20 year old daughter having to spend night at JFK airport.

No issue at all! A room sounds like a good plan but she should be sorting it all out herself.

And what’s the issue with getting a room if you prefer?

?? That’s exactly what she’s saying. Regardless, the daughter was already planning to kip at the airport anyway and her mother just offered her the room. Daughter didn’t call up ‘needing’ a solution, so what’s the problem? Just wanting to make OP feel bad for some arbitrary reason?

And why of why is every critical comment on here met with ‘hit a nerve?’. No, my kids are 6 years old and whenever I went travelling my parents only got a text message or two. It’s not that deep.

I slept on the floor of Kuala Lumpur airport at her age. I’m sure she’ll be fine.

There are some very sketchy people hanging around at Jamaica where you change from the LIRR/subway for the air train but JFK itself is fine. I assume if she was changing planes she was in the secure bit?

Honestly I think you panicked hearing New York but it would be like spending the night at Heathrow, not Piccadilly Circus. JFK is an international 24 hour airport so there would always be people around, not least all the others who were going to get the same flight ad your daughter.

It would have been a bit boring and uncomfortable but not the end of the world and "the night I spent at JFK" would have just faded in to an amusing post holiday anecdote.

If she was genuinely sleeping rough under a bridge in New York then yes, I’d be worried. Spending the night in a well lit, air conditioned airport with security guards everywhere would be uncomfortable but not unsafe.

That is not what the poster is saying and you know it.

I guess the comments about unresiliant children has hit a nerve?

God forbid we have people that care about each other and help out when things don’t go to plan 🙄 Do you want a medal for having the ‘resilience’ to sleep rough?

Threads like this make me absolutely determined to work on making my children independent and resilient. I travelled across Europe and India in my early twenties and slept in train stations, ferry ports etc. when travel plans didn’t work out.
My parents had absolutely no idea where I was most of the time, the deal was I rang home once a week to check in. There is no reason for a 20 year old to need their mother to oversee how and where they spend the night.

That’s great! I’ve never heard of a TI policy covering an adult ‘child’! So it covers her even though you’re not travelling with her? Thats fab, and I hope they pay up for the hotel 😊

Hope her flight went smooth this morning OP. Out of interest, what travel insurance do you have that will cover your adult dd? We do annual TI but each adult ‘child’ has to have their own policy.

I’ve slept there twice but 20 years ago when in transit and backpacking so on a budget. It was fine but that was then. Put valuables in backpack and put it on me, slept on big backpack. Just remember getting kiwi and strawberry Snapple from the vending machine and chatting briefly to security guards who didn’t try to kick me out. Was very quiet but security around and felt pretty safe.

This.

I slept on the floor at airports many times as a young traveller.

It never once occurred to me to contact Mummy for help!

What have we done to the younger generation? It really worries me.

I spent a few hours at JFK recently. It seemed safe and friendly, there’s worse places to be.

This will come under the delay section of your travel insurance so probably won't cover the whole cost, it's often so much per 12 hours or something. Someone mentioned cancellation on insurance but this is not cancellation this is delay. Cancellation is if you have to cancel like if you're ill or something not if they cancel. I would be looking to claim from the airline

As for whether compensation is due will depend on who's fault it is. The OP says 'signalling issues', which sounds like it might be outside the airline's control so no compensation due although they might be required to provide overnight accommodation so worth following up, also with the travel insurance. They might get something back.

But I'm another one who now wants to go to the TWA Hotel, it looks awesome. I've never even thought about going to New York before but if I did, I'd probably be getting a day pass for there even if I didn't stay the night.

It’s nice you’ve got her a hotel and it will definitely be a better nights sleep butsleeping in an airport at 20 is all part of life’s adventure and building resilience so unless she needs to be fresh for something important tomorrow then I think you overreacted a bit.

Do you not think that’s a product of parents like OP where they don’t just let their kids try and figure it out themselves? 🤨 I’m Gen Z and my parents have always left me to it so your sweeping generalisation doesn’t apply. It’s so funny how casually ageist people on MN are to younger people but god forbid it happens to someone Gen X or older 🙄

She'll be fine. Learning experience.