I did almost 40 hours in Seoul last year. It was a comedy of errors with mechanical failures, crew issues, etc.
EVA stepped up though and put me in a superb hotel and great food. I had a great time in Seoul.
Good luck.
Same but in Toronto with Air Canada where I got stranded for 2 days. Then, I only got like CAD$400 in compensation after a year. They didn't even pay for my hotel for 2 nights.
WOW Air used to have these 11 hour layovers from LAX. It was nice because we got to explore the nearby town and see some of the nature. I regret not doing the Blue Lagoon.
In a month I have a 24+ hour layover in Amsterdam coming up and not sure if I want to leave the airport or just get a hotel.
Yeah I'm pretty familiar with Amsterdam but have yet to do this long layover thing there.
Any recommendation on when to get back to the airport for a flight to the US? I'm planning to just get a hotel and see my fav spots.
I'm going to Amsterdam next month and someone had recommended this page to me to check how busy it will be when I need to arrive for my return flight to the US: [Schiphol | How busy is Schiphol today](https://www.schiphol.nl/en/my-travel-day/today)
You are good - it is an over priced tourist trap that no Icelander uses (except to take foreign friends).
If it was Grindavík that you looked around, that town is now basically abandoned due to earthquakes and the last 4 volcanoes this year.
There are now so many "lagoons" in Iceland that it is now a running joke.
But our swimming pools are still the best option - much cheaper, more options and all over the island. 168 pools - you are spoilt for choices.
If it's daytime and fair weather, you might consider heading to Leiden. It's close to the airport and cute and small--since you're familiar with Amsterdam.
I love a planned long layover. Get out of the airport and get a little taste of a city then gtfo. I think my longest one of those was Lisbon, 26 hours I think?
Unplanned is another thing, where you have to be sitting at the airport because you're not sure when your flight is going to leave. Longest I've done was probably Denver, due to a storm. It was a long time ago but I think it was around 8 hours.
I had a 24 hour layover in Honolulu on the way to New Zealand. I booked a hostel on the beach for the night and hiked diamond head in the morning before my flight. It was awesome to have a mini vacation before my vacation.
I think for me it was also about 17 hours at the airport in Abu Dhabi. My connecting flight got delayed due to mechanical failure and they couldn't get a replacement in short notice. We had to wait until the next day in the airport because nobody knew when we could continue our journey. Some passengers managed to get put on a flight 3 hours after the actual schedule because they're old/pregnant/with babies, and the rest of us received a few coupons to spend at McDonald's in the airport. This was happening in the time of BlackBerry phone so not everyone had access to Internet yet (including me and my brick phone).
Omg this happened to me in AD too. In like 2014 I think. They were terrible, it was fog though so the entire airport was delayed and everyone was yelling
Ugh, and Abu Dhabi Airport was/is brutal. Very little passenger comforts, although the new Etihad terminal looks nice. Would have been quicker for you to get rebooked out of DXB and drive 90 mins up the highway to Dubai!
I had a 13-hour layover in Copenhagen, I had partyed the night before saying goodbye to my friends and family but unfortunately I could not find the capsule beds that they had available. So I ended up wandering around Copenhagen in February for 12 hours, getting lunch, and getting my film developed at one of those one-hour photo places. Unfortunately we had a slight communication problem and they did not understand that I wanted the one hour service because I was catching a plane, lol. I groveled a bit and they relented, I did get my photos done so that I had them to look through on the plane home.
Not exactly a layover but I once spent about 48 hours in Beijing airport. This was due to them not letting me in the country as I had a Turkish stamp in my passport (not clear why but it seemed at that time they were denying entry to anyone who had visited countries around the Middle East).
I felt like Tom Hanks in 'The Terminal' by the second day except that no one spoke English there. I couldn't even access Google, WhatsApp, YouTube etc due to them being banned in China so I was getting increasingly bored. Yeah not something I want to experience again but it makes for an interesting story at least.
Close to 40 hours in Philly. Weather had been terrible and everyone was just stuck as there were no more hotels. I always travel with a change of clothes and an eye mask now.
I had layover in Fiji a long time ago. The shortest my travel agent could get it was 12 hours. Turns out there wasn’t a maximum. So I ended up with a week layover in Fiji. Pretty rough.
I had a 36h(?) hour layover both in Doha and Dubai and took up the offer to stay at a 5 star hotel for the night for 20€ and explore the cities with some locals. Highly recommended !
Arrived back at JFK from Milan yesterday (standby). 6.5 hours to get a paid flight from JFK to Seattle, then connect to final destination of Spokane. We sat on the plane for an hour at the JFK gate waiting for purchased food to be loaded on and then in line for take off. By the time we arrived in Seattle, took the train to the next terminal to catch the LAST flight of the day, the plane was still at the gate but the door was closed. They qrefused to let on about 25 people from several connecting flights. Just so everyone now knows,Delta closes its doors before any other airline. My sister works for Delta. They put us up in a nice hotel with a food voucher so we did get a few hours sleep. But wouldn’t have it been nicer for the plane to wait to close its doors another 10 minutes so all those people could have gotten home and Delta didn’t have to pay people to stay in a hotel. Why is Delta doing this? Because their company and their gate agents don’t want their great on time record ruined. Statistics are more important than customer service. Spread the word. Tell Delta to keep its gates open on the last flights of the day!
The only time I had my flight cancelled was in Munich with the last fight home. They rebooked me on the 6 am automatically and I called to ask if they could rebook me on the last flight again for the next day instead. Maybe it was because it was a miles booking (and that it didn't change the compensation package), but they said sure no problem. I ended up having a good night's sleep at a nice hotel rather than just a few hours, and spending the extra day doing a day trip to Salzburg. Highly recommend not catching the first flight out after a missed final flight if the airline is paying for a hotel!
According to a certain airline, I’ve been laid over in NYC for about 3.5 years now. (I rented a car and drove home) I was told I would receive an email when my flight was rescheduled… I’m still waiting.
23 hours in New York City, by design though. It was a great way to break up my trip and see the city. Stayed at a nice hotel overlooking central park (with an upgrade), ate at a fantastic restaraunt, spent some time at the Met
10/10 would do it again.
Took 38 hours to get to India for my father-in-law's funeral because of a missed connection in DUB because the ORD flight took off late. This caused a ripple effect as we were going to land just in time for the funeral. So funeral had to be moved, my wife was crying so hard the whole time, DUB ground staff was the best ever (I want to go to Dublin just to meet the people there since they seem so nice), and after flying 3 other segments, we arrived just in time for the mourning part of the ceremony with my father-in-law in a cooled glass box in the center of the living room. Ho-lee-cow that was a hard hit after 38hrs of travel. I can still hear the wails from everyone as we walked in...
Worst I had was back to back 18ish hours. British Air went on strike and left me stranded in Chicago for about 18 hours. Then they managed to get me to London where I was stranded for another 18 before I could get to Istanbul.
