A Los Angeles woman has gone viral for explaining, on camera, why she chose to sleep on the floor of San Francisco International Airport instead of paying for a hotel room.
Santeon Brown, 29, booked a spontaneous $20 flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco. After landing at night, she decided to bed down at the airport rather than spend money on a hotel for just a few hours of sleep.
She documented the stay in a TikTok video posted Oct. 15.
“I just stayed here overnight,” Brown said in the clip filmed inside the airport. “I didn’t get stuck, I planned it, and it was a good decision and a good time.”
Brown, an actor and nanny based in Los Angeles, said the math was simple.
“We got in at night, so it didn’t make sense to spend money on a hotel just to sleep,” she said in the video.
She also argued that staying inside the terminal felt safer than heading into an unfamiliar city after dark, particularly since everyone on the airside has already cleared security.
“Everyone’s been vetted, you know no one has any weapons or anything crazy,” she said.
The video has drawn 725,000 views, a reach Brown said surprised her.
“Some people thought it was insane or dirty, but there were also people that were very excited about it, or like, ‘Oh, I haven’t thought of this,'” she told People on Tuesday.
Brown, who camps often and has slept in airports before, said she came equipped: a sleeping pad, a sheet and her bonnet.
“I feel like people sleep in the airport all the time; I just feel what’s crazy about it is that I planned it,” she told People. “So I had my little pad and my bonnet and a sheet, like, I was ready to do it.”
She said an airport floor can actually beat her other usual options — sleeping in her car or on free Bureau of Land Management land. Without access to a shower, she relies on an airport bathroom to brush her teeth, wash her face and freshen up with baby wipes.
Her advice to anyone considering the same move: pack light, and bring whatever makes your normal bedtime routine feel normal.
“Think through what your bedtime routine is,” she said. “I like to be cozy and warm, so I made sure I had a cozy sheet.”
Airport sleeping has its upscale versions too. In July, TikTok users pointed to sleeping pods at Perth Airport in Australia and Singapore Changi Airport designed to help travelers through long layovers. Mexico City’s Benito Juárez International Airport was separately ranked North America’s most sleep-friendly airport in 2024, citing its massage chairs, lounges, armrest-free benches and round-the-clock food options.
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