There are lots of airports that have rocking chairs scattered about these days, but at Boston Logan International Airport many of the chairs have been painted by local artists.
I spotted this one recently on my way to an early morning flight in Terminal B.
I bet these ladies would have loved to spend their dwell time in a rocking chair, but I spotted them at Boston’s North Station – which only has hard wooden benches.
Sleep pods have arrived (again) at Helsinki Airport in Finland.
Back in 2013, the airport ran a test program that included several free rest and relax options.
Travelers favored sleep pods over larger rest areas and that has led to the installation of 19 GoSleep pods at the airport.
Each pod consists of an ergonomic seat that can be turned into a bed. Pillows and blankets are available, carry-on luggage can be stored under the seat and there’s a pull-up cover designed to block out light and noise.
As a bonus – there’s a power plug in each sleep pod for charging phones and laptops.
Sound cozy?
The cost of checking into the sleep pod seems pretty reasonable: 9 Euro per hour – at current exchange rates, about US $10.
If you want to relax or catch a nap at most airports you have few options beyond slumping uncomfortably in a chair or trying to find a spot in a less-trafficked part of a concourse and stretching out on the floor.
Some airports try to help.
Boston, Philadelphia and Charlotte Douglas International in North Carolina are among the growing number of airports with rocking chairs scattered throughout the terminals. And lounge-style chairs are provided at airports in Amsterdam, Paris and Singapore, and in Los Angeles’ Tom Bradley International Terminal, which opened Sept. 8.
The options expand if you’re willing to open your wallet for the privilege of closing your eyes.
At Amsterdam’s Schiphol and London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports, you can book a small, short-stay room at a Yotel that includes a bed, flat-screen TV, full bathroom and Wi-Fi.
For about $40 travelers can catch an hour of zzzs in the Napcabs at Munich Airport or in the Snoozecubes at Dubai Airport.
At airports in Dallas/Fort Worth, Atlanta and Philadelphia, Minute Suites offers rooms with a daybed, TV, sound-masking system, desk and Wi-Fi at hourly rates that start at $34.
“Sixty-two percent of our guests are there to sleep, the remainder to relax or work,” said Daniel Solomon, co-founder and CEO of Minute Suites.
Minute Suites will open a second location at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport next year and has signed on to open at branch at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport as well.
And in an effort to create a “calm and peaceful space for passengers to relax, rest and even sleep” Helsinki Airport in Finland will soon replace a gate waiting area with a hushed zone.
Scheduled to open by the end of September, the Relaxation Area will be free to passengers and offer a variety of resting and napping options, including a Uni-Solution chair, several versions of a Silence Sound chair and a sleeping tube just coming out of production.
The area is free to travelers, who will be polled as part of a study being conducted in cooperation with Aalto University School of Business. Questions will include which chair they like best, how such an area should be operated and how the services compare with membership lounges.
The pilot program is being run by a city-owned development company, Vantaa Innovation Institute, as part of its Airport Concepts project. Six Finnish companies are providing products for the pilot, which is costing about $63,000 and will include decorative elements that reflect the country’s culture.
“We hope to catch all kinds of passengers and offer a service for those who don’t use airport lounges,” said Ilmari Halme, development coordinator for Vantaa Innovation Institute.
(My story about resting and napping options at airports first appeared on CNBC Road Warrior)
Some people have no trouble falling asleep on airplanes.
“They sit down, close the window shade and immediately go to sleep. It doesn’t look like they need any help at all,” said Carol Landis, a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle who researches sleep and the health consequences of disturbed sleep.
Others just stay awake on airplanes no matter what. “Maybe it’s because of an underlying anxiety about the reason for the trip, or about flying, or because they’re trying to sleep sitting up rather than lying down,” said Landis.
But squeezing in even a short in-flight cat nap can make a big difference in your trip. “You’ll feel like a new person when you wake up,” said Sara C. Mednick, author of “Take a Nap! Change Your Life” and an assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside. “All studies show the more you sleep, the better.”
But how can you catch those 40 winks while squeezed in a metal tube going more than 400 mph?
Landis and Mednick agree on the basics.
“Don’t drink caffeinated coffee, tea, soda or eat chocolate or anything else with caffeine for six to eight hours before a flight and during it,” said Landis. Bring along earplugs and an eyeshade to block out light and sound. And pack a pillow and a blanket. “Your body temperature drops when you sleep,” said Mednick, “so being sufficiently warm is important.”