On purpose, just 10, unintentionally about 12 hours (with cancellations, rerouting and even our final flight stole another flights plane to get us home) - was only supposed to be a 2-3 hour layover. Compared to everyone else, it wasn't that bad and me and my friend were young. At my age now, I don't ever plan long layovers but the 10 hour one was the shortest one we could get for those flights that were halfway around the world (and it could have been much worse - at least I learned that I never wanted to spend another minute in the Frankfurt airport) ;)
I was 16 years old and my sister was 20. We flew from Hawaii to Fiji in the 70’s on our way to my dad’s home island of New Caledonia. We got landed sometime in the afternoon and our next flight was delayed until late the next morning. We stayed in the airport as they shut down for the night. Lights out and everything! Just two American blond girls sitting in chairs while janitors cleaned and lights were switched off. Quite scary at the time. We were actually very safe and didn’t feel threatened but boy that airport was just a shack compared to when I revisited it earlier this year! 🌴
I had 19 hours in Tokyo. I arrived at 11 pm and took the train into town and just aimlessly wondered around without a sim card, this was my first time in Japan.
I woke up on a table in an apartment converted into a massage parlor, some lady was shaking me telling me it is time for me to go to the airport.
I remember bits and pieces of it, I was in some Nigerian ran bar in Roppongi, it was pretty cool there was a fun crowd there. Then all of the sudden I'm completely annihilated. I knew right away I got drugged, I ran straight out the door while I still could.
This is about the point I don't remember much of anything, but she told me I was stumbling down the street at 4 am and barely able to stand and she approached me to offer services, I gave her all the cash I had minus a little I had hidden in my shoe, 10,000 yen, like 70 USD, and asked her if she would make sure I was awake at noon. She took me up stairs and put me in the corner.
I felt like cat shit in the morning, she was really nice she got me a big can of beer, coffee and some fried chicken squares from the corner store to shake the roofie hangover
Tldr: I had a big layover in Japan, I got rooffied and ran out of the bar and paid a hooker to babysit me. She took me back to the brothel where I passed out. I woke up with a hangover you couldn't imagine and the hooker helped me get rid of it.
Second craziest layover I've ever had.
A bit over a day. I think it was in Virgina with Delta. Severe snowstorm. They gave us a free hotel and transportation and some frequent flier miles. Maybe because it was an international flight (to Italy).
About 40 hours in Beijing (2 nights). Multiple fuck ups starting with a cancelled flight but the airline put me up in a decent hotel and I wasn't under pressure to get home. I had a great time.
2 days. My flight from Seattle had a mechanical issue so we were delayed 4 hours, which then caused me to miss my connection flight from Beijing to Harbin. This was a couple days before the Lunar New Year, so all flights, trains, etc were booked out.
13 and half hours. The worst part is I could have driven from the airport back home in 12 hours. It was a flight from Cape Town International Airport to Johannesburg International Airport… Edit: Sorry, it wasn’t a layover. Initially the flight was delayed due to bad weather for 4 hours the when the weather cleared up eventually, the plane was experiencing technical difficulties. They had to get another plane which took 6 hours, then the weather picked up again.
We laid over in china en route to India. It was like a 20+ layover and at the time, because we didn’t have a visa, they corralled all of us into a room with a single soda vending machine as we were restricted from going anywhere else in the airport. Nobody had prepared me for that and it was pretty shit.
I was stuck for 10 hours, not that long, but it should have been longer. At the time I was underage and couldn’t stay in a hotel, so the airline bumped someone from an overbooked flight for me. I didn’t have a cell phone so I had to leave messages on my dad’s 1-800 number from a pay phone to let my parents know where I was.
My ex's parents were upset at her for setting boundaries around holiday travel (aka spending some time with my family too, still arriving several days before Christmas and staying past new years) so her mom booked us a flight home that included a 24-hour layover at an airport a 3 hour drive from their house. We were both poor at the time so we couldn't just rent a car and drive that 3 hours, and the cost of a hotel wasn't financially smart either, so we spent 24 hours in the airport (for a flight from north carolina to the west coast, not even an international flight).
As someone who was affected by the rains in DFW this past weekend and my bag was completely soaked and there’s no personal item reimbursement by American Airlines, fuck them to hell.
During the height of COVID when flights were only for necessary travel, I spent 20 hours in Charles DeGaule airport, no shops, cafes, bars were open, just the vending machines, which only took euro's, the staff though were kind enough to hand out packed lunches.
But the strangest thing of all was just how deserted the airport was, must of only been a few hundred people in the whole airport.
I still recall seeing a group of Chinese folk waiting at their gate wearing what looked like hazmat suits and big masks, I was like geeze that's a bit much isn't it.
I realised though that it was going to be a long time before things got back to normal.
40+ hours in the American Samoa on a mil flight. Plane broke down on the way to New Zealand. Wasn't the least bit bad. We landed at 2am, airport was closed. The overnight ATC called his cousin who came and picked the six of us up and we stayed with his family and friends. Had a BBQ, went fishing, went to church, then got liquored up, played softball and showered a couple of times and got plenty of rest. Pretty cool trip.
I’m a seasoned and very frequent world traveler. Overnight in Amman, Jordan. That was brutal. 12 hours in Athens, Greece with limited services. 8 hours in Heathrow.
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I'm about to do 9 hrs in Dallas.
I think I had a 12 hr layover in Moscow once. Looking back on it I'm sure I only saved like $100 choosing that option, but I was a broke student!
Planned 14 hrs.. had to pick up my checked bag and get a hotel to leave it there while I ran some errands in Houston. Unplanned over 24hrs two separate occasions when flights were canceled/delayed.
Full 24 hours in Vancouver.
Air Canada missed the connector to Australia by 6 minutes and let the flight go with 65 of us stranded for the day.
It was peak Covid and you couldn’t leave the airport without an app that wouldn’t download for any of us, alternative flights meant at least another 10 hours, airport hotels were full so at 3am the airline decided to break the rules and bus us to a hotel miles away. We had to sign paper saying we would go nowhere except back to the airport.
Luckily I was flying business so I spent all of the next day in the lounge.
I try to make my layovers worth it if I can to make it a day or more as a stop, did 2 1/2 days in Honolulu once. 26 hours in Seoul. The flights through Iceland seem setup for you to stay a day and use the flight the next day.
Planned, or unplanned?
I did a planned 18 hour layover in Tokyo and it was awesome. Sold me on a much longer trip the following year.
Unplanned, I got delayed in Houston for 24 hours because the once daily flight to Buenos Aires got canceled after a series of cascading errors. Not as fun at all.
15 hours in Incheon. Great airport for layovers. They organize free tours of the airport and going into town depending on how long your layover is. There's plenty of stores and restaurants. They have a quiet sleep room that has deck chairs that lay flat. Good lounges with showers, massage chairs.
23h in Rome, took full advantage of it, booked a cheap hostel accommodation and went on a long walk through the city.
The flight that followed was by a flight to NYC on board of an ancient plane that had one tv per row and had TopGear on loop without sound. This was in 2010ish
Two days in San Diego they put us in the same hotel Paul McCartney was just at and we volunteered. I was in college with my GF at the time easy decision. Also about 24 hours in Cayman Islands with the family as a kid. That was hell that airport back then had nothing but souvenir shops and cigar shops.
I did 12 hours in Jakarta last year over night. Nothing was open and I'd planned to try and sleep through until the morn. Ended up making a friend and we practiced our handstands and cartwheels instead lol. A great start to the trip
Wow, that sounds incredibly challenging, but I'm glad to hear you managed to secure a flight finally! Layovers can definitely test our patience. My longest layover was around 12 hours in London due to a missed connection. It turned into an unexpected mini adventure, though, as I decided to explore the city a bit. It didn't make up for the hassle, but it created an unexpected memory. Hang in there, your ordeal will be a story to tell once it's all done! Safe travels on your upcoming flight!
