There are lots of reasons for getting stuck in an airport overnight. Your flight was canceled (or you somehow missed it), and the next available flight isn’t until the morning. You have a REALLY long layover. There’s a weather delay. Your airline doesn’t offer a hotel stay for delays/cancellations. Or you planned it this way, and sleeping at the airport is cheaper than staying at a hotel.
A Handy Tool: SleepingInAirports.net
Whatever the case, the facilities available to you vary from airport to airport and fortunately, there’s a website that can help you with what to do at over 1200 airports around the world…
SleepingInAirports.net is an invaluable guide for when/if you’re stuck at an airport overnight. From their website:
Explore our airport guides to find out what services and facilities are available during your layover or overnight sleepover!
Whether you’re stuck in the airport for a few hours or overnight, our airport guides give you an overview of what you can expect at the airport. In addition to having readers submit updated information about the airport facilities, we have researched everything travellers are looking for. Our guides provide you information about lounges that you can pay to enter, available transit hotels or sleep pods inside the airport. We have everything from how to connect to the airport WiFi, to where to store your bags and where to find grab a coffee in the middle of the night.
Sleeping pods, Helsinki-Vantaa Airport // PC: Wikimedia Commons
How To Use It
All you have to do is pick an airport from their extensive alphabetized list and it’ll tell you just about everything you would need to know if you’re going to be stuck there overnight:
- What to expect
- Where to sleep (options at the airport vs. airport lounges vs. airport hotels, etc)
- Availability of airport Wi-Fi/internet
- Services, facilities and things to do on a layover at the airport
- Airport hours
- Layover sightseeing
- Airlines
- Airport transportation to get you to/from the airport
The information is culled from the airports, lounges, hotels, transportation providers, and their websites, as well as, in some cases, reports from readers. Here are some examples:
Sleep ‘n Fly Sleep Lounge, Dubai International Airport
Additional Resources on SleepingInAirports.net
Their website also includes a bunch of helpful lists and guides. You’ll find rankings of the best and worst airports (based on reader surveys — the most recent results are from 2019, but they’re currently gathering responses for 2025), along with general airport reviews, nearby hotels, and airport lounges. (That said, I’d personally check out this lounge review site instead — it’s usually more current.)
They also cover things to do during a layover and layover sightseeing (although this post has some solid suggestions too). There are also tips on how to sleep in an airport, including safety tips and how to prepare, and even a list of airports that provide cots.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the website is helpful, even if it’s not always 100% up to date. Fortunately, most information about airports doesn’t change that much from year to year, so I suspect that airports that had Wi-Fi or cots 3 years ago still do ;-). However, lounge information might be different (which is why I suggest using the other website for that).
If nothing else, if you’re at an airport overnight, either because you want to or because of no fault of your own, SleepingInAirports.net is a good place to start.
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