Poll

Is sleeping in an airport to save $70 badass or not?

Badass
Dumbass

Author Topic: Badass or Dumbass?  (Read 14658 times)

Mississippi Mudstache

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Badass or Dumbass?
« on: July 10, 2015, 01:05:10 PM »
So, I recently rented out a house that I used to live in. It's 3 states away, and I need to go there to collect the last of my belongings, replace a range, and take care of a few other odds and ends. I'm flying to the nearest airport (New Orleans) this evening. Tomorrow morning, I'm renting a Budget truck and driving to the house. I've been looking into hotels, and the cheapest I can get will be around $70. Wife and kids are staying at home, so I'm thinking about just sleeping in the airport until the rental place opens at 7 AM. The jury is out: Mustachian Badass or Dumbass Fool? I'm undecided at the moment.

BarkyardBQ

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2015, 01:10:03 PM »
Baddass.

This is not a vacation, it is not a relaxing weekend. It's business, business is about keeping costs low. Treat yourself to a draft beer before bed time. Sleep well.

Bob W

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2015, 01:10:45 PM »
Seems like a pretty utilitarian thing to do but I would be utterly miserable.   What other options occur?  Do you have a friends you can crash at?  Can't think of others?  Must be some good ideas out there? 

Eric

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #3 on: July 10, 2015, 01:11:08 PM »
You probably won't get much quality sleep.  Is that going to matter?  Either way, you won't be the only one doing it and the terminal is very secure.  I'll go Badass.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #4 on: July 10, 2015, 01:13:58 PM »
Is it a large airport that is open overnight.

The airport nearest me closes. You wouldn't be able to do this.  I'd check into that before banking on it.

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #5 on: July 10, 2015, 01:23:21 PM »
iowa: MSY isn't a huge airport, but it's definitely open 24/7. I've flown out of there at 3 AM before.

Eric: You're right. I know good and well I won't get a good night's sleep, but after making it through the first year with 2 kids, I know that I'll be fully functional the next day even with inadequate sleep. It takes about 3 nights of crappy sleep to turn me into a zombie.

Bob: The town where my house is located is 2 hours from N.O. I have friends there that I can crash with, but unfortunately, none in N.O.

Glad to see that I'm not the only one who thinks this is crazy. My wife will probably be less than thrilled with this plan...

AZDude

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #6 on: July 10, 2015, 01:52:03 PM »
Tough one, but I'll vote badass. Good luck!

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #7 on: July 10, 2015, 02:02:54 PM »
Thanks, I shall report back with my decision tonight. Quite possibly from the airport!

stlbrah

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #8 on: July 10, 2015, 02:09:59 PM »
I've slept for as long as 6 hours at an airport. Just find an area that is not crowded and in a less traffic area of the airport. Set your alarm around an hour before take off so you can walk back to the terminal you are using. I doubt I would buy a hotel.

I guess the second part doesn't apply since its an arrival.

Paul der Krake

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #9 on: July 10, 2015, 02:13:24 PM »
I've stayed for 37 grueling long hours in an airport a few years back. Didn't want to spend a third of my monthly student budget on a hotel, so I slept on the carpet floor two nights in a row.

former player

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #10 on: July 10, 2015, 02:19:19 PM »
I had to travel to my rental a couple of weeks ago, and camped out in a stripped out house belonging to a family member.  Toilets at the pub down the road, and I had camping gear (air mattress, sleeping bag, hand-powered torch and radio) with me.  Not a problem for one night, wouldn't have wanted to do it for a second.  You'll be fine.

CowboyAndIndian

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #11 on: July 10, 2015, 02:21:54 PM »
Take an air mattress and sleep in the truck.

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #12 on: July 10, 2015, 02:29:36 PM »
Take an air mattress and sleep in the truck.

If I hit the road on Saturday night, I'll sleep in the truck. If I don't leave until Sunday morning, I'll be staying with friends on Saturday night.

The problem, however, is what to do on Friday night (i.e., tonight). I won't pick the truck up until Saturday morning.