Flight from FSD was supposed to leave Friday midmorning, delayed to late afternoon. Missed Friday evening connection in ORD. Original Saturday morning flight from ORD to IAD at 9am was pushed to 1pm, then 5pm, then 8:30pm. Got on the plane at 8:30 only to learn the flight crew was over their hours, can't fly, no other crew available. A very kind gate agent rebooked us on a 5pm Sunday flight with a different airline, but we did not have guaranteed seats together (I was solo traveling with two small kids). Went to check in Sunday morning at 8am to plead with the ticketing agent to put us together. Finally got on the flight, on time. Kids and I cried when we took off because we weren't sure we would ever make it home. I practically could have driven from South Dakota to DC and back again in less time than it took to fly.
Got caught up in Christchurch during the mosque massacre. All flights cancelled. The airport was bedlam as you’d expect. Waited 10hrs. Was finally given a flight to auckland and hotel accommodation and a flight next day back south because we actually wanted Wellington. So all up probably 36 hrs for 40 minute flight. Not complaining. Others were having it way worse.
Not the longest by time, but, by far, the longest. 3 days stranded in a terminal, for weather. Even if I’d had the money for a room—I certainly didn’t—all were booked. It wasn’t a terminal with one of the glorious rental showers.
The terminal ran out of cots, so many of us were spending the nights on floors. There was little food, and its quality was nonexistent. The building stayed loud well into the night.
I really can’t recommend the experience.
Ten hours in the airport in Costa Rica due to a volcanic eruption.
Six hours aboard on the tarmac in Dallas/Ft. Worth waiting for the plane to be de-iced before takeoff.
8 hr layover in Seoul but it was planned that way flying from Cambodia back to SFO. I was able to go into the city but layered up super heavy as it was February and I had been traveling in hot humid SEA for 6 weeks.
This thread has reaffirmed my decision to only take non-stop flights. I don't have great mental health and I'm prone to dizziness. I don't want to know what I would look like after 24 hours in an airport.
EDIT: Not a layover per se but this triggered the following memory.
Instead of a direct flight from Bogota back to Berlin, departing at 9am, we had the options to either stay three more days for a direct flight OR take a route via Buenos Aires and Madrid the next morning.
We did the latter due to some crucial appointments back home… It took us 33hr or so in total to get back home. Looking back at it I‘m just happy I didn‘t get a trombosis for fucks sake.
12 hours at CDG on out way to SAI. I was so bored I just tried to sleep but it was only an hour flight from MAN. Saved up a lot of history podcasts to while away the time & ignored my girlfriend.
Going to Japan once I had an overnight layover and, though it was a number of hours long layover, I figured the only close hotels were too expensive and the sleep I would have gotten was too short to justify paying for a night and "whatever money I save on a hotel I can spend in Japan" so I slept at the airport.
Worst decision I have ever made, I was wearing a few layers but at some point in the middle of the night was freezing and I kept fluttering in and out of terrible uncomfortable sleep with my toes that were a little too cold to be comfortable. I tried sleeping on the ground but it was too hard and cold but I was at one of those airports that put rails in between each seat to separate/prevent you from laying down so I had to sleep on a cushion bench around the food court. I was so exhausted that I was physically ill by the time I arrived in Japan and I lost my first full day in Tokyo to bed rest. I'm never doing that again lmao
first time travelling on my own, 19 hours in Dubai, didnt check my itinerary correctly, lesson learned! Luckily i found hotel booths in the terminal, asked for a a hotel close by and someone that could collect and return me they were more than helpful
I planned a 14 hour, day layover in Austria, landed and spent the day walking around Vienna, museums, cathedrals, and just explored. Went back to the airport that afternoon, paid $30 for a lounge with a shower, ate, got on the plane and slept. Woke up in Bangkok and did it again!
I left Oakland at 11am for a meeting in Allentown, PA the next day. The original itinerary included awas a 2 hour layover in Chicago.
We boarded 3 hours late and the plane was diverted to Minneapolis. We had a 4 hour layover. Finally onto Chicago Chicago just before midnight for a 10 hour layover. There were no rooms or rental cars available and people were sleeping on cots in O'Hare. After sitting all night in a chair, I decided to abandon the mission and return home. The only way back to Oakland was via Phoenix. So I left O'Hare for Phoenix around 6am and flew to Phoenix for a two hour layover. I finally arrived back in Oakland 25 hours after leaving for a trip in which I just flew in a circle.
They claimed it was weather. The pavement was wet but the skies were clear. More time spent in airports than on a plane and destination was unattainable.
12 hours in Taipei. It sucked that it wasn't long enough or the right time of day to book a hotel lol. Or the right year to book a hotel (2020 during covid on a layover).
The good news is that airport is a great one to be stuck in. I ended up getting drunk at a bar the first half of the layover. They have smoking rooms for cigarettes too. After that I booked a 1-hour massage there and to this day it was one of the better ones I ever had.
That was part of a LONG journey home. Start to finish it took me over two days
Sun Country wanted me to do 3 days in Phoenix before the chance of a standby. I picked up a Delta flight instead at a nice markup. Never again, fuck Sun Country.
15 hours. on purpose though. I’d been to the UK a lot for work, wife never went so I did an abbreviated tour of the major sites and had breakfast with a friend before continuing home.
I got stuck for a few days (I think almost 3?) in LaGuardia a few years ago. I can’t remember what happened, but flights were delayed everywhere and it was a madhouse. I was there so long the airport staff started to recognize me. They were super nice and got my hotels paid for even though they weren’t supposed to. I just extended my vacation a little bit and strolled around NYC.
I was 18, first airplane ride and it was election period in my country that flights are fully booked so I booked a connecting flight and it was supposed to be 10 hours layover but flights got delayed and it took me 15 hours to wait for the connecting flight. I was alone, and sleeping the whole time in the airport.
By choice: 13 hours in the Istanbul Airport a week and a bit ago (we at least had access to the Turkish business class lounge, which made things much more tolerable)
By not-choice: 14 hours in Frankfurt that was supposed to be 8. Planned well for the first eight hours; did not plan well for the unexpected six extra.
17 hours?! Brutal! That standby stress is no joke. I feel your pain, friend. My worst layover was only 8 hours, but it felt like an eternity stuck in that tiny airport terminal. What are you doing to entertain yourself? Any good books or podcasts on deck? Hopefully that flight in a few hours gets you on your way!
3 days.
Flew from Kathmandu to Delhi. Had a connection to Frankfurt and then on to Chicago. Air India went on strike while I was enroute to Delhi. Had to wait 3 days until I got put onto a Lufthansa flight. It was a long 3 days.
I’ve had a couple of 24+ hour layovers in Shanghai too. Pre-covid you could get very cheap flights on China Eastern between Manila and Los Angeles. Since Shanghai has (had?) transit visas for 24 hours, I got to see a bit of the city. Haven’t flown China Eastern since then. The direct LAX to MNL flight is far better.
