Killing time in terminals
 

So, if we have to check in for a flight 3 hours ahead, how do most Fodorites spend all that time? I love to read and people-watch, so I am okay. My husband can't seem to sit ("I'll be sitting for 7 hours on the plane!")
so he paces all over the terminal, and comes back to check on me every now and then. How do others handle the time?

Sorry, perhaps that was a lousy title. My apologies, should have been something like "using up time in terminals".

Depends on the terminal. In some of them, the correct answer is "shopping". (Gatwick comes to mind.) :) Unfortunately, that isn't the correct answer in all of them. I always try to have something to read in case it's not. People watching is always a good pasttime and is fairly portable -- no special equipment, etc., required.

I read, have a nice lunch, and people-watch. I also like to window shop at the duty-free store to see what I might like to pick up on my way home... This is assuming I did not do too much shopping on my trip!

Your husband sounds just like me. And if he stands right in front of the big plate glass windows plane-watching, he may just be me!

I love magazines and am always on the lookout for another good book, so I cruise the newstands and bookstores. I also always travel with a handheld electronic Scrabble game, which occupies this simple mind for hours. And there is always the NY Times crossword puzzle. I save the International Herald Tribune weekend edition for weeks so I will have plenty to take with me.

And now I have my iPod full of novels and NPR downloaded from Audible.com. And then there is always the scouting around for an internet connection. I have no problem killing time in an airport terminal.

When they start putting gyms in like they have in they U.S. I will really be one happy camper.

I walk all over the place. I figure I'm not going to get any exercise for the next 10 hours at least, so I use the airport as a gym. This doesn't work, of course, if you're not checking luggage.

Although your husband doesn't like to sit for long periods, he might still want to exchange a bit of sitting time to allow you to walk around and check whatever shops are there. When you have luggage, one person staying with the bags while the other goes strolling will work out well.

I spend my time about 50/50 between sitting and walking around. Yes, you will be sitting for 7 hours on a flight, as your husband accurately says, but he and you should also be planning to get up and move around about once an hour on the plane unless you are sleeping.

Maybe I've traveled too much, but I don't have any problem with spending 3 hours and making the time go pretty fast. Between reading a local newspaper (always interesting, assuming the terminal isn't in your home town), strolling the shops, checking flight status on the displays, and eating a snack at the terminal restaurant, I can pass 3 hours easily. If I'm going to a country that doesn't speak my language, I always have a language book to study as well. Have fun.

Depends on what airport. If it's a exotic one in faraway places, then I'll walk around and look at the different plane liveries, gate agent uniforms, etc... If it's DAL, BWI, or HOU where all I see are Southwest's 737, then I'll find a sit-down restaurant to eat, even if I'm not hungry. Waiting to get seated, reading the menu, waiting for the check, all takes up a lot of time... And good thing that you don't find food on most US domestic flights anyways...

I agree with the theory that walking around is the best way to spend the time. I find airports extremely interesting places - to people watch, think about all the places you could be going, etc. I actually love being in airports - but then I guess I probably am wierd that way. When I was a teenager, when others were hanging out at malls, I used to have my mom drop me off at JFK and I'd spend the day just hanging out there - and dreaming of all the places I could be going. Anyhow, today with all the security checkpoints, ticket lines, etc. the three hours is mostly spent waiting on line.

Some airports have museum-type exhibitions. SFO (San Francisco) posts a map and schedule on their website, so I look there first and sometimes walk over to another terminal just to catch an exhibition. Schiphol (Amsterdam) now houses a little branch of the Rijksmuseum, and recently in Atlanta I saw some pretty interesting contemporary African sculpture.

Otherwise, I mostly walk, bookshop browse, eat, read, and worry. Just like I do when I'm not an airport.

I walk and walk and walk some more! I even go back out of security to get outside in the fresh air! My DH reads and sits still!

A club membership is a great option for people who travel at least moderately. There are affiliated lounges just about everywhere I go. It provides a relaxing atmosphere with nice furnishings, complimentary beverages, snacks, reading materials, internet access (for those who travel with laptops) -- sometimes even showers. There are some avoided costs as compared to going to snack bars, etc. It is much easier to handle something like re-booking a cancelled flight with the club staff compared to standing in line at a mobbed podium.

I wrote, "Just like I do when I'm not an airport." Actually, I'm never an airport, though I'm sometimes in one.

KT, LOL!

Platzman, are you perhaps my husband? He stands at the window and says, hey, come and see our plane! Which, of course, I can't do unless he comes over to babysit the carryons.

If I'm not flying out of Dulles, which traps you inside security unless you want to take another people mover, I do the same thing as Judy - go outside for fresh air and a brisk outdoor walk. I do sometimes wonder what the airline people think after I check a bag and then run outdoors, but so far haven't been stopped and questioned.

If you check the bag and run outside they probably think you are going for a last smoke. (My mother does this routinely!)

I also save the crossword puzzles beforehand, walk and read. Because I want to eat when I'm bored, I bring along a big ziplock of raw veggies and a dip, like hummus. Then I drink a lot of water and talk to strangers.
Repeating as often as necessary.