I love that the response here is nearly unanimous in favor of camping out in the airport. I'm convinced!
« Last Edit: July 10, 2015, 02:31:18 PM by Mississippi Mudstache »

KCM5

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #13 on: July 10, 2015, 02:30:07 PM »
sleepinginairports.com

It's so popular there's an entire website devoted to it.

Edited to add: there are some great reviews for the airport in New Orleans on that website: http://www.sleepinginairports.net/list.asp?region=2&country=USA&prov=Louisiana&city=New+Orleans&terminal=MSY#.VaArpl9VhBc

Looks like you're in for a comfortable night's sleep!
« Last Edit: July 10, 2015, 02:32:55 PM by KCM5 »

Fuzz

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #14 on: July 10, 2015, 04:13:00 PM »
badass!

DocCyane

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #15 on: July 10, 2015, 06:04:18 PM »
Interesting that men can even consider sleeping in an airport to be an option.

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #16 on: July 10, 2015, 07:31:16 PM »
sleepinginairports.com

It's so popular there's an entire website devoted to it.

Edited to add: there are some great reviews for the airport in New Orleans on that website: http://www.sleepinginairports.net/list.asp?region=2&country=USA&prov=Louisiana&city=New+Orleans&terminal=MSY#.VaArpl9VhBc

Looks like you're in for a comfortable night's sleep!

Awesome website! I'm at CLT on a layover. I would hate to have to sleep here. Seems this airport is always packed to the gills. MSY is pretty slow most of the time. I think I'll be fine. My wife was predictably nonplussed when I told her my sleeping plans.

MissionPossible

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #17 on: July 10, 2015, 07:36:52 PM »
Just do it, it might suck but it will make for an interesting story afterwards and you save the $70.

This summer when I was in Barcelona I missed a flight and thought I was going to have to stay in the city for the night.

Luckily I was able to catch a flight later on that day, but I was fully prepared to sleep on the beach close by if I had to. Warm night, nice breeze, fuck it!

Valetta

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #18 on: July 10, 2015, 08:08:04 PM »
I've slept in airports plenty of times. Many of them have pretty decent places designed for sleeping. It's really not so bad and is often worth it to save the money.

LeRainDrop

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #19 on: July 10, 2015, 09:42:29 PM »
I'm a girl and would not consider staying in the airport overnight alone.  I have done it with a friend two times while we were traveling internationally and had night layovers.  In Amsterdam, we only had about six hours between late night arrival and early morning departure, so it really made no sense to leave the airport, pay to sleep for like three hours, and then come back to go through security, etc.  But it turned out pretty awesome because Amsterdam has a really neat indoor park that includes benches and lounge chairs and trees:  http://www.ausbt.com.au/photo-tour-amsterdam-schipol-airport-s-new-in-terminal-park  In New Orleans, for $70, I'd say it's worth having a bed and a shower.
« Last Edit: July 10, 2015, 09:50:39 PM by LeRainDrop »

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #20 on: July 11, 2015, 04:43:55 AM »
Well, I survived! I probably got about 5 hours of sleep. The couches were comfy, but the bustling of people pouring in woke me up at 6 AM. I've definitely had worse nights of sleep. I'm going to chalk this one up under 'badass'.

Oh, and I was far from the only one. There were at least a dozen other people sacked out around me. Since a couple of posters mentioned that being a woman would prevent them from trying this, I would say that about half of my sleeping neighbors were women, and most of them were alone. It felt quite safe here, but I understand why some would not be comfortable with it.

lemanfan

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #21 on: July 11, 2015, 09:24:34 AM »
Badass!

lemanfan

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #22 on: July 11, 2015, 09:33:43 AM »
But it turned out pretty awesome because Amsterdam has a really neat indoor park that includes benches and lounge chairs and trees:  http://www.ausbt.com.au/photo-tour-amsterdam-schipol-airport-s-new-in-terminal-park  In New Orleans, for $70, I'd say it's worth having a bed and a shower.