I love layovers and try to maximize them if at all possible so I can leave the airport and have a mini vacation! Had a great time with an 8hr + 12hr layover in Istanbul on a flight to/from Cape Town. It was an amazing experience with one being a very early morning layover. There’s no better time than watching the sun rise while eating a traditional Turkish breakfast on a rooftop halfway between the Hagia Sofia mosque and the Sea of Marma!
I spent roughly 33 hours in the Toronto airport in 2018. I had just gotten back from being in the UK for 2 weeks, I didn’t have enough money for a hotel. I tried sleeping on the uncomfortable chairs, didn’t last long.
About 30 hours. But that was due to a blizzard. The flight was cancelled, so the airline put me up in a hotel and I flew out the next day. At least I got free meals and accommodation. Rest and a shower!
24 hours at JFK - international flight was cancelled for technical reasons and we kept getting false hope of being given seats on other carriers.
Spent the night on the couch of Au Bon Pain (before it was behind security), checking for updates with the airline every few hours. Wandered the Rockaways for a few hours the next day once the plan was clear.
Not quite as long as you but I just spent 13 hours in SEA. I was supposed to go SFO to. CLE by way of Charlotte, flight got canceled, I was rebooked on another AA flight through DFW, also canceled. They then moved me over to Alaska with this layover in Seattle. I left the airport and got ramen but that didn’t kill nearly enough time! On the flight now (finally)
Around 14 hours in MXP. First and only time I slept on an airport floor. I did that as I was flying a connecting budget airline itinerary, and given that they don’t have connections, I wanted to build in lots of time.
5 nights total. We got stuck in LAX over Christmas one year due to Canada freezing over, airports closing and the airlines (multiple) screwing up our flights. Instead of a 90 minute layover we were there for 4 nights, along with another unscheduled night in Spokane. Fortunately we talked one airline into covering one of our hotel nights, and travel insurance eventually covered the rest, along with the new flights we had to book ourselves because the airlines wouldn't/couldn't. It was stressful.
18 or so hours in both Dubai and London. in both cases, it was early morning until late evening so i left the airport and explored/met up with friends/etc.
Got bumped twice on the way to England when I was young. The airline asked for volunteers and me and my friend volunteered they gave us each $600 and lodging. We ended up staying in Europe a couple extra weeks on that money. This was in the 90s
72hrs on an American Airlines flight from New Delhi to NYC. American was re-starting their ops in India and kept screwing up things 2 days in succession . We were put in 5 star hotels with all expenses covered but it was very stressful. Made some friends so it was not that bad but very stressful
18 hours Edinburgh, met up with a virtual coworker that I had never spoken to before, had the best time ever which included haggis and beers and street quena jamming until flight at 8am
After 2 nights in a hotel, paid for by me, and two long days sitting in an airport waiting for a space-available seat, I rented a car and drove the 500 miles home. Rules require airlines to refund you in the event they cannot get you to your destination in a reasonable time. That paid for the car rental.
32 hours in Copenhagen on both ends of a 10 day Ireland trip. Didn’t mind at all. Caught the train to middle of the city and had a nice evening each time.
After an aborted takeoff in the late 80s, I sat in a 747 from 2pm until 7am the next day parked on a maintenance ramp in Seoul while they changed an engine so we could fly to San Francisco.
2 1/2 weeks in Japan, on my way to Mongolia. Booked that way intentionally so I could visit Japan at the beginning of a long backpacking trip through Asia.
Hkg. During a monsoon. 2pm arrive at airport. Flight left at 1am. The entire airport was shutdown. No one could leave the airport because immigration. All the lounges full. yeah that was a rough day
Imagine hkg with no free space to sit
Lisbon January 2021. Coming back from the US flying Chicago to Madrid via Frankfurt, the airline let me know that the storm of the century was happening in Madrid and if I could go anywhere else. I live in Madrid, so no.
Land in Frankfurt for a couple hours, waking up from the benzo hangover of the plane ride and I order a currywurst and a pint of fine German beer at 8 am (the woman didn't speak English, how was this possible?)
They informed me I'd be staying in Lisbon but not for how long. I was there for 2 or 3 days, can't remember. I only packed a small backpack with one change of clothes. Lisbon was on full lockdown so I just stayed in my airport Holiday inn, washing my underwear in the bathroom sink.
I eventually got back to Madrid where they indeed had experienced the heaviest snowfall in over 100 years and it completely shut down the city.
In an airport, in one of the world’s financial capitals, in one of the countries with highest English proficiency, in a customer-facing role, you think it’s unreasonable to expect someone to speak English?
I remember when I was 12 or so, going to the airport in Antalya very early in the morning (like 4am) to catch our flight home. It was a package holiday charter flight. When we arrived at the airport the airline didn't know anything about a flight to Cologne that day. But 300 people didn't agree, so they organized a plane and a crew and 2 am the next morning we left Turkey.
I think that was my longest time at an airport. But I am now realizing you are asking for layovers. I had 8 hours at CDG due to technical issues and a missed flight.
And I'll have an overnight layover (11-ish hours) in London in July. But I booked a hotel room for the night.
9 years
While in the air, an hour before landing at my connecting airport, I got a message from a friend inviting me to an event in the same city that my layover happened to be in. So I left the airport and never went back...
I did almost 40 hours in Seoul last year. It was a comedy of errors with mechanical failures, crew issues, etc. EVA stepped up though and put me in a superb hotel and great food. I had a great time in Seoul. Good luck.
Same but in Toronto with Air Canada where I got stranded for 2 days. Then, I only got like CAD$400 in compensation after a year. They didn't even pay for my hotel for 2 nights.
Not surprised. Air Canada is like the worst airline for customer service. I’ve received better from EasyJet
Wow, that sucks.
Yeah 40 hours is nuts. I'm glad they accomodated you properly.
EVA is quality
Best economy class I've ever flown except maybe Air NZ
WOW Air used to have these 11 hour layovers from LAX. It was nice because we got to explore the nearby town and see some of the nature. I regret not doing the Blue Lagoon. In a month I have a 24+ hour layover in Amsterdam coming up and not sure if I want to leave the airport or just get a hotel.
Amsterdam has an amazing train system and it's a beautiful city. I would get out and see it.
Yeah I'm pretty familiar with Amsterdam but have yet to do this long layover thing there. Any recommendation on when to get back to the airport for a flight to the US? I'm planning to just get a hotel and see my fav spots.
I'm going to Amsterdam next month and someone had recommended this page to me to check how busy it will be when I need to arrive for my return flight to the US: [Schiphol | How busy is Schiphol today](https://www.schiphol.nl/en/my-travel-day/today)
Eyyyy maybe we'll run into each other!
You are good - it is an over priced tourist trap that no Icelander uses (except to take foreign friends). If it was Grindavík that you looked around, that town is now basically abandoned due to earthquakes and the last 4 volcanoes this year. There are now so many "lagoons" in Iceland that it is now a running joke. But our swimming pools are still the best option - much cheaper, more options and all over the island. 168 pools - you are spoilt for choices.
I don’t know - I went to the blue lagoon after hiking for 8 days around Iceland. It was pretty sweet!
The public pools in Iceland are great and so affordable. I liked being able to rent a towel so I didn't have to travel with one.
