--- title: Flight Delayed? Here Are 6 Great Ways to Kill Time in the Airport description: The definitive roundup of what to do when you're stuck at the airport over the holidays due to a flight delay. authors: - name: Martha C. White role: Writer url: https://money.com/author/martha-c-white/ education: BA, English, Princeton University at_money_since: 2015 articles: 350 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology published: '2015-11-24T14:57:06.000Z' modified: '2024-05-07T10:23:38.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - holiday travel - Thanksgiving travel - Travel - winter flight delays word_count: 502 canonical: https://money.com/flight-delays-kill-time-airport/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![In this January 27, 2012 photo, travelers Maria Poole, right, and Lindsey Shepard, practice yoga at San Francisco International Airport's new Yoga Room, in San Francisco. The quiet, dimly lit studio officially opened last week in a former storage room just past the security checkpoint at SFO's Terminal 2. Airport officials believe the 150-square-foot room with mirrored walls is the world's first airport yoga studio, said spokesman Mike McCarron.](https://img.money.com/2015/11/151124_em_stuckinairport_yoga.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C2100px%2C1181px&quality=85) The only thing worse than being crammed with what feels like all of humanity into an airport terminal over Thanksgiving weekend is being stuck in said airport even longer if your flight is delayed or if you have hours to kill before making a connection. At many airports, though, there are alternatives to drowning your misery over a delayed flight or long layover at the airport bar — and some even offer the promise of relaxation or rejuvenation for free. First stop: Your wallet. Check and see if any of your credit cards gives you [access to an airline lounge](http://thepointsguy.com/2015/04/best-credit-cards-that-offer-airport-lounge-access/). Beyond that, if you're wondering what to do in the airport, here are a list of facilities and activities, and the U.S. airports where you can find them. **Get your om on.** San Francisco [started the trend](http://www.flysfo.com/media/press-releases/sfo-opens-first-its-kind-yoga-room-t2) (are you surprised?), but airport yoga rooms have become more commonplace, popping up in places like Dallas, Chicago (both [O’Hare](http://www.flychicago.com/OHare/EN/AtAirport/Relax/YogaRoom.aspx) and [Midway](http://www.travelpulse.com/news/airlines/chicagos-midway-airport-opens-yoga-room.html) Airports have yoga rooms) and Burlington, Vt. **Relax in nature.** If you’re stuck at O’Hare and greenery soothes you, you’re in luck. The airport has an aeroponic “urban [garden](http://www.flychicago.com/OHare/EN/AboutUs/Sustainability/Aeroponic-Garden.aspx).” Perhaps less unexpectedly, the Honolulu airport has a series of [outdoor garden areas](http://hawaii.gov/hnl/customer-service/cultural-gardens). ![In this photo taken December 18, 2012, at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, travelers David Janesko and Tess Menotti relax between flights next to O'Hare's Urban Garden where fresh herbs are grown and used in airport restaurants. Getting stranded at an airport once meant camping on the floor and enduring hours of boredom in a kind of travel purgatory with nothing to eat but fast food. Tough economic times are helping drive airports to make amends and transform terminals with a bit of bliss: spas, yoga studios, luxury shopping and restaurant menus crafted by celebrity chefs.](https://img.money.com/2015/11/151124_em_stuckinairport_garden.jpg) *In this photo taken December 18, 2012, at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, travelers David Janesko and Tess Menotti relax between flights next to O'Hare's Urban Garden where fresh herbs are grown and used in airport restaurants. Getting stranded at an airport once meant camping on the floor and enduring hours of boredom in a kind of travel purgatory with nothing to eat but fast food. Tough economic times are helping drive airports to make amends and transform terminals with a bit of bliss: spas, yoga studios, luxury shopping and restaurant menus crafted by celebrity chefs.* **Admire art.** A handful of places have carved out galleries for airport art. Miami’s airport has an eclectic [display](http://www.miami-airport.com/mia_galleries.asp) of exhibitions that reflect the region’s global culture, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has several small [gallery-type spaces](http://www.atlanta-airport.com/passenger/art%20program/Rotating_Exhibits.aspx) that showcase a rotating display of everything from contemporary art to photographs to sculpture, and traditional Japanese folk art (on loan from San Diego), exhibition will be up through the end of January in [San Francisco](http://www.flysfo.com/media/press-releases/mingei-traditional-japanese-arts). Some other cities that curate their concourses include [Philly](http://www.phl.org/arts/Pages/artsexhibitions_default.aspx), [San Diego](http://www.san.org/Airport-Art) and [Tucson](http://www.flytucson.com/about-the-airport/arts-culture/). **Get some exercise.** Sure, you could just wander the terminal, but some airports let you track how far you’ve gone even if you don’t have a Fitbit. The airport walking path at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport [clocks in](https://www.dfwairport.com/pressroom/DFWLiveWellOpensWalkingPath.php) at just under three-quarters of a mile, the one in [Minneapolis-St. Paul](https://www.mspairport.com/docs/passenger-services/Start_brochure_2009_web.aspx) is just under a mile and a half, and the ones in Cleveland and Phoenix are each a workout-worthy two miles. The Indianapolis International Airport has three walking paths, so you’ll be able to switch your scenery multiple times during a long layover or delay. Some of the other airports with walking paths include Atlanta, Boston, Fort Lauderdale and Seattle. **Practice mindfulness.** In addition to yoga rooms, which tend to include props like mats and blocks, there are a handful of airport meditation rooms (some serve as interfaith chapels where meditation as well as prayer, or just quiet reflection, are welcome). You can find them in airports including [Albuquerque](http://www.abqsunport.com/at-sunport/meditation-room/), [Newark](https://www.facebook.com/pages/Meditation-Room-Newark-Airport/228417230502629), [Raleigh-Durham](http://www.rdu.com/meditation-room/), and [San Diego.](http://www.san.org/News/Article-Detail/ArtMID/952/ArticleID/20/San-Diego-International-Airport’s-first-meditation-room-The-Spirit-of-Silence-opens-to-travelers-) **Work out kinks.** A growing number of airports now have spa facilities, with services — think legs-and-feet massages, facials for parched skin — tailored specifically for harried travelers. [XpresSpa](http://www.xpresspa.com/spas-a/204.htm) has in-airport spas in a dozen states, and Newark Liberty International Airport has [d\_parture spa](http://www.departurespa.com/). ***Read next: 10 Holiday Travel Mistakes to Avoid*** ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/flight-delays-kill-time-airport/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Travel", "item": "https://money.com/travel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Flight Delayed? 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