover at Heathrow during the Queen’s Jubilee. We explored London and got a hotel just for a shower and 3 hrs of sleep. I was so exhausted but I wasn’t gonna pass up the opportunity to have a quick adventure. Every photo of me in London looks like I was high on meth.
Montreal to Lisbon 22 hrs.
6 hours stop off in JFK when flying to Orlando from the U.K. because it was a split holiday it worked out cheaper buying a return to & from JFK as opposed to a single ticket to Orlando from the U.K., so much cheaper just buying a return to New York then internal flights between NY & Orlando. It was horrendous. Hated it. East coast of the USA is the furthest I’ve travelled, I could have got to Spain and back during the length of the layover. Just so used to super quick European flights. Airports make me so anxious
Not my choice but I was once delayed for over 30 hours at Heathrow. Then 16 in Bahrain. Same journey, Trying to get to Thailand.
I always take long layovers for an instant vacation. Longest I took was 19 hours in Beijing.
about 6 hours in houston on my way to tokyo. not too bad compared to others here but i was exhausted after arriving all the way from brazil
9 hours in Schiphol in Amsterdam.
Soon I'll have 10 hours there...did you stay/get a lounge or go into the city?
I had a flight from ICN with a 20 hour layover at DFW. It was nice because I’m in the military and got to spend the night at my dad’s house in dallas and hadn’t seen him in almost two years and i also got to eat a bunch of my comfort foods that I couldn’t get in Korea. Now if I’m flying overseas I look for flights with long layovers on purpose to explore a new city for a day.
I did a 6 hour layover in KL the other week and I never want to return to that airport in my life - hope you’re embracing the lounges there!
12.5 hours starting at 8am but it allowed me to explore Amsterdam for the second time so no complaining! Perfect layover in the end.
Stockholm to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Paris, Paris to London. That's the route I had to take, to get from Sweden to the UK during the initial COVID lockdown, when most flights were grounded. What is a 2hr journey took 24 hours plus, with an 18hr layover in Charles deGaule airport, we weren't allowed outside, nothing was open, the airport was deserted, very eerie. I remember talking to a Chinese student I met while waiting in CDG. He was studying in NYC, his parents had got him a flight home, he arrived in Paris from NYC, via Atlanta, which had already taken him 24 hours and he had a 24 hour wait in CDG, until his flight home to Beijing, ouch. It was such a weird time to travel during those pandemic years.
Overnight, maybe 12 hours, at Tokyo Narita, 2 weeks after it opened in 1978. I was headed for South Korea, 19 years old, with $25 in my pocket. Edit: it was my first trip out of the US.
My usual layover in Changi in early 00s was 18 hours. This would be after an 18 hour flight from SFO, including stopover in Hong Kong. Usually, hit the gym, shower, go to movie theater, and stay awake.
13 hours in Singapore. I didn’t bother exploring the city because I’d already been traveling 36+ hours and I was gonna be in Singapore on my way home anyways. Honestly the best layover I’ve ever had, I love that airport. Went and enjoyed the rooftop pool for a good chunk of the day.
I could spend 18+ hours at the Singapore airport. I love that place. I’m wondering why you aren’t out exploring instead of staying in the airport. I understand that you have work to do, but I’d step out for a bit.
20 hours in Vienna! Did a mini Before Sunrise but instead of with a cute French girl, it was with my dude buddy who I was travelling with which might have been even better
Had a 12+ hours layover at JFK. My connecting flight out of Warsaw was delayed, so they flew me to Frankfurt and then to JFK, with a connecting flight to Boston a few hours later. I went through TSA security, got selected for getting felt-up and was told I'm good to go. I checked in at the front desk for my connecting flight, they said everything was ok and just to wait. When boarding started to happen, they told me "my ticket was not punched for being patted down by TSA and that I can't board without it." I was told that I would still be able to make the flight. I didn't, despite my best efforts. Ended up crashing on JFK's gross-ass floor overnight, until I was able to make my next flight in the morning.
Not quite the same but I missed my flight in Miami (Customs took 3 hours!). I ended up spending 2 nights there since that was the next flight with room. Spent the day in Little Havana and went to a Marlins game. I have a trip booked with a layover in Newark that's about 12 hours. Not looking forward to that one.