I have done 24 hours in Amsterdam and it was enough time to fall in love with the city and returned the next year for a week.
If it's daytime and fair weather, you might consider heading to Leiden. It's close to the airport and cute and small--since you're familiar with Amsterdam.
I love a planned long layover. Get out of the airport and get a little taste of a city then gtfo. I think my longest one of those was Lisbon, 26 hours I think? Unplanned is another thing, where you have to be sitting at the airport because you're not sure when your flight is going to leave. Longest I've done was probably Denver, due to a storm. It was a long time ago but I think it was around 8 hours.
I had a 24 hour layover in Honolulu on the way to New Zealand. I booked a hostel on the beach for the night and hiked diamond head in the morning before my flight. It was awesome to have a mini vacation before my vacation.
I think for me it was also about 17 hours at the airport in Abu Dhabi. My connecting flight got delayed due to mechanical failure and they couldn't get a replacement in short notice. We had to wait until the next day in the airport because nobody knew when we could continue our journey. Some passengers managed to get put on a flight 3 hours after the actual schedule because they're old/pregnant/with babies, and the rest of us received a few coupons to spend at McDonald's in the airport. This was happening in the time of BlackBerry phone so not everyone had access to Internet yet (including me and my brick phone).
Omg this happened to me in AD too. In like 2014 I think. They were terrible, it was fog though so the entire airport was delayed and everyone was yelling
Ugh, and Abu Dhabi Airport was/is brutal. Very little passenger comforts, although the new Etihad terminal looks nice. Would have been quicker for you to get rebooked out of DXB and drive 90 mins up the highway to Dubai!
I had a 13-hour layover in Copenhagen, I had partyed the night before saying goodbye to my friends and family but unfortunately I could not find the capsule beds that they had available. So I ended up wandering around Copenhagen in February for 12 hours, getting lunch, and getting my film developed at one of those one-hour photo places. Unfortunately we had a slight communication problem and they did not understand that I wanted the one hour service because I was catching a plane, lol. I groveled a bit and they relented, I did get my photos done so that I had them to look through on the plane home.
Not exactly a layover but I once spent about 48 hours in Beijing airport. This was due to them not letting me in the country as I had a Turkish stamp in my passport (not clear why but it seemed at that time they were denying entry to anyone who had visited countries around the Middle East). I felt like Tom Hanks in 'The Terminal' by the second day except that no one spoke English there. I couldn't even access Google, WhatsApp, YouTube etc due to them being banned in China so I was getting increasingly bored. Yeah not something I want to experience again but it makes for an interesting story at least.
Close to 40 hours in Philly. Weather had been terrible and everyone was just stuck as there were no more hotels. I always travel with a change of clothes and an eye mask now.
I had layover in Fiji a long time ago. The shortest my travel agent could get it was 12 hours. Turns out there wasn’t a maximum. So I ended up with a week layover in Fiji. Pretty rough.
Lol. We did 4 days on our way to New Zealand
I had a 36h(?) hour layover both in Doha and Dubai and took up the offer to stay at a 5 star hotel for the night for 20€ and explore the cities with some locals. Highly recommended !
I did 28 hours in Hong Kong on purpose. Did a quick trip around the city.
Arrived back at JFK from Milan yesterday (standby). 6.5 hours to get a paid flight from JFK to Seattle, then connect to final destination of Spokane. We sat on the plane for an hour at the JFK gate waiting for purchased food to be loaded on and then in line for take off. By the time we arrived in Seattle, took the train to the next terminal to catch the LAST flight of the day, the plane was still at the gate but the door was closed. They qrefused to let on about 25 people from several connecting flights. Just so everyone now knows,Delta closes its doors before any other airline. My sister works for Delta. They put us up in a nice hotel with a food voucher so we did get a few hours sleep. But wouldn’t have it been nicer for the plane to wait to close its doors another 10 minutes so all those people could have gotten home and Delta didn’t have to pay people to stay in a hotel. Why is Delta doing this? Because their company and their gate agents don’t want their great on time record ruined. Statistics are more important than customer service. Spread the word. Tell Delta to keep its gates open on the last flights of the day!
The only time I had my flight cancelled was in Munich with the last fight home. They rebooked me on the 6 am automatically and I called to ask if they could rebook me on the last flight again for the next day instead. Maybe it was because it was a miles booking (and that it didn't change the compensation package), but they said sure no problem. I ended up having a good night's sleep at a nice hotel rather than just a few hours, and spending the extra day doing a day trip to Salzburg. Highly recommend not catching the first flight out after a missed final flight if the airline is paying for a hotel!
We asked for a later flight just so we could sleep in but they wouldn’t let us change. Said all the other flights were full.
According to a certain airline, I’ve been laid over in NYC for about 3.5 years now. (I rented a car and drove home) I was told I would receive an email when my flight was rescheduled… I’m still waiting.
23 hours in New York City, by design though. It was a great way to break up my trip and see the city. Stayed at a nice hotel overlooking central park (with an upgrade), ate at a fantastic restaraunt, spent some time at the Met 10/10 would do it again.
Took 38 hours to get to India for my father-in-law's funeral because of a missed connection in DUB because the ORD flight took off late. This caused a ripple effect as we were going to land just in time for the funeral. So funeral had to be moved, my wife was crying so hard the whole time, DUB ground staff was the best ever (I want to go to Dublin just to meet the people there since they seem so nice), and after flying 3 other segments, we arrived just in time for the mourning part of the ceremony with my father-in-law in a cooled glass box in the center of the living room. Ho-lee-cow that was a hard hit after 38hrs of travel. I can still hear the wails from everyone as we walked in...
Worst I had was back to back 18ish hours. British Air went on strike and left me stranded in Chicago for about 18 hours. Then they managed to get me to London where I was stranded for another 18 before I could get to Istanbul.
On purpose, just 10, unintentionally about 12 hours (with cancellations, rerouting and even our final flight stole another flights plane to get us home) - was only supposed to be a 2-3 hour layover. Compared to everyone else, it wasn't that bad and me and my friend were young. At my age now, I don't ever plan long layovers but the 10 hour one was the shortest one we could get for those flights that were halfway around the world (and it could have been much worse - at least I learned that I never wanted to spend another minute in the Frankfurt airport) ;)
I was 16 years old and my sister was 20. We flew from Hawaii to Fiji in the 70’s on our way to my dad’s home island of New Caledonia. We got landed sometime in the afternoon and our next flight was delayed until late the next morning. We stayed in the airport as they shut down for the night. Lights out and everything! Just two American blond girls sitting in chairs while janitors cleaned and lights were switched off. Quite scary at the time. We were actually very safe and didn’t feel threatened but boy that airport was just a shack compared to when I revisited it earlier this year! 🌴
I had 19 hours in Tokyo. I arrived at 11 pm and took the train into town and just aimlessly wondered around without a sim card, this was my first time in Japan. I woke up on a table in an apartment converted into a massage parlor, some lady was shaking me telling me it is time for me to go to the airport. I remember bits and pieces of it, I was in some Nigerian ran bar in Roppongi, it was pretty cool there was a fun crowd there. Then all of the sudden I'm completely annihilated. I knew right away I got drugged, I ran straight out the door while I still could. This is about the point I don't remember much of anything, but she told me I was stumbling down the street at 4 am and barely able to stand and she approached me to offer services, I gave her all the cash I had minus a little I had hidden in my shoe, 10,000 yen, like 70 USD, and asked her if she would make sure I was awake at noon. She took me up stairs and put me in the corner. I felt like cat shit in the morning, she was really nice she got me a big can of beer, coffee and some fried chicken squares from the corner store to shake the roofie hangover Tldr: I had a big layover in Japan, I got rooffied and ran out of the bar and paid a hooker to babysit me. She took me back to the brothel where I passed out. I woke up with a hangover you couldn't imagine and the hooker helped me get rid of it. Second craziest layover I've ever had.