Hey, I've missed that park! Amsterdam is the natural way for me to go abroad and I just passed through it yesterday.  Got to find it next time.  I've seen the logs.  Avoided the casino.

Another great thing about Schiphol (the Amsterdam airport) is that is so easy to enter the city - if you have a few hours (and no visa requirements preventing you) you can be standing in downtown Amsterdam within the hour of touching ground.   A coffee along a canal beats an airport coffee any day of the week.  :)

Karen

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #23 on: July 11, 2015, 01:59:09 PM »
Hmmm...I'm going to vote "Dumbass".  I'd be surprised if you got quality sleep in the airport.  I don't know how far you have to drive in your Budget van but if it's a long drive, you may be quite fatigued and a fatigued driver is a dangerous driver (similar in reflexes to a drunk driver)!  Also don't know how used to driving a van you are but the extra width is something you need to get used to and being fatigued won't help.

Zamboni

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #24 on: July 11, 2015, 02:33:41 PM »
Glad to hear it worked out okay for you. Some airports have little cots in case of bad weather causing shut down . . . next time think to ask.

I have napped many times on airport carpets. My biggest concern is always that someone will nick my carry on while I'm drooling on myself.

marty998

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #25 on: July 13, 2015, 05:39:05 AM »
Take your own toilet paper... just in case the cleaners have not stocked it at 3am in the morning and you really need to go.

I slept in an airport overnight once (in a 3rd world country). There was a helpful man outside the entrance to the toilets holding a toilet roll... he would tear off a strip and pass to you before you go in. I asked him what happens if you need more?

Lucky I only needed to pee.

Apparently they did not stock TP in the stalls because the locals kept stealing it for their own use....


marty998

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #26 on: July 13, 2015, 05:40:01 AM »
whoops, looks like you already been and came back...

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #27 on: July 13, 2015, 06:41:45 AM »
Hmmm...I'm going to vote "Dumbass".  I'd be surprised if you got quality sleep in the airport.  I don't know how far you have to drive in your Budget van but if it's a long drive, you may be quite fatigued and a fatigued driver is a dangerous driver (similar in reflexes to a drunk driver)!  Also don't know how used to driving a van you are but the extra width is something you need to get used to and being fatigued won't help.

The drive was 11 hours. I got back at 9 PM last night. Fortunately, I stayed the night with a friend on Saturday and got 10 marvelous hours of undisturbed sleep before driving back on Sunday. The truck was no problem at all, I used to have a CDL to drive a bucket truck for a tree service company - the 12' budget truck felt like a moped compared to that! :)

The maintenance that I had to do on my house ended up costing me about $400 more than I was anticipating, so I was glad I didn't spring for the hotel.

The_path_less_taken

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #28 on: July 13, 2015, 07:45:40 AM »
Badass, and what I would have done.

And airports are pretty much the safest place to sleep: there is constant camera surveillance and armed guards...only safer place would be a bank vault. Now I could see being concerned about pickpockets or a bag walking away.

But not personal security in an airport. (female, btw)

KCM5

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #29 on: July 13, 2015, 08:15:14 AM »
I'm a woman who will gladly sleep in an airport alone. Pick a well lit spot with at least a half dozen other travelers and you're good to go. Pro tip: if you end up having to sleep on a hard floor, sleeping on cardboard really does make a difference. There's a reason homeless guys have cardboard to sleep on. Also, I always attach my bag to myself (chest strap of backpack clipped through belt loop or something) or use it as a pillow.

Glad to hear your trip went well.

Retire-Canada

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #30 on: July 13, 2015, 11:38:06 AM »
1 night at the airport is badass.

Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #31 on: July 13, 2015, 12:04:52 PM »
Interesting how the poll has changed over time. It started off at around 18:3 badass:dumbass. Now it's only about 2/3 in favor of badass, which means nearly half of the last two thirds of voters voted for dumbass. It appears to be very non-vocal minority, perhaps because people are hesitant to implicitly refer to me as a dumbass. I promise I won't mind, or I wouldn't have created the poll that way in the first place. Any more dissidents care to chime in?

