How do you pass the time in an airport when your flight's delayed?

People watching and a lot of it.

Well since you are able to post this fluther, Play some games on your Laptop. Or People watch thats always fun!

Go to Campfire.

@Bluefreedom join the club.
Using my iPod to watch TV shows, listen to music, play games, surf the net. And if it has enough battery then my macbook.

Watch people and make stories or poems about them. Write them down, and look at them next time you’re bored, and continue them.

Shop—even if it just window shopping.

Usually, I go to the bookstore and get a second book in case it’s a long delay.

Buy some cards or post cards and write them to send when I land.

Read. Buy another book. Buy two.

I would get a second book, mosey around the concourse until that gets you tired than just people watch and make up stories about where the people are going and why. sometimes you can make up the funniest stories about people.

Get a group of a bunch of other people and do aerobics.
Ride the moving sidewalks again and again.
Try to go up on a down escalator.
If you do take the the people watching option, match people you see to dinosaurs.

Watch people. Write. I enjoy writing when I’m sitting around and watching people or rather listening and watching people makes writing all the more interesting.

Once a friend of mine gave me some Valium, before I left for a long trip about 18+ hours time just in-air, not including the time spent in airports, that I had done a couple times before and was not looking forward to. So I took one after I’d checked my bags and was waiting for my first plane to come in and I don’t think I’ve ever been happier sitting watching people mill about.

That stuff is definitely an excellent travel aid. Not only that I was able to pass right out once the first flight got underway, barring chemical assistance though, I also try to use the time to think.

@Mtl_zack I believe I found the website for Campfire what precisely is it? Does it require you to have friends to chat with or are you able to get into a room with some random folks and have a good old time?

read. take lots of books.

I have learned that having a power adapter for my phone or computer in my carry on is essential. That way, when your flight is delayed, you aren’t completely screwed.

I also usually carry at least twice as much reading material as I expect to need, even taking reasonable delays into account. This way, when my flight is cancelled and I have to spend the night in the airport, I’m not completely bereft of entertainment.

(You think that last part is a joke. On three of the last five trips I’ve taken by plane, either the trip out or the trip back involved spending the night in the airport.)

say “bomb threat” loudly.

I always have a book.

Mine gets free internet for students. so i ussually play online

@toomuchcoffee911, lurve for “match people you see to dinosaurs.”

When I watch people, I often entertain myself by mentally regressing and progressing their age. Isn’t it interesting how you can see that some people are going to look really handsome as seniors and some attained their lifetime best at about the age of two?

I have a couple glasses of wine at the bar.

No bar in that concourse??? In what god fer sakin hell hole airport are you in? I can’t recall the last time i was in a concourse with no bar. I think that is against the rules of the FAA, the CIA, the Geneva Convention, Miss manners and Sueanne T’s rules about getting drunk in an airport and acting like a slut because you know you most probably will not see these people. again.

I usually eat, but you said you’re not hungry. And my second choice is to read a book (and hey, why not buy an extra one?). My dad likes doing crosswords, I don’t know if you’re into that. And apparently you have internet, so you could just surf to pass the time. There are some online games you could play (you know, simple flash ones, nothing too time-consuming). That’s what I’d do anyway.

Scan the passengers, choose one and write a one-page tale about where s/he was and where s/he’s going. Make it as crazy as you like. And then write another and another until it’s time to board. Then post them on your blog when you’ve landed.

Sing 80s hits at the top of your lungs in a crowded area, film the results as best you can, and post them online for our amusement.

I personally just read, but I would much prefer you did this. Pretty please?

If they have a shuttle, like the one at Orlando International, just get on and ride it back and forth – if you can get one of the seats at the back of each car. Hey, its something to do. The tram thing that goes all over DFW can be interesting, and you can kill 30 minutes on it.

Find a window where you can watch them service the planes. Or handle the baggage (if you are brave).

A fat book can also make a pillow on the airport floor in a pinch. Get a solitaire app, or one of those stand-alone handheld game devices. The wife has one that plays Monopoly.

Heaven help you if you are stuck in some small airport like Grand Rapids, or Cedar Rapids! You’ll just have to watch the snow fall…..

Read, the airports that I frequent typically have a used-book section in their book stores. If not that, I grab a snack head over to my gate and relax until departure. Typically I have my comp. and a stack of crossword puzzles with me so I can keep myself busy.

ooh, i know, get those invisible coloring books. you know, you colour them with the white marker, and a surprise picture appears. granted i haven’t used one since i was like 5, but i imagine it would still be relatively fun, especially if you really have nothing better to do. :D

Go into the bathroom for some toe tappin’ fun.

Pray your flight doesn’t end in a river.

I listen to my iPod or read a magazine or a book. When I was on my way back to California from Tennessee my flight was delayed five hours. What did I do? I called Buster. =]

Read some newspapers or something. Or even start a conversation with a stranger. you never know what might come of it.

@Jamspoon Campfire is fluther chat room, which can’t be accessible through the ipod touch. I’ll PM you the link.

@Mtl_zack- Why not? I can access it on my iPhone.

Fluther

If you have internet access, you could go to the various news sites and write long, crazy comments, like other people do. What I do is work on my needlepoint/plastic canvas gifts. I have been known to finish off several items in one long wait.