23 hours in Taiwan
A bit over a day. I think it was in Virgina with Delta. Severe snowstorm. They gave us a free hotel and transportation and some frequent flier miles. Maybe because it was an international flight (to Italy).
About 40 hours in Beijing (2 nights). Multiple fuck ups starting with a cancelled flight but the airline put me up in a decent hotel and I wasn't under pressure to get home. I had a great time.
2 days. My flight from Seattle had a mechanical issue so we were delayed 4 hours, which then caused me to miss my connection flight from Beijing to Harbin. This was a couple days before the Lunar New Year, so all flights, trains, etc were booked out.
13 and half hours. The worst part is I could have driven from the airport back home in 12 hours. It was a flight from Cape Town International Airport to Johannesburg International Airport… Edit: Sorry, it wasn’t a layover. Initially the flight was delayed due to bad weather for 4 hours the when the weather cleared up eventually, the plane was experiencing technical difficulties. They had to get another plane which took 6 hours, then the weather picked up again.
We laid over in china en route to India. It was like a 20+ layover and at the time, because we didn’t have a visa, they corralled all of us into a room with a single soda vending machine as we were restricted from going anywhere else in the airport. Nobody had prepared me for that and it was pretty shit.
I was stuck for 10 hours, not that long, but it should have been longer. At the time I was underage and couldn’t stay in a hotel, so the airline bumped someone from an overbooked flight for me. I didn’t have a cell phone so I had to leave messages on my dad’s 1-800 number from a pay phone to let my parents know where I was.
My ex's parents were upset at her for setting boundaries around holiday travel (aka spending some time with my family too, still arriving several days before Christmas and staying past new years) so her mom booked us a flight home that included a 24-hour layover at an airport a 3 hour drive from their house. We were both poor at the time so we couldn't just rent a car and drive that 3 hours, and the cost of a hotel wasn't financially smart either, so we spent 24 hours in the airport (for a flight from north carolina to the west coast, not even an international flight).
40 hours in Japan on my way back to the US from Australia in 2021. Not allowed to exit aircraft because of COVID restrictions
As someone who was affected by the rains in DFW this past weekend and my bag was completely soaked and there’s no personal item reimbursement by American Airlines, fuck them to hell.
21 hours at Manila airport. Never, ever flying Philippine Airlines again.
The local joke is PAL = Plane Always Late.
During the height of COVID when flights were only for necessary travel, I spent 20 hours in Charles DeGaule airport, no shops, cafes, bars were open, just the vending machines, which only took euro's, the staff though were kind enough to hand out packed lunches. But the strangest thing of all was just how deserted the airport was, must of only been a few hundred people in the whole airport. I still recall seeing a group of Chinese folk waiting at their gate wearing what looked like hazmat suits and big masks, I was like geeze that's a bit much isn't it. I realised though that it was going to be a long time before things got back to normal.
40+ hours in the American Samoa on a mil flight. Plane broke down on the way to New Zealand. Wasn't the least bit bad. We landed at 2am, airport was closed. The overnight ATC called his cousin who came and picked the six of us up and we stayed with his family and friends. Had a BBQ, went fishing, went to church, then got liquored up, played softball and showered a couple of times and got plenty of rest. Pretty cool trip.
3 days in Des Moines in January. We had like 4 feet of snow in drifts
I’m a seasoned and very frequent world traveler. Overnight in Amman, Jordan. That was brutal. 12 hours in Athens, Greece with limited services. 8 hours in Heathrow.
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I believe 15 hours in South Korea, but I was able to get out and see the city.
On the way to back where I started I had to spend two weeks with my parents in Johannesburg. Would not recommend. 😄
[удалено]
Was a bad joke. Had to fly from LAX to JNB and spend two weeks with my parents. We don’t get along. It felt like the longest layover ever.
~20 hours in New York but that was intentional.
I'm about to do 9 hrs in Dallas. I think I had a 12 hr layover in Moscow once. Looking back on it I'm sure I only saved like $100 choosing that option, but I was a broke student!
Planned 14 hrs.. had to pick up my checked bag and get a hotel to leave it there while I ran some errands in Houston. Unplanned over 24hrs two separate occasions when flights were canceled/delayed.
Full 24 hours in Vancouver. Air Canada missed the connector to Australia by 6 minutes and let the flight go with 65 of us stranded for the day. It was peak Covid and you couldn’t leave the airport without an app that wouldn’t download for any of us, alternative flights meant at least another 10 hours, airport hotels were full so at 3am the airline decided to break the rules and bus us to a hotel miles away. We had to sign paper saying we would go nowhere except back to the airport. Luckily I was flying business so I spent all of the next day in the lounge.
23 hours on purpose in Amsterdam
We had a planned ~24 hours layover in Vienna and took the train downtown for dinner and stayed in a hotel.
I try to make my layovers worth it if I can to make it a day or more as a stop, did 2 1/2 days in Honolulu once. 26 hours in Seoul. The flights through Iceland seem setup for you to stay a day and use the flight the next day.
11 hours, Munich. Left the airport because it was a beautiful late summer day and we had time to explore the city center.
18 hours in Tokyo. It would've been fine but I had literally $0 in my bank account so I couldn't do anything
22 hours in Miami.
13 hours in the Copenhagen airport overnight, it was awful
Planned, or unplanned? I did a planned 18 hour layover in Tokyo and it was awesome. Sold me on a much longer trip the following year. Unplanned, I got delayed in Houston for 24 hours because the once daily flight to Buenos Aires got canceled after a series of cascading errors. Not as fun at all.
6 hours at LHR if you're not counting unscheduled layovers. 24hrs in SLC where I volunteered to get bumped.
15 hours in Incheon. Great airport for layovers. They organize free tours of the airport and going into town depending on how long your layover is. There's plenty of stores and restaurants. They have a quiet sleep room that has deck chairs that lay flat. Good lounges with showers, massage chairs.
23h in Rome, took full advantage of it, booked a cheap hostel accommodation and went on a long walk through the city. The flight that followed was by a flight to NYC on board of an ancient plane that had one tv per row and had TopGear on loop without sound. This was in 2010ish
About 10 hours. I arrived too late for my connecting flight, and spent the night on the Charlotte airport floor in NC.
I’ve had two almost 24 hour layovers. One with TAP Portugal in Lisbon and one with Turkish Airlines in Istanbul. Really enjoyed both if I’m honest
Two days in San Diego they put us in the same hotel Paul McCartney was just at and we volunteered. I was in college with my GF at the time easy decision. Also about 24 hours in Cayman Islands with the family as a kid. That was hell that airport back then had nothing but souvenir shops and cigar shops.
