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Airport Overnights Take Off as Hotel Vouchers Vanish

Hotel vouchers have been lost in transit

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 15, 2008 3:05 AM CDT

(Newser) – Stranded passengers are finding ways to settle in for the night at airport terminals as hotel vouchers become a thing of the past in the cash-strapped airline business, the New York Times reports. Frequent fliers advise terminal sleepers to bring something soft to sleep on and to stock up on food and drink before airport stores close—or spend their own cash on a hotel.

One entrepreneur is marketing the "Mini-Motel"—a one-person tent complete with air mattress and alarm clock—for those facing unscheduled overnight stops. Asked how airport officials might respond to sprouting "tent cities," he responded: “People sleeping in chairs don’t seem to bother them. We could be forcing the airports to come up with a solution."

Passengers sleep at an airport during a 12 hour strike in Calcutta, in India's West Bengal state, Thursday, June 5, 2008.
Passengers sleep at an airport during a 12 hour strike in Calcutta, in India's West Bengal state, Thursday, June 5, 2008.   (AP Photo/Sucheta Das)
An airline passenger gets some shut-eye in the arms of her sleeping boyfriend before their flights out of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
An airline passenger gets some shut-eye in the arms of her sleeping boyfriend before their flights out of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.   (AP Photo/John Amis )
JetBlue Airways Corp. passengers sleep and work on computers as they wait for flights at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, in this Feb. 15, 2007 file photo.
JetBlue Airways Corp. passengers sleep and work on computers as they wait for flights at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, in this Feb. 15, 2007 file photo.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
A passenger sleeps on the floor as other passenger's wait in the queue's to check in for their delayed flight's at Glasgow International Airport Monday July 2, 2007.
A passenger sleeps on the floor as other passenger's wait in the queue's to check in for their delayed flight's at Glasgow International Airport Monday July 2, 2007.   (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
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