Have you ever overcompensated for how much time you actually need between connecting flights? When you are at home in front of your computer booking a flight, a five hour layover doesn’t seem like the worst thing in the world. Well, that moment right there is the one you’ll be cursing when you are dragging your luggage around trying to keep busy for 5 hours at a random airport.
If you’re lucky, your terminal will have a few book stores, magazine stands, restaurants and coffee shops. For the unlucky ones, your gate is in a desolate end of the terminal with no hope for entertainment. If that’s the case, some good reading material will come in handy!
If you are humming and hawing as to whether or not you should give yourself extra time ‘just in case’, do yourself a favor and go by this rule. If you are connecting to a domestic flight, you shouldn’t need more than an hour, and if you are connecting to an international flight, two hours should suffice.
Now, for those of you who have already booked that dreadful layover time, or if you simply did not have a choice, here are some ideas to make it more bearable.
As soon as you land, it’s always worthwhile to check and see if you can get on an earlier flight. If not, make your way to your gate. Once you arrive at your gate, you can organize how you want to spend your time. Maybe you haven’t eaten yet. Even if you don’t want to spend a lot of money, hit up a restaurant. Plan to spend 45 minutes to an hour there (see previous blog: ‘Healthy Eating on the Fly’). Then, collect your belongings and go for a walk. When you have been traveling all day, it is always good to get the blood flowing with some exercise. Walk the entire terminal if you want. The more you walk and check out stores and shops, the more time you are killing. Next, stop at a magazine kiosk. The owners of the kiosks usually don’t mind if you quietly browse through a couple magazines. After you’ve leafed through a few magazines, grab a coffee and head back to your gate. Browsing duty free is another great way to keep busy.
Do yourself a favor and pay attention to layover times on connecting flights. If you find yourself hung up at the airport for a long period of time, keep yourself busy with the above tasks. That way, your extended layover won’t be so unbearable.