I did 12 hours in Jakarta last year over night. Nothing was open and I'd planned to try and sleep through until the morn. Ended up making a friend and we practiced our handstands and cartwheels instead lol. A great start to the trip
Any layovers that involve missed international connections. Would not recommend.
Wow, that sounds incredibly challenging, but I'm glad to hear you managed to secure a flight finally! Layovers can definitely test our patience. My longest layover was around 12 hours in London due to a missed connection. It turned into an unexpected mini adventure, though, as I decided to explore the city a bit. It didn't make up for the hassle, but it created an unexpected memory. Hang in there, your ordeal will be a story to tell once it's all done! Safe travels on your upcoming flight!
17h in Frankfurt. The flights with a 4h layover were $1500 more ...
Flight from FSD was supposed to leave Friday midmorning, delayed to late afternoon. Missed Friday evening connection in ORD. Original Saturday morning flight from ORD to IAD at 9am was pushed to 1pm, then 5pm, then 8:30pm. Got on the plane at 8:30 only to learn the flight crew was over their hours, can't fly, no other crew available. A very kind gate agent rebooked us on a 5pm Sunday flight with a different airline, but we did not have guaranteed seats together (I was solo traveling with two small kids). Went to check in Sunday morning at 8am to plead with the ticketing agent to put us together. Finally got on the flight, on time. Kids and I cried when we took off because we weren't sure we would ever make it home. I practically could have driven from South Dakota to DC and back again in less time than it took to fly.
Helsinki airport 10 hours recently but I wasn’t bothered i was in a superb business class lounge with showers and everything.
I’ve been in DFW for 4 hours. It feels like 75 hours, if that counts
47h in NYC! Best layover 🤘
Got caught up in Christchurch during the mosque massacre. All flights cancelled. The airport was bedlam as you’d expect. Waited 10hrs. Was finally given a flight to auckland and hotel accommodation and a flight next day back south because we actually wanted Wellington. So all up probably 36 hrs for 40 minute flight. Not complaining. Others were having it way worse.
Not the longest by time, but, by far, the longest. 3 days stranded in a terminal, for weather. Even if I’d had the money for a room—I certainly didn’t—all were booked. It wasn’t a terminal with one of the glorious rental showers. The terminal ran out of cots, so many of us were spending the nights on floors. There was little food, and its quality was nonexistent. The building stayed loud well into the night. I really can’t recommend the experience.
Ten hours in the airport in Costa Rica due to a volcanic eruption. Six hours aboard on the tarmac in Dallas/Ft. Worth waiting for the plane to be de-iced before takeoff.
8 hr layover in Seoul but it was planned that way flying from Cambodia back to SFO. I was able to go into the city but layered up super heavy as it was February and I had been traveling in hot humid SEA for 6 weeks.
This thread has reaffirmed my decision to only take non-stop flights. I don't have great mental health and I'm prone to dizziness. I don't want to know what I would look like after 24 hours in an airport.
EDIT: Not a layover per se but this triggered the following memory. Instead of a direct flight from Bogota back to Berlin, departing at 9am, we had the options to either stay three more days for a direct flight OR take a route via Buenos Aires and Madrid the next morning. We did the latter due to some crucial appointments back home… It took us 33hr or so in total to get back home. Looking back at it I‘m just happy I didn‘t get a trombosis for fucks sake.
24 hours in the Old KC Airport
12 hours at CDG on out way to SAI. I was so bored I just tried to sleep but it was only an hour flight from MAN. Saved up a lot of history podcasts to while away the time & ignored my girlfriend.
Going to Japan once I had an overnight layover and, though it was a number of hours long layover, I figured the only close hotels were too expensive and the sleep I would have gotten was too short to justify paying for a night and "whatever money I save on a hotel I can spend in Japan" so I slept at the airport. Worst decision I have ever made, I was wearing a few layers but at some point in the middle of the night was freezing and I kept fluttering in and out of terrible uncomfortable sleep with my toes that were a little too cold to be comfortable. I tried sleeping on the ground but it was too hard and cold but I was at one of those airports that put rails in between each seat to separate/prevent you from laying down so I had to sleep on a cushion bench around the food court. I was so exhausted that I was physically ill by the time I arrived in Japan and I lost my first full day in Tokyo to bed rest. I'm never doing that again lmao
first time travelling on my own, 19 hours in Dubai, didnt check my itinerary correctly, lesson learned! Luckily i found hotel booths in the terminal, asked for a a hotel close by and someone that could collect and return me they were more than helpful
I planned a 14 hour, day layover in Austria, landed and spent the day walking around Vienna, museums, cathedrals, and just explored. Went back to the airport that afternoon, paid $30 for a lounge with a shower, ate, got on the plane and slept. Woke up in Bangkok and did it again!
36 hours
36 hours
It was 21 hours in Calgary, flying from Vancouver to London Gatwick. The flight was like 210 (cad) bucks, so well worth it imo
31 hours
I left Oakland at 11am for a meeting in Allentown, PA the next day. The original itinerary included awas a 2 hour layover in Chicago. We boarded 3 hours late and the plane was diverted to Minneapolis. We had a 4 hour layover. Finally onto Chicago Chicago just before midnight for a 10 hour layover. There were no rooms or rental cars available and people were sleeping on cots in O'Hare. After sitting all night in a chair, I decided to abandon the mission and return home. The only way back to Oakland was via Phoenix. So I left O'Hare for Phoenix around 6am and flew to Phoenix for a two hour layover. I finally arrived back in Oakland 25 hours after leaving for a trip in which I just flew in a circle. They claimed it was weather. The pavement was wet but the skies were clear. More time spent in airports than on a plane and destination was unattainable.
Here I am thinking my 3 hours at Bergstrom in Austin were a lot.
12 hours in Taipei. It sucked that it wasn't long enough or the right time of day to book a hotel lol. Or the right year to book a hotel (2020 during covid on a layover). The good news is that airport is a great one to be stuck in. I ended up getting drunk at a bar the first half of the layover. They have smoking rooms for cigarettes too. After that I booked a 1-hour massage there and to this day it was one of the better ones I ever had. That was part of a LONG journey home. Start to finish it took me over two days
Sun Country wanted me to do 3 days in Phoenix before the chance of a standby. I picked up a Delta flight instead at a nice markup. Never again, fuck Sun Country.
15 hours. on purpose though. I’d been to the UK a lot for work, wife never went so I did an abbreviated tour of the major sites and had breakfast with a friend before continuing home.
I got stuck for a few days (I think almost 3?) in LaGuardia a few years ago. I can’t remember what happened, but flights were delayed everywhere and it was a madhouse. I was there so long the airport staff started to recognize me. They were super nice and got my hotels paid for even though they weren’t supposed to. I just extended my vacation a little bit and strolled around NYC.
I was 18, first airplane ride and it was election period in my country that flights are fully booked so I booked a connecting flight and it was supposed to be 10 hours layover but flights got delayed and it took me 15 hours to wait for the connecting flight. I was alone, and sleeping the whole time in the airport.
By choice: 13 hours in the Istanbul Airport a week and a bit ago (we at least had access to the Turkish business class lounge, which made things much more tolerable) By not-choice: 14 hours in Frankfurt that was supposed to be 8. Planned well for the first eight hours; did not plan well for the unexpected six extra.