LeRainDrop

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #32 on: July 13, 2015, 08:56:22 PM »
Interesting how the poll has changed over time. It started off at around 18:3 badass:dumbass. Now it's only about 2/3 in favor of badass, which means nearly half of the last two thirds of voters voted for dumbass. It appears to be very non-vocal minority, perhaps because people are hesitant to implicitly refer to me as a dumbass. I promise I won't mind, or I wouldn't have created the poll that way in the first place. Any more dissidents care to chime in?
LOL, I don't really mean dumbass, but I could see you have a good sense of humor.  When I weighed the costs and benefits of the given scenario, assuming I had time for a real night's sleep, and the hotel room only cost $70, then it would be worth it to me to have the real bed, shower, etc.  The higher the hotel cost, though, the more inclined I would be to stay in the airport.  Same calculus if I had a really short layover -- why bother leaving for just a couple hours of zs?  And yeah, my only worry about sleeping in the airport would be stolen belongings, not bodily injury.  I'm glad it worked out so smoothly for you, especially since you ended up with that unanticipated $400 maintenance expense!

sheepstache

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #33 on: July 13, 2015, 09:21:43 PM »
Hmmm...I'm going to vote "Dumbass".  I'd be surprised if you got quality sleep in the airport.  I don't know how far you have to drive in your Budget van but if it's a long drive, you may be quite fatigued and a fatigued driver is a dangerous driver (similar in reflexes to a drunk driver)!  Also don't know how used to driving a van you are but the extra width is something you need to get used to and being fatigued won't help.

That's what I was going to say. People can say they do okay without sleep but science says they're wrong.

Case

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #34 on: July 14, 2015, 02:59:05 PM »
So, I recently rented out a house that I used to live in. It's 3 states away, and I need to go there to collect the last of my belongings, replace a range, and take care of a few other odds and ends. I'm flying to the nearest airport (New Orleans) this evening. Tomorrow morning, I'm renting a Budget truck and driving to the house. I've been looking into hotels, and the cheapest I can get will be around $70. Wife and kids are staying at home, so I'm thinking about just sleeping in the airport until the rental place opens at 7 AM. The jury is out: Mustachian Badass or Dumbass Fool? I'm undecided at the moment.

I vote dumbass, with the caveat that it depends on your income.
If you are relatively low income, then the that $70 may be worth more to you.

Anyways, dumbass because of the costs/risks not mentioned:

1.  Sleeping in public; people here are saying it's safe, but I wouldn't feel comfortable in a situation where someone could walk up and easily steal my stuff.  That said, I probably wouldn't sleep anyways.
2.  I definitely would not be able to sleep at all in this situation, thus compromising some health and decision making abilities the next day.

The idea is that most of the time the risks of 1 and 2 will not result in a major consequence.  But every once in a while it will.

OneDollarAtATime

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #35 on: July 14, 2015, 05:03:00 PM »
You can try to pull a 'Tom Hanks' in the movie The Terminal.

I vote badass.  Think of all those people who get stranded for missing flights, snowstorms, etc.  Heck, my brother got stuck in the Denver airport for 4 days coming home from college one winter.  No snow for your trip, but the concept is the same -- terminal functions as a 'holding place' until you move to your next destination.




Hopper

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Re: Badass or Dumbass?
« Reply #36 on: July 14, 2015, 06:11:59 PM »
When I was 20 and had no money, I spent the night in the San Jose, CA airport which stayed somewhat open but had no flights or any open stores, etc past 10pm-ish back then.   It was a long, uncomfortable night.  I tried to tell myself I was badass.  I was really just broke.  IMO, its not dumbass if you can't afford a hotel or don't have a lot of easy, closeby airport hotel options.   Still, my level of frugality is not so great that I would do it again if I have other options.  a $50 motel would be far superior.  :)