You are stuck at the airport with time to kill, because…
- You have checked in your bags and whizzed past the security pretty early.
- Your flight is delayed.
- You have arrived earlier for your flight.
- You have a long layover.
Here’s what you can do to kill time while waiting to board your flight.
- Walk Around – Airports these days are large and similar to the malls and thus make a great place to walk around. So, walk through the terminals and gates, you will be exercising and killing time with one stone. Terminal 3 at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi is my fav place to walk around.
- Talk to People – This is the simplest thing to do. If you are next to a solo traveler who seems nice, interesting and willing to socialize, strike a conversation and time will fly!
- Go Shopping – These days major airports have a good number of stores where you can shop before you board your flight. If you don’t want to burn a hole in your pocket, then you can check out sale or clearance sections or just do window-shopping.
- Observe People – Observing people around you is pretty interesting, and airports are melting pots of culture, age and gender. Observing people may give birth to so many stories in your head. Of course, you may not have the complete picture, but just imagine the possibilities. And sometimes just observe and do nothing about it. Oh did I tell you that it was during one my people watching activity after my Delhi to Chennai flight, during my layover at Chennai airport, that I saw Amitabh Bachchan walking towards me (Yeah, I’d like to believe that!). It was a big-time fan-girl moment for me.
- Read – That’s my favorite thing to do. Reading a book in a quiet corner is a great way to spend time at the airport.
- Make Phone Calls – Call a family member or a friend who you’ve been meaning to get in touch with but haven’t. A secluded area, a chair to sit and catch up. You’ll be happy you finally got around to making the call.
- Sleep – Catching up on the lost sleep because your flight bookings are done for ungodly hours is another way to kill time. Of course, don’t forget to put an alarm on your phone.
- Go Sightseeing – Leave the airport and take a tour of the city. This is possible only if you have a lot of time to kill before your next flight out of the city.
- Stay Glued to your Phone – Clean your phone data, organize your photos, respond to pending emails, chat with friends, lurk on social media, play phone games, listen to music and don’t let anyone come between you and your phone. Of course, keep charging the phone and/or save enough battery to last till your trip is over.
What are some of your favorite ways to kill time in an airport? Tell us in the comments!
31 Responses
I would go to the airport bar and have a few beers and observe people from the bar.
These are great ways to kill some time at the airport. Shopping can be pretty expensive there, though, unless, as you said, there’s a sale.
I usually head to the nearest bar. Great for people watching! 😀
Great, Shilpa. Have done many of these myself.
For me, it is always: read a book. Airports make me long for a quiet place, and what’s quieter than a book?
I so enjoyed this post, Shilpa. I like to get to the airport early each time before my flight. Usually I get one to two hours to kill, and my favourite thing to do is to walk around and check out the shops, especially the chocolate shops. I do try to avoid buying anything though 😀 I’ve never been to India, but Indira Gandhi International Airport sounds like a big terminal to walk around to pass the time 🙂
These are some good ways to kill the time. I have realised the boredom with my husband once and the second time with my super daughter when she was 2 years old. I was not even able to sleep.
For me it is walking around the airport, people watching, reading and sometimes catching up on work on my mobile or laptop.
Reading, writing and people-watching were my favourite especially if possible, from the bar. The occasional duty-free shopping as well.
Nice ideas.
This is a cute post. I met Amitabh Bacchan in front of the washroom in JW Marriot, he was coming out. I saw quite a few celebrities at the airport. One particular funny incident was with Govinda, I was busy looking for my then toddler son while Govinda passed by, I was so desperately searching my son that hardly noticed his presence. I usually try to either read something or sleep during long layovers. Great post and you inspired me to write my airport moments 😉
These are some great pointers to kill time at the airport. I love watching people if it is a decent time, else it’s sleep that gets priority.
Well, you have shared some great tips…for me Books are my best companion at Airport! Great writeup !
I usually take a walk or talk to people around me(if they are interested). Catching up with friends is my other option. Well sometimes all this seems like a dream as I usually travel alone with kids. So I save book option for later use. On a 20+ hours long flight, once kids get adjusted, I try to steal moments of reading time during the flight.
Nice ideas. For me, reading or sketching are my favourite activities at the airport. I also love listening to Neelesh Mishra’s stories (I have kept all his stories saved on my phone’s memory)
Observing people is the best pass time for me. I love to see the buzz but not be a part of it n sometimes I even grab stories from them.
Quite an interesting read it was. I usually kill that free time, reading or organizing my phone.
I stay glued to my book or phone and focus on ignoring the rest of the world.Great advice to beat the boredom.
My most favourite pass time is observing people. I love watching the buzz without being part of it. I even collect stories.
I usually do all of that when waiting for next flight. My phone looks squaky clean and organized, and I get lots of blog ideas to write on after observing people
But I never had the luck of spotting someone as famous as AB. Lucky you
Airports are fun times to be. I unwind a lot during the layovers and my preferred pass time is hopping into a book store and smelling and dwelling in the company of books.
I hate, hate waiting anywhere, let alone the airport. I usually walk around and observe people. Then I spend sometime shopping and finally sit in a corner to read. That’s the best past time for me.
Great ideas. My #1 thing to do when I’m waiting at the airport is to observe people and listen in on conversations! Lots of fodder for a writer! 😉
A book or just observing people. Perfect way to wait for the flight to take off
Have done most of these when I travel:)
My favorite things to do would be reading and observing people. Oh, and I always make sure to grab a large cup of coffee when in an airport. I think they taste amazing 😛 But you know what I am going to do the next time? Organizing the data on my phone. It badly needs some cleanup and layover time would be the best time to do that. Thanks for the ideas, Shilpa 🙂
I tend to read or walk around and check out the shops. I also like sitting with a coffee and cake and writing. There’s something about the impermanence of airports that makes the words flow!
Making those long due phone calls, observing people and reading are my favorites at airports. Though these days I usually travel with kids and supervising them takes most of my time.
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Thank you
I would walk around, window shop, observe people, read and relax. I also end up buying things to eat. 🙂
Good one, Shilpa and makes me feel I need to travel. Been long 😉
I do some of these things when at the mall (no shopping, though, only window-shopping!) and some of these when I travel by a bus. So, in all, I do all of these and you know, when I observe people I make up stories in my mind about them, their lives and what they must be thinking! 😛
Observing people is so good 😀 I am surely going to do this while waiting.