British Airways has today debuted new sleep pods in one of its lounges, which come shortly after British Airways permanently eliminated Elemis Spa treatments.
Continue reading: British Airways Introduces Lounge Sleep Pods
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We have these at my workplace (or used to before the epidemic). Ours came with an inbuilt inlaid curved HD monitor, so we could sit there and do our work if we desired to. Of course, these were intended to take a nap during the day if we needed freshening up.
Incidentally, the airport in Delhi had some sleep cabins for rent (not sure if they are still available). One could just rent one of those cabins and order a meal, watch a movie or just relax. However, they were just cabins which each housed two single beds and could be rented every thirty minutes.
In reality a 20-minute slot really means 10-15 minutes of sleep total. Very few people can put their head back and immediately be out (I'm certainly not one of those people). I hope the actual allotted time is more like 30-45 minutes?
They don't need to be deep cleaned after each use - it's been 6+ months that it's been shown that fomite transmission for COVID-19 is negligible. I don't understand why people can't grasp this simple concept! Masks, air filtration, vaccine, yes; cleaning everything in sight with bleach/alcohol, no.
Ethan they may be but BA don't fly from JFK T5!
The CCR at LHR pods will be located in the space where the Elemis spa used to be.
An hour isn’t nearly enough and 20 minutes is garbage. For people who need sleep but don’t have the time to leave the terminal to check in at a hotel, this is akin to offering someone dying of thirst a thimbleful of water.
Agree with others -- 20 minutes is absurd. In fact, I'd argue that 20 minutes (which gets you at most a 10 minute nap) actually makes you feel worse than if you hadn't attempted to sleep at all. 10 minutes in to any "nap" you are just starting to enter deep sleep, then you are jolted back awake.
This is almost akin to torture (the thimble-full of water analogy is perfect) -- it's just a tease. No thank you. Give me at least an hour or I'd rather just tough it out and stay awake and I'd be better off not pretending I was getting some rest.
The whole point of power naps is that you don’t do more than 20 minutes — avoiding at all costs going into REM sleep. Otherwise the nap is likely to make you feel more tired.
A common trick from the pre-electronics era was to go to sleep in an armchair while holding a rubber ball in one hand (resting on the arm of a chair). Just as you start to “nod off”, your grip on the ball will fail and it drops to the floor, gently waking you up.
Schipol has long had some nice snoozing chairs which I guess are a similar concept (I don’t mean the private sleep rooms — more like the BA ones but without the hood). They’re not on a time limit though.
Seems like a gimick.
@VML: just because COVID generally is not primarily transmitted by surface contact doesn't mean it can't be. Furthermore, there are many, many other diseases out there that are transmitted by surface contact. Deep cleaning and general hygiene are important and I hope air carriers and lounge operators continue to recognize this.
Wow..that is NOT how I pictured a ‘British Airways Concorde Room cabana’...looks more like a crappy inside cabin on a Carnival ship.
@VML-How would you like to be the next person to use a pod that has been dribbled with saliva, someone picked their nose and deposited their treasure nearby, someone without a shower for 24 hours, greasy hair, clothing lint and hair etc etc. Unless there are clean sheets or I can personally clean one of those, no thank you. This pandemic and done nothing if not pointed out just how dirty most of us are. They should at least put a clean upper covering each time where your head rests.
The Changi Lounge in the Jewel Terminal has these, or at least they did last time I was there, March 2020.
This is a Priority Pass predeparture lounge accessed before going through security.
My wife and I enjoy the 20 minutes and, if no one is waiting, get another 20.
It's like Minute Suites in the US. I love them but some pax complain "an hour is nothing".
@Rob
You can say that about any chair at the airport, train, plane etc.
Bigger lounges at international airports generally have plenty of chaise lounge chairs in this shape. Difference here is the added dome for darkness.
Plus, you should not nap for more than 40 minutes because then you go into deep sleep and waking up from that won't be pleasant. That said, at an airport its sometimes very difficult to go into a nap within 15 minutes because you're travel stressed and trying not to forget things so your mind is racing. I'll venture to guess that these will be in high demand and airlines can make a revenue out of this for paid use for over 20 minutes.
We had a few hours layover in LHR on 12 december last year which we spent in the T5 Galleries South Club - and those pods were there already. Might not be comparable to Swiss private bedroom but if you´re really tired it´s definetely a lifesaver!
Why is this news now? I used them in March 2020 at the Galleries Club. No time limit at the time