I've slept at airports many times and I can never get a good night's sleep because

- you have no privacy

- it's difficult to get comfortable

- you're always paranoid about somebody taking your stuff

- there's usually a cleaning crew who make a lot of noise and sometimes you have to move your stuff for them

I'd much rather use a sleepbox.

I’d be worried someone would steal my stuff while all my senses were so completely incapacitated.

Do you not fly enough to have lounge access?

You can pay for lounge access, it's usually around $50. But you can get free wifi, eat and drink as much as you want, grab a paper, etc. Makes up for the cost.

Yeah -- the cheapest way if you fly a lot, yet have no status or good credit cards, in many airports, is Priority Pass -- $99/yr + $27/visit. Getting the $99/yr part free from low-tier credit cards is fairly common, too.

Amex Platinum (which, admittedly, is $450/yr) also gets you into a lot of lounges.

Founders Card gets you lounge access through mid-tier airline status on a few airlines (especially useful for Cathay Pacific, my favorite airline in the world).

I'd totally prefer a coach ticket + $50 lounge pass + + nice ipad and iphone and $500 headphones + nicer hotel room, food, car, etc. at destination, to paid first class tickets.

It appears that many airports have gotten rid of lounges, or have super limited hours on them.

I was flying through Philly and almost got stuck there overnight. It looked like my options were to get a ~$150/night hotel that was near the airport (no vouchers available since it was 'weather related' despite no bad weather) or just sleep in the airport.

I had tried asking if there was a way I could get access to the lounge. The answers I got seemed to indicate there either wasn't one, or it wasn't open overnight, or perhaps I just couldn't pay to get access. Unsure. But I wasn't getting in a lounge either way.

Thankfully, I got a flight back to Cleveland instead of CAK because the flight to Cleveland was running 2 hours behind (perfect for me) and I had a coworker pick me up there instead.

The lounges usually close overnight, so they probably wouldn't have helped in this situation.

However, the AmEx Platinum card will let you get into most lounges (if you're flying that airline that day). This easily makes it worth the annual fee for frequent flyers.

Mindfold[1] was a very good suggestion. Great for people airbnbing as well.

[1] http://mindfold.com/

what is so good about it

That works well for you but consider how many business travelers (executives) could easily include a sleepbox as part of their travel requirements.

(Responding mostly because the parent is currently the top-rated comment)

Many travelers undoubtedly fit the parent's description and budget. I don't think it's helpful in this discussion about sleepbox to focus on that. I can certainly see the appeal for people who might be feeling a little more vulnerable (women for example), more willing and able to pay for some extra comfort, or both.

It works until you start snoring and somebody wakes you up to tell you that you're snoring. :P