# ask the girl who is stranded at the Detroit airport overnight **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 15, 2015, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557 "2015-06-15T04:47:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/21 "2015-06-15T12:31:07Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Detroit has an airport? With planes and all? DTW is one of my favorite airports in the whole country. And I’ve been to a lot of them. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/22 "2015-06-15T12:39:22Z")
I guess this is too late for the OP, but if I were stranded in the Detroit airport, I’d camp out in the [Crazy Light Tunnel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv8MBnBHdGs). I love that thing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/23 "2015-06-15T12:48:36Z")
Once you get home, lorene, check out this site and see if you can add your comments/reviews. [http://www.sleepinginairports.net/](http://www.sleepinginairports.net/) In terms of unplanned overnight stays, I have spent one night in Chicago O’Hare (not bad), a couple of nights in Atlanta (airline’s fault so they put us up in a hotel), one night in Lima, Peru (slept with a airline banket on the floor of the airport lounge), and once in Quito, Ecuador (hotel for all of 4 hours). Glad to see you made the early flight–they are usually pretty full on AM Monday. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/24 "2015-06-15T12:50:26Z")
Don’t know if you are still there, but I’ve heard that if you buy a fully refundable full priced ticket to anywhere (may have to be first class IDK), you will be permitted entry into their executive lounge where you can then call up and get a full refund for it. It is nicer there or so I’ve heard. I had this opportunity once buying a full priced ticket (cost $400+ - not bad for a walkup) but the flight was in 45 minutes, do I declined. Looking back I should ahve seen what goes on there. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/25 "2015-06-15T12:50:41Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > DTW is one of my favorite airports in the whole country. And I’ve been to a lot of them. Concur, friedo. And it being a Delta Airlines hub, a lot of flights in and out of the Midwest go through their (I’m in the South, so Atlanta or Charlotte are my usual hubs). But a very nice airport, fairly easy to navigate, and good amenities (even if they are not of the 24-hour variety. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/26 "2015-06-15T12:56:41Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > I guess this is too late for the OP, but if I were stranded in the Detroit airport, I’d camp out in the [Crazy Light Tunnel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv8MBnBHdGs). I love that thing. That’s where that thing is! Thank you - I had a hazy memory of a tunnel like that in a US airport, but at that time I was travelling a lot between the US and UK and one place just blurred into another. Must have been the night I got stranded in that airport after heavy snow and a three hour line at immigration caused me to miss my connecting flight. I ended up at a Days Inn, though - the concourse was packed with people in the same, er, boat as me. If I’d stayed the night there, I’d have had to sleep standing up. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/27 "2015-06-15T12:57:14Z")
Considering how often people get stranded in them, airports are miserably designed for any sort of long period waiting. Uncomfortable seats and no place to stash your luggage safely, so if you’re traveling alone, you have to drag your bags around with you. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/28 "2015-06-15T13:33:27Z")
> [@PaulParkhead](#): > > That’s where that thing is! Thank you - I had a hazy memory of a tunnel like that in a US airport, but at that time I was travelling a lot between the US and UK and one place just blurred into another. There’s also a similar one in Terminal 1 at Chicago O’Hare. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/29 "2015-06-15T13:38:43Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > DTW is one of my favorite airports in the whole country. And I’ve been to a lot of them. Yep, consistently tops, or ranks high, on “Best Of” airport lists. A couple years ago, it topped a list for best airports for vegetarians. Apparently every single restaurant in DTW offers a vegetarian option. You were lucky to have been on Delta. The North terminal restaurants/bars/stores shut down a LOT earlier than the McNamara Terminal ones. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/30 "2015-06-15T13:43:57Z")
DTW is also my favorite airport in the United States. Practically as good as a theme park, if you’ve just gotten off a redeye from Russia. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/31 "2015-06-15T13:56:20Z")
Been there, done that. My only visit to the USA, and thanks to the TSA. In return I put a vast curse on Detroit, that it would slowly decline and crumble into a suburb of Hell. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/32 "2015-06-15T14:19:35Z")
The OP will probably get home then sleep to recover from her overnight adventure in DTW. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/33 "2015-06-15T16:25:43Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > In return I put a vast curse on Detroit, that it would slowly decline and crumble into a suburb of Hell. _jawdrop_ _edges away from Claverhouse_ ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/34 "2015-06-15T17:54:40Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > There’s also a similar one in Terminal 1 at Chicago O’Hare. Ah. It could be either of them, then - I went through both of those airports at various times. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2015, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/35 "2015-06-15T19:28:39Z")
> [@PaulParkhead](#): > > Ah. It could be either of them, then - I went through both of those airports at various times. If it was Chicago, it would only have been if you were on a United Airlines flight. IRCC, the tunnel connects the outer United terminal with the main. But yeah, both places are neat. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/36 "2015-06-16T06:16:36Z")
**lorene** , make it home safe and sound? ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/37 "2015-06-16T15:39:08Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > Once you get home, lorene, check out this site and see if you can add your comments/reviews. [http://www.sleepinginairports.net/](http://www.sleepinginairports.net/) > > In terms of unplanned overnight stays, I have spent one night in Chicago O’Hare (not bad), a couple of nights in Atlanta (airline’s fault so they put us up in a hotel), one night in Lima, Peru (slept with a airline banket on the floor of the airport lounge), and once in Quito, Ecuador (hotel for all of 4 hours). > > Glad to see you made the early flight–they are usually pretty full on AM Monday. Heh. That’s funny, I’ve also been stranded in Lima and Quito. You’re name isn’t Dennis is it? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/38 "2015-06-16T19:50:23Z")
I did get home safely, and my overall impression of the Detroit airport was quite positive. The Delta gate agent, on the other hand, was rude. I don’t tolerate eye rolls well, particularly when the flight is once again overbooked and I have no seat assignment. Had I been bumped again, though, I could have gone to the Hello Kitty store in Terminal A. Bummer it was still closed. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/39 "2015-06-16T23:43:05Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > Heh. That’s funny, I’ve also been stranded in Lima and Quito. You’re name isn’t Dennis is it? 😉 It does start with a D, but not Dennis. Returning from visits to Galapagos/Manchu Piccu and Galapagos respectively. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2015, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557/40 "2015-06-17T00:47:59Z")
DTW is a fine airport, but just try getting there for a 5 AM flight. No buses(unless you are downtown) unreliable taxis, and no reasonable airport shuttles. I’ve taken to renting a car the night before, and just driving it the 15 miles to the airport drop off. Cheaper than a taxi(or god forbid paying for air port parking), and no one else can make me late. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-girl-who-is-stranded-at-the-detroit-airport-overnight/722557.md?page=1)