Thinking of taking a sleeping pill? Think twice. “We usually discourage sleeping medications,” said Dr. Flavia Consens, an associate professor at the University of Washington in the departments of neurology and anesthesiology and pain medicine who is a specialist in sleep medicine. “There’s less oxygen while you’re flying, and these medications lessen your drive to breathe. There’s also a concern that when travelers take these pills they don’t move around, and on a long flight, that increases the chances of DVT or deep vein thrombosis,” the formation of blood clots known sometimes as economy class syndrome.
To help passengers snooze, some airlines offer a variety of onboard sleep aids, including mood lighting, “do not disturb” stickers and other amenities.
“Right now the industry standard in long-haul business class is seats that can be turned into horizontal beds,” said Raymond Kollau, founder of airlinetrends.com. “And for some economy class fliers, Air New Zealand offers the ‘Skycouch,’ which is three standard economy seats which can be changed into a single horizontal space.”
On late night departures, All Nippon Airways (ANA) hands out ‘Sleep Support Kits’ that include aromatherapy cards (‘Relax’ and ‘Refresh’) that emit a lavender or an ‘ANA Original Aroma’ scent when a small button is pressed. “And British Airways offers sleep advice podcasts from sleep expert Chris Idzikowski, aka Dr. Sleep, on its in-flight entertainment system and on its website,” said Kollau.
advertisement
Podcasts and other audio programs that may help you sleep might soon be a regular feature on other airline entertainment systems as well. At the recent Airline Passenger Experience Association conference in Seattle, IFE Services announced that it is now the exclusive seller of the pzizz sleep system to airlines. The software application creates audio soundtracks that promise to either induce a power nap of between 10 and 90 minutes or a deep sleep of up to 10 hours.
If the program is offered for free, it can’t hurt to give it a try, but sleep experts say you’d be better off spending your money on an upgrade instead of a pre-recorded program.
“There’s no research that shows these special programs work,” said Mednick. “There’s music you learn to listen to that might help you sleep, but there’s no music that’s a sleep inducer.”
Instead, Mednick suggests bringing some of your sleep rituals from home with you onto the airplane. “Brush your teeth, change your clothes, and get into something that resembles pajamas. We are creatures of habit, so if you can create or simulate the sleep habits you have at home, the more your body will respond.”
(This originally appeared on msnbc.com Travel’s Overhead Bin)
My At the Airport column for USAToday.com this month, Coming soon – if you’re lucky – to an airport near you, features some of the new amenities I saw on exhibit in Philadelphia at the recent conference of Airports Council International – North America, or ACI-NA.
During the conference, workshops were offered on everything from saving energy to dealing with security threats and how to get more passengers to “follow” airports on Twitter. But the real fun was on the exhibition hall floor. There, vendors displayed everything from the latest in airport seating (cup holders and USB plugs, thankfully, seem to be the next big thing) to new, high-tech machinery for shooing wildlife off runways. But here are the amenities I found most intriguing.
Napping nooks
Last year, Minute Suites debuted “sleep rooms” at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (Concourse B, next to Gate B15). Each room has a day bed, work desk, complimentary Wi-Fi, a 32” HDTV, and sound masking system tools. The company is opening another branch at Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) in March 2011, and is in talks with at least three other airports for more.
Minute Suites airport sleep room
Unique Retreat, another company making napping nooks, should be opening its first branch at San Francisco International Airport before the end of the year in the International Terminal, Boarding Area A.
Cigar lounges
Bahamas-based Graycliff cigars opened boutiques with specially-ventilated cigar lounges attached at Nassau International Airport last November and at Nashville International Airport in March.
Each lounge has an admission fee ($10 in Nassau; $4 in Nashville) and Graycliff reps say they’re exploring setting up this type of smoking lounge at other airports as well.
Eat, buy, play
The Food Network is bidding on several airport locations for themed restaurants that will be called Food Network Kitchens. And ZoomSystems, which makes those oversized airport vending machines (officially: “automated shops”) to sell products from Best Buy, The Body Shop, Sephora and other retailers will soon be installing airport ZoomShops to dispense apparel associated with a major sport.
Skip the cellphone lot; park at the plaza
“Cell phone lots on steroids” is how the folks at Airport Plazas are marketing the service centers they’re planning to build on airport properties but separate from the terminals. Patterned after highway plazas offering fuel and food, these 24-hour service centers might have amenities ranging from a gas station, a food court, a car wash and a convenience store to free Wi-Fi, a pet hotel, a pharmacy and a bank.
The company opened its first airport plaza recently at Newark Liberty International Airport. There, amenities include an environmentally-friendly gas station, a dual-bay car wash, a service station bay and a 7-Eleven convenience store.
Future airport plazas are planned for New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Southwest Florida International Airport (Fort Myers) and Utah’s, St. George Municipal Airport.
Sound promising? What should they work on next?