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

[DaughterStranded]

Not an AIBU, but posting for traffic as really worried.
20 year old DD has arrived at JFK airport to find connecting flight to South Carolina cancelled due to signalling issues. The next connecting flight will go 7am tomorrow morning. There are no earlier flights to any nearby airports available.
DD has decided to spend the night at JFK airport. I am worried she will fall asleep and get robbed of her phone/money. Anyone else had this situation to deal with? Any advice or tips anyone?

Wow and you sound like something else. I know and love NYC but wouldn’t let a fifteen year old run around alone there for anything.

🤷‍♀️

One of my DDs is at university in New York but I still would not feel thrilled about her sleeping in JFK on her own.
I did the sleeping in airport and train station thing myself in my teens and 20s and my DD has done it herself with groups but it doesn’t mean I want her to do it on her own if it is avoidable.

Me too - I was 19. I was offered a hotel room though which was nice.

I think it would have been fine either way. I wouldn’t want to sit up all night now, and can see myself booking a room for a friend, my husband, my own parents in that situation. I think what OP did was lovely. Her DD won’t ever forget that hotel!

That was very kind of you to get her the hotel room OP, and good for your own peace of mind I'm sure.

I had to spend the night in an airport once (Standsted) and I don't think I got any sleep. Found myself a corner and hooked all my bags up to me somehow but just lay there stressing all night.

When we were delayed leaving Tucson and so missed the connecting flight in Atlanta we were put into a hotel and given some, meagre, food vouchers, Our family was stranded at Orlando because poor weather further North had left all the planes in the wrong places. They booked themselves into a cheap motel and claimed it back from Delta who were a bit reluctant at first.

I would be submitting a claim for her hotel expenses to the airline, they will say weather events are not their responsibility but it's worth a try, it can't be a massive amount.

Meh.... I've slept in airports in South Africa, Zimbabwe, India, Vietnam, Nigeria, and others across Europe, Asia, Australia & the US. I get that there's other stuff going on at JFK - and every airport has its' own challenges - but if you can get airside, it's better. Wouldn't stop me settling down in a corner somewhere; or in a coffee shop when I've felt it's shady. Did it in Paris & Athens recently, and if it's a connection, it's usually doable.

Here is the JetBlue policy:

https://www.jetblue.com/customer-assurance/customer-service-plan

They compensate $200 for >12 hour delay caused by a “controllable irregularity.”

@AliceOlive Thank you for this info! I am going to read it now!

Sorry but I think you need to let her deal with this.
She's 20, not 16. She's probably mentally mature enough to find a solution on her own.

I’d still try to claim it even if it looks like they won’t pay. Sometime you can get a voucher for travel or something else.

Good work mum. I had an awful experience in JFK when I was 20 and flight delayed. A woman who seemed to have severe mental illness latched on to me, talking at me about really disturbing topics, following me into the toilet and waiting for me to come out, chatting constantly, even when I tried to escape by talking on the pay phone to my parents. I was too young / inexperienced to know how to tell her to go away. I finally got to go through security and get away from her after 3 hours 😩

@AliceOlive She is definitely going to try and claim as I don't think my travel insurance will pay out if airline hasn't refused to help in writing. Always worth a go as you say, in case they do offer something!

I was also glad you found her something that didn’t require leaving the airport. I had a cab driver make me very uncomfortable on a ride from a hotel near LaGuardia to Manhattan. I was at a hotel near there for a conference and never felt like I could even go outside. (It’s like any airport, where everything nearby seems to be paved completely over and buildings are very spread out and no one walks so feels deserted.)

@Outwiththenorm Crikey! That must have been a disturbing experience!

Also I checked and the flat rate from all 3 airports to Manhattan is now $70. So just going in and out would be $140.

@AliceOlive Sorry to hear you had a worrying experience. I am sure that 99.9% of cab drivers are fine, but it's always a worry that the one you get won't be. It does feel so vulnerable to be a solo female passenger in a taxi if the driver seems suspect.

@AliceOlive Crikey! That's loads of money in itself!

That’s not the same - not even close!

@DaughterStranded you sound like a lovely mum and the hotel looks amazing. I was looking it up and I’m quite envious.

Thank you! I am really jealous too now I have looked at the TWA hotel details. I must go there myself one day!

At tat age I slept overnight with a friend at the airport in Bangkok and we were fine. It’s all part of the adventure.

I had this situation but in Chicago, the airline will provide her with accommodation and transport and also meal vouchers. If she's refusing to accept that then that's her choice, shes a grown adult. I know that's not easy to hear and I'd be worried. Perhaps she's thinking that the flight being so early she would struggle to get back and sleep etc so she'd rather just stay there. Maybe she's planning on staying awake? What time is it there now?

@Okeydokedeva If DD had been with a friend, I wouldn't have booked a hotel though. It was precisely because she was alone that there was a risk of falling asleep and getting all her valuables stolen, or god knows what else. If she had a friend with her, they could easily have looked out for each other and taken it in turns to sleep at the airport. It would have been a completely different situation.