A Los Angeles woman is drawing attention online after explaining why she chose to sleep on the floor of San Francisco International Airport instead of booking a hotel room.
Santeon Brown, 29, booked a spontaneous $20 flight from Los Angeles to San Francisco. After landing at night, she decided to spend the hours before her next move resting inside the airport rather than paying for a room.
Brown posted a TikTok video documenting the stay on Oct. 15, filmed inside the terminal.
“I just stayed here overnight,” Brown said in the clip. “I didn’t get stuck, I planned it, and it was a good decision and a good time.”
Brown, who works as an actor and a nanny, said the choice came down to math. Since she only needed a few hours of rest before continuing on with her trip, paying for a hotel room didn’t make sense to her.
“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 said staying inside the secured part of the airport felt safer to her than heading out into an unfamiliar city at night, noting that everyone past the TSA checkpoint has already been screened.
“Everyone’s been vetted, you know no one has any weapons or anything crazy,” she said.
The video has drawn 725,000 views, a response Brown said caught her off guard.
“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 also camps regularly and has slept in airports before, said she came prepared with 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 sleeping in an airport can actually feel more comfortable than spending the night in her car or camping on free Bureau of Land Management land. She has no access to a shower during these stays but uses a public restroom to brush her teeth, wash her face and freshen up with baby wipes.
Her advice for anyone considering an airport sleepover is to pack light and bring whatever makes their normal bedtime routine feel familiar.
“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.”
Some airports offer more comfortable options for overnight travelers. In July, TikTok users highlighted sleeping pods available at Perth Airport in Australia and Singapore’s Changi Airport, designed to help passengers manage jet lag during layovers. Mexico City’s Benito Juárez International Airport was ranked North America’s most sleep-friendly airport in 2024, citing amenities such as massage chairs, lounges, armrest-free benches and 24-hour food options.
