An American Airlines passenger stuck overnight during the delay was happy to be offered a complimentary hotel room while they waited – until they checked reviews of the property and found an $84 a night property that wreaks of smoke, has massive water damage and mold, along with bed bugs.
And it just underscores the basic life lesson of travel: When you’re given a free hotel room, it’s often worth about what you pay for it.
12+ hours of delays and @AmericanAir books us this disgusting hotel
i would rather fly a budget airline any day than fly american again pic.twitter.com/RSWxJwiHi9— S (@queengubblebum) December 20, 2025
immediately upon check in
safe to say i’ll be staying elsewhere pic.twitter.com/ivtlXHygoW— S (@queengubblebum) December 20, 2025
If an airline gives you a hotel room, it’s often after a long wait, eating into the time you’re able to sleep. Even airlines that will provide you a room automatically through their app may not have any rooms available (at their discount rate) to provide you. And the room you get may not be the kind of place you want to sleep.
Most U.S. airlines legally committed to provide complimentary hotel accommodations for passeners affected by overnight delays. But they do not commit to anythnig about the quality of the accommodations.
If you rely on the airline for accommodation, you’re likely to wind up somewhere that you really do not want to stay. If you’re in a palce to come out of pocket, matters into your own hands even at your own expense (though there are ways of minimizing the expense):
- Rely on your credit card coverage. Pay for your ticket with a credit card that offers trip delay coverage, book your own room and save receipts for it, along with ground transportation and meals. IYou’re assured the property you are comfortable staying in. You won’t wait. And you can look farther afield if need be. Sure, airport hotels might well all be booked. But if you aren’t spending an hour in line to get the room is a 20 minute drive away from the airport (also billed to trip delay coverage) so bad?
Some readers might say that ‘you’re obligated to minimize the insurer’s loss, and foregoing a room offered by the airline fails to do that and obviates coverage’. I do not believe you are obligated to take any room, of any quality offered. And I have never seen coverage denied for this when claimed properly.
- Request a distressed passenger rate. If you don’t have credit card trip delay coverage, and you can’t find a good rate on your own that you’re willing to pay, one alternative to the long line may be the baggage office. Ask there about distressed passenger rates for hotels. If the line is long at your airline’s baggage office, or it isn’t staffed, be friendly and ask at another airline’s baggage office.
- Use points. Airline hotels often are great deals on points, with reward costs based on a hotel’s average daily rate which tends to be brought down by large airline contracts for housing crew. A few thousand points from your stash can get you a far better night’s sleep, more quickly, than relying on the airline.
Airlines may give you a free room when you’re faced with a controllable overnight delay. But you get what you pay for – you probably don’t want to sleep in the room they’re going to give you. There are exceptions, but it can be very much worth venturing off on your own rather than rolling the dice on free.
Just take control and pay for your own hotel using either cash or points. Forget insurance. IMHO if you can’t afford a hotel or other costs associated with potential travel disruptions you can’t afford to travel. If you are so broke (or cheap) that a few hundred dollars makes a difference just stay home please!
Earlier this year, there was an overnight, 11 hour delay with Delta. It was not weather or ATC related. They emailed me with vouchers. The gate agent said to check email or go to the customer service desk. The desk had about 30-50 people waiting.
The vouchers gave a choice of about 4 hotels, one of them an airport Doubletree by Hilton.
I was a little slow booting up my laptop since my phone screen is small. Still, I was in my room within 50 minutes of the announcement.
Very nice. The vouchers for food didn’t buy much and weren’t accepted by 2 places in the airport so I applied it to my Starbucks Card. I am no Delta fanboy but it was very efficiently handled.
Distressed traveler rates are a thing of the past. My suggestion is to check Priceline or Hotwire where you will at least get a star and consumer rating. Most of the time what the airline gives you won’t be good. If you have an Admirals Club membership and there’s an open lounge head there. They might be able to have a bigger list of hotel rooms to choose from.