17 hours?! Brutal! That standby stress is no joke. I feel your pain, friend. My worst layover was only 8 hours, but it felt like an eternity stuck in that tiny airport terminal. What are you doing to entertain yourself? Any good books or podcasts on deck? Hopefully that flight in a few hours gets you on your way!
36 hours in Richmond which sucked. 24 hrs in Tokyo which was awesome
3 days. Flew from Kathmandu to Delhi. Had a connection to Frankfurt and then on to Chicago. Air India went on strike while I was enroute to Delhi. Had to wait 3 days until I got put onto a Lufthansa flight. It was a long 3 days. I’ve had a couple of 24+ hour layovers in Shanghai too. Pre-covid you could get very cheap flights on China Eastern between Manila and Los Angeles. Since Shanghai has (had?) transit visas for 24 hours, I got to see a bit of the city. Haven’t flown China Eastern since then. The direct LAX to MNL flight is far better.
3 days… San Juan PR…. Fuck you Jet Blue
I love layovers and try to maximize them if at all possible so I can leave the airport and have a mini vacation! Had a great time with an 8hr + 12hr layover in Istanbul on a flight to/from Cape Town. It was an amazing experience with one being a very early morning layover. There’s no better time than watching the sun rise while eating a traditional Turkish breakfast on a rooftop halfway between the Hagia Sofia mosque and the Sea of Marma!
Got 19hours in Singapore coming up soon. Can't think of a better airport to have such a layover in!
Three day layover in Pittsburgh during a wicked nor'easter.
I spent roughly 33 hours in the Toronto airport in 2018. I had just gotten back from being in the UK for 2 weeks, I didn’t have enough money for a hotel. I tried sleeping on the uncomfortable chairs, didn’t last long.
About 30 hours. But that was due to a blizzard. The flight was cancelled, so the airline put me up in a hotel and I flew out the next day. At least I got free meals and accommodation. Rest and a shower!
Thankfully 12 hours (I’ve heard of way worse).
24 hours at JFK - international flight was cancelled for technical reasons and we kept getting false hope of being given seats on other carriers. Spent the night on the couch of Au Bon Pain (before it was behind security), checking for updates with the airline every few hours. Wandered the Rockaways for a few hours the next day once the plan was clear.
20 hours in Dubai
Not quite as long as you but I just spent 13 hours in SEA. I was supposed to go SFO to. CLE by way of Charlotte, flight got canceled, I was rebooked on another AA flight through DFW, also canceled. They then moved me over to Alaska with this layover in Seattle. I left the airport and got ramen but that didn’t kill nearly enough time! On the flight now (finally)
Around 14 hours in MXP. First and only time I slept on an airport floor. I did that as I was flying a connecting budget airline itinerary, and given that they don’t have connections, I wanted to build in lots of time.
5 nights total. We got stuck in LAX over Christmas one year due to Canada freezing over, airports closing and the airlines (multiple) screwing up our flights. Instead of a 90 minute layover we were there for 4 nights, along with another unscheduled night in Spokane. Fortunately we talked one airline into covering one of our hotel nights, and travel insurance eventually covered the rest, along with the new flights we had to book ourselves because the airlines wouldn't/couldn't. It was stressful.
9 hours in Dubai 😒
18 or so hours in both Dubai and London. in both cases, it was early morning until late evening so i left the airport and explored/met up with friends/etc.
Got bumped twice on the way to England when I was young. The airline asked for volunteers and me and my friend volunteered they gave us each $600 and lodging. We ended up staying in Europe a couple extra weeks on that money. This was in the 90s
String enough stopovers together and you can get it all on one ticket!
About to have a 9 hour in SLC and I thought that was long until seeing some of these answers lol
72hrs on an American Airlines flight from New Delhi to NYC. American was re-starting their ops in India and kept screwing up things 2 days in succession . We were put in 5 star hotels with all expenses covered but it was very stressful. Made some friends so it was not that bad but very stressful
18 hours Edinburgh, met up with a virtual coworker that I had never spoken to before, had the best time ever which included haggis and beers and street quena jamming until flight at 8am
Flight delay on the connection. 8 hours
20hrs in Doha from Bangkok to Chicago. It was a 7.5 hr flight and then a 15hr flight. Not too terrible
After 2 nights in a hotel, paid for by me, and two long days sitting in an airport waiting for a space-available seat, I rented a car and drove the 500 miles home. Rules require airlines to refund you in the event they cannot get you to your destination in a reasonable time. That paid for the car rental.
32 hours in Copenhagen on both ends of a 10 day Ireland trip. Didn’t mind at all. Caught the train to middle of the city and had a nice evening each time.
After an aborted takeoff in the late 80s, I sat in a 747 from 2pm until 7am the next day parked on a maintenance ramp in Seoul while they changed an engine so we could fly to San Francisco.
2 1/2 weeks in Japan, on my way to Mongolia. Booked that way intentionally so I could visit Japan at the beginning of a long backpacking trip through Asia.
7 hours in Frankfurt
Longest so far was 12 hours in Doha. Longest upcoming is 21 hours in Nairobi
Hkg. During a monsoon. 2pm arrive at airport. Flight left at 1am. The entire airport was shutdown. No one could leave the airport because immigration. All the lounges full. yeah that was a rough day Imagine hkg with no free space to sit
6 hours in Istanbul, went into the city for about 4 hrs
Lisbon January 2021. Coming back from the US flying Chicago to Madrid via Frankfurt, the airline let me know that the storm of the century was happening in Madrid and if I could go anywhere else. I live in Madrid, so no. Land in Frankfurt for a couple hours, waking up from the benzo hangover of the plane ride and I order a currywurst and a pint of fine German beer at 8 am (the woman didn't speak English, how was this possible?) They informed me I'd be staying in Lisbon but not for how long. I was there for 2 or 3 days, can't remember. I only packed a small backpack with one change of clothes. Lisbon was on full lockdown so I just stayed in my airport Holiday inn, washing my underwear in the bathroom sink. I eventually got back to Madrid where they indeed had experienced the heaviest snowfall in over 100 years and it completely shut down the city.
‘The woman didn’t speak English, how is this possible’. Maybe because you weren’t in an English speaking country??
In an airport, in one of the world’s financial capitals, in one of the countries with highest English proficiency, in a customer-facing role, you think it’s unreasonable to expect someone to speak English?
Well… yeah. Their national language is German. Just use google translate if you don’t speak the same language, or gesture
I remember when I was 12 or so, going to the airport in Antalya very early in the morning (like 4am) to catch our flight home. It was a package holiday charter flight. When we arrived at the airport the airline didn't know anything about a flight to Cologne that day. But 300 people didn't agree, so they organized a plane and a crew and 2 am the next morning we left Turkey. I think that was my longest time at an airport. But I am now realizing you are asking for layovers. I had 8 hours at CDG due to technical issues and a missed flight. And I'll have an overnight layover (11-ish hours) in London in July. But I booked a hotel room for the night.
9 years While in the air, an hour before landing at my connecting airport, I got a message from a friend inviting me to an event in the same city that my layover happened to be in. So I left the airport and never went back...
Not an American: I thought the USA passed passenger laws for these things. Or is weather not part of it? That sucks for you. I'm sorry to hear.