By KAY O'SULLIVAN
When it comes to get some shut-eye, not all airports are created equal.Credit: AP
Spending a night in an airport is every traveller's worst nightmare. But, according to Canadian Donna McSherry, not all airports are created equal when one is trying to get some shut-eye. And that's what her website, sleepinginairports.net, is all about.
McSherry says the site is aimed at people who have to sleep in an airport because they are stranded or have an early flight and don't want to pay for a bed. It's a category McSherry puts herself in and is the reason she started the website in 1996.
The site has more than 65,000 reviews, information on individual airports and tips on getting a good night's sleep in any airport. For example, it recommends dabbing Vicks VapoRub under your nose to block out smells.
McSherry also compiles an annual best and worst list based on the four Cs: comfort, cleanliness, convenience and customer service.
Singapore's Changi got the nod for the best airport last year, as it has for the past 13 years. Budget travellers like the snooze chairs and the 24-hour massage stations. South Korea's Incheon and Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok came second and third.
Charles De Gaulle in Paris was voted the worst airport, receiving savage reviews. The most common complaint was about rude, arrogant staff. One reviewer complained that the cleaning staff drove their electronic floor sweeper straight at him.
Moscow's Sheremetyevo was voted second worst - dirty and chaotic - while New York's JFK was third worst.
Olympic movement
Vancouver International Airport is doing everything it can to ensure visitors move through its doors quickly during the Winter Olympics next month.
While the airport is at the vanguard of self-service technology, with more than 75 per cent of domestic travellers using self-service check-in kiosks, the exodus after the Games end on February 28 will be a test.
Organisers are confident self-service check-in kiosks at stations on the Canada Line, the SkyTrain link from city to airport and in hotels and tourist offices will ensure a speedy exit.
Send news items to smarttraveller@fairfax.com.au.
Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletter
Get exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.