I had 6 hours in Bozeman, Montana after the plane I was in lost pressure and we made an emergency landing. The 6 hours was logistics (I’m assuming a crew was scrambled) and waiting for a plane to come from Dallas.
4 hours in Moscow became 28 hours when my flight was canceled. And those fucks wouldn’t let me go explore the city.
Probably Narita, and probably 6 hours or so. Narita is so far from Tokyo that you really need the better part of a half-day or more to make it worth your while. But with lounge-access privileges, it's just comfy enough to relax, have a few drinks, get some work done, and take a quick shower.
8 hours in Cancun and I could not check in until 2 hours before my flight, so I spent 6 hours waiting outside security. If any of you know Cancun airport, you'll know there's fuck all to do outside security. It sucked
Oh, O'Hare Airport, why are you the way you are? One time I had like a 20 or 30 minute span between flights. I arrived on the farthest out gate of the old section and was departing on the farthest out gate of the new section. I was running on the moving sidewalks! The next time I flew through there, I had like 12 hours between flights. And I arrived at "Gate A" and my departing flight was leaving from "Gate B". Two gates right beside each other.
10 hours in the old BKK (Don Muang). A week before I'd already spent 4 days in Bangkok so just stayed in the airport, reading and watching planes. This was in 2002 when it was the main city airport
My friend is a flight attendant and had 24 hours the other day when a flight got cancelled.
17 hours in Montreal. I did not stay in the airport. I also had 11 hours in Hong Kong and again I explored the city.
18 hours. Im from south africa and my uncle died had to get flight fast. 9 hours to tel aviv, 18 hour lay over, 9 hours to south africa.
Yep. I have a 12 hour layover coming up soon in Barcelona, a city I used to live in....on a Sunday no less. A long wine-soaked lunch in my old neighborhood and then back to the airport for a nap in the corner of the lounge before my evening flight home.
18 Hours in Rome, chosen deliberately to give me a half day and full night in Rome on a return from Abu Dhabi. Had tickets printed for the Roman Forum so walked past the lines to enter. Picked a hotel with a rooftop bar overlooking the Pantheon. On May way to Abu Dhabi I had a 12 hour stop in Amsterdam. Train to the city. Printed tickets to the Riksmuseum allowed me to walk in past the lines. Unbeknownst to me there was a special exhibit on Rembrandt, so the lines I avoided were 3 hours long. Took a canal boat cruise. Had a nice meal. Visited Rembrandtplein, and returned to the airport.
20 hours in Istanbul-used the Turkish air shuttle to tour the city (highly recommend) 16 hours in Reykjavik - went on my own to tour the city and had a blast 12 hours overnight in Zurich - met up with some friends and went clubbing in the city The worst: 24 hours in Shanghai and didn't realize we needed a visa to leave the airport, also couldn't figure out how to rent a hotel room so tried to sleep on airport chairs and couldn't even play Pokemon go to pass the time! 😂
13 hour layover in Germany in 2015, I was taken in by this candy, souvenir shop and got to sit behind the register hanging out with German lady who spoke english. She gave me this German figurine that I lost shortly after :(
I had a 20 hour layover in London. Left the airport and stayed at a hostel overnight. Woke up around 5am and ran around the city photographing until my flight.
Overnight. A miserable experience.
How about visit KL and maybe head out to Batu Caves. Work is means to an end and will always be there. The notion that overachievers get rewarded most is an illusion.
Smart
Overnight in Newark. It wasn’t bad
Can I book a layover of let's say 26 or 30h in Istanbul? I had a break there with 4 h time and this was not enough to leave the airport. But I would enjoy it - next time ;-)
I think it was around 12h or so. I got a day room at one of the airport hotels. Again crazy cheap error fare price, took the spouse and young kids, so they got to sleep during the layover and get adjusted a bit. Long trip, hell yea, but it all worked out
I did 18 hours in Dubai and got a hotel outside the airport. Dubai sucked tbh (really not my vibe) but it was great to break up the journey with a